From the news item: …Pharma companies are not legally bound to sell patients the best treatment, but they are obliged to provide profit for shareholders. Between 2009 and 2014, the industry received fines totalling $13bn for criminal behaviour that included illegal marketing of drugs, hiding data on harms and manipulation of results. As pointed out […]
Canada: ‘Unexplained losses’ of opioids on the rise in Canadian hospitals
From the Maclean’s article: …Health Canada data obtained by CityNews through an Access to Information request reveal between 2010 and September 2017, opioids went missing from Canadian hospitals 5,689 times and the quantities varied from a few tablets to packs of 100 pills. The highly addictive and potent fentanyl is disappearing from Canadian hospitals at […]
Opinion: Why an insurer invites mandatory fraud reporting (Canada)
From the Canadian Underwriter opinion piece: …Aviva released Thursday Crash, Cash and Backlash: Aviva Fraud Report 2017, which includes results of a survey in which two in three respondents said they “feel that cracking down on fraud would reduce their current auto insurance premiums.” That survey is based on interviews of 1,502 Canadians conducted in October by Pollara […]
UK — Dental fraud due to ‘discredited contract’
From the Dentistry News item: …‘Genuine fraud must be exposed, but we are working under a discredited contract system that breeds confusion. ‘Put 10 NHS dentists in a room and you’ll get nearly half a dozen different views on how to claim for a treatment. ‘It’s an insane system, and not even officials can navigate […]
U.K. — ‘Despicable’ fraud costs NHS in England £1bn a year
From the bbc news item: …The two biggest single areas of fraud were related to patients and procurement of good and services, both of which was likely to cost the NHS in excess of £200m a year each, according to Ms Frith. She said patient fraud included cases where people wrongly claimed for exemptions for […]
UK: NHS trust hit by cyber attack cancels operations
From the Independent news article: As of Saturday morning, the trust described the entire IT system as “down” and put out an emergency phone number for staff to use over the bank holiday weekend. Dr Jane Burns, medical director for NHS Lanarkshire’s acute division, asked patients not to attend hospitals “unless it is essential”. Read […]
UK: Anonymous hacker says they stole 1.2 million NHS patients’ data
From the Graham Cluley piece: An unknown hacker who says they are associated with Anonymous claims to have exploited unpatched software vulnerabilities in swiftQueue’s software to steal a database containing 11 million records, including the passwords and personal data (names, birth dates, phone numbers, and email addresses) of 1.2 million NHS patients. Read more at […]
US — Florida Doctor Sentenced On 162 Counts Of Health Care Fraud
From the Insurance News Net item: Ona M. Colasante, 60, a physician who formerly practiced in Gainesville, was sentenced Friday afternoon to 12 months in prison and ordered to pay a $1,134,000 fine and more than $1 million in restitution after being convicted on May 2, 2016, of 162 counts of health care fraud. As […]
U.K. — Newcastle hospitals chief sacked for gross misconduct
From the Guardian news article: The longest-serving NHS hospital boss has been sacked for gross misconduct and is being investigated by the service’s internal anti-fraud police. Sir Leonard Fenwick was dismissed by the board of Newcastle upon Tyne hospitals foundation trust after 39 years for misconduct involving “inappropriate behaviour, use of resources and a range of governance issues”. The […]
US: Physician Gets 35-Year Sentence for Massive Medicare Fraud
From the Medscape news item: If he had pulled off his escape plan, Jacques Roy, MD, might be living in Canada or France now under the alias of Michel Poulin, subsisting off millions in ill-gotten gains, according to federal prosecutors. Instead, a federal judge in Dallas last week sentenced the 60-year-old physician from Rockwall, Texas, […]
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