Attorneys representing a whistleblower have filed a motion claiming Daytona Beach, Fla.-based Halifax Health destroyed thousands of records for short-stay admissions while knowing the materials were relevant to a federal investigation and lawsuit.
Lawyers representing Elin Baklid-Kunz — a Halifax employee who filed a whistleblower suit in 2009 — filed the motion last week, claiming the hospital destroyed records from 2002 to 2004 that would have been used as evidence, according to a Daytona Beach News-Journal report.
Marlan Wilbanks, JD, who represents Ms. Baklid-Kunz, said Halifax Health policy requires patient records to be kept for at least seven years after discharge. The records should have been preserved after federal subpoenas were issued in 2009 and litigation was filed, he said.
John Guthrie, a spokesman for Halifax Health, said the motion is "the latest attempt to pressure [Halifax Health] into a settlement," according to the report. He said the system will continue to fight the allegations and lawsuits "because it did nothing wrong."
More specific to the latest motion, Halifax Health's lawyers have said they did not receive a specific request for the short-stay medical records from 2002 to 2004 until February, according to the report.
The Department of Justice is supporting Ms. Baklid-Kunz's allegations that Halifax Health violated Stark Law by having allegedly improper contracts with six oncologists and three neurosurgeons. The case is set to go to trial in March in federal court in Orlando.
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