Florida Surgeon Handed Seven Years in Prison for $28 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme

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

On November 18, 2021, a Tallahassee surgeon was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for committing health care fraud, conspiracy to commit health care fraud, and aggravated identity theft. The scheme involved performing hundreds of medically unnecessary, invasive surgical procedures on his patients.

The defendant, a dual citizen of the United States and Ghana, pled guilty to all 58 counts against him in federal court on December 18, 2020. Jason R. Cody, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, announced the sentence. Read more about the […]

By |2024-07-12T20:00:04-04:00July 14, 2024|Health Facilities Law Blog, In the News|

Finding a Lawyer Who Takes CPH & Associates Insurance

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

Our firm often gets calls from nurses and other health professionals who retain us to represent them in complaints against their licenses or in professional licensing complaints and investigations. This includes investigation letters from the Florida Department of Health (DOH), D.C. Health or Louisiana State Board. It also includes notices of hearing, administrative complaints, proposed Consent Orders, emergency restriction orders (EROs), and emergency suspension orders (ESOs). In many cases they had good insurance coverage with CPH & Associates (CPH&A) Insurance, but could not find an attorneys that accepted it or forgot that they had coverage.

Often adverse […]

By |2024-07-05T20:00:04-04:00July 7, 2024|Nursing Law Blog|

Florida Surgeon Gets 7 Years for Committing $28 Million in Health Care Fraud

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

On November 18, 2021, a Tallahassee surgeon was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for committing health care fraud, conspiracy to commit health care fraud, and aggravated identity theft. The scheme involved performing hundreds of medically unnecessary, invasive surgical procedures on his patients.

The defendant, a dual citizen of the United States and Ghana, pled guilty to all 58 counts against him in federal court on December 18, 2020. Jason R. Cody, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, announced the sentence. Read […]

By |2024-03-14T09:59:29-04:00June 1, 2023|Nursing Law Blog|

Number of Oxycodone-Related Deaths Down in Florida

1 Indest-2008-1By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

It looks like Florida’s prescription drug legislation, the statewide prescription drug monitoring database and the prescription drug crackdowns by law enforcement may be working, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). The FDLE states in its semi-annual report, oxycodone-related deaths statewide dropped between January and June of 2012, compared to the same period of time in 2011. A look at the national numbers shows that the number of people abusing prescription drugs is also down.

Florida and National Numbers.

In the first half of 2012, there were 759 oxycodone-related deaths in Florida, according […]

Doctors, Nurses and Health Care Professionals Take Heed: It is Always a Bad Idea to . . . .

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

In my 30 plus years of practice representing physicians, dentists, nurses and health care professionals, I have defended clients involved in many different situations. Several of these seem to be problem  areas which we see repeatedly. The following is a list of those problems which it would seem to be common sense for a physician or other health care professional to avoid doing.

I can assure you, it is always a bad idea for a physician or other health care professional to:

1. Write a prescription for any medication for yourself.

2. Start a romantic […]

By |2024-03-14T10:01:23-04:00May 15, 2018|Medical Education Law Blog|

It is Always a Bad Idea for a Doctor, Nurse or Health Professional to . . . .

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

My experience in representing doctors, nurses and other licensed health professionals in disciplinary cases has lead me to conclude, us to conclude, its is always a bad idea for them to:

1. Write a prescription for any medication for yourself.

2. Start a romantic relationship with a patient.

3. Take someone else’s prescription medication, ever.

4. Write a prescription for or treat a patient, especially a family member, for a condition outside the scope of his specialty (e.g., a dentist prescribing antibiotics to her children to treat a cold; a pediatrician prescribing […]

By |2024-03-14T10:01:24-04:00May 15, 2018|Mental Health Law Blog|

Doctors, Nurses and Health Care Professionals Take Heed: It is Always a Bad Idea to . . . .

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

In my 30 plus years of practice representing physicians, dentists, nurses and health care professionals, I have defended clients involved in many different situations. Several of these seem to be problem  areas which we see repeatedly. The following is a list of those problems which it would seem to be common sense for a physician or other health care professional to avoid doing.

I can assure you, it is always a bad idea for a physician or other health care professional to:

1. Write a prescription for any medication for yourself.

2. Start a romantic […]

By |2024-03-14T10:01:27-04:00May 15, 2018|Mental Health Law Blog|

Doctors, Nurses and Health Care Professionals Take Heed: It is Always a Bad Idea to . . . .

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

In my 30 plus years of practice representing physicians, dentists, nurses and health care professionals, I have defended clients involved in many different situations. Several of these seem to be problem  areas which we see repeatedly. The following is a list of those problems which it would seem to be common sense for a physician or other health care professional to avoid doing.

I can assure you, it is always a bad idea for a physician or other health care professional to:

1. Write a prescription for any medication for yourself.

2. Start a romantic relationship with a patient.

3. […]

By |2024-03-14T10:01:33-04:00May 15, 2018|Health Facilities Law Blog|

It is Always a Bad Idea for a Doctor, Nurse or Health Professional to . . . .

3 Indest-2009-2By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

My experience in representing doctors, nurses and other licensed health professionals in disciplinary cases has lead me to conclude, us to conclude, its is always a bad idea for them to:

1. Write a prescription for any medication for yourself.

2. Start a romantic relationship with a patient.

3. Take someone else’s prescription medication, ever.

4. Write a prescription for or treat a patient, especially a family member, for a condition outside the scope of his specialty (e.g., a dentist prescribing antibiotics to her children to treat a cold; a pediatrician prescribing pain medications […]

By |2024-03-14T10:01:35-04:00May 15, 2018|Nursing Law Blog|

Doctors, Nurses and Health Care Professionals Take Heed: It is Always a Bad Idea to . . . .

8 Indest-2008-5By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

In my 30 plus years of practice representing physicians, dentists, nurses and health care professionals, I have defended clients involved in many different situations. Several of these seem to be problem  areas which we see repeatedly. The following is a list of those problems which it would seem to be common sense for a physician or other health care professional to avoid doing.

I can assure you, it is always a bad idea for a physician or other health care professional to:

1. Write a prescription for any medication for yourself.

2. Start a romantic relationship with […]

By |2024-03-14T10:01:36-04:00May 15, 2018|Nursing Law Blog|
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