Unnecessary Medical Tests Are #QualityFraud

DOJ pursues billing fraud cases. In some cases, the patients did not know what they were being tested for. TRICARE beneficiaries were enticed to provide urine or saliva specimens in exchange for $50 gift cards. Evidence at trial demonstrated that Rao was paid in exchange for signing off on medically unnecessary and repetitive toxicology and […]

Peer Review (still) doesn’t work

I’ve been writing about how peer review privilege encourages medical error for years now. But it keeps coming up in the news. It’s almost like nobody in charge listens to trial lawyers. lol. The false premise that secrecy encourages patient safety measures at any level of hospital administration is a myth that should not be […]

One Doctor’s $355M #QualityFraud: Lap Band Surgeries

Prosecutors say Omidi incentivized employees to make sure patients received sleep studies and then falsified the results to show that patients had obstructive sleep apnea. Here is the story in the LA Times on what started with a billboard campaign across Los Angeles. Former doctor, company behind 1-800-GET-THIN found guilty of fraud

A Health Care Cost Price Comparison Tool From CMS

I have written a lot on this blog about “quality fraud” and how the opaque nature of medical expenses and insurance drives up the cost of care. In the US, we overpay for care based upon the quality of services delivered. Some of the increased cost comes in the form of medical error kept confidential […]

A SCOTUS Victory For Pill Mill Doctors

I originally posted about this argument before SCOTUS in March here: Physician Liability for #OUD (Arguments in Ruan v. US) The High Court ruled in favor of the pill mill prescribers, setting aside their 25 year prison sentences. “After a defendant produces evidence that he or she was authorized to dispense controlled substances, the government […]

“CVS Health intentionally prevented certain Medicare beneficiaries from accessing less expensive, generic prescriptions…”

The Forbes report is here: Report: Whistleblower accuses CVS of “calculated and widespread” drug pricing scheme targeting elderly patients

Papers, Please.

It’s my body and my health so why can’t I be the legal owner of my medical record? This important question was debated during a series of webinars run by The BMJ on patient access to medical records. Ownership and maintenance of medical records is a thorny problem in the era of electronic health records. Computer and […]

The Companies Making Billions Off The Opioid Epidemic Want You To Know They Are (Really) Sorrry (Really)

“While our intent was not to fuel the epidemic, we failed to recognize the broader context of what was going on in society around us,” said Bob Sternfels, who assumed his role as global managing partner leading the 38,000-employee firm in July 2021. “That’s why we have new protocols and policies in place to prevent […]

Florida Tenet officials say that the systems “are coming back and patient worries are preposterous.”

The link to the story from Palm Beach County is here: Patients express concern over Tenet Health’s potential malpractice Rather than trying to sum it up, allow me to let the story speak for itself. It is one more example of how patients are treated as simple objects or vehicles for the health system to […]

No Trust, No Health

New studies yield data confirming black skepticism of healthcare services quality. Lack of trust is based upon experience. According to a new report, the majority of black adults have had at least one negative experience with a healthcare provider. But young black women are particularly likely to report a harmful interaction during routine health care. […]