The following news stories pertaining to hospitals, lawsuits and/or settlements broke within the past month, beginning with the most recent.
1. Former Physician Assistant Awarded $167M From Mercy General, Dignity Health
After an 11-day trial, a former physician's assistant was awarded more than $167 million from Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento, Calif., and its parent company, Catholic Healthcare West (recently-renamed Dignity Health) for alleged retaliation and wrongful termination. The hospital has indicated plans for an appeal.
2. Dr. Mark Midei Sues St. Joseph Medical Center for Defamation Over Stent Turmoil
A former cardiologist accused of implanting hundreds of unnecessary cardiac stents at St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson, Md., wants his defamation suit against the hospital to go to trial. The hospital says Dr. Midei's lawsuit is null due to a release he signed in November 2009, upon his resignation, that absolved the hospital from responsibility of the consequences of his activity at the hospital. A circuit court judge has not yet made a decision on whether the suit will proceed to trial.
3. Former CEO of Powell Valley Healthcare in Wyoming Faces Fraud Charges
Paul Cardwell, former CEO of Powell (Wyo.) Valley Healthcare, has been sued by HealthTech Management Services for the alleged embezzlement of $850,000 in six months. HealthTech is the Mr. Cardwell's former formal employer and the management company of Powell Valley.
4. Detroit Medical Center Asks Physicians to Pay For Computers Following Settlement
As part of a 2010 settlement agreement that resolved allegations of improper relationships with physicians, Detroit Medical Center is asking its affiliated physicians to pay for computer equipment provided up to six years ago. At least 29 physicians have received letters in the past six weeks reportedly seeking $10,000 to $14,000 in repayments for computer equipment.
5. University of Pennsylvania Sues President of Memorial Sloan-Kettering
The University of Pennsylvania joined a lawsuit against Craig B. Thompson, MD, the current president of New York-based Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, claiming he walked away from his former workplace with research findings to start his own company. The Leonard and Madlyn Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute, an affiliate of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, was the first to file suit in December.
6. Former Houston Hospital Executive Pleads Guilty to $116M Kickback Scheme
Mohammad Khan, a former executive from Riverside General Hospital in Houston, has pled guilty to his role in a $116 million kickback scheme. He will be sentenced next month.
7. Former Novant Executive Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement
Carol Crawley Maultsby, the former vice president of corporate risk management at Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Novant Health, pled guilty to eight counts of embezzlement. Prosecutors say she embezzled nearly $620,000 from Novant over seven years by authorizing checks, sending them to a shell company and cashing them. She has been sentenced to an active prison sentence of roughly two years.
8. New Jersey County Sues Hospital Operator for Withholding Public Documents
Officials of New Jersey's Bergen County have sued Bergen Regional Medical Center LP, the operator of the county's public hospital, for allegedly failing to provide public documents officials need to determine the hospital's future before the lease expires in five years. The suit requests that a judge order the company to turn the documents over to the county and pay the county's legal fees.
9. Judge Sides With Whistleblower in Case Against Mayo Clinic
The U.S. Department of Labor sided with an employee from Mayo Clinic who claims the hospital discriminated against him after he made safety complaints related to his duties as a courier. A judge ordered Mayo to reinstate James E. Seehusen to the same seniority, status and benefits he would have received but for the "unlawful discrimination."
10. Judge Suspends Antitrust Case Between West Penn, UPMC
A federal judge paused the antitrust case between Pittsburgh-based UPMC and West Penn Allegheny Health System after the latter accused the judge of displaying bias. The issue stems from an antitrust suit West Penn filed in 2009 against UPMC and Highmark. After Highmark offered to acquire West Penn, it was dropped from the suit. West Penn has since asked U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Schwab to focus the lawsuit entirely on UPMC, but he has not yet ruled on that request.
11. Physician-Owned Hospital in Ohio Files Antitrust Suit Against Premier
The Medical Center at Elizabeth Place — a small physician-owned hospital in Dayton, Ohio — has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Premier Health Partners, claiming the large health system colluded to drive insurers away from doing business with it. Premier has denied the allegations.
12. Memorial Hospital in Florida Ordered to Pay $10M for "Center of Excellence" False Advertising
Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville, Fla., was ordered to pay $10 million in damages after a jury found the hospital falsely advertised its weight loss program as a "Center of Excellence" by allowing a surgeon who did not meet the American Society of Bariatric Surgery's requirements to perform surgery. A patient who underwent a weight loss procedure in 2007 at the hospital was awarded $168 million in medical negligence and fraud damages as well.
13. Rhode Island Hospital Settles Allegations of Medicare, Medicaid Fraud
Rhode Island Hospital in Providence will pay $5.3 million to settle allegations that it charged Medicare and Medicaid for medically unnecessary overnight hospital stays. An investigation found that from 2004-2009, the hospital ordered medically unnecessary overnight admissions for roughly 260 patients who underwent Gamma Knife treatment.
14. 14 Hospitals Settle False Claims Allegations Linked to Kyphoplasty Billing
Fourteen hospitals agreed to pay more than $12 million combined to settle federal allegations that they defrauded Medicare by overbilling for kyphoplasty procedures between 2000 and 2008.
15. Henry Ford Health Settles Alleged Violation of Americans With Disabilities Act
Henry Ford Health System in Detroit settled a complaint with the Department of Justice, resolving allegations that the hospital system failed to provide sign language interpreters to a deaf patient at its Kingwood Hospital in Ferndale, Mich. Under the settlement, the system is required to take a number of steps to ensure ADA compliance and also pay $70,000 to family members who were denied effective communication.
16. Los Angeles Hospital Accused of Patient-Dumping
White Memorial Medical Center in Los Angeles has been accused of patient-dumping and now faces a lawsuit alleging elder abuse, false imprisonment and hospital negligence. A hospital spokesperson has said that the patient over which the suit was filed was alert and competent at the time he was dropped off at a rehabilitation center in South Los Angeles.
17. Two Former NY Presbyterian Hospital Execs Convicted of Wire Fraud
Santo Saglimbeni, a former vice president of facilities operations at New York Presbyterian Hospital in White Plains, awarded contracts for asbestos abatement, construction and other facility services to two other individuals — Michael Yaron and Moshe Buchnik — and their respective companies in exchange for more than $2.3 million in kickbacks. Emilio "Tony" Figueroa, a former director of facilities operations at NYPH, allegedly helped Mr. Saglimbeni in funneling these kickbacks.
18. New Mexico Will Pay $8M to Resolve Hospitals' Allegedly Improper Deals
New Mexico will use roughly $8 million in federal funds meant for indigent care to satisfy a settlement between the state and CMS after a federal review found nine hospitals in the state made improper deals with county governments. The nine hospitals allegedly made improper deals to elicit federal matching funds, according to the report. Under CMS' Sole Community Provider Program, hospitals can get roughly $3 in federal funds for every $1 county governments contribute to cover indigent care.
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1. Former Physician Assistant Awarded $167M From Mercy General, Dignity Health
After an 11-day trial, a former physician's assistant was awarded more than $167 million from Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento, Calif., and its parent company, Catholic Healthcare West (recently-renamed Dignity Health) for alleged retaliation and wrongful termination. The hospital has indicated plans for an appeal.
2. Dr. Mark Midei Sues St. Joseph Medical Center for Defamation Over Stent Turmoil
A former cardiologist accused of implanting hundreds of unnecessary cardiac stents at St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson, Md., wants his defamation suit against the hospital to go to trial. The hospital says Dr. Midei's lawsuit is null due to a release he signed in November 2009, upon his resignation, that absolved the hospital from responsibility of the consequences of his activity at the hospital. A circuit court judge has not yet made a decision on whether the suit will proceed to trial.
3. Former CEO of Powell Valley Healthcare in Wyoming Faces Fraud Charges
Paul Cardwell, former CEO of Powell (Wyo.) Valley Healthcare, has been sued by HealthTech Management Services for the alleged embezzlement of $850,000 in six months. HealthTech is the Mr. Cardwell's former formal employer and the management company of Powell Valley.
4. Detroit Medical Center Asks Physicians to Pay For Computers Following Settlement
As part of a 2010 settlement agreement that resolved allegations of improper relationships with physicians, Detroit Medical Center is asking its affiliated physicians to pay for computer equipment provided up to six years ago. At least 29 physicians have received letters in the past six weeks reportedly seeking $10,000 to $14,000 in repayments for computer equipment.
5. University of Pennsylvania Sues President of Memorial Sloan-Kettering
The University of Pennsylvania joined a lawsuit against Craig B. Thompson, MD, the current president of New York-based Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, claiming he walked away from his former workplace with research findings to start his own company. The Leonard and Madlyn Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute, an affiliate of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, was the first to file suit in December.
6. Former Houston Hospital Executive Pleads Guilty to $116M Kickback Scheme
Mohammad Khan, a former executive from Riverside General Hospital in Houston, has pled guilty to his role in a $116 million kickback scheme. He will be sentenced next month.
7. Former Novant Executive Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement
Carol Crawley Maultsby, the former vice president of corporate risk management at Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Novant Health, pled guilty to eight counts of embezzlement. Prosecutors say she embezzled nearly $620,000 from Novant over seven years by authorizing checks, sending them to a shell company and cashing them. She has been sentenced to an active prison sentence of roughly two years.
8. New Jersey County Sues Hospital Operator for Withholding Public Documents
Officials of New Jersey's Bergen County have sued Bergen Regional Medical Center LP, the operator of the county's public hospital, for allegedly failing to provide public documents officials need to determine the hospital's future before the lease expires in five years. The suit requests that a judge order the company to turn the documents over to the county and pay the county's legal fees.
9. Judge Sides With Whistleblower in Case Against Mayo Clinic
The U.S. Department of Labor sided with an employee from Mayo Clinic who claims the hospital discriminated against him after he made safety complaints related to his duties as a courier. A judge ordered Mayo to reinstate James E. Seehusen to the same seniority, status and benefits he would have received but for the "unlawful discrimination."
10. Judge Suspends Antitrust Case Between West Penn, UPMC
A federal judge paused the antitrust case between Pittsburgh-based UPMC and West Penn Allegheny Health System after the latter accused the judge of displaying bias. The issue stems from an antitrust suit West Penn filed in 2009 against UPMC and Highmark. After Highmark offered to acquire West Penn, it was dropped from the suit. West Penn has since asked U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Schwab to focus the lawsuit entirely on UPMC, but he has not yet ruled on that request.
11. Physician-Owned Hospital in Ohio Files Antitrust Suit Against Premier
The Medical Center at Elizabeth Place — a small physician-owned hospital in Dayton, Ohio — has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Premier Health Partners, claiming the large health system colluded to drive insurers away from doing business with it. Premier has denied the allegations.
12. Memorial Hospital in Florida Ordered to Pay $10M for "Center of Excellence" False Advertising
Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville, Fla., was ordered to pay $10 million in damages after a jury found the hospital falsely advertised its weight loss program as a "Center of Excellence" by allowing a surgeon who did not meet the American Society of Bariatric Surgery's requirements to perform surgery. A patient who underwent a weight loss procedure in 2007 at the hospital was awarded $168 million in medical negligence and fraud damages as well.
13. Rhode Island Hospital Settles Allegations of Medicare, Medicaid Fraud
Rhode Island Hospital in Providence will pay $5.3 million to settle allegations that it charged Medicare and Medicaid for medically unnecessary overnight hospital stays. An investigation found that from 2004-2009, the hospital ordered medically unnecessary overnight admissions for roughly 260 patients who underwent Gamma Knife treatment.
14. 14 Hospitals Settle False Claims Allegations Linked to Kyphoplasty Billing
Fourteen hospitals agreed to pay more than $12 million combined to settle federal allegations that they defrauded Medicare by overbilling for kyphoplasty procedures between 2000 and 2008.
15. Henry Ford Health Settles Alleged Violation of Americans With Disabilities Act
Henry Ford Health System in Detroit settled a complaint with the Department of Justice, resolving allegations that the hospital system failed to provide sign language interpreters to a deaf patient at its Kingwood Hospital in Ferndale, Mich. Under the settlement, the system is required to take a number of steps to ensure ADA compliance and also pay $70,000 to family members who were denied effective communication.
16. Los Angeles Hospital Accused of Patient-Dumping
White Memorial Medical Center in Los Angeles has been accused of patient-dumping and now faces a lawsuit alleging elder abuse, false imprisonment and hospital negligence. A hospital spokesperson has said that the patient over which the suit was filed was alert and competent at the time he was dropped off at a rehabilitation center in South Los Angeles.
17. Two Former NY Presbyterian Hospital Execs Convicted of Wire Fraud
Santo Saglimbeni, a former vice president of facilities operations at New York Presbyterian Hospital in White Plains, awarded contracts for asbestos abatement, construction and other facility services to two other individuals — Michael Yaron and Moshe Buchnik — and their respective companies in exchange for more than $2.3 million in kickbacks. Emilio "Tony" Figueroa, a former director of facilities operations at NYPH, allegedly helped Mr. Saglimbeni in funneling these kickbacks.
18. New Mexico Will Pay $8M to Resolve Hospitals' Allegedly Improper Deals
New Mexico will use roughly $8 million in federal funds meant for indigent care to satisfy a settlement between the state and CMS after a federal review found nine hospitals in the state made improper deals with county governments. The nine hospitals allegedly made improper deals to elicit federal matching funds, according to the report. Under CMS' Sole Community Provider Program, hospitals can get roughly $3 in federal funds for every $1 county governments contribute to cover indigent care.
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