Category: Yellow Pages

Yellow Pages

Chiropractic News Around the World. The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

 

 

Healthcare Fraud Sends Three to Jail

GEORGIA: An orthopedic surgeon and chiropractor from metro Atlanta are among a group sentenced to federal prison for a $3 million health-care fraud scam in late November.

Chiropractor, Dr. Arthur Hargraves, 67, of Douglasville, got three years and five months in prison. Dr. Daniel Puffenberger, 52, of Kissimmee, Fla., was sentenced to three years and months in prison.

Orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Howard Berkowitz, 58, of Atlanta got a sentence of one year and six months in prison, because he accepted responsibility prior to trial, and also assisted the government in the prosecution of the case. Berkowitz has already re-paid the entire $2.5 million restitution owed to the insurance company.

Berkowitz, Hargraves and Puffenberger operated a group of back pain clinics in North Georgia and Tennessee known as the Associated Spinal Care Network (ASCN). The three defendants were convicted of running a fraud scheme involving ASCN’s billing for a back pain procedure known as Vertebral Axial Decompression, or “VAX-D,” which is a non-invasive back pain procedure that uses a mechanical table to stretch a patient’s spine. Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Georgia considered VAX-D to be investigational and not medically necessary, and made clear to health-care providers that it did not cover the procedure.

ASCN, at the direction of Berkowitz, Hargraves, and Puffenberger, nevertheless, billed Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Georgia for more than $3 million relating to the VAX-D procedure from 2001, through 2005.

Berkowitz, Hargraves, and Puffenberger were convicted of having lied to Blue Cross about what procedures ASCN was performing in order to get paid for this non-covered procedure. Instead of using the specific billing code assigned to VAX-D, ASCN used a different code that pertained to surgical nerve decompression procedures. The defendants used that code because they knew Blue Cross would pay for it, and would not pay for VAX-D.

Atlanta Business Chronicle

 

Chiropractor Sentenced for Overbilling

CALIFORNIA: A chiropractor from Los Gatos has been sentenced to two years in prison. 42-year-old Robert Demarco pleaded guilty in May to multiple charges of overbilling insurance companies. Demarco owns the Chiropractic Lifecenter of Los Gatos and had been accused of submitting more than $250,000 in bills to insurance companies between 2004 and 2007 for work he did not do.

Nick Muyo of the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office says it was Demarco’s patients who tipped off prosecutors. They reported items on their statements that were not included in their treatment, which was covered by their insurance companies.

Silicon Valley News

 

Chiropractor’s Case Ends in Mistrial

CALIFORNIA: Jury deliberations ended with a mistrial on November 7 in the criminal case of chiropractor Wilmer Origel, who stands accused of performing illegal procedures, over billing insurance companies and money laundering. Jurors deciding the fate of Origel, 48, couldn’t reach a unanimous decision after several days of deliberating, a clerk for the San Joaquin County Superior Court said. The trial began Aug. 19.

The Modesto man faces a prison term on charges stemming from his chain of Med-1 Medical Centers in the Central Valley. He operated one out of his clinic on Wilson Way in Stockton until his 2005.

Prosecutors tried Origel on 11 felony counts. The central charge was that he performed “a controversial procedure called manipulation under anesthetics in which patients are briefly anesthetized to avoid painful adjustments.”

Origel appeared in court again on Nov. 20, at which time prosecutors announced they will not retry Origel.

The Stockton Record

 

Former Maine Chiropractor Sentenced in Tax Case

MAINE: A former Maine chiropractor is going to prison for two years for health care fraud and tax evasion. At his sentencing in late October in federal court in Portland, 53-year-old Steven Amato was also fined $10,000 and ordered to pay restitution of $100,000 to insurance companies.

Until 2005, Amato operated the Center for Alternative Healing in Damariscotta. He now lives in California.

Amato pleaded guilty in June to one count of health care fraud and three counts of income tax evasion. Prosecutors say that during a four-year period, Amato underreported his income by a total of more than $840,000.

He also allegedly submitted false insurance claims for patient visits that never occurred or that exaggerated the time he spent with patients.

SunJournal.com

Yellow Page

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Bill Would Let Chiropractors Work on Animals

NEBRASKA: Fido could get chiropractic treatment under a bill advanced by state lawmakers.

The bill (LB463) from Sen. Cap Dierks of Ewing would let a chiropractor or other therapist treat an animal. Lawmakers say the bill came about after several chiropractors got cease-and-desist orders, telling them not to practice on animals.

Dierks says he’s seen chiropractic work on dogs with disk problems and nervous horses that are in pain.

The bill won first-round approval in early April. It also permits civil penalties against those who engage in unauthorized veterinary practice.

The Associated Press

 

 

Retired U.S. Army General Officer (G.O.) Becky Halstead, First Female Grad of West Point Promoted to G.O. and Veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, Speaks Out for
Chiropractic Care

CALIFORNIA: The Foundation for Chiropractic Progress (www.yes2chiropractic.org), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to increasing public awareness of chiropractic, announced that Retired U.S. Army General Officer (G.O.) Becky Halstead has agreed to serve as its spokesperson and share with the public her positive experiences with chiropractic care. Halstead served 27 years with the United States Army, is the first female in U.S. history to command in combat at the strategic level by commanding the highest level organization for logistics (3rd Corps Support Command) in the Combat Theater of Iraq, and is a recipient of the 2007 national Women’s History Project Generations of Women Moving History Forward.

Halstead says that the hands-on, active care of doctors of chiropractic and their advice on a healthy lifestyle are essential to our military men and women.

Halstead explains that a chiropractor “… allows me to be part of the solution and encourages me to be part of my own wellness plan. One of the greatest emotions in the world is relief, and that is exactly what my chiropractor provides me—a tremendous amount of relief from my pain.”

“It is both an honor and pleasure to welcome General Halstead as a supporter,” says Kent S. Greenawalt, president of the Foundation. “Halstead exemplifies extraordinary service to this nation, and her participation as a spokesperson is a compelling message to professionals and patients, alike.”

www.yes2chiropractic.org

 

Jurors Find No Evidence of Neglect in Suit against
Community Chiropractic Center

TEXAS: A woman who sought a neck adjustment then turned and sued the chiropractor for “unwanted, intrusive contact,” left the Jefferson County courthouse empty handed Wednesday, April 15, as a jury found no negligence on the chiropractor’s part.

As the Record has reported, LaDonna Burge—who claimed she had an adjustment done “against her will”—filed suit in June 2007 against Dr. Scott Kerr, owner of the Community Chiropractic Center, and his colleague Dr. Ken Arola.

Before performing an adjustment, Drs. Kerr and Arola requested that Burge obtain permission from her surgeon. When the surgeon gave her the green light, Kerr and Arola consented to the adjustment and Burge submitted to two sessions in early December 2006.

A few months later, Burge, the receptionist for Community Chiropractic, filed a lawsuit against the chiropractic center, Kerr and Arola in Jefferson County, claiming the adjustments were performed “against her will” and had worsened her already traumatized neck.

During opening statements, plaintiff’s attorney Mike Pierce said Arola failed to exercise good judgment by consenting to Burge’s requested adjustment and is, therefore, negligent.

The plaintiff argued that a prudent chiropractor would know that an adjustment on someone who had recently undergone spinal surgery should not be done until the fused vertebrae were solid—which can take up to one year. However, court documents show Community Chiropractic Center professionals did X-ray Burge and determined that the fused vertebrae were solid before performing the adjustment.

But jurors found no evidence that Dr. Arola was negligent, and awarded Burge nothing.

www.setexasrecord.com/news/

 

Simsbury Chiropractor Gets Six Weeks in Jail for Fraud

CONNECTICUT: Eugene Bolognese, a Simsbury chiropractor, pleaded guilty Jan. 22 to a single count of health care fraud, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

From August 2005 to December 2007, Bolognese employed two physicians in his practice and used their provider numbers to file claims for services on days they did not work. The fraudulent claims, Bolognese admitted, amounted to $573,036.

The government asked for a prison sentence of 30 to 37 months to penalize Bolognese for his conduct and to set an example. Bolognese’s attorneys argued for no prison. They said his conduct was a result of his poor business management skills and his reliance on someone else to do his billing. They also claimed a prison sentence would harm his young children and his patients, and diminish his ability to make restitution.

Prosecutors objected to U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton’s sentence of six weeks. Bolognese will also be on probation for three years after his release.

Bolognese, in addition to agreeing to make restitution to Blue Cross and Blue Shield, has agreed to sell the building that housed another of his businesses and to turn that money over to the government go toward restitution.

Bolognese, 37, has also placed his home on the market to cover the restitution. He’s asking $1.049 million.

Courant.com

Yellow Page

Indio Chiropractor Accused of Sexually Assaulting Patients

CALIFORNIA: A chiropractor who practices in Indio was arrested in mid February on suspicion of sexually assaulting patients while performing medical examinations. Stuart Greenwood, 58, of Apple Valley, was arrested without incident at his office, said Indio police spokesman Ben Guitron. His arrest followed an investigation by Indio police and the California State Board of Chiropractic Examiners into four reports of sexual assaults allegedly committed by Greenwood, Guitron said. Indio police Detective Eric Longoria, who prepared the declaration, said the first alleged victim reported she saw Greenwood on June 7, 2006 at his Indio office for a neck injury. Greenwood allegedly told the woman she may “have another problem aside from the neck injury, and walked outside of the room, as if seeing if anybody was watching.” He then allegedly touched her inappropriately, but she stopped him and asked what he was doing, Longoria wrote. The second report involved a June 27, 2006, incident involving an employee who worked at Greenwood’s office, according to the detective. The employee said she was feeling pain in her back and asked the chiropractor to examine her, Longoria said. The woman told the detective that Greenwood asked her to take off her clothes and put on a robe. During the examination, Greenwood allegedly told the woman he was going to check her for a yeast infection and then touched her inappropriately. The woman said that when she asked him to stop Greenwood allegedly told her it was part of the examination. He again touched her inappropriately, officials said, adding that he claimed the touching would “make your back problems go away.” Greenwood also asked the employee out on a date and made numerous comments about her having sex with him, which she declined, according to Longoria. my desert.com

 

Chiropractor Pleads Not Guilty in Killing of 79-year-old Stamford Man

CONNECTICUT: Florida chiropractor William Lindemann was arrested and charged with the beating death of an elderly Connecticut man on January 27, 2009. The 47-year-old Lindemann was taken into custody by police in Naples, Florida, on February 20, 2009. Authorities say Lindemann attacked 79-year-old Herbert Davidson in a Stamford, Connecticut, parking garage. Lindemann was initially charged with first-degree assault. The charge was upgraded following the death of Herbert Davidson. Lindemann pleaded not guilty to both charges in state Superior Court in Stamford. He was released on $1 million bail and was forced to surrender his passport. Police believe Lindemann killed Davidson with one punch, knocking him to the ground and causing severe brain injuires. Davidson spent more than three weeks in a coma before succumbing to his injuries on Sunday, February 22. In 1997, Lindemann was indicted on fraud charges after a federal investigation in Brooklyn, N.Y., linked him to insurance schemes involving organized crime figures, according to published reports. In the schemes, insurance was collected for patient visits that never took place or for treatments never given, and medical information was provided for false claims in lawsuits. According to information on the Web site of the New York state Office of the Professions, Lindemann’s license was suspended in 2001 for 24 months, and he was placed on probation for three years. Lindemann admitted to having been convicted of seven counts of felony mail fraud, according to the Web site. Davidson raised five children in Stamford and had seven grandchildren, his son said. He lived in Stamford for nearly 40 years and spent his career as an engineer in the defense industry. http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/ci_11792190

 

Chiropractor and Patient Settle Lawsuit over Stroke

CANADA: More than seven years after Les Limage was paralyzed by a stroke, a lawsuit against a chiropractor who adjusted his neck has quietly been settled. “It’s finally over for them. They can rest now,’’ Limage’s lawyer, Amani Oakley, said of Limage and his wife. A gag order imposed as part of the settlement means she can’t reveal any details. Limage and his wife, Florence, who now live in Cambridge, were suing Waterloo chiropractor George Hickson for over $5 million. The trial was to start in late March in Superior Court in Kitchener. But a meeting between the parties resulted in the settlement just prior. In his statement of claim, Limage alleged the stroke he suffered on Dec. 5, 2001, was caused by a neck adjustment Hickson had performed several days earlier. Limage, then 66, first visited Hickson in late November, complaining of hip pain. It was during his third visit that Hickson manipulated Limage’s neck. Both the statement of claim and the statement of defense contain allegations that have not been proven in court. Because the case never got to trial, the allegations will remain just that. It’s almost certain a trial would have put the controversy over the safety of chiropractic treatment in the spotlight again. Critics say that, although rare, neck adjustments are risky and can result in strokes. Chiropractors maintain they are safe. “This was an extremely stressful period of their lives,’’ Oakley said. “Les, in particular, this was very hard on him.’’ TheRecord.com

The Good The Bad And The Ugly

Tax Evasion—Not a Good Idea

MAINE: A Bangor chiropractor pleaded guilty recently in U.S. District Court to tax evasion one week before his jury trial was scheduled to begin. Dr. Richard J. Thomas, 64, was indicted more than three years ago on six counts of tax evasion between 1995 and 2001.

In a plea agreement with prosecutors, Thomas admitted to evading paying federal income taxes in 2001. The counts covering the previous years are expected to be dropped after the chiropractor is sentenced.

Thomas also agreed to waive his right to appeal the sentence if it does not exceed 18 months.

The chiropractor could be ordered to pay back taxes for all six years. Assistant U.S. Attorney James McCarthy estimated that Thomas owed between $200,000 and $400,000 in back taxes.

Thomas is free to dispute that figure at his sentencing hearing, U.S. District Court Judge John Woodcock told him.

In pleading guilty, Thomas conceded that the government would be able to prove he did not have a “good faith basis” for refusing to file federal tax returns or pay taxes. In addition, the chiropractor admitted using a number of deceptive techniques to attempt to dupe the government, according to court documents.

Bangor Daily News

 

Health Care Fraud Doesn’t Pay

CONNECTICUT: The owner of a chiropractic business in Simsbury pleaded guilty in late January in federal court in New Haven to health care fraud, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Eugene Bolognese, 36, of Teachers Turn, Simsbury, waived his right to an indictment and entered his plea before Judge Janet Bond Arterton, acting U.S. Attorney Nora R. Dannehy said.

According to Dannehy, Bolognese at various times employed two physicians in his chiropractic practice. Bolognese submitted fraudulent claims to Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield using the physicians’ provider numbers. The claims were for services and procedures purportedly rendered by the physicians on days when the physicians were not at the office.

Dannehy said Bolognese admitted receiving $573,036 as a result of this scheme, and he has agreed to pay restitution in this amount to Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

Bolognese faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a fine of as much as $250,000.

Hartfort Courant

 

Two Patients of Corte Madera Chiropractor Seek Refunds in Small Claims Court

CALIFORNIA: Two former patients took a Corte Madera chiropractor to small claims court in late January, alleging false advertising and scare tactics and demanding refunds.

Chiropractor Donald Harte denied the allegations, calling the hearing a “malicious show.”

Gertrude West of Larkspur said Harte lured her into his practice with false advertising, used scare tactics to get her to sign a long-term contract and refused to refund her money when her condition failed to improve.

Victoria Pollock-Grasso of Tiburon objected to Harte charging her a $559 administrative fee when she decided to stop receiving adjustments from him. Grasso said she stopped seeing Harte because an orthopedist she went to for a second opinion informed her she had degenerative disc disease in her cervical spine and that Harte’s manipulation of her neck could cause her to have a stroke.

Most of the hearing focused on West, who is seeking a full refund of the more than $6,000 she paid Harte since beginning treatments in March 2008. West, 76, said Harte attracted her into his care with a “misleading” ad that appeared in a local weekly newspaper. She said Harte also miscalculated what she owes him and overcharged her by $353.

In the ad, Harte stated that patients had come to him with a long list of symptoms. West was seeking relief from painful arthritic knees. A surgical partial replacement of one knee in 2005 had not improved her condition.

The California Board of Chiropractic Examiners, which regulates chiropractors in California, notified Harte in 2004 that a similar ad violated state regulations and ordered him to stop using it. Harte responded by launching a counterattack against the board’s enforcement officers. He asserted the board was persecuting him and other “straight” chiropractors.

West said she took advantage of a “special offer” that Harte made to new patients. For $47, she received an examination, spinal X-ray and a “neurological scan.”

West said Harte told her that the X-rays revealed severe spinal degeneration of her neck and low back.

“I see now that these statements were nothing but scare tactics designed to induce me to sign the contract,” she said.

West said Harte told her he wouldn’t treat her unless she signed a long-term contract, so she paid $6,354 in advance for 100 visits. But when her knee pain failed to improve after 49 visits over four months, West decided to stop the treatments and requested a partial refund.

West said Harte refused, asserting that she violated a clause in her contract that requires “general adherence to the proposed schedule of care, and home care,” because she interrupted her treatments with several weeks of vacation.

Marin Independent Journal

Yellow Page

MICHIGAN: The preparation to burn his chiropractic office will cost a Jonesville man five years of probation.

James L. Steveson, 37, was sentenced after being found guilty by a jury of preparing to burn property worth $20,000 or more.

Hillsdale County Circuit Court Judge Michael Smith said the only reason Steveson was not going to prison was because he had no prior offenses; however, he will continue serving a 12 month jail sentence.

Steveson will also have to pay approximately $51,000 in restitution for damages caused by the fire on June 31 in the Chiropractic Health Clinic of Jonesville.

Hillsdale Daily News

 

Parties Settle Libel Lawsuit over Yelp Review

CALIFORNIA: A San Francisco chiropractor, Steven Biegel, and his former patient, Christopher Norberg, have settled a libel lawsuit arising out of a bad review that Norberg posted on Yelp.

The case appears to mark the first time that a Yelp user was sued for defamation for posting a bad review. Some observers had warned that the lawsuit could scare consumers from posting negative reviews on sites like the fast-growing Yelp.

Norberg posted a brief statement on his Web site, standforspeech.com, which he launched to inform people about the lawsuit. “A misunderstanding between both parties led us to act out of hand,” he wrote after the case was resolved through mediation.

Norberg’s original review, written in November of 2007, complained of a billing matter. He said that he expected a bill for $125, but was instead sent a $500 bill. “He couldn’t give me a straight answer as to why the jump in price,” Norberg wrote. He also reported that he later found “a much better, honest chiropractor.”

Biegel alleged in his lawsuit that the post defamed him by suggesting that he was dishonest.

In the statement posted recently, Norberg said he “should have remained open” to Biegel’s concerns. “Both Dr. Biegel and I strongly believe in a person’s right to express their opinions in a public forum,” he wrote. “We both encourage the internet community to act responsibly.”

It wasn’t clear whether Norberg also paid any monetary damages to Biegel.

Mediapost.com

 

Study Links Chiropractic Care with Reduction
of Blood Pressure.

ILLINOIS: Researchers at the Hypertension Center at the University of Chicago Medical Center are reporting stunning reductions in the blood pressure of patients afflicted with hypertension following simple and painless chiropractic care.

In the study, published in the March 2, 2007, issue of The Journal of Human Hypertension and featured on WebMD, fifty patients with hypertension were divided into two groups of 25 each. One group of 25 received a specific light force chiropractic adjustment (administered by a chiropractor) to the atlas vertebra. The other group of 25 received a similar procedure but with no adjustment being given. Researchers called this procedure the “sham adjustment.” Since the type of adjustment given was very light force, the patients involved in this study did not know if they were receiving the real or sham adjustments.

After 8 weeks of care, the 25 people in the group receiving the real chiropractic adjustments all showed a significant reduction in blood pressure compared to the group that received the sham adjustment. Those patients who got the real adjustment showed an average of 14 mm Hg greater drop in systolic blood pressure and an average of 8 mm Hg greater drop in diastolic blood pressure over those who got the fake or sham adjustment.

X-rays confirmed that the chiropractic adjustments actually changed the position of the atlas vertebra among those in the study group.

The study leader reported that the procedure had the effect of not one, but two blood pressure medications given in combination. And, his team reported no side effects whatsoever from the adjustment.

PGFreePress.com

 

Chiropractor Gets Prison for Fraud

GEORGIA: A Norcross, GA, chiropractor was sentenced to prison in mid-January for health-care fraud and possession with intent to distribute testosterone.

Stephen Catterton, 39, got three years and one month, must pay $1.3 million in restitution and must perform 300 hours of community service.

In 1998, Catterton opened two chiropractic clinics in Norcross. In 2006, the FBI began a criminal investigation into his activities for the submission of false claims to federal and private health insurance companies.

The FBI found that, between June 2001 and December 2006, Catterton billed in excess of $3 million, and was paid in excess of $1.2 million from various health-care benefit programs for services he never performed or provided. In some instances, billing codes for more advanced procedures were used when patients really only received massages. Catterton modified the billings for the services that were actually performed to maximize his reimbursement from the insurance companies.

When agents executed a search warrant on Catterton’s business in October 2006, they seized bottles of injectable testosterone, typically used for anti-aging and hormone replacement therapy. Catterton was not licensed to distribute such materials.

Atlanta Business Chronicle

Chiropractic News Around the World. The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Blind Man Sees Again

NEW YORK: Doug Harkey—a Dubuque, Iowa, man whose left eye suddenly stopped working 12 years ago—thought he was making a routine visit to his chiropractor. But, the results of his “normal” adjustment left Doug with new-found vision while leaving friends, family and some in the medical community speechless. However, a local chiropractor, Dr. Robert Wrieden of Norwich, is quick to credit his colleague from the Hawkeye State and the power of the human body.

Harkey’s miracle began to unfold following his visit to the chiropractic offices of Dr. Tim Stackis. “My blind eye started watering after I left there and it watered for 45 minutes straight. It started making my good eye water. I went to wipe my right eye – and I could see out of my left eye again,” said Harkey. Dr. Stackis told his patient that the adjustments that he had been receiving alleviated the nerve interference that had prevented his spinal column from properly communicating messages from his brain. Once full communication was restored, so was Harkey’s sight.

“It is important to note that Dr. Stackis never once claimed that chiropractic care cured this man’s blindness,” added Dr. Robert Wrieden. “He just provided quality care. The adjustments eliminated nerve interference that had prohibited the human body from operating at peak efficiency. And, when operating at peak efficiency, the human body can do great things—just ask Doug Harkey,” smiled Robert Wrieden.

As for Harkey, the timing could not be better. He credits Dr. Stackis’ “miracle hands” for the depth perception he had been missing—which helped him navigate his walk down the aisle with new wife Gina last month. The return of his vision, now nearly perfect with the help of corrective lenses, has left the couple with some welcome adjustments. “I’m not quite used to him not running into things or stepping on my feet,” Gina quipped.

 

Former Chiropractor to Serve 4 Years for Fraud

PENNSYLVANIA: A former chiropractor behind a $12.1 million health insurance fraud that federal prosecutors called the largest in western Pennsylvania history was sentenced to repay the money and spend four years in federal prison. Douglas Henderson, 47, recruited dozens of employees and patients at his defunct Burrell Chiropractic Clinic in Lower Burrell and paid most of them tens of thousands of dollars each in kickbacks to file false claims from 1995 to 2002.

The business closed in 2003 and Henderson voluntarily surrendered his chiropractic license in 2004 as he cooperated with federal investigators. In 2000, auditors for Highmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield first raised questions about claims filed by a relatively small pool of people.

“It’s the highest we’ve ever seen in a health care fraud in this district,” Assistant U.S. Attorney James Y. Garrett said of Highmark’s losses.

Henderson’s sentence also includes prison time for evading more than $400,000 in income taxes by failing to report the income.

phillyburbs.com

 

Judge Dismisses Auto Fraud Indictments against Lawyer and Chiropractor

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Lawyers for Lawrence attorney Socrates De La Cruz and Haverhill chiropractor Troy Wheelwright proclaimed they had been exonerated of auto insurance fraud allegations recently after a judge dismissed their April indictments. Superior Court Judge Howard Whitehead threw out the indictments after finding that prosecutors had failed to show probable cause that a crime had been committed.

De La Cruz, 34, of Methuen and Wheelwright, 40, of Amesbury were among eight area people indicted by an Essex County Grand Jury that determined they were part of a conspiracy to stage phony accidents to defraud insurance companies.

The indictments stem from an investigation initiated more than two years ago by the state attorney general’s office, working with detectives of Lawrence’s auto insurance fraud task force and investigators of the Insurance Fraud Bureau of Massachusetts. That probe focused on four separate staged crashes that occurred between October 2002 and February 2003.

Paul Cirel, lawyer for Wheelwright, also noted that Whitehead had allowed the motions to dismiss because there was never any evidence his client and De La Cruz had committed a crime.

eagletribune.com.

 

San Francisco Chiropractor Sues Patient over Negative Online Comments

CALIFORNIA: A billing dispute between a chiropractor and his patient escalated into a lawsuit early in 2008 with the chiropractor accusing the patient of defamation for comments posted about the solo practitioner on an online ratings site, according to court documents. In February, Steven Biegel, DC, filed a complaint in San Francisco Superior Court alleging that comments by his patient, Christopher Norberg, exposed Biegel to “hatred, contempt, ridicule, and obloquy,” according to the suit. Norberg posted his criticism on a San Francisco-based website where consumers can post their reviews of restaurants, bars, hair stylists, physicians, and most other types of businesses.

In the posting, Norberg accuses Biegel of charging him $500 for two chiropractic treatments that he believed were going to cost $125, according to court documents. In Biegel’s suit, he claims Norberg understood the lower fee was only for patients who pay at the time of service, not those who bill the treatment to their insurance.

Biegel reportedly attempted to settle the dispute and asked Norberg to remove the online posting, but was refused.

Chiropractic News Around the World

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Chiropractor Implicated in Conspiracy to sell HGH

LOUISIANA: Two doctors and a businessman in the Arkansas-Louisiana-Mississippi area  face charges of illegally distributing the drug: Human Growth Hormone or HGH. Doctor Linda Bunch, Chiropractor Dallas Humble and businessman Paul Temple pled not guilty to the 22 charges against them. Northeast Louisiana Anti-Aging and Wellness Center in West Monroe was raided by authorities two years ago. A federal indictment says Bunch, Humble, and Temple illegally imported HGH from China and then sold it to patients. The trio is charged with conspiring to distribute the drugs. The attorneys say their clients are innocent. “We’re going to maintain our innocence now until the cows come home and when you’re innocent you should be found not guilty and they’ve got the burden of proof and we want to see them prove it,” said Bob Noel who represents Dallas Humble. If convicted the trio faces up to thirty years in prison, thousands of dollars in fines. Bunch could also lose her medical license. They are all awaiting an August 12th teleconference with the court which will set up a pre trial date. All three will remain free until a trial, but they cannot travel out of Northeast Louisiana without the court’s permission.
Source: myarklamiss.com

New Health Reform Law Claim Denial Appeal Book Announced for
Healthcare Providers to Comply with New PPACA Deadline – 09/23/2010

ILLINOIS: June 28, 2010 ERISAclaim.com announced the nation’s first new Health Reform Law, PPACA, Claim Denial Appeal CD Book, for healthcare providers to meet the compliance deadline for Sept. 23, 2010, and to appeal claim denials and delays under new Health Reform Law, Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act, PPACA, going into effect on Sept. 23, 2010 for all group health plans and healthcare providers. Since HHS, DOL and IRS released the first set of Interim Final Rules on June 17, 2010, for implementing PPACA by Sept. 23, 2010, all healthcare providers, physicians and hospitals, without PPACA compliance by Sept. 23, 2010, will be found in violation of PPACA with unexpected claim denials by health plans under PPACA. According to the new PPACA Fact Sheet published by DOL, HHS and IRS, new PPACA will cover 193 million people, and PPACA mandates new PPACA (ERISA & NAIC) Appeal Process.
New Health Reform Law, PPACA, Claim Denial Appeal CD Book is published with 9 year success based on ERISAclaim.com’s ERISA Appeal CD Book & System, as the only ERISA Appeal Book for health providers in the country in the past 35 years. The PPACA / ERISA Appeal CD Book is priced at $450 and available now from ERISAclaim.com web site. The healthcare providers who used ERISAclaim’s ERISA CD Book appeal letters have won a recent major federal court decision in the largest historical ERISA provider class action lawsuit with court permission to proceed against almost all Blue Cross and Blue Shield Entities in the now popular overpayment recoupment dispute. The court affirmed all of the ERISA appeal legal points from the actual appeal letters, according to Dr. Jin Zhou, author of the Book and President of ERISAclaim.com.
The Court Case is Pennsylvania Chiropractic Association et al. vs. Blue Cross Blue Shield Association et al., Case #: 1:09-cv-05619, on May 17, 2010. A copy of the federal court ruling is available at:
(http://www.erisaclaim.com/BCBS_Overpayment_%20Class_Action_Opinion.pdf)
A copy of the Press Release from the lead class plaintiff law firm is available at:
(http://insurancenewsnet.com/article.aspx?id=192735&type=newswires)
Dr. Zhou further explained that the SEC. 2719 of PPACA has adopted ERISA claim regulation, in its entirety, the 35 year old ERISA law and the “established process”, for PPACA internal appeal process, and NAIC Review Model as External Appeal Process that is binding for all health plans.
According to Dr. Jin Zhou, his company has been teaching weekly and monthly webinars on PPACA ever since PPACA was enacted on March 23, 2010, attended by professionals from every segment of the industry with great success. There has been strong awareness and demand by hospitals for PPACA compliance by Sept 23, 2010, especially when hospitals are faced with new Medicare fee cut and increasingly disappointing reimbursement by managed care payers.
Dr. Jin Zhou also alerted all healthcare providers that Federal Government, DOL, HHS and IRS have issued new sets of regulations to implement and enforce PPACA, and PPACA federally mandates ERISA appeal process for all group health plans and healthcare providers. More new Federal Regulations are released at DOL and HHS web sites:
“Affordable Care Act Regulations and Guidance” (http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/healthreform/)
As Dr. Zhou noted from DOL, HHS & IRS PPACA Fact Sheet, The New PPACA on Sept. 23, 2010, will cover about 133 million people under self-insured health plans, 43 million under fully insured plans, and 17 million under individual market. A total of 193 million people will be governed under PPACA on Sept. 23, 2010, and an estimated 32 million more will be covered under PPACA by 2014. No hospital can afford to ignore 193 million people’s healthcare coverage and possible reimbursement, said Dr. Jin Zhou.
DOL Fact Sheet: Keeping the Health Plan You Have: The Affordable Care Act and “Grandfathered” Health Plans (U.S. Department of Labor), June 14, 2010
(http://www.healthreform.gov/newsroom/keeping_the_health_plan_you_have.html)
HHS Fact Sheet: The Affordable Care Act’s New Patient’s Bill of Rights (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services), June 22, 2010.

Chiropractic News Around the World

 

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Chiropractor Implicated in Conspiracy to sell HGH

LOUISIANA: Two doctors and a businessman in the Arkansas-Louisiana-Mississippi area  face charges of illegally distributing the drug: Human Growth Hormone or HGH. Doctor Linda Bunch, Chiropractor Dallas Humble and businessman Paul Temple pled not guilty to the 22 charges against them.   Northeast Louisiana Anti-Aging and Wellness Center in West Monroe was raided by authorities two years ago. A federal indictment says Bunch, Humble, and Temple illegally imported HGH from China and then sold it to patients. The trio is charged with conspiring to distribute the drugs. Continue reading “Chiropractic News Around the World”