Health News
- Elizabethtown Doctors Who Paid Millions To Settle Claims Of Bill-padding Are Sued By Chemotherapy Patients
"Eight former patients or their estates have sued the Elizabethtown cancer doctors who paid the government $3.7 million last June to settle claims they extended chemotherapy treatments to pad their bills," Andrew Wolfson reports for The Courier-Journal....
- Elizabethtown Cancer Clinic Pays $3.7 Million To Resolve Claims It Diluted Drugs, Prolonged Chemotherapy To Make More Money
Elizabethtown Hematology Oncology PLC and its owners has paid $3,739,325 to settle claims "that they submitted false claims for payment to the Medicare, Medicaid and the military's medical provider for extending the duration of chemotherapy infusion...
- Ashland Hospital Agrees To Pay $40.9 Million To Settle Charges It Defrauded Medicare And Medicaid For Six Years
"King's Daughters Medical Center in Ashland has agreed to pay $40.9 million to settle allegations that it fraudulently billed federally-funded health care programs for hundreds of unnecessary heart procedures" from 2006 through 2011, Bill Estep reports...
- Medically Unnecessary Procedures Are Part Of Culture Of Disability In Eastern Kentucky, Professor Writes
St. Joseph London Hospital is taking heat over accusations of performing medically unnecessary cardiac catheterizations and other invasive cardiac procedures, and a look at the health data by a Kentucky physician suggests that the phenomenon is broader...
- Suit Alleging Unnecessary Procedures At London Hospital Is The 31st By Plaintiff's Attorney In Past Year
More than 300 former heart patients at the Saint Joseph London hospital have sued it, its cardiologists and agencies involved with its operation and billing services, alleging the patients were subjected to unnecessary medical procedures. "The lawsuit...
Health News
St. Joseph Hospital in London will pay U.S. $16.5 million to settle malpractice suits involving unnecessary heart procedures
St. Joseph Hospital in London will pay $16.5 million to the federal government to settle charges that it got money from Medicare and the federal-state Medicaid program for unnecessary heart procedures, according to a document released Tuesday. The schemes and subsequent fines the hospital now faces may cause even more financial problems for KentuckyOne Health, Andrew Wolfson writes for The Courier-Journal.
Almost 400 former patients filed lawsuits, claiming cardiologists at the hospital performed "unnecessary, risky and often painful heart procedures to unjustly enrich themselves," Wolfson reports. According to the claims, two patients died and some will have to take blood-thinning medications for the rest of their lives, leaving them vulnerable to possibly fatal complications.
Several doctors at the hospital conducted unnecessary, invasive procedures such as heart stents and catheterizations on Medicare and Medicaid patients between 2008 and 2011, the government claimed; hospitals usually get $10,000 to $15,000 for each procedure, Wolfson notes.
"We all rely on health care providers to make treatment decisions based on clinical, not financial considerations," U.S. Attorney Kerry Harvey said in a news release. "The conduct alleged in this case violates that fundamental trust and squanders scarce public resources set aside for legitimate health care needs."
According to Harvey's office, the investigation continues because various doctors were involved, and their crimes are not absolved through the fine, Bill Estep reports for the Lexington Herald-Leader. For example, Dr. Sandesh R. Patil "pleaded guilty last year to lying about the severity of a patient's condition to make sure the government would pay for heart procedures," Estep reports. "Patil was sentenced to 30 months in prison."
Although St. Joseph London agreed to pay the $16.5 million, it did not admit violating the law, a common provison in such cases.. The hospital said it agreed to pay the penalty to avoid further expenses, "'uncertainty of prolonged litigation, and to allow the hospital to move forward.' It said the allegations arose in 'past relationships with some cardiologists who no longer practice at the hospital'," Wolfson reports.
St. Joseph President Greg Gerard said, "We are committed to providing the communities we serve with safe, high quality health care performed with the highest of integrity."
Three Central Baptist Hospital cardiologists in Lexington?Drs. Michael R. Jones, Paul W. Hollingsworth and Michael Rukavina?played a key role in discovering St. Joseph-London's malpractice, Estep reports. When they noticed that some patients they treated had been subjected to unnecessary procedures at London, they sued in 2011. "One patient who came to the Lexington practice had undergone 17 heart catheterizations?performed mostly by Patil?in London in four years, none of them necessary, according to the report," Estep writes. The three cardiologists will get $2,458,810 of the $16.5 million settlement, according to Harvey's office.
Although St. Joseph-London is finished with the civil portion of the case, the federal government will continue trying to get money from the doctors and clinics identified in the lawsuit, Harvey said. "This result would not be possible without the commitment of private citizens exposing this type of egregious fraud," said Perry K. Turner, special agent in charge of the FBI in Kentucky.
Almost 400 former patients filed lawsuits, claiming cardiologists at the hospital performed "unnecessary, risky and often painful heart procedures to unjustly enrich themselves," Wolfson reports. According to the claims, two patients died and some will have to take blood-thinning medications for the rest of their lives, leaving them vulnerable to possibly fatal complications.
Several doctors at the hospital conducted unnecessary, invasive procedures such as heart stents and catheterizations on Medicare and Medicaid patients between 2008 and 2011, the government claimed; hospitals usually get $10,000 to $15,000 for each procedure, Wolfson notes.
"We all rely on health care providers to make treatment decisions based on clinical, not financial considerations," U.S. Attorney Kerry Harvey said in a news release. "The conduct alleged in this case violates that fundamental trust and squanders scarce public resources set aside for legitimate health care needs."
According to Harvey's office, the investigation continues because various doctors were involved, and their crimes are not absolved through the fine, Bill Estep reports for the Lexington Herald-Leader. For example, Dr. Sandesh R. Patil "pleaded guilty last year to lying about the severity of a patient's condition to make sure the government would pay for heart procedures," Estep reports. "Patil was sentenced to 30 months in prison."
Although St. Joseph London agreed to pay the $16.5 million, it did not admit violating the law, a common provison in such cases.. The hospital said it agreed to pay the penalty to avoid further expenses, "'uncertainty of prolonged litigation, and to allow the hospital to move forward.' It said the allegations arose in 'past relationships with some cardiologists who no longer practice at the hospital'," Wolfson reports.
St. Joseph President Greg Gerard said, "We are committed to providing the communities we serve with safe, high quality health care performed with the highest of integrity."
Three Central Baptist Hospital cardiologists in Lexington?Drs. Michael R. Jones, Paul W. Hollingsworth and Michael Rukavina?played a key role in discovering St. Joseph-London's malpractice, Estep reports. When they noticed that some patients they treated had been subjected to unnecessary procedures at London, they sued in 2011. "One patient who came to the Lexington practice had undergone 17 heart catheterizations?performed mostly by Patil?in London in four years, none of them necessary, according to the report," Estep writes. The three cardiologists will get $2,458,810 of the $16.5 million settlement, according to Harvey's office.
Although St. Joseph-London is finished with the civil portion of the case, the federal government will continue trying to get money from the doctors and clinics identified in the lawsuit, Harvey said. "This result would not be possible without the commitment of private citizens exposing this type of egregious fraud," said Perry K. Turner, special agent in charge of the FBI in Kentucky.
- Elizabethtown Doctors Who Paid Millions To Settle Claims Of Bill-padding Are Sued By Chemotherapy Patients
"Eight former patients or their estates have sued the Elizabethtown cancer doctors who paid the government $3.7 million last June to settle claims they extended chemotherapy treatments to pad their bills," Andrew Wolfson reports for The Courier-Journal....
- Elizabethtown Cancer Clinic Pays $3.7 Million To Resolve Claims It Diluted Drugs, Prolonged Chemotherapy To Make More Money
Elizabethtown Hematology Oncology PLC and its owners has paid $3,739,325 to settle claims "that they submitted false claims for payment to the Medicare, Medicaid and the military's medical provider for extending the duration of chemotherapy infusion...
- Ashland Hospital Agrees To Pay $40.9 Million To Settle Charges It Defrauded Medicare And Medicaid For Six Years
"King's Daughters Medical Center in Ashland has agreed to pay $40.9 million to settle allegations that it fraudulently billed federally-funded health care programs for hundreds of unnecessary heart procedures" from 2006 through 2011, Bill Estep reports...
- Medically Unnecessary Procedures Are Part Of Culture Of Disability In Eastern Kentucky, Professor Writes
St. Joseph London Hospital is taking heat over accusations of performing medically unnecessary cardiac catheterizations and other invasive cardiac procedures, and a look at the health data by a Kentucky physician suggests that the phenomenon is broader...
- Suit Alleging Unnecessary Procedures At London Hospital Is The 31st By Plaintiff's Attorney In Past Year
More than 300 former heart patients at the Saint Joseph London hospital have sued it, its cardiologists and agencies involved with its operation and billing services, alleging the patients were subjected to unnecessary medical procedures. "The lawsuit...