In recent news, a doctor formally practicing with a California license has been accused of several crimes related to medical malpractice and fraud. According to reports, this doctor told several patients that a type of medical implant would be placed in their spine. This implant, as the patients were told, would reduce the pain related to their medical ailment. However, it has been reported that the implants were discovered never to have been implanted as told by the practicing physician.
To add fuel to this fire, the doctor had billed the patients’ insurance companies for the spinal implant. Instead, according to accusations, the implant was never inserted into the patients’ back. For this, the former doctor is now facing charges for insurance fraud. There are several layers to this story that put this formerly practicing physician under a great deal of scrutiny.
The doctor did surrender his medical license voluntarily after the two dozen or so accusations came forth. The accused is innocent until proven guilty, however, there is quite a bit of evidence and accusations that are not favorable to his innocence. Since this physician was practicing in the state of California, there may still be potential plaintiffs out there that are unaware of the unsatisfactory medical treatment they may have received when treated under the doctor.
Due to a statute of limitations potential plaintiffs have only a certain window of time to come forward with their medical malpractice claim. This is set according to California state law. This case will continue to play out until both sides of the story have been heard. Stories such as these should caution all patients to be aware of their medical treatment and conditions at all times in order to ascertain that they are receiving the correct treatment they deserve.
Source: WSBT, “Judge keeps Detroit-area doctor locked up on fraud charges,” Jan. 10, 2015
