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One-legged Atlantic rower rescued

Thick fog knocked out John Mollison's communications

A Falklands war veteran who lost a leg in a mine explosion has abandoned his record-breaking attempt to row the Atlantic Ocean after being rescued.

John Mollison, 49, from Perth, was helped by coastguards and an oil rig support vessel after thick fog knocked out his communications systems.

Technical problems also left him with no way to generate power.

He set off from Massachusetts on 5 July with the aim of being the first amputee to row the ocean west to east.

'Suicidal situation'

Mr Mollison planned to row about 3,500 miles to Britain and wanted to return to Perth via the Forth and Clyde canal and ultimately the River Tay.

The start of his trip had already been delayed because of poor weather in the USA.

He was raising money for the British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association (Blesma).

A statement on the website following his adventure states: "It is with regret that I confirm that Molly's quest has been ended.

"In dense fog, in the deep of the night and rough seas, all communications were lost with no way to generate power due to technical malfunctions.

"This left us in a suicidal situation to think about continuing as the boat could not be seen and with no communications a decision was made between the team, the Falmouth and Canadian coastguards to start a rescue mission with the aid of an oil rig support vessel.

"With the use of their radars Molly was located and made safe."

Dozens arrested in Medicare fraud busts across US

By KELLI KENNEDY (AP) – 20 hours ago

MIAMI — Federal authorities arrested 32 people, including doctors, in a major Medicare fraud bust Wednesday in New York, Louisiana, Boston and Houston, targeting scams such as "arthritis kits" — expensive braces that many patients never used.

It's the third major sweep since Attorney General Eric Holder, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced in May they were adding millions of dollars and dozens of agents to combat a problem that costs the U.S. billions each year.

Using about a dozen agents in targeted cities, including Miami, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, has recovered $371 million in false Medicare claims and charged 145 people across the country in just two months.

More than 200 agents worked on Wednesday's $16 million bust that included 12 search warrants at health care businesses and homes across the Houston area.

Federal authorities say those businesses were giving patients "arthritis kits," which were nothing more than expensive orthotics that included knee and shoulder braces. Patients told authorities they were unnecessary and many never used them. But health care clinic owners billed between $3,000 to $4,000 for each kit.

Houston's other scam involved billing Medicare for thousands of dollars worth of liquid food like Ensure for patients who can't eat solid food. Authorities said clinic owners never distributed the food to patients. In some cases, clinic owners billed patients who were dead when they allegedly received the items.

The suspects arrested Wednesday in Houston will make court appearances Thursday morning. Suspects in Boston, New York and Louisiana will have first appearances later today.

The first task force started in 2007 in Miami, a city authorities say alone is responsible for more than $3 billion a year in Medicare fraud. Clinic owners there would bill Medicare dozens of times for the same wheelchair, while never giving the medical equipment to patients.

The problems have become more complex since then.

Suspects have moved into more sophisticated scams including home health care, physical therapy and infusion drugs. They've even started tapping into Medicaid Advantage, which allows the elderly and disabled to get benefits through private health insurers. The plans receive a government subsidy and generally offer more benefits than traditional Medicare.

Federal authorities say Miami residents are also moving on to other cities, bringing their scams with them.

Strike force teams, each led by a federal prosecutor and a handful of agents, were then started in Los Angeles, Detroit, Houston in the past year. With newfound support and financial aid under the Obama administration, the teams are moving more quickly to make arrests and recover money than ever before in the history of Medicare fraud.

Agencies participating in the busts included the FBI, the HHS Office of the Inspector General, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Texas Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

Along with issuing indictments, authorities freeze bank accounts and seize everything from Rolls Royce's to million dollar homes purchased with funds stolen from Medicare.

Since the HEAT strike, suspects are being charged not just with health care fraud, but all relevant conduct. That means HEAT's average prison sentences is 20 percent more than the overall national average sentence in federal health care fraud cases in 2008.

While authorities are gratified by the arrests, the program's purpose is more than punitive. It's also about deterrence.

In some Miami neighborhoods, the fraud is so rampant that it's become a cultural norm, with some patients raking in more than $1,000 a month, Kirk Ogrosky, deputy chief of the U.S. Justice Department's criminal fraud section.

Associated Press Writer Arelis Hernandez in Houstin contributed to this report.

Source

Federal Agents Bust 12 Fort Bend Residents, 20 Others In Major Medicare Fraud Investigation

A dozen Fort Bend County residents are among more than 30 accused of multimillion-dollar medicare fraud according to federal indictments unsealed today.

The result of an investigation by a joint federal-state Medicare Fraud Strike Force, the indictments accuse a total of 32 people of various frauds against the government medical program amounting to more than $16 million.

Most of those named in the indictments are accused of schemes involving fraudulently extracted Medicare payments for power wheelchairs, “arthritis kits,” and internal feeding supplies, the DOJ said in a statement.

A DOJ spokeswoman said that as of noon, all or nearly all of those named in the indictments had been arrested, most in the Houston area but some in New York and New Orleans.

“Our Medicare Strike Force is striking back against health care fraud in all its forms and wherever it occurs. We will stop fraud as its happening, using real-time data analysis of Medicare billing records,” said Texas Deputy Attorney General David Ogden. “Those who commit health care fraud will not be allowed to steal money from American taxpayers.”

The schemes involved medical-related businesses in Sugar Land, Richmond, Humble and Houston.

According to unsealed indictments, Fort Bend County residents accused and arrested in the fraud investigation, and the business entities in which they were involved, include:

Onward Group Healthcare Inc. at 106 Bayview Drive, Suite A, Sugar Land. The company provided power wheelchairs and other medical equipment to Medicare beneficiaries.

→ Doris Ngozi Vinitski, 45, identified as owner and operator of Onward Group, who maintained a Medicare group provider number for the company “in order to submit Medicare claims for durable medical equipment that was midically unnecessary and not provided.”

→ Howard Grant, 59, a physician “who signed prescriptions ordering medically unnecessary DME (durable medical equipment) that served as the basis of certain of Onward’s claims to Medicare.”

→ Michael Kalu Obasi, 34, “who referred beneficiaries to Onward so that claims for medically unnecessary DME could be filed with Medicare.”

→ Yolanda Stella Delrio, 59, “who assisted in the day-to-day operations of Onward, including the submission of claims for medically unnecessary DME to Medicare.”

→ Ju-Ying Qian, 60, “who referred beneficiaries to Onward so that claims for medically unnecessary DME could be filed with Medicare.”

→ Oliver Nkuku, who is accused of delivering “medically unnecessary DME to Medicare beneficiaries for Onward, including power wheelchairs and orthotics.”

According to one of the indictments, Vinitski and other defendants submitted more than $2.2 million in fraudulent Medicare claims.

KO Medical Inc., of 301 S. 9th St., Suite 108, Richmond. According to the indictments, the company provided power wheelchairs and other medical equipment to Medicare beneficiaries.

→ Oliver Nkuku, 44, an owner and operator of KO Medical accused of submitting about $931,000 in false Medicare claims for power wheelchairs, wheelchair accessories and motorized scooters. Separately, he also was indicted for allegedly conspiring to submit about $2.2 million in false Medicare claims between October 2003 and March 2009.

→ Kate Nkuku, 45, also identified as a KO Medical owner/operator, and also accused of submitting $931,000 of false Medicare claims. One indictment accuses her of improperly using “various billing code modifiers in connection with KO’s submission of claims that allowed her to conceal the fact that KO was providing DME without a proper prescription from a licensed physician…”

→ Obisike Okereke, 35, who “delivered medically unnecessary DME for KO.”

Sefan health Care Services Inc., at 9894 Bissonnet, Suite 770, in Houston. The company provided “othotics and other DME to Medicare beneficiaries,” according to one of the indictments unsealed Wednesday.

→ - Kate Ose Olear, 42, identified in an indictment as Sefan’s owner, director and manager, is accused of submitting about $2.75 million in false claims to Medicare on behalf of beneficiaries that included “several who were deceased on the alleged day of service.”

Luant & Odera Inc., operating under the assumed name Tonni Medical Equipment and Supplies, “purportedly doing business at 9720 Beechnut Street, Suite 125 in Houston, and at other addresses in Houston and Spring, according to one indictment.

→ Ezechukwu J. Ohaka, 40, identified as one of the company’s owners, is accused of submitting about $3.9 million in false Medicare claims between March 2007 and March 2009, including claims “for power wheelchairs and wheelchair accessories for beneficiaries who did not need them.” One of the indictments unsealed Wednesday says Ohaka also “paid kickbacks to co-conspirators as payment for Medicare beneficiary billing information.”

→ Helen Ehi Etinfoh, 49, also identified as a Luant owner/operator, is also accused in the filing of the $3.9 million in fraudulent claims, and of paying kickbacks.

Family Healthcare Group Inc. (Family Healthcare), “purportedly doing business” at 8313 Southwest Freeway, Suite 109, Houston. The company, according to an indictment, “purported to provide orthotics and other DME to Medicare beneficiaries.”

→ Mary Ellis, 53, a licensed vocational nurse, is accused of conspiring to submit more than $1.1 million in false Medicare claims from October 2007 to March 2009 for equipment including “arthritis kits.” She “allegedly referred beneficiaries to Family Healthcare so that claims could be filed with Medicare the beneficiaries did not need, use, or in some instances, even receive,” an indictment states. It also alleges the woman received a “kickback by the owners of Family Healthcare for each Medicare benficiary she referred.”

The cases are being prosecuted by attorneys from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“Americans deserve quality healthcare and have the right to expect that money expended on Medicare is not wasted,” said U.S. Attorney Tim Johnson. “We will prosecute anyone who fraudulently obtains Medicare benefits at the expense of the truly needy.”

The DOJ-Health & Human Services Medicare Strike Force is a multi-agency team of federal, state and local investigators “designed to combat Medicare fraud through the muse of Medicare data analysis techniques and an increased focus on community policing,” according to information from the Justice Department.

Source

Ossur Investor meeting - Live webcast

 Investor meeting Tuesday 28 July - live webcast at 12:00 GMT / 14:00
CET/ 8:00 EST
Tuesday 28 July 2009 Jon Sigurdsson, President and CEO, and
Hjorleifur Palsson, CFO, will host a meeting presenting and
discussing the results of the second quarter for investors, analysts
and shareholders. The meeting will be held at the Company's
Headquarter's, at Grjothals 5 in Reykjavik and will be conducted in
English.
There will be a live broadcast from the meeting on the Ossur website:
www.ossur.com/investors
To call in and participate in the meeting please call the following
telephone numbers:

 * Telephone number for Europe: + 44 (0) 208 817 9301
 * Telephone number for the United States: +1 718 354 1226
 * Local Icelandic number: 800-8857

Presentation material will be available on the Company's website
www.ossur.com/investors

Big Fish: Todd Thompson finds his leg

It wasn't a prize fish, but a Redding businessman this week landed the big one that almost got away in the rushing waters of the Sacramento River.

After a long search Wednesday, 30-year-old Todd Thompson of Cottonwood, assisted by two Shasta County sheriff's deputies, his mother and two family friends, finally found a 4-pound prosthetic leg that he lost last week when he fell off a Sea-Doo he was riding south of the Bonnyview boat ramp.

"It was like we had caught a 50-pound salmon," Thompson said of the subsequent all-around celebration of high-fives, whoops and hollers.

No wonder. The titanium and aluminum prosthetic leg is valued at around $17,000, Thompson said. 

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Orthotist Lobby?

How Will Doctors Handle Uncle Sam Health Care?

by Dr. Lee Hieb (more by this author)

Posted 07/14/2009 ET

We can criticize socialized health care, citing statistics and chronicling the historical record of runaway costs and deterioration of quality.  But you have to deal directly with Medicare and Medicaid (or perhaps be a former Soviet citizen) to really appreciate the Twilight Zone nature of government-run programs.

Among federal Medicare regulations -- which are over 130,000 pages long -- there is more than ample room for confusion and some humor. After a long search for traction weights (those five pound blocks of metal used to pull fractures out to length) I found them propping open doors to patient rooms in the ER. It is a punishable offense under Medicare regs if the hospital is caught propping open these doors because they are fire doors.  

In 30 years, I have never seen nor heard of a significant hospital fire. However, patients suffer every day by being inadequately monitored. Keeping these “fire” doors closed means the nurse sitting at her desk outside the rooms cannot visually monitor the patients. But, to comply with regulations, all those little rubber doorstops were thrown out.  Fortunately, given a choice between poor patient care and ignoring a government mandate, most nurses care more about the patient than about the wishes of a bureaucrat in Washington.  Ergo, the nurses commandeered the orthopaedic traction weights. In case of a pop inspection, traction weights at least provide plausible deniability.  

Medical "quality" gurus of the Center for Medicare Services are convinced that certain abbreviations are dangerous. After over 100 years of clinical use, we can no longer write MS for Morphine Sulphate because it may be confused with Magnesium Sulfate -- two drugs with totally different indications. Neither can we write MagSO4 for Magnesium Sulfate, even though it is the technical chemical name for the drug. We cannot write ‘cc’ (an abbreviation every junior high science student understands) because it might be confused with ‘i.u’.-- international unit.  And, we can't use ‘i.u.’ because -- you guessed it -- it might be confused with ‘cc’!   

Like good gulag inhabitants, doctors complied for a while, then some (no one I know, of course) committed little acts of defiance such as making up their own abbreviations because the government watchdogs simply cannot enumerate all the outlawed terms -- though God knows they have tried.

As Medicare decreased reimbursements, physicians found ways of being more efficient while maintaining quality -- presumably the kind of behavior any third-party payor would want.  In my case, I used a physicians' assistant to help gather routine data during a new patient encounter. He would do the routine part of the history and physical, and I would do the complex part, utilizing my time explaining the problem and treatment options to the patient. But this quality care was not to be. Medicare decided it would pay me approximately $94 for a new patient visit if I did it all myself (but I would waste much of our visit doing the mundane part of the exam) or it would pay the PA $94 if he did it all himself, as long as I was present to sign off on his plan. That option would have been more lucrative, but a clear compromise of care since I would have been signing off on a plan without first-hand patient knowledge. The quality solution which we had at first implemented would also have been $94 and superior in every way, but this was deemed illegal, subject to a $10,000 fine for being a "split consult" -- we both can’t see the same patient the same day and bill as one.  

After four years of medical school, five years of residency, and usually a year or two of fellowship, orthopaedic surgeons are the most qualified people to apply splints. Up until last year, I did so. But now, Medicare has determined that only those physicians who are "certified" may do so. Who will certify me, you may well ask?  A group of orthotists -- people with no medical degree and (relative to orthopaedists) much more limited experience and training? And this certification would have cost me over $3000 -- a cost exceeding the revenue for placing splints on Medicare patients in my practice.

So, now, these older patients, when taken out of a cast, must travel to another facility, to have a less qualified provider give them a vastly more costly splint. And, the physician can not oversee the process to insure correctness of the application.  Medicare is paying more for less quality.  (I guess the orthotist lobby is more powerful than the orthopaedic lobby.)

These are not isolated incidents, but emblematic of a daily clinic in Medicare Absurdistan.  A psychiatrist once told me that we need three things to remain sane -- the ability to deflect criticism, the ability to laugh at oneself, and the ability to accept the absurd. Until it kills us, government run medicine should provide no end of practice.

Lee Hieb is an Orthopaedic Surgeon, in solo private practice. Her first-hand experience in medicine began in the 1950s, when she accompanied her father on his housecalls in Iowa.

Source

Janet Jobe Named Director Of Jordan Thomas Foundation

The Jordan Thomas Foundation announced that the new position of director will be held by Janet Kelley Jobe beginning July 1.

Ms. Jobe brings an extensive background of successful fundraising for non-profits to the foundation. She will be responsible for administrative management, public relations, marketing, and fund development for the foundation.

In addition to active involvement in community activities, Janet serves on numerous boards including the Moccasin Bend Girl Scouts Council and the Association of Fundraising Professionals, recently as past-president, as well as past member of YMCA Camp Ocoee Board.

Source

Amputated Methodist patient awarded $10 million

A Harris County jury has ruled in favor of a Houston man in a medical malpractice case, awarding him $10 million in damages stemming from a lawsuit against Methodist Hospital and the doctors who treated him there.

John German developed gangrene that required the amputation of his left leg above the knee, all the toes on his right foot and all of his fingers in the aftermath of heart surgery in 2002 .

Source

89 new laws passed by the (Georgia) General Assembly during the last session go into effect today.

HB 509

To amend Title 43 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to professions and businesses, so as to change provisions relating to the regulation of physicians, acupuncture, physician's assistants, cancer and glaucoma treatment, respiratory care, clinical perfusionists, and orthotics and prosthetics practice; to provide for comprehensive revision to the regulation of such professions; to provide for definitions; to establish the Georgia Composite Medical Board to regulate physicians, acupuncturists, physician assistants, cancer and glaucoma treatment, respiratory care practice, clinical perfusionists, orthotics and prosthetics, and cosmetic laser services; to provide for the process of selection and removal to and from the board; to provide for the powers and duties of the board; to provide for the requirement of an oath of office for board members; to provide for the election of officers of the board; to provide for allowances for the board members; to provide for a chairperson of the board; to provide for powers and duties of the chairperson; to provide for peer review of certain medical professionals; to require individuals regulated under Chapter 34 of said title to notify the board upon the conviction of a felony; to provide for the suspension and reinstatement under certain circumstances of a license, permit, or certificate granted under Chapter 34; to provide for the renewal of a license, permit, or certificate granted under Chapter 34; to provide for a short title; to provide that a license is required to practice medicine; to provide for certain standards, conditions, and requirements to practice medicine; to provide for the delegation of certain duties from physicians to nurses or physician assistants; to provide penalties for practicing medicine without a license; to provide for the delegation of tasks involving polysomnography; to require a license to practice acupuncture; to provide certain standards, conditions, and requirements to practice acupuncture; to provide for a penalty for practicing acupuncture without a license; to require a license to act as a physician assistant; to provide certain standards, conditions, and requirements prior to licensure as a physician assistant; to provide for certain responsibilities for physician assistants; to provide for the review of physician assistants; to require certification to practice respiratory care; to provide certain standards, conditions, and requirements prior to certification as a respiratory therapist; to provide a penalty for practicing respiratory care without certification; to require a license to act as a clinical perfusionist; to provide for a temporary license to act as a clinical perfusionist; to provide for certain standards, conditions, and requirements prior to licensure as a clinical perfusionist; to provide a penalty for acting as a clinical perfusionist without a license; to require a license to practice orthotics and prosthetics; to provide for certain standards, conditions, and requirements prior to licensure to practice orthotics and prosthetics; to provide for a penalty for practicing orthotics and prosthetics without a license; to revise laws relating to cosmetic laser services; to amend various other titles of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated for purposes of conformity; to provide that a physician assistant can make a pronouncement of death under certain circumstances for purposes of vital records; to provide for related matters; to provide for a contingency and effective dates; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes....