Chiropractor Attacked for Advertising Claims
Associated with DRX-9000 in California
CALIFORNIA:     A Danville chiropractor has been pushing a device via his website to thousands of chiropractors with false claims that it's approved by the FDA and endorsed by NASA, the Alameda County District Attorney's office said in a news release.
Dr. Benjamin Altadonna made or caused to be made a traction device which he "sold or leased for between $90,000 and $115,000," according to the complaint. He advertised the device with deceptive claims as the "DRX9000 New Cash Patient Marketing System" or the "DRX9000 Spinal Decompression Lead Generation and Conversion Marketing System," the State said.
"Many different counties joined in on the lawsuit and decided to file it [in Alameda County," said D.A. Teresa Drenick. Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Napa, Orange, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Solano, and Sonoma counties are all part of the civil complaint.
In 2006, the D.A. said, Altadonna made claims that "the DRX was a patented device having FDA approval or that it was used in a valid scientific study that demonstrated an 86 percent success rate in treating medical conditions like spinal herniation… that the DRX was affiliated with, endorsed or approved by NASA." The state of Oregon also fined Altadonna for similar things in 2007, the D.A. said, noting Altadonna does business as Doctor's Wealth Creators and other names.
According to Altadonna, he entered into a stipulated agreement with Oregon's attorney general in 2007, requiring the chiropractor to change his marketing practices and provide "reliable scientific evidence such as tests, analysis, research, studies…based on the expertise of professionals in the relevant area" to back up his claims, which Altadonna neglected to do.
Altadonna, under the umbrella Altadonna Communications Inc. (ACI) paid civil restitution as part of the agreement.
But, according to the Alameda County D.A., Altadonna is again using pseudonyms to sell and disseminate "thousands of marketing plans to thousands of licensed health care professionals inside and outside the State of California."
After meeting with the Monterey County D.A. in 2006, Altadonna began transferring assets to co-defendants Altadonna Living Trust and Diablo Park LLC, the state said.
California is seeking an injunction and penalties for false advertising, unfair competition, fraudulent transfer of assets and violations of the Business and Professions Code.
While the next court date and judge have not been assigned, Scott Patton, one of the prosecuting D.A.s, says there is no chance that Altadonna will go to jail.
"Since this is a civil complaint...the court will usually order injunctive terms and (Altadonna) will have to conduct business a certain way and may have to pay restitution if there are injured parties."
Danville Express


Probation for Chiropractor in Insurance Fraud
PENNSYLVANIA:  A Bucks County chiropractor who participated in a scheme to bilk Independence Blue Cross of almost $2 million was sentenced recently to three years' probation and ordered to perform 450 hours of community service.
U.S. District Judge Gene E.K. Pratter gave Dr. Raymond W. Brozek, 57, of Telford, a big break after Assistant U.S. Attorney Anita Eve filed a motion for leniency based on "substantial" assistance from Brozek that led to charges against others.
Two other defendants in the case—Michael Karp and Mark Levin—were sentenced to prison terms of six months and a year and a day, respectively, in September and November.
Brozek, who is no longer practicing and likely faces suspension of his license, is working as a chauffeur. He admitted lately that he had made a "terrible, terrible mistake."
Authorities said Levin, 65, and Karp, 39, who is Levin's son-in-law, owned Hatfield Athletic Club and Rehab One, a chiropractic office at the club.
The men hired Brozek to work there from 2004 to 2006. Levin demanded that Hatfield workers be seen by Brozek as often as possible so he could bill IBC, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Brozek followed his superiors' directions and caused fraudulent bills to be submitted for treatments either he didn't perform or that weren't medically necessary.
Authorities said Brozek also prepared bogus bills that were used to submit claims to IBC that represented services provided to Hatfield workers, who were encouraged and forced to sign Rehab One's patient log regardless of whether they were treated.
At the direction of Karp and Levin, Brozek created office notes and other documents that included fictitious procedure codes and false depictions of symptoms and clinical findings, which were used to prepare bills submitted to IBC.
Authorities said the defendants submitted almost $2 billion worth of medical bills to IBC, resulting in payments from IBC of $399,882.
The three defendants must make a combined restitution of $399,822 to IBC.
Philadelphia Daily News

Double Hand Transplant for Burnt Chiropractor Successful

LOUISVILLE, KY.:  The recipient of a rare double hand transplant says he feels "fantastic" and can wiggle fingers on both his new hands.

Richard Edwards made his first appearance on Thursday, about a week after he underwent a nearly 18-hour transplant procedure at a hospital in Louisville.The 55-year-old chiropractor from Edmond, Okla., had his hands severely burned in a fire in 2006.
Edwards was the nation's third double hand transplant recipient. The surgery was performed at Jewish Hospital, the site of the world's first successful hand transplant in 1999.
Doctors say Edwards' progress is ahead of other patients because they were able to route his existing nerves into the donor hands. Edwards lost seven fingers after his accident but retained most of his original hands, though they were badly burned.
Source: Huffington Post

Illegal Search Warrant Exonerates Chiropractor on Drug Charges

BOWLING GREEN, OH--The Sixth District Court of Appeals has overturned a conviction of a local chiropractor. The Doc was originally charged with allowing drug abuse in her home.
Huntington entered the plea after a motion to suppress evidence, filed in August 2009, was denied by a Bowling Green Municipal Court. At issue was a search warrant filed and executed while the chiropractor was away from her home. The warrant was obtained when a friend who was feeding her cat gave police permission to enter the chiropractors home.
While at the home of the chiropractor “feeding the cat”, the friend found items which led him to contact the police, who then obtained a warrant. The appeals court ruled that the friend "merely had (the chiropractors) permission to enter the kitchen to feed the cats on three separate days; the cat feeders presence in appellant's house could reasonably be expected to amount to no more than five or 10 minutes on each occasion."
The Judge that granted the warrant presided at the chiropractor’s plea agreement.
The appeals court added that her friend was not staying in the house overnight and he was not given authority over the premises.
"We find that appellant's home was searched illegally and that the trial court therefore erred by denying appellant's motion to suppress," the panel of three judges concurred.
They ruled in favor of the chiropractor's appeal and sent the matter back to the municipal court.
Source: The Sentinel-Tribune

Chiropractor wins $6.3 Million in Judgement Against the State Board

INDEPENDENCE, MO--A chiropractor in Missouri has won a $6.3 million judgment in his case against former members of the Missouri State Board of Chiropractic Examiners for suspending his license.
The case stems from accusations that a chiropractor, who ended up leaving Missouri after the accusations, had convinced a Mennonite farmer with AIDS that he was cured and could start a family.
The patient died and left behind a wife and daughter, each with HIV infections. From the beginning, the chiropractor has denied that he ever said the patient had overcome HIV.
After the case came to light in stories published in The Kansas City Star, the chiropractic board suspended the chiropractor’s license for two years — although that suspension was set aside pending appeals that the chiropractor ultimately won in 2002. The board could have tried again to impose its penalties, but it never did, and the chiropractor’s departure from the state would have made disciplinary action moot.
But he filed suit against the former board members in 2005 to collect legal fees and losses to his business. That case went to trial last week. In a 9-3 verdict, the Cole County jury awarded damages of $6,284,759.
Attorney General Chris Koster’s office represented the board members, and a spokesman said the state planned to file a post-trial motion to have the verdict set aside. The chiropractor's attorneys could not be reached for comment.
The case stretches back 20 years, when the patient whent to the chiropractor's office several times beginning in 1990.
The patient was a member of a Mennonite sect from north-central Missouri, had hemophilia and contracted the AIDS virus from tainted blood products. He died in 1992.
At dispute in the case is whether the chiropractor told the patient that the treatments cured him of AIDS.
The chiropractor won his appeal in 2002 in large part because a court said he had not been given access to key pieces of evidence. One was testimony the deceased patients widow, which was given in an unrelated lawsuit involving tainted blood that caused the patients AIDS. The chiropractor argued that testimony in that case would vary from the widow’s testimony that chiropractor said the patient was cured.
The chiropractors' suit also contended that the chiropractic board seemed to overlook a religious anointing ceremony at the patient's church which was held in hopes of curing him, and the urging made by the minister at his wedding that the patient start a family. The chiropractor suggested those factors might have led the couple to believe patient was cured or to conceive a child even if he remained HIV-positive.
The jury’s verdict came against six former members of the chiropractor board — Lawrence Gerstein, Charlotte Hill, Mary Holyoke, Charles Klinginsmith, Larry Lovejoy and Lee Richardson. Ordinarily, members of such boards are immune from civil suits for their official duties. But there is an exception when a court finds they acted with gross negligence. Still, the state’s legal expense fund will ultimately cover any damages.
Source: The Kansas City Star