Wall of Shame

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Medical


That can't be. Michael Moore said health care is free.

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! Note !
More medical individuals / institutions / cases may be added,
if I ever take time from other projects to update this page.

Sections below :
PROVIDERS LIST     PATIENT REPORTS

Introduction :

This page gives a list of 'objects' deserving of scorn and/or reprimand --- and, in many cases, deserving of criminal prosecution --- and jail --- for many years.

The 'objects' here are medical practitioners (doctors, nurses, administrators, CEO's) --- often medical scammers, scamming the U.S. medical insurance system --- and various medical institutions (hospitals, emergency centers, short-term/transitional care facilities).

The 'objects' of shame are listed on this page in alphabetical order --- by the person's last name --- or the institution's name.

    Before I go further, I would like to thank those doctors that are trying to provide good health care at a reasonable, fair cost. I know there are many out there.

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A reason for this page is to draw attention to egregious medical offenses --- typically cases that one reads about in newpapers or magazines --- or that are reported in medical journals or in patient forums. The 'offenses' are collected here for a 'consolidated overview'.

Hopefully, drawing attention to certain individuals may make it less likely that they will be able to continue to be a medical problem. And it may point out needs for better ways to head off medical system problems of certain types, perpetrated by individuals.

And, hopefully, drawing attention to certain institutions may make it more likely that those institutions will find ways to avoid continued medical problems. And it may point out needs for better ways to head off medical system problems of certain types, occuring within institutions.

Individuals - in particular, Doctors

There many kinds of shameful examples of doctors.

Some of the kinds:

  • doctors scamming the Medicare/Medicaid systems
  • doctors exhibiting ignorant or careless behavior
    Example: doctors giving intravenous injections of powerful
    sedatives in an ignorant or careless manner
  • doctors 'pushing pills' --- such as pain pills (the 'opioid' problem)
  • doctors believing anything a pharma rep tells them, to bad effect
  • doctors padding their bills
  • doctors being outright cruel to patients
  • doctors who think they are God --- and hurt patients because of their egomania
  • etc. etc.

Cases of medical 'offenses' associated with a particular individual (doctor, nurse, administrator, CEO) will be recorded, in the 'PROVIDERS LIST' below, by individual's name --- in order by last name.

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Occasionally, I run across 'choice' descriptions of doctors by patients who have had 'unfortunate' encounters. Often those doctors are not identified by name.

It seems worthwhile to record the experiences of those unfortunate patients --- if only to let other patients know that they are not alone in their experiences --- and, in some cases, to provide some solutions.

A separate section --- 'PATIENT REPORTS' --- is near the bottom of this page, to record such 'general' 'unfortunate patient' experiences.

A method of organizing reports in the 'PATIENT REPORTS' section may be problematic. But the reports may be listed alphabetically by name of

  • body-part-affected (back, knee, kidney, liver, etc.), OR
  • disease or disease-type (diabetes, cancer, etc.), OR
  • a major symptom, OR
  • drug name or drug type (for bad drug effects and overdoses).

Institutions - in particular, Hospitals

A survey (circa 2005) by the Kaiser Family Foundation, based on responses from patients (or their next of kin, in the case of patients that died), revealed that about ! 40 percent ! of patients experience bad outcomes in hospitals.

Many of those bad outcomes are due to medical errors (surgical errors, lapses in care, mistakes in drug administration, etc.).

The incidence of avoidable medical errors in hospitals in the U.S. should be of great concern.

To err is human --- but current (circa 1950 to 2017) error levels are ridiculous.

Cases of medical errors associated with a particular hospital will be recorded, in the 'PROVIDERS LIST' below, by hospital (or institution) name.

When medical errors or bad outcomes are noted in a general form (such as nation-wide or state-wide statistics), they may be reported in the 'PATIENT REPORTS' section below --- under a suitable drug/disease/symptom/body-part name.

How to navigate this page

You can use an option like 'Find in This Page ...' of your web browser to search for key words, such as 'doctor' or 'nurse' or 'hospital' or 'error' or 'scam' or 'fraud' or 'price' or 'cost' or 'million' --- or a person/drug/disease/symptom/body-part name.

Or you can simply scroll down this page to find 'instances' of interest.

Burgos, Miguel (doctor indicted for Medicare fraud, $13.8 million, Florida)

In 2016, a Florida doctor, Miguel Burgos (60 years old), allegedly participated in a $13.8 million health care fraud scheme involving claims for expensive prescription drugs and physical therapy.

    NOTE: There are multiple medical doctors in the U.S. with the first and last names Miguel Burgos. This one was born around 1956. He was practicing in the Orlando area.

Burgos was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, one count of health care fraud, and one count of conspiracy to make false statements relating to health care matters.

Burgos was charged along with Yosbel Marimon, 39, of Winter Park, Florida, a clinic owner.

Burgos was the medical director of several Orlando-area clinics, including Legend Medical & Rehabilitation Inc., Incare Medical & Rehab Center Inc., Assisting Health Center Inc. and CKD Health Care Inc.

The superseding indictment alleges that from approximately July 2008 through December 2011, Burgos conspired with Marimon, one of the clinics' owners, to defraud Medicare by causing the submission and concealment of false and fraudulent claims to Medicare.

According to the indictment, Burgos allegedly signed fraudulent medical records that authorized the unnecessary treatment of Medicare beneficiaries and did so without examining the Medicare beneficiaries or the documents themselves.

These documents were allegedly used to support fraudulent claims to Medicare for expensive prescription drugs and physical therapy that were not provided and were not medically necessary.

The indictment alleges that during the scheme, Burgos and his co-conspirators billed Medicare approximately $13.8 million based on the false and fraudulent claims.

    NOTE:
    Since its inception in March 2007, to 2016, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, operating in nine cities across the country, charged nearly 2,900 defendants who had collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $10 billion.

For further (and follow-up) info:

Castro-Ramirez, Jose (doctor indicted for Medicare fraud, $18.3 million, Michigan)

In March 2010, Farmington Hills, Mich., physician Jose Castro-Ramirez was convicted by a Detroit federal jury on all 13 charged counts in connection with his role in an $18.3 million Medicare fraud scheme.

Evidence at trial established that beginning in late 2003, the defendant, a physician licensed in the state of Michigan, entered into an agreement with co-conspirator Suresh Chand to defraud the Medicare program.

Chand owned and controlled several companies operating in Warren, Mich., including Continental Rehab Services Inc. (CRS) and Pacific Management Services Inc. (PM), which purported to provide physical and occupational therapy services to Medicare beneficiaries.

In reality, as the evidence showed, Chand and his associates at CRS and PM created fictitious therapy files, appearing to document physical and occupational therapy services provided to Medicare beneficiaries, when in fact no such services had taken place.

The fictitious services reflected in the files were billed to Medicare through sham Medicare providers controlled by Chand and his co-conspirators.

For further info:

Inglehart, Sharon (doctor indicted for Medicare fraud, $158 million, Houston)

In 2013, Houston doctor Sharon Inglehart (56 years old) was charged in a $158 million Medicare fraud case involving false claims for mental health treatment.

Sharon Inglehart made her first court appearance in Dec 2013 in the federal investigation that also resulted in related charges against others.

Inglehart was charged with four counts of health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

From 2005 to 2012, Inglehart took part in a scheme to submit about $158 million in false claims for treatment at a Houston hospital for patients with severe mental illnesses, federal prosecutors said.

But, the outpatient care was both never provided and unnecessary, prosecutors said while announcing the indictment.

The investigation also ensnared several hospital employees who were accused in 2012 of accepting and receiving kickbacks for their alleged roles in the scheme.

For further info:

Melgen, Salomon (doctor indicted for Medicare fraud, $105 million, Florida)

In May 2017, a prominent Florida eye doctor, Dr. Salomon Melgen, accused of political corruption was convicted of Medicare fraud, increasing the odds that federal prosecutors could pressure him to testify against New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez.

Melgen was found guilty on all 67 counts and could spend the rest of his life in prison if he doesn't strike a deal before his sentencing, scheduled for July 14, 2017. Menendez denies any wrongdoing.

The 62-year-old doctor collected more money from Medicaid than any other physician in the nation --- $21 million --- at the height of the fraud in 2012.

Melgen faces trial with Menendez this fall in New Jersey on charges the doctor bribed the senator for a variety of favors, including intervention in the fraud probe.

Prosecutors convinced jurors that the doctor stole up to $105 million from the federal medical insurance program between 2008 and 2013 by performing unneeded tests and treatments on his mostly elderly patients.

For further info:

Monaco, Stephen (doctor indicted for Medicare fraud, Delaware, $5 million)

In June 2016, Stephen A. Monaco (59 years old), of Broomall, Delaware, was among 61 doctors (!) charged for allegedly participating in health care fraud schemes totaling some $900 million in false billings.

Another 240 nurses and licensed medical professionals (!) also are facing charges.

Stepehen Monaco is among 301 people (!) federally charged in June 2016 in the largest Medicare fraud sweep in history (to this time).

The nationwide sweep was the largest in history by both the total number of defendants charged and loss amount, federal officials said.

Monaco is charged for allegedly participating in a $5 million scheme to defraud Medicare, Medicaid and four private victim insurance companies through his practice, A Foot Above Podiatry, Inc., in Haverford.

According to charging documents, Monaco, seen below, submitted fraudulent claims for podiatric procedures that were not provided and podiatric procedures that were not performed, including injections, debridement and nail avulsions.

He also allegedly submitted fraudulent claims for unnecessary procedures and services that were not reimbursable by Medicare or the other insurance carriers.

For further info:

Murray, Conrad (doctor who overdosed Michael Jackson)

Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson's 'doctor', gave Michael Jackson INTRAVENOUS injections of a strong sedative when the doctor knew Michael was already taking many sedatives orally.

This doctor, Conrad Murray, was apparently ignorant of the detailed pharamacokinetics of intravenous injections --- namely, there is a very sharp spike in the concentration of the drug in the blood stream (throughout the capillaries of the body) immediately after injection.

There is a MUCH, MUCH bigger (taller) spike than after oral administration of a drug.

Conrad Murray deserves to be in this list --- for his extreme ignorance (or carelessness), which should qualify him for malpractice and manslaughter charges.

He was indeed convicted of manslaughter and served 2 years of a 4 year sentence.

For further info:

Roy, Jacque (doctor who perpetrated Medicare fraud, $375 million, Texas)

In 2012, a Texas doctor, Jacque Roy (at 54 years old), --- and five owners of home health-care agencies --- were arrested in 2012 on charges that they fraudulently billed Medicare and Medicaid nearly $375 million in what authorities described as the largest case of its kind.

The doctor was charged with masterminding a Medicare fraud conspiracy over six years (approximately 2006-2012). The alleged fraud involved classifying as homebound 11,000 patients recruited by a network of more than 500 agencies, then billing Medicare for services and home visits that were either not medically necessary or were not provided.

These people should end up in pound-you-in-the-ass prison.

Shkreli, Martin (pharmaceutical CEO, 5000-plus percent price increase)

In September 2015, Martin Shkreli received widespread criticism when, as CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, he obtained the manufacturing license for the antiparasitic drug Daraprim and raised its price by a factor of 56 (from US $13.5 to US $750 per pill), leading him to be referred to by media as "the most hated man in America" and "pharma bro".

See links above and below for more details.

More medical outrages may be added.

A search like the following reveals many more 'individuals' and 'cases'.

Colonoscopies

Some extremely painful colonoscopies --- and looking for different doctor.

A physician receiving colonoscopy from a bad physician - a "Shut up and listen" GI doctor

Cystoscopies

Painful cystoscopy experiences --- many doctors not caring to anesthetize.

Pregnancy

Many cases of switching doctors and why.

PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)

Poor treatment of PTSD patient by untrusting doctors - long discussion thread

Sudden Weight Gain

60 pounds in 2 months --- finally found a caring doctor.

Vitrectomy (eye, floaters)

Various vitrectomy experiences --- bad and good.

Doctors dismissive of floaters ('Doctors Without Compassion')

More 'memorable' medical experiences may be added.

A search like the following reveals many more 'situations'.

Some Web Searches to Try :

Here are some links to Google searches that can provide 'new' instances --- and more information on 'known-to-you' instances --- of shameful activities by medical representatives and medical institutions.

Bottom of this
Wall of Shame - Medical page.

To return to a previously visited web page location, click on the Back button of your web browser, a sufficient number of times. OR, use the History-list option of your web browser.
OR ...

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Page was first posted 2012 Mar 31.

Page was changed 2017 Jun 19. (Reorganized significantly.)

Page was changed 2018 Oct 17. (Added css and javascript to try to handle text-size for smartphones, esp. in portrait orientation.)