As The Boss, Bruce Springsteen, famously observed, “They tempt you, Sir, with silver. They tempt you, Sir, with gold. They tempt you with the pleasures that the flesh does surely hold.” Temptation is all around us and healthcare providers are no more immune to it than the rest of us. As if we needed any more reminders that those we entrust with our healthcare are human and subject to all the frailties of the human soul, we see these stories from the news.
A Massachusetts doctor has agreed to plead guilty to defrauding Medicare of over $35M for genetic testing she never performed.
Columbia University and New York-Presbyterian Hospital will pay $750M to settle claims arising out of sexual abuse of patients by former OB/GYN Robert Hadden. Hadden was convicted of sexual assault and sentenced to 20 years in federal prison.
A night shift nurse in Florida has been charged with repeatedly pushing an elderly patient to the floor and causing injuries.
A Michigan doctor was convicted of illegally distributing Oxycodone and Oxymorphone. He prescribed over 200,000 of the opiod pills.
An Arkansas physician has been accused of rape, sexual assault and possession of child pornography.
A VA doctor in Massachusetts has been charged with possession of child sex abuse materials.
A Pennsylvania physician is facing charges that he used patient identities to write opiod prescriptions for himself.
A Neonatal Intensive Care nurse in Virginia, already charged with harming babies in the unit, is facing more charges.
A Pennsylvania doctor was convicted of conspiracy and Medicare fraud for forcing patients who wanted prescriptions for narcotics to accept “goody bags” of other drugs they didn’t want and didn’t need. The “goody bags” were distributed by a pharmacy the doctor owned and controlled. The pharmacy billed Medicare for the drugs in the bags.
A Kentucky doctor has pleaded guilty to administering misbranded and unapproved weight loss drugs at a weight loss clinic.
A North Carolina doctor is facing charges of secret peeping and child exploitation after allegedly placing a secret camera in a bathroom.
An Ohio physician pleaded guilty to defrauding Medicare of over $14M in unnecessary durable medical equipment and lab tests.
A Massachusetts doctor on trial for killing his wife and throwing her body in a pond testified on the witness stand that he acted in self-defense after she hit him in the head with a glass.
A Hawaii anesthesiologist was hiking with his wife when she alleges he began pushing her toward a cliff edge and attempting to inject her with a syringe. When the attempted injection was unsuccessful, he began hitting her in the head with a rock. She screamed and fell to the ground. Other hikers came to investigate and the doctor ran away. Police apprehended him later in the day after a brief chase.
A Massachusetts traveling nurse was sentenced to prison for tampering with morphine vials at the rehabilitation facilities she was assigned to. She apparently was addicted to morphine and, after taking some from a vial, would replace it with water or saline.
A Pennsylvania physician was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to “terrorizing” the family of her former boyfriend’s new love interest.
A New York nurse was sentenced to jail after stealing a patient’s credit card and using it to rack up more than $2,000 in charges for clothing, food and gas.
A Washington state doctor has been charged with accepting bribes to give truck drivers passing physicals in spite of the presence of disqualifying conditions.
Three doctors and a hospital in Colorado have agreed to pay the federal government $650,000 to settle claims that they gave out inappropriate prescriptions, including for opioids.
Sadly, I could go on and on, but by now you get the picture. In dealing with healthcare providers, keep in mind that they are human and let that thought guide you. Remember, just because a doctor says it, doesn’t make it true.
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