Stories about physicians and other healthcare professionals involved in lawsuits—as either a plaintiff or a defendant—or accused of breaking the law. Various legal updates or unusual stories in the news may land here.
Sophia Shaklian, 38, of Los Angeles, and accomplices bilked Medicare of millions by submitting false claims for diagnostic imaging and hospice care that was unnecessary or never administered.
A federal grand jury indicted Anar Rustamov, 38, of Azerbaijan on 14 counts of healthcare fraud. The complex conspiracy allegedly involved billing Medicare Advantage for medical equipment that providers never ordered. Rustamov is currently a fugitive from justice.
The incident left John Douglas Cox, a mechanic in Washington’s Clark County, partially paralyzed after physicians failed to promptly diagnose and treat a spinal infection.
Authorities said Shane Daley, 40, began making threatening calls mere hours after Brian Thompson was shot and killed outside a hotel in Manhattan. Daley awaits sentencing and faces up to five years in prison.
The family of Gay Sherman Weintz, 55, said she died as a result of 24-hour physical restraint, combined with staff at Middlesex Hospital ignoring signs of a medical crisis. Her son, Chauncey Smith, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit.
Mahmood Sami Khan, 36, has been charged on five counts of wire fraud and money laundering in connection with the conspiracy. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life behind bars.
After a three week trial, a jury found that PeaceHealth and Ralph Weiche, MD, acted in accordance with medical protocols in diagnosing Patricia Parker with a psychiatric condition, given her unusual symptoms.
Of those arrested, 96 are doctors, nurses and other healthcare providers. All face charges related to telehealth prescriptions, illegal opioid distribution and fraudulent billing practices.
Digitization of exams has made the imaging industry a “prime target” for cybercriminals, experts wrote recently in the Journal of the American College of Radiology.
In a decision issued Wednesday, a judge ruled that Caremark had persuaded insurers to intentionally mislead the government regarding prescription drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries.