Doc Charged In Woman’s Death, Medicaid Fraud

A Dracut, Mass. physician has been charged with involuntary manslaughter after a patient he is accused of illegally prescribing opioids to died.

Dr. Richard Miron, 76, a solo practitioner of internal medicine, was indicted on multiple charges.

He faces one count of involuntary manslaughter, 23 counts of illegal prescribing of controlled substances and 23 counts of filing false Medicaid claims.

Ohio mother’s cancer disappears after groundbreaking clinical trial

CLEVELAND – Denise and Jim Keenan recently celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary, but this milestone has taken on an even greater meaning since Denise was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma back in 2009.

U.S. organ transplant rules get an overhaul

A powerful but obscure panel, which governs which chronically ill people get critical organ transplants and when, overhauled its rules for these decisions last week, transforming the long-time geography-based system.

No Cash, No Heart. Transplant Centers Require Proof Of Payment.

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This story also ran on The New York Times. This story can be republished for free (details).

When Patrick Mannion heard about the Michigan woman denied a heart transplant because she couldn’t afford the anti-rejection drugs, he knew what she was up against.

On social media posts of a letter that went viral last month, Hedda Martin, 60, of Grand Rapids, was informed that she was not a candidate for a heart transplant because of her finances. It recommended “a fundraising effort of $10,000.”

Six Detroit area doctors indicted in $500M health care fraud

(FOX 2) - The FBI is investigating Pain Center locations in Warren and Eastpointe as six doctors face an indictment for alleged health care fraud and illegal prescriptions.

Six doctors affiliated with the Pain Center have been indicted by a grand jury, according to court documents. It is alleged that between 2013-2018, the following doctors engaged in illegally prescribing controlled substances and fraudulent health care billings:

Rajendra Bothra, 77, Bloomfield Hills
Eric Backos, 65, of Bloomfield Hills
Ganiu Edu, 50, of Southfield
David Lewis, 41, of Detroit
Christopher Russo, 50, of Birmingham
Ronald Kufner, 68, of Ada

Fort Bragg soldier fighting lung cancer says medical mistake by military doctor will cost him his life

PINEHURST, N.C. --

A Fort Bragg Green Beret soldier who fought for our country is now fighting cancer and the government.
Sgt. First Class Richard Stayskal has stage four lung cancer and it's a diagnosis he says should have been caught earlier but was missed by military doctors.
"I went six months without being treated, six months of nothing being done to me a tumor just growing," he told ABC11.

2 physicians charged in $4.7M billing fraud scheme

Two physicians and another man were charged with violating the federal anti-kickback statute and conspiring to commit healthcare fraud Dec. 10, according to the Department of Justice.

According to the criminal indictment, Christopher Parks and Gary Lee, MD, conspired to pay kickbacks to physicians for writing compounding prescriptions to pharmacies the two men were affiliated with. Dr. Lee and Mr. Parks then submitted large claims to federal healthcare programs and private insurers, and split the profits, according to the allegations.