- FTC alleges anesthesia group celebrated price hikes
- Average tuition for 12 best dental schools in the US
- New York medical society demands physician privileges be protected in Maimonides merger
- 4 hospital, health system layoffs in March
- Texas to lead ibogaine research after pharma proposals fall short
- Advocate plans largest drone delivery network and 2 more supply chain updates
- AI scribes linked to time savings at 5 health systems
- New Hampshire ASC 1st in US to earn new accreditation
- Amgen drug under FDA review in wake of 8 deaths
- Hennepin Healthcare warns of closure without legislative funding
- Hennepin Healthcare warns of closure without legislative funding
- Visa renewal delays sideline physicians at US hospitals
- BayCare residency program size doubles on Match Day gains
- Ohio GI practice acquired
- Health systems rethink innovation
- 8 revenue cycle headlines to know from March
- 8 revenue cycle headlines to know from March
- Court upholds injunction on West Virginia 340B law
- Cyberattack hits Texas hospital
- Cleveland Clinic pilots EHR-integrated AI for inpatient nursing
- Prisma Health plans ASC in Tennessee
- Bill takes aim at ASC, HOPD payment gap
- Ensemble, Cohere building first RCM-native LLM
- Honey Almond Cream Cheese, Sold at Einstein Bros. Bagels, Recalled Due To Undeclared Nuts
- Trump Supports Surgeon General Pick Despite Senate Concerns
- Tennessee orthopedic practice closes abruptly
- 4 health systems back in the black in 2025
- ‘Our stockholders are the members of our community’: Inside Carilion Clinic’s mission-driven margin strategy
- Supreme Court Blocks Colorado Limits on Therapy for LGBTQ Minors
- Antidepressant Might Help Long COVID Fatigue, Study Says
- Home-Delivered Groceries Boost Heart Health In Food Deserts, Study Says
- Nicotine E-Cigarettes Help Smokers Quit, Review Concludes
- Kinesio Taping’s Benefits in Doubt, Major Evidence Review Finds
- High Sodium Intake May Trigger New Heart Failure
- Study Shows BMI Often Gets Your Weight Category Wrong
- Clinicians are burnt out. Peer support can help
- Novo's Wegovy nets cardio nod from UK cost gatekeeper, adding 1M+ eligible patients
- Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act Darkens Outlook for Government-Backed Clinics
- Readers Sound Off on Wage Garnishment, Work Requirements, and More
- CVS Health opens pharmacy-only locations as it rightsizes store footprint
- How Rural Health Systems Are Advancing Cardiac Imaging
- How Rural Health Systems Are Advancing Cardiac Imaging
- Beyond Reimbursement: Why Market Access is MedTech’s Strategic North Star
- Beyond Reimbursement: Why Market Access is MedTech’s Strategic North Star
- Evotec hires exec with AI experience to lead rebooted commercial team
- The Human Side of AI Medical Devices: Why Safety Depends on Design, Not Just Algorithms
- The Human Side of AI Medical Devices: Why Safety Depends on Design, Not Just Algorithms
- Whoop raises $575M series G, Abbott comes on board amid hiring spree
- True ROI of health tech, according to finance leaders
- ‘There isn't as much meat left to cut’: Biopharma layoffs maintain slowdown in Q1
- Where 6 specialty DSOs stand in 2026
- 16 new ASCs in March
- Intermountain joins national trauma, grief network
- Practice closures, new dental schools, DLRs & more: 6 dental updates in New York
- Workforce, patient care, private equity & more: 5 statistics scaring dentists
- American Society of Addiction Medicine updates youth treatment standards
- The shifting oral surgery landscape
- Moody’s upgrades UK King’s Daughters’ credit rating
- Private equity in dentistry has gotten smarter
- 7 DSO leadership changes to know
- University Hospitals swings from loss to 2.6% margin in 2025
- Mark Cuban backs bill to break up vertically integrated insurers
- Lawmakers introduce child suicide prevention bill
- Dental lab group receives private equity investment
- Dental Care Alliance appoints chief revenue officer
- UnitedHealthcare launches Avery, a generative AI companion for members
- 14 behavioral health executive moves to know
- The top-ranked US dental schools in 2026
- Missouri agencies warn of rising nitazene threat
- Only 44% of SUD treatment facilities accept older patients on Medicare: HHS report
- 7 state behavioral health policy updates
- Republicans eye further healthcare cuts: Report
- Uninsured patients drive nearly 40% of healthcare collections: Cedar survey
- FDA flags serious liver injury cases, 8 deaths with ‘reasonable’ link to Amgen's Tavneos
- Novo Nordisk cuts 400 roles at troubled Bloomington site
- Former U.S. Surgeon General Challenges Trump Nominee
- Iterum initiates wind-down after failure to offload antibiotic with sluggish sales
- Listen to the Latest ‘KFF Health News Minute’
- Over 10.2 Million Grill Brushes Recalled Over Metal Bristle Risk
- Sex Enhancement Chocolates Recalled Over Hidden Drug Ingredients
- Short Bursts of Exercise Linked To Lower Risk of Major Diseases
- HHS urges hospitals to align patient menus with updated dietary guidance
- Hartford HealthCare, K Health launch PatientGPT, new AI tool to help patients find health information
- Ensemble partners with Cohere to build first RCM-native large language model
- API supplier BASF raises prices up to 20% in response to rising energy, raw material costs
- Biogen, eyeing swift commercial tailwind, ponies up $5.6B for Apellis and its 2 approved meds
- Cold Weather More Deadly For The Heart Than Heat, Study Finds
- Teens' Sleep Patterns Affect Their Diet, Exercise, Study Says
- 'Watch and Wait' Approach Safe For Women With Precancerous Breast Condition, Trial Finds
- Dental Care Can Help Cirrhosis Patients Avoid Liver Cancer, Hospitalization
- Folks With Clogged Arteries Benefit From Aggressively Lower Cholesterol Goal
- Intermittent Fasting Might Help Manage Female Hormone Imbalance, Trial Shows
- States Pay Deloitte, Others Millions To Comply With Trump Law To Cut Medicaid Rolls
- Trump’s Hunt for Undocumented Medicaid Enrollees Yields Few Violators
- States pay Deloitte, others millions to comply with Trump law to cut Medicaid rolls
- Employer telehealth company eMed raises $200M at $2B valuation
- Insulet hires Stryker vet, reinstating commercial chief role as C-suite overhaul continues
- Texas behavioral health provider launches 6th Austin-area clinic
- New Jersey expands authority for advanced practice nurses
- FDA extends review of Orca Bio’s novel cell therapy for blood cancers
- Nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation sues CMS over AI prior authorization demonstration
- CDRH Guidance: Patient Preference Information (PPI) in Medical Device Decision Making
- CDRH Guidance: Patient Preference Information (PPI) in Medical Device Decision Making
- BSCI’s LAAC CHAMPION-AF study for WATCHMAN FLX meets primary and secondary safety and efficacy endpoints
- BSCI’s LAAC CHAMPION-AF study for WATCHMAN FLX meets primary and secondary safety and efficacy endpoints
- Apple Store to ID Regulated Medical Device Apps
- Apple Store to ID Regulated Medical Device Apps
- CMS: This year's open enrollment brought fewer signups, higher premiums
- Medical Schools No Longer Required To Teach Health Inequities
- Lilly presses for UK deal that would see higher drug prices in exchange for resumed investments: FT
- United plots Tyvaso FDA filing after ph. 3 win elicits talk of 'new IPF standard' and blockbuster sales
- Fluoride Quietly Removed From Birmingham Water Years Ago, Officials Face Backlash
- FDA Weighs Expanding What Can Go Into Supplements
- 9 Now Sickened in Outbreak Tied To Raw Milk and Cheese
- BMS, Novartis, Gilead, Iovance dinged over biologics promos in rare spate of CBER untitled letters
- Nearly half of US hospital markets entirely controlled by 1 or 2 health systems: KFF
- Mental health provider platform Headway acquires team behind AI company Tezi
- Idorsia eyes pediatric insomnia use with midstage trial win for sleep med Quviviq
- Electronic Paperwork Increasing Burnout Risk Among Young Doctors
- Kratom Cases Surging In U.S.
- What Makes Play Fun For Children? Seven Factors Stand Out, Study Says
- Night Shifts Are Tough On People With Type 2 Diabetes, Study Says
- Women's Bone Loss Tied To Heart Health, Study Finds
- Want To Lose Weight? Eat A Boring, Repetitive Diet, Researchers Suggest
- Samsung Biologics union gathers votes to strike as tension over wage, governance mounts
- Takeda begins US layoffs as part of massive $1.3B restructuring
- Biogen looks to shake up SMA status quo with FDA nod for high-dose version of Spinraza
- She Owed Her Insurer a Nickel, So It Canceled Her Coverage
- Inside the High-Stakes Corporate Fight Over Feeding Preterm Babies
- Study Links High Antioxidant Intake To Changes in Offspring Development
- The Healthcare Burnout Backlash (pt 1): Burnout Reaches Well Beyond Clinicians
- The Healthcare Burnout Backlash (pt 1): Burnout Reaches Well Beyond Clinicians
- Even Mild Oxygen Loss in Preemies' First Hours Poses Lifelong Brain Risks: Study
- How the Trump Administration Uses Migrant Kids To Find and Detain Family Members
- Oral GLP-1s, COVID preventatives: 3 more drugs in the pipeline, Optum says payers should watch
- Providence trims 2025 operating loss to $132M, notches second consecutive quarter of gains
- $3M Verdict Links Social Media to Anxiety and Depression
- The White House Delays CDC Pick
- New COVID 'Cicada' Variant Is Spreading — What Experts Want You To Know
- Advocate Health to launch ‘nation’s largest’ hospital drone delivery program in Zipline partnership
- Op-ed: Empathy meets efficiency—how the responsible use of AI can transform Medicare
- Family Caregivers Provide $1 Trillion In Annual Labor, AARP Says
- ‘Health Doesn’t Need to Be Ludacris’: Bayer signs rapper-actor to multivitamin campaign
- Rocket plots measured trajectory for new gene therapy Kresladi after clearance to launch from FDA
- Healthy Lab Results May Mask Future Risks for Kids with Obesity
- At-Home Chemotherapy Is Safe, Feasible, Pilot Study Indicates
- What You Do While Sitting Could Predict Dementia Risk
- New Cholesterol Guidelines: What Patients and Caregivers Need to Know
- Want A Bootlicking Yes Man? Ask An AI Chatbot For Advice, Study Warns
- Give and Take: Federal Rural Health Funding Could Trigger Service Cuts
Leticia Gallarzo of Allegan County has been indicted by a federal grand jury for impersonating a registered nurse while working at an undisclosed hospice facility and nursing home. This appears to be a case of identity theft. Gallarzo has been convicted in Texas on similar charges:
https://www.wlns.com/news/michigan-nurse-impostor-indicted-by-feds-for-fraud/
Michigan nurse ‘impostor’ indicted by feds for fraud
By Skyler Ashley - September 27, 2023GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WLNS) — A woman from Allegan County has been indicted on several federal charges after allegedly posing as a registered nurse to defraud employers.
Mark Totten, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan, announced Wednesday that Leticia Gallarzo, 48, has been indicted by a federal grand jury for several charges, including wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, making false statements in medical records, and production of a false identification document.
Gallarzo faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for wire fraud and two years mandatory imprisonment for aggravated identity theft if convicted. She was previously indicted for similar charges in Texas.
The indictment alleges Gallarzo used the Michigan licensing number and the name of a person licensed as a nurse to obtain employment as a registered nurse at two different locations: a nursing home and a hospice facility.
According to the indictment, she did not possess a valid nursing license or a degree of any kind in nursing, despite claiming she had a master’s degree in nursing from George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Davenport University.
The hospice facility discovered Gallarzo’s fingerprints matched other fingerprints that were on record due to her previous state and federal convictions for practicing nursing without a license in Texas in 2015 and 2016. She was then arrested by Michigan State Police.
“As alleged in this case, the defendant recklessly and willingly put the lives of innocent patients at risk,” said Cheyvoryea Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Michigan.
Woman admits to stealing Michigan nurse’s identity in scheme to get medical job
By Bradley Massman | November 07, 2023GRAND RAPIDS, MI – A West Michigan woman has admitted to stealing and using another person’s identity in order to get a job as a licensed registered nurse, federal prosecutors said.
It’s not the first time, either, that 49-year-old Leticia Gallarzo is in trouble for practicing nursing without a license.
Gallarzo, of Allegan County, pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday, Nov. 7, to single counts of aggravated identity theft and making a false statement in a medical record affecting a health care benefit program.
The identity theft charge carries a mandatory two-year prison sentence which must be served before any sentence imposed on the other charge.
“The allegations that Ms. Gallarzo faked being a licensed nurse and created false medical records are extremely alarming,” said U.S. Attorney Mark Totten. “By allegedly posing as a certified medical professional, she risked patient care and put unsuspecting individuals in harm’s way.”
Gallarzo falsely represented that she was a licensed registered nurse and had completed a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from Davenport University when applying for a job at a local nursing facility, court records show.
Federal prosecutors did not say where, specifically, Gallarzo worked.
When transmitting her application to a prospective employer through Indeed.com, Gallarzo used someone else’s identification who she knew was actual licensed registered nurse in Michigan.
After obtaining a job as a nurse, Gallarzo evaluated and assessed elderly nursing home patients and falsely signed electronic medical records as a licensed registered nurse.
The false statements were related to Medicare. The nursing home relied on Gallarzo’s status as a licensed registered nurse to meet certain Medicare regulations for participation in and billing of Medicare, prosecutors said.
Gallarzo has previous state and federal convictions for practicing nursing without a license in Texas in 2015 and 2016.
A sentencing date was not immediately scheduled on Tuesday.
Gallarzo skipped sentencing, but was finally apprehended in California. She will be a BoP resident for at least the next six years:
‘More than a fraud case’: Woman gets prison for pretending to be nurse
By Anna Skog - January 27, 2026GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A woman who provided a fake nursing license to work at a West Michigan health facility has been sentenced to years in prison, federal attorneys say.
Liticia Gallarzo, 51, who used to live in Wayland, was sentenced Monday to 6 years, 3 months in prison for creating fake medical records saying she was licensed as a registered nurse and for pretending to be a real nurse licensed in Michigan, according to the United States Attorney’s Office.
Gallarzo pleaded guilty to the federal charges in November of 2023 but then skipped sentencing scheduled for July 2024. Her bond was revoked.
She worked as a registered nurse — although she wasn’t one — from August of 2022 to May 2023 at a Grand Rapids hospice care facility. She got the job through Indeed.com by pretending to be an actual registered nurse and provided a fake nursing license, diploma and identification documents to make it look like she had been trained as a nurse.
After she got the job, she was promoted to unit manager. According to attorneys, Gallarzo did patient assessments, gave medications and started IVs, amid other nursing duties.
Eventually, her “performance as a nurse faltered,” attorneys said, and she was demoted. As she applied to other jobs, a prospective employer figured out Gallarzo was not who she said she was and reported her.
After she was charged, plead guilty and skipped sentencing, Gallarzo fled to Illinois and then California, where she got jobs as a physician assistant and registered nurse. She was found in Los Angeles and brought back to Michigan for Monday’s sentencing.
Gallarzo had also done this previously, attorneys say. In 2016, she was convicted of impersonating a licensed nurse in Kent County and convicted of the same thing in Texas in 2017.
“This is far more than a fraud case. Nurses make life and death decisions for the people under their care, and everyone has the right to expect that their health is being attended to by a person with extensive medical training,” wrote U.S. Attorney Timothy VerHey in a Tuesday release. “It is shocking that Gallarzo would repeatedly put herself in such a position, without any of the necessary training, just because she wanted money.”
He noted that investigation did not discover that anyone was physically harmed by Gallarzo’s actions, “but that is just a happy accident.”
Get MHF Insights
News and tips for your healthcare freedom.
We never spam you. One-step unsubscribe.
Sponsors
Friends of MHF
Kirsten DeVries
Tom & Karen Nunheimer
Steve Ahonen
Ron & Faith Bosserman
Marlin & Kathy Klumpp
Sign Up for MHF Insights to keep up on the latest in Michigan Health Policy
