In the News | The Health Law Firm Blog

The field of health care is frequently in the news with technology updates, privacy breaches, innovative procedures, malpractice claims, etc. Learn more about the happenings of health care providers (physicians, nurses, dentists, hospitals, nursing homes, pain management clinics, medical students, mental health counselors, etc.) in Florida and around the United States.

Department of Justice Seeks up to $600 Million in Whistleblower Case Against Halifax Health in Daytona Beach, Florida

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is asking for between $350 million and $600 million in damages and penalties from Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach, according to The Daytona Beach News-Journal. A Halifax employee filed the whistleblower lawsuit in 2009, accusing the hospital of illegal kickbacks to doctors, improper admissions and unnecessary spinal surgeries. The DOJ joined the case in 2011. Click here to read a previous blog on the DOJ joining the lawsuit.

If the government wins this case, it would amount to the largest whistleblower case of its kind in […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:48-04:00June 1, 2018|Health Care Industry, In the News, Medicare, Medicare Fraud, The Health Law Firm Blog, Whistleblower|

Cyber Attack at Community Health Systems Affects 4.5 Million Patients-Could This be a New Trend?

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

On August 18, 2014, Community Health Systems, a Tennessee-based hospital chain that has 206 hospitals in 29 states, announced that its computer system was hacked. According to a number of news reports, an outside group of hackers, originating in China, used highly sophisticated malware and technology to steal 4.5 million patients’ non-medical data. The hackers were able to obtain patients’ names, Social Security numbers, addresses, birth dates, and telephone numbers.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, in Florida, St. Cloud Surgical Associates, St. Cloud Medical Group, and Urology Associates of St. Cloud were among the […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:58-04:00June 1, 2018|Health Care Industry, HIPAA, Hitech Act, In the News, The Health Law Firm Blog|

Employers are Liable in Tort Actions for HIPAA Violations

By Shelby Root and George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Omnibus Rule, implemented in 2013, modified HIPAA’s privacy and security rules. However, solutions aimed at health privacy challenges such as data and information collected by mobile apps generally lie outside the scope of HIPAA. To solve this problem, some states are working on a solution to the problem of patients not having a private right of action. One solution is to hold employers liable for privacy torts resulting from a breach of confidential medical information through the legal doctrine of respondeat superior.

Walgreen […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:01:01-04:00June 1, 2018|In the News, The Health Law Firm Blog|

The DEA’s War on Pain Management

Within the last few years, raids on pain management clinics, as well as pharmacies, have been increasingly commonplace. The doctors, pharmacists, nurses and other health care professionals involved are carted away in handcuffs and must defend their practice.

According to the St. Petersburg Times, a South Florida pain management clinic has recently been shut down under emergency action by the Florida Department of Health (DOH). Several health care professionals at the clinic were arrested, their licenses revoked.

In this instance, the charges against these health care employees are not completely unwarranted. Patients confessed to authorities that members of […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:25-04:00June 1, 2018|In the News, Pain Management, Pharmacy, The Health Law Firm Blog|

New Anti-Prescription Drug Abuse Campaign in Pinellas County

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

Pinellas County has started a new billboard campaign aimed at curbing prescription drug abuse. The billboard message reads, “We’re shutting down Pill Mills in Pinellas County.” The first two billboards were erected on April 1, 2012. Several smaller boards will be put up in the next few weeks, with even more planned for the future. This continues the long-standing battle by Pinellas County law enforcement authorities against pain management clinics that they describe as “pill mills.” Pinellas County includes the cities of St. Petersburg, Clearwater and Seminole.

The billboard message is a statement from local coalition groups who have partnered with Pinellas […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:29-04:00June 1, 2018|In the News, Pain Management, Pharmacy, The Health Law Firm Blog|

New Hampshire City Auditing Ambulance Service for Allegedly Overbilling

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

On July 16, 2012, a New Hampshire city allegedly launched an audit into its primary ambulance service, American Medical Response (AMR), after the company acknowledged overbilling hundreds of patients since 2011, according to a Union Leader article.

AMR Allegedly Incorrectly Billed More Than 300 Ambulance Trips.

According to the report, an in-house audit by the city showed that 323 ambulance trips out of nearly 5,000 in 2011 and 2012 had been incorrectly billed. This amounts to slightly more than six percent (6%). AMR attributes the overbilling to human error.

After concerns that the […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:34-04:00June 1, 2018|Health Care Industry, In the News, Medicare, Medicare Audit, The Health Law Firm Blog|

Phony Plastic Surgeon Pleaded Guilty to Performing Surgeries on Patients Without a Medical License

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

A fake New York plastic surgeon was convicted on September 7, 2012, for performing cosmetic surgeries between April 2011 and December 2011, without a medical license. He’s also accused of completing the surgeries without general anesthesia and permanently disfiguring his patients. This is all according to the New York Attorney General’s (AG) Office.

To see the entire press release on this arrest, click here.

Phony Plastic Surgeon Will Spend Time in Prison.

According to New York AG, Eric Schneiderman, the fake plastic surgeon allegedly admitted to soliciting patients from […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:36-04:00June 1, 2018|In the Know, In the News, Licensing issues, The Health Law Firm Blog|

Ohio Hospital Settles Whistleblower Case to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations

By Lance O. Leider, J.D., Attorney, The Health Law Firm

A group of doctors accused of performing an unusually high number of heart procedures on patients at an Ohio hospital has settled a whistleblower lawsuit, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). The settlement agreement covers accusations that the doctors and the hospital billed Medicare for unnecessary cardiac procedures from 2001 to 2006.

Click here to read the press release from the DOJ.

The Ohio hospital agreed to pay the U.S. government $3.9 million, and the physician group agreed to pay $541,870 to settle the accusations.

Former Hospital Manager Speaks Up.

In October […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:43-04:00June 1, 2018|Health Care Industry, In the News, The Health Law Firm Blog, Whistleblower|

Texas Oncologist Accused of Poisoning Coworker/Boyfriend’s Coffee

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

A Houston, Texas, doctor is accused of spiking her co-worker’s coffee with a toxic chemical. Both the female doctor and the male co-worker she allegedly tried to poison worked as oncologists at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. It’s reported the two were also dating at the time of the incident. The female oncologist was allegedly arrested on May 29, 2013, and charged with aggravated assault, according to ABC News.

Click here to read the ABC News article.

I’d like to point out that these are just allegations made against the female oncologist […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:49-04:00June 1, 2018|Health Care Industry, In the Know, In the News, The Health Law Firm Blog|

“Doctor of Death” Trial Could Ignite Stricter Oversight in the Healthcare Industry

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

On paper, one Detroit-area oncologist appeared to be a wildly successful professional with impeccable medical credentials. According to his medical practice’s website, he went to medical school at Cornell Medical College, did an internal medicine residency at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, and then completed a medical oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, a very well-respected facility. The oncologist ran a professional practice of seven locations with a total of 60 employees.

However, on September 24, 2014, his reputation and accolades faded when he pleaded guilty to intentionally and wrongfully diagnosing healthy […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:58-04:00June 1, 2018|In the News, The Health Law Firm Blog|