Doc's Moral Character License Snub; ENT Gets 25 Years; Hospital Snooping Settlement - MedPage Today

Are we concerned about the moral foundations of modern US healthcare, yet?

https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/features/105133

— A weekly roundup of healthcare's encounters with the courts

June 22, 2023

Missouri physician Brett Snodgrass, MD, is taking the Iowa Board of Medicine to court after it allegedly refused to give him a medical license due to his "moral character." (Iowa Capital Dispatch)

Pennsylvania chiropractor Philip O'Brien, DC, was accused of producing child pornography. (WFMZ 69)

Colorado plastic surgeon Geoffrey Kim, MD, was found guilty of attempted reckless manslaughter and obstruction of telephone service in the death of a teenage patient during a breast augmentation surgery. Kim was acquitted of the more serious charge of negligent homicide. (People)

North Carolina ENT Anita Louise Jackson, MD, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for re-using devices in nasal surgeries, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

Former nurse Brian Frey of Ohio pleaded guilty to sexually abusing patients for more than a decade during unnecessary genital exams. (NBC 4 Ohio)

A jury found Georgia doctor Charles C. Adams, MD, and his practice group liable for submitting false claims to Medicare for chelation therapy. Adams used edetate calcium disodium (EDTA) to treat a range of conditions including atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, headaches, and fatigue, billing instead for "lead poisoning" since EDTA isn't approved to treat those other conditions, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia.

An Illinois woman was sentenced to 18 months' probation after kicking a pregnant emergency room nurse in the stomach. (Daily Herald)

Connecticut physician Debasish Das, MD, turned down a plea deal that would have him serve 3 years in prison. Das faces charges including second-degree manslaughter as prosecutors allege he was driving under the influence when he struck and killed a woman trimming hedges in her front yard in 2021. (CT Post)

California physician Rachandeep Singh, MD, who is facing sexual battery charges, was arrested at San Francisco International Airport last weekend. (CBS Sacramento)

Chicago physician John Greager II, MD, was sentenced to 6 months in prison and a $1 million fine for billing for mole-removal procedures that were never performed, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois.

Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital will pay $240,000 to the HHS Office of Civil Rights to settle allegations that several security guards inappropriately accessed the medical records of 419 patients, according to HHS.