Docs’ Ketamine Scheme Accusation; Texas Doc Wins Snake Case; Maternal Death Suit

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

by
Kristina Fiore, Director of Enterprise & Investigative Reporting, MedPage Today
January 18, 2024

Two doctors in Missouri have been charged with illegally administering ketamine and fraudulently billing Medicare, according to federal prosecutors.

The Texas Supreme Court has sided with emergency physician Kristy Marsillo, MD, in ruling she can’t be held liable for not immediately giving antivenom to a teenager who was bitten by a rattlesnake. (Bloomberg Law)

Michigan physician Scott Cooper, MD, was sentenced to 5 years in prison for prescribing opioids for nearly 3 years to a patient in prison, without having any contact with the individual. (Detroit Free Press)

Former U.S. Navy doctor Michael Villarroel, DO, was sentenced to just over a year in prison for filing fraudulent claims for life insurance payments that were based on exaggerated or fake injuries and disabilities, federal prosecutors said.

And a New York man was sentenced to 7 years in prison for pulling a gun at a children’s hospital and threatening to kill his wife as she held their 2-year-old, who had just come out of surgery, according to local officials.

Ohio anesthesiologist Jose Torres, MD, was charged with carrying a concealed weapon during a motor vehicle stop. (WKBN)

A woman reportedly used a fake name and credentials to get hired as a sonographer at Granville Health System in North Carolina. (WRAL)

The family of a woman who died after a C-section at Woodhull Hospital in New York is suing the facility, seeking $41 million in damages. (ABC 7)

An Oregon hospital system and one of its doctors have agreed to pay $430,000 to settle allegations that they submitted false claims for some cardiothoracic procedures — including catheter replacements, pericardiectomies, mediastinal mass resections, and patent foramen ovale and atrial septal defect closures — knowing they didn’t meet the criteria for reimbursement or were otherwise improper, according to federal prosecutors.

A former nurse from Massachusetts pleaded guilty to tampering with syringes of oxycodone and using the drug on herself. (Boston 25 News)

The family of a prison nurse who was killed during an attempted jailbreak has filed a new lawsuit accusing the state of Iowa of being negligent for failing to prevent her death. (Des Moines Register)

A New Jersey laboratory will pay more than $13 million to settle allegations around illegal kickbacks and medically unnecessary lab testing, federal prosecutors said.

A new lawsuit alleges that Cigna-owned pharmacy benefits manager (PBM) Express Scripts colluded with rival PBMs Prime, Benecard, and Magellan to fix pharmaceutical reimbursement rates, a law firm announced in a press release.