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Yellow Pages
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Yellow Pages
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Written by TAC Staff
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Sunday, 25 September 2011 22:57 |
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 DAYTONA BEACH -- The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, assisted by the FBI, seized records today from a clinic in North Ridgewood Avenue and others in South Florida linked to a doctor under fire for the way he prescribes medications, officials said.
FBI agents worked all day at Wagner Chiropractic Clinic at 542 N. Ridgewood. The clinic is owned in partnership by several doctors including Joseph Wagner, the father of Volusia County Councilman Josh Wagner, an attorney.
Other search warrants were also served in multiple locations across the state as investigators looked for any records that would link the targets of the searches to West Palm Beach-based Dr. John P. Christensen, according to the FDLE.
The Florida Department of Health ordered an emergency suspension of Christensen's medical and chiropractic licenses today.
"This emergency suspension order sends a strong message to Floridians that we're serious about cracking down on pill mills and the illegal distribution of prescription drugs that is killing our friends and family members," said Gov. Rick Scott. " It also sends a strong message to the pill mill operators that Florida will not tolerate this type of activity. Through our resources with the Department of Health and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, we will find you and we will shut you down."
According to the Emergency Suspension Order of Christensen, investigators say Joseph and John Wagner were in business with Christensen and the doctor allowed his licensing privileges to be used for drugs -- including hydrocodone, Xanax and Soma -- to be prescribed to the patients of Joseph Wagner without Christensen ever evaluating or seeing the patients. Joseph Wagner also conducted these activities in the South Florida offices, the order said.
The Department of Health also claims in its report Christensen defrauded insurance companies by submitting false paperwork.
FDLE spokeswoman Heather Smith said agents belonging to the South Florida Drug Enforcement Task Force would be at multiple locations serving search warrants at businesses "associated with Dr. Christensen and his practice."
Smith said no one has been arrested or charged and that the search warrants were served today to obtain records only.
City records show the business license of Wagner Chiropractic is currently in the names of three men: Albert Albatrosov of Hawaii, John Wagner -- the county councilman's brother who lives in Port Orange -- and Christensen.
Councilman Josh Wagner has not commented on raids.
Joseph Wagner, a chiropractic physician and licensed acupuncturist, is the owner of the clinic property, according to Volusia County Property Appraiser's records.
Christensen was the target of a 2010 investigation into the overdose death of a 21-year-old patient who had visited his West Palm Beach office. The state Department of Health officials recommended he be disciplined by the Board of Medicine for prescribing "excessive and/or inappropriate quantities of methadone, and/or oxycodone, and/or alprazolam," according to state records.
But state records also show that in June an administrative law judge sided with Christensen, saying the state failed to prove the physician prescribed excessive amounts of drugs, or that he committed medical malpractice. The judge recommended that the Board of Medicine enter a final order dismissing the complaint against Christensen.
Albatrosov lists the Daytona Beach clinic as the location of his primary practice with the Health Department, which also indicates he holds medical licenses to practice in Georgia and Hawaii.
Joseph Wagner answered his door this afternoon at his Wilbur-by-the-Sea home, but closed the door before he could be asked any questions.
John Wagner, whose father is Joseph Wagner, was leaving a chiropractic clinic he owns on Mason Avenue today. He said he doesn't speak to his father and had no idea about the search at the Ridgewood clinic.
A handwritten sign was taped to a window at John Wagner's office. It said "closed Thursday."
Dressed in board shorts and no shirt, John Wagner said he was going surfing.
Source: The Daytona Beach News-Journal
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Yellow Pages
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Written by TAC Staff
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Sunday, 25 September 2011 22:51 |
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PITTSBURGH -- Federal prosecutors on Tuesday filed fraud and tax-evasion charges against a Westmoreland County chiropractor operating two clinics in West Virginia.
Joseph Yurigan, 60, of New Alexandria, operates clinics in Weirton and Wheeling.
Prosecutors allege Mr. Yurigan made money from procedures he didn't perform, then drew cash from his businesses and hid them in his children's bank accounts to evade taxes.
He faces 33 charges of healthcare fraud, four tax-evasion charges and one charge of interfering with revenue laws. Prosecutors seek to confiscate some of Mr. Yurigan's properties, including real estate and two Mercedes-Benz cars.
If convicted, Mr. Yurigan could face up to 10 years in prison and millions of dollars in fines.
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
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Written by TAC Staff: Yellow Pages
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Tuesday, 23 August 2011 23:23 |
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TRENTON, N.J., Jun 23, 2011 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) -- In a decision filed on June 20, 2011, the Honorable Judge Joel A. Pisano of the District of New Jersey sustained the claims brought by a group of individual healthcare providers and state chiropractic associations against Aetna, Inc. and various of its subsidiaries under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA"). In the action, the plaintiffs allege that Aetna improperly recouped monies from providers that had previously been paid on behalf of its members, based on retroactive determinations that the services at issue were not covered under the members' health care plans. Frequently, Aetna determined after-the-fact that the services were excluded from coverage because they were "experimental and investigational" and therefore demanded that the providers return the funds. If the providers did not agree, Aetna placed them into pre-payment review, which in reality meant that Aetna simply withheld payment as a means to punish the provider and save money through undisclosed denials. The entire process, as alleged in the complaint, was in violation of ERISA because Aetna made its retroactive adverse benefit determinations that served as the basis of its repayment demands without providing a "full and fair" review of its decision, as required under the law.
"This decision is very important," says D. Brian Hufford of Pomerantz Haudek Grossman & Gross LLP ("Pomerantz"), "as now we will be able to proceed to full-scale discovery where we anticipate finding substantial evidence supporting our claims that ERISA has, indeed, been violated as a result of Aetna's widespread actions." The case parallels a similar action brought by Pomerantz which is proceeding against a number of Blue Cross Blue Shield licensees in the Northern District of Illinois before the Honorable Matthew E. Kennelly, as well as a recently filed action against United Healthcare in the District of New Jersey before the Honorable Faith Hochberg, both of which allege violations of ERISA for improper repayment demands and recoupments of prior benefit payments.
In addition to the ERISA claims, Judge Pisano also upheld the standing of the association plaintiffs to pursue claims for injunctive relief on behalf of their members, including the Association of New Jersey Chiropractors, the New York Chiropractors Council, the Illinois Chiropractic Society and the International Chiropractors Association.
In addition to the ERISA claims, the plaintiffs also asserted violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ("RICO"), which were dismissed. The court further dismissed one individual plaintiff, finding that he had released his claims by entering into an individual settlement prior to the filing of the class action, while granting a motion to compel arbitration against two other plaintiffs, who had arbitration clauses in their in-network provider agreements with Aetna, leaving six remaining individual plaintiffs. According to Robert J. Axelrod of Pomerantz, "while we continue to believe that RICO was violated, ERISA is the heart of our case, and we are very pleased with the result."
Counsel for plaintiffs are continuing to investigate these claims, and other related claims that may be added to the litigation. If you have any questions, please contact D. Brian Hufford, Esq. of Pomerantz Haudek Grossman & Gross LLP, by phone (212-661-1100) or email (
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), or Vincent N. Buttaci, Esq., of Buttaci & Leardi, LLC, by phone (609-919-6312) or email.
SOURCE: Pomerantz Haudek Grossman & Gross LLP
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Written by TAC Staff: Yellow Pages
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Tuesday, 23 August 2011 23:19 |
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MILWAUKEE, WI – Five Wisconsin women are suing their insurance companies for what they claim is an illegal collection of co-payments for chiropractic care.Hansen Riederer Dickinson Cruger LLC says patients' class-action lawsuit was filed on behalf of state chiropractic patients of five major health insurers. According to the complaint, the health insurance providers are violating state law by requiring chiropractic patients to pay a co-payment for each visit. Cynthia Larson, one of the plaintiffs, says, “How is it insurance if I have to pay for 100% of my treatment, whether I go once or 50 times? I am actually worse off submitting my chiropractic charges to my insurer than if I paid out-of-pocket because not only do I pay the entire cost through the co-payments but then the insurance company limits the number of times I can receive treatment from my chiropractor.” Larson, along with Kimberly Dehaan, Jeannette Borden, Rebecca Bavinck, and Amy Cloute, filed suit in federal court in the Western District of Wisconsin on Friday, alleging that their insurance companies used co-payments to shift all or nearly all of the cost of chiropractic care to them. They contend that Wisconsin law prohibits these co-payments. Russ Leonard, director of the Wisconsin Chiropractic Association, says “This is a huge step towards ending the systematic and destructive discrimination against Wisconsin chiropractic patients who paid for and have a legal right to an alternative to drugs or surgery.”
Source: WEAU News
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Yellow Pages
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Written by TAC Staff
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Monday, 25 April 2011 21:24 |
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COLUMBUS, OH--(Marketwire - 03/18/11) - On March 16, 2011, Ohio State Chiropractic Association (OSCA) announced that it was sponsoring the second PPACA Claims Regulations Claims Specialist training in an effort to meet a July 01, 2011 deadline for full enforcement of the Federal Health Reform Law, Patient Protection and Affordability Care Act (PPACA). PPACA is the new Federal Patient's Bill of Right, for almost all non-Medicare and non-Medicaid health claims and OSCA believes that it is critically important for health care providers as well as their patients to understand what is involved in this important new legislation. Earlier this year, on Jan. 24, 2011, OSCA and Dr. Judson G. Sprandel, II, D.C., past president of OSCA, filed a class action lawsuit against UnitedHealth group for the alleged violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA"), arising from its post-payment audit and  recoupment practices. The OSCA's Board of Directors unanimously (19 - 0) voted to file this suit in early January. That decision was driven from a commit to protect the rights of its members and the insured they treat through use of ERISA, the federal statute governing most private employer benefit plans. On Feb. 8, 2011, the Congress of Chiropractic State Associations ("COCSA") announced that it had voted to join OSCA in pursuing the ERISA Class Action on behalf of providers nationwide. COCSA represents chiropractic member associations in in all 50 states. The American Medical Association described the pending class action in its member publication on March 4, 2011, stating that "the lawsuits could have implications for physicians who are the target of the same kind of collections, even though the plaintiffs are chiropractors." Through the ERISA class action against United and the PPACA Claims Appeal Compliance training OSCA is leading the nation in advocating for appropriate patient care and against abusive insurance practice.
The Second OSCA PPACA / ERISA Claims Specialists training will be held on April 28, 2011 in Columbus, OH for its PPACA / ERISA Committee Members. Once the eight module trainings are completed the OSCA will begin training all members and providers in the State. OSCA finished its first session in PPACA / ERISA training on March 3, 2011.
The OSCA's ERISA class action was originally filed on Jan. 24, 2011, in the United States District Court, District of New Jersey, Case 2:11-cv-00425-FSH-PS, by Pomerantz Haudek Grossman & Gross LLP. Pomerantz seeks to represent a nationwide class of all health care providers who have been subjected to improper demands by UnitedHealth Group to repay previously paid health care benefits for services provided to UnitedHealth Group subscribers, only to have such funds forcibly recouped by the withholding of future payments from unrelated claims in alleged violation of ERISA.
PPACA claims regulations will govern all claims processing, reimbursement, denials and appeals for almost all healthcare claims outside Medicare and Medicaid, the most significant reimbursement law changes in 45 years since Medicare was created. The PPACA claims regulations became effective on 09/23/2010 with a deadline on July 01, 2011 as full enforcement grace period.
On July 23, 2010 the United States Department of Labor released a bulletin entitled: Interim Final Rules for Group Health Plans and Health Insurance Issuers Relating to Internal Claims and Appeals and External Review Processes Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; Interim Final Rule. You will find a copy of this bulletin here
These interim final regulations are effective on September 21, 2010.
Information regarding the OSCA and membership benefits can be accessed at http://www.oscachiro.org
Pass on the information to inform other D.C.’s about events that are really happening to chiropractors.
For further information, fax 1-305-716-9212. Write us at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or #CO138, 8619 NW 68th St., Miami, FL 33166.
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