Women Who Posed as Nurse Sentenced to Prison For Health Care Fraud, Identity Theft, and Wire Fraud

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

On September 23, 2020, a Tennessee woman who posed as a nurse working at several medical facilities was sentenced to more than four years in prison. In December 2019, she pled guilty to wire fraud, healthcare fraud, identity theft, and practicing nursing without a license.

How a Phony Nurse Gained Employment.

According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the woman posed as a registered nurse, despite not having a nursing degree or a nursing license, and having no nursing experience. To accomplish the fraud, she obtained the license numbers of real […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T09:59:50-04:00February 1, 2021|Uncategorized|

UF Rescinds Prospect For Racist Online Post

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

On June 8, 2020, the University of Florida (UF) reportedly announced via Twitter that it had rescinded its offer of acceptance to a prospective student. The offer was rescinded by the university because of an allegedly racist message posted by the student on social media. According to reports, UF spokesman Steve Orlando stated that the university received multiple e-mails complaining about the post. As a result of the investigation, the student is no longer a UF prospect, according to the announcement.

Social networks provide students, resident physicians, fellows, and clinical professors with opportunities for […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T09:59:56-04:00August 24, 2020|Health Facilities Law Blog, Uncategorized|

Emergency Order Allows Florida Pharmacists to Temporarily Order, Administer COVID-19 Tests

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law
On April 24, 2020, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced he would expand the opportunities for people to obtain COVID-19 tests by allowing licensed pharmacists to order and administer them. For purposes of preparing for, responding to, and mitigating any effect of COVID-19, Emergency Order 20-006 was filed, suspending section 483.813, Florida Statutes. You can click on the link to read the entire Order.

According to the Order, it was necessary to waive certain statutes and rules of the Florida DOH in order to effectively respond to […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T09:59:57-04:00June 24, 2020|Uncategorized|

Insurer Faces Possible Class Action Over Rejected Pandemic Business Interruption Claims

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

On April 14, 2020, several companies announced they are considering a class action lawsuit against Hiscox Insurance over its failure to pay business interruption claims relating to the coronavirus lockdown. Hiscox, sold policies before COVID-19 hit. The policies allegedly stated that they would cover claims related to businesses being forced to shut owing to a notifiable disease. Business owners have reportedly filed claims with Hiscox and other commercial insurance companies, only to be told that their policies don’t cover the losses related to the pandemic.

Policy Wording.

The […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:00-04:00May 6, 2020|Health Facilities Law Blog, Uncategorized|

Finding an NSO Insurance Attorney to Defend You in a Complaint Against Your Nursing License or Nurse Practitioners License

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law
Many nurses, nurse practitioners and certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) carry professional malpractice insurance through the Nurses Service Organization (NSO) or one of the other similar insurance companies. This insurance is inexpensive and provides excellent coverage. What you may not realize, however, is that such insurance provides many added benefits, other than just coverage on nursing liability lawsuits. It will pay for legal defense expenses if there is a complaint filed against your nursing license. It will pay legal expenses for a lawyer to get involved and represent you if you […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:01-04:00April 14, 2020|Nursing Law Blog, Uncategorized|

CMS Announces Final Rule to Reduce Criminal Behavior in Medicare, Medicaid

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

On September 5, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule that strengthens the ability to stop fraud and abuse before it happens. The “Program Integrity Enhancements to the Provider Enrollment Process” goes into effect on November 4, 2019, and will help keep untrustworthy providers out of federal health insurance. The new affiliations provision will allow CMS to identify individuals and organizations that pose an undue risk of fraud, waste or abuse and repeat offenders.

Details on the Rule.

The final rule, (CMS-6058-FC), creates several new revocation and denial authorities to […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:10-04:00September 24, 2019|The Health Law Firm Blog, Uncategorized|

Here Are Some Common Sense Tips for Taking Your USMLE Step Exams and Scoring Higher

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

Here are some common-sense tips you should be sure you follow that may help you to reduce stress and score higher when you take your United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step examinations. You should be doing everything within your control to minimize your stress and the risk of being late for the examination. Again, these are common sense and if you have taken a lot of standardized examinations, you may already be aware of these.

1. Do not plan on driving […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:12-04:00August 2, 2019|Medical Education Law Blog, Uncategorized|

How to Challenge an OIG Exclusion Action from Medicare

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

Many health professionals don’t understand the significant repercussions that an exclusion action by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) can have on their professional careers and future employment. Whether you are a physician, nurse, dentist, psychologist or other health professionals, if you allow yourself to be excluded from the Medicare program, devastating economic results may follow.

The administrative process by which you may challenge a proposal from the OIG for most permissive or mandatory exclusion is challenging. In most cases, you will need experienced legal representation. Below are the steps in the process you must follow […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:13-04:00July 9, 2019|Pharmacy Law Blog, Uncategorized|

FL May Allow Nurses to Avoid Past Mental-Health Conditions, Drug Issues on License Applications

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

Nurses ask patients about their medical histories every day as part of treating them. But what happens when they are requested to divulge in their own history to the state as part of the licensing process? Before being licensed in the state of Florida, for example, nurses are required to disclose if they have been treated for mental-health or substance-abuse disorders within in the past five years. However, this could be changing very soon.

Changes to […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:16-04:00March 14, 2019|Nursing Law Blog, Uncategorized|

Alaska Board of Pharmacy Sends Letter to its Pharmacists Sending Mixed Signals Over Filling Opioid Prescriptions (Part 1 of a 2 part series)

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

The “Opioid Crisis” in the U.S.

We all know that there is an “opioid crisis” in the U.S. It is probably prevalent in every state. In Florida we have been suffering under it for the past ten to fifteen years. So it is nothing new to Florida. Government regulators including, but not limited to the Florida Department of Health (DOH), Florida Attorney General (AG), different State’s Attorneys’ (prosecutors) offices, multi-jurisdictional task forces, local […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:17-04:00February 6, 2019|Uncategorized|