In 1999, HHS announced 371 criminal indictments for health care billing fraud, up 61% from the previous year[1]. DOJ convicted 396 Defendants for health care fraud, filed 2,278 civil matters relating to health care fraud and excluded 2,976 providers from billing Federal programs like Medicare and Medicaid as a result of fraud[2]. These cases included […]
“…patients have to learn to diagnose themselves before they know which specialist to call.” The Problem On November 13, 2015, the Federal Bureau of Investigation notified 21st Oncology (based here in Ft. Myers) to that over two million patients’ confidential records and data in 21st Century’s possession and control had been collected and sold by […]
Instead of learning the obvious lessons from the HMO/PPO example (http://thethompsonlawfirm.net/access-to-healthcare/), industry leaders and their lobbyists in the nineties prevailed on the Florida legislature for a different solution – one that took more skin out of the hide of consumers. Industry leaders used an organized public relations campaign to pass “tort reform” and laws limiting […]
When the Congress convenes in 2017, the first items on the agenda appear to be repeal of health insurance for 75 million Americans. http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/11/paul-ryan-says-medicare-privatization-is-on.html If Medicare and the Affordable Care Act are repealed, pre-existing conditions would presumably be the law of the land at the same time that tens of millions lose their insurance. Those […]
While the United States Constitution mentions the right to vote less than a half dozen times (and not at all in the original Bill of Rights), it does so with language the founders used that is peculiar to that right. They wrote that no laws could be passed that would prevent “or abridge” the right […]
“Justice delayed is justice denied.” A legal maxim often attributed to William Penn Clients are often surprised by the length of time their claims wait for final resolution in the courthouse. This is especially true for cases that may take a week or more to try. Insurance carriers and lawyers for defendants are financially […]
No one gives a damn about the things I give a damn about. The liberties that we can’t do without seem to disappear like ghosts in the air. When we don’t even care, it truly vanishes away. Jason Isbell, Alabama Pines In this jury trial series, we’ve been through history, television and the […]
Fictional lawyers in the movies have generally had a better run than real lawyers on entertainment television. But consider the iconic Atticus Finch in ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’: He violated client confidences when he told his children to pity their belligerent, invalid, bigot of a neighbor, Miss Dubose, who was addicted to morphine. This chapter […]
When George Mastin rolled into town with his “Unparalleled Exhibition of Oil Paintings”, it was a sensational event by late 19th Century standards – enough to bring out the whole community. Broadsides on barn doors and tavern walls announced the happening, including historical and religious lectures. The Erin Twin Brothers would be there to clog dance. […]
What most people don’t understand – and most lawyers don’t want to talk about – is that jury selection is more DEselection. Everyone thinks they have no prejudices (they do) and can be fair in every case (they can’t). There’s a famous story about President George Herbert Walker Bush withdrawing as a judge in […]
