From the BBC news article: …A trawl through the list of Axact UK buyers, seen by the BBC, reveals various NHS clinical staff, including an ophthalmologist, nurses, a psychologist, and numerous consultants also bought fake degrees. A consultant at a London teaching hospital bought a degree in internal medicine from the fake Belford University in […]
OPinion: Finance trumps patients at every level – UK healthcare needs an inquiry
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 […]
U.S. — Physicians Charged with Healthcare Fraud, Identity Theft in PR
From the HealthIT Security news item: A District of Puerto Rico Federal Grand Jury charged the owner of a durable medical equipment company and three physicians with multiple counts of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, healthcare fraud and aggravated identity theft. The defendants reportedly “conspired with each other and with other individuals known and unknown to […]
U.S. — Service Provider’s Crimes Caused Patients’ Deaths
From the FBI news release: …Rafael Chikvashvili, a 69-year-old Baltimore resident, owned Alpha Diagnostics, a company that provided portable X-rays and other examinations to patients primarily in nursing homes and retirement communities in the Maryland area. Beginning in 1997, Chikvashvili conspired with others to defraud Medicare, Medicaid, and other insurers in a variety of ways, […]
Spain — Grieving father sues homeopath ‘who said his son’s cancer could be cured with vitamins’
From the news item: Mario was a 21-years-old physics student when he was diagnosed with leukaemia and doctors recommended a bone marrow transplant and a course of chemotherapy. However, he feared the effects of chemotherapy and was, according to Julián, “convinced” by Mr Llorente, president of the Spanish Association of Orthomolecular Nutrition, into a homeopathic ‘orthomolecular treatment’. Mr Llorente […]
U.S. — Collection lawyer takes mail fraud plea, admits diverting $1.2M in payments from medical client
From the news item: …The 64-year-old founding partner of Gallas & Schultz admitted that he had diverted more than $1.2 million in payments intended for then-client St. Luke’s Health System to the law firm’s operating account between 2009 and 2015, according to the Kansas City Business Journal and the Kansas City Star. He also agreed […]
Canada — Two firefighters sued by union for allegedly misappropriating portions of WSIB awards
From the news item: The claim says the pair, while helping firefighters’ relatives with occupational disease compensation cases on behalf of the union, convinced families to redirect up to 12 per cent of their settlements to the two men instead of donating the money to the association. The association donations were to be used to […]
N.Z. — Dishonesty costs you and me (From insurance fraud to tax dodges, the figures add up.)
From the New Zealand Herald opinion piece: With health insurance the problem is both fraud by customers, and medical providers that think it’s okay to bump up the bill to the health insurer. You and I pay for their greed. ACC’s fraud investigations add up to more than $18 million a year in recoveries and […]
Financial literacy declines with age, confidence to make decisions doesn’t
From the Texas Tech University media release: A new study shows the ability of Americans to manage their money may decrease after they reach retirement age, but confidence in their ability to make good financial decisions stays the same. The study, authored by Department of Personal Financial Planning professors Michael Finke and Sandra Huston of Texas […]
U.S. — Mental Health Fraud Exacts High Human and Financial Costs
From the American Journal of Managed Care opinion piece: …Consider a couple of illustrative cases. A CMHC operator in Louisiana and a CMHC patient recruiter in Texas were imprisoned for their roles in a multimillion-dollar Medicare fraud scheme. In Baton Rouge the recruiter invited beneficiaries to attend PHP programs knowing the patients didn’t need psychotherapy […]
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