Bristol Meyers Squibb Bribery Probe

Fierce Pharma has;

Bristol-Meyers Squibb Confirms It's The Target Of A Bribery Probe

Another disclosure is evidence of how widespread the practice is

April 26, 2012 | By Eric Palmer

Bristol-Myers Squibb ($BMY) has made it official. It is under federal investigation, potentially for foreign bribery.

In a filing Thursday, it just said that the SEC has started a probe of its sales and marketing departments and that last month it received a subpoena tied to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Nothing more was disclosed and the company didn't want to comment, reports the Financial Times.

The publication in January listed Bristol Myers among a host of companies being investigated for bribes. It says U.S. investigators started an inquiry on BMS after a German prosecutor started checking into its practices there.

There have been so many FCPA cases filed or settled recently that it is pretty clear it's a common practice in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries to bribe foreign officials, in many cases doctors working in national health systems, to sell more product.

The U.S. has been aggressive in this realm. Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ) agreed to pay $70 million in the U.S. to wrap up an FCPA investigation, and U.K. investigators won a £5 million ($8.1 million) payment. The allegations included payments in Iraq, Greece, Poland and Romania. Other companies targeted in FCPA probes include Pfizer ($PFE) Merck ($MRK), Baxter ($BAX), Eli Lilly ($LLY), GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) and AstraZeneca ($AZN), according to the Financial Times.

Biomet recently settled a probe with the Department of Justice on allegations of bribing public healthcare workers in Argentina, Brazil and China to secure business with hospitals.

Other countries also have launched their own corruption probes, the FT points out. Investigations in Serbia roped in AstraZeneca, Actavis, Sanofi ($SNY), Roche ($RHHBY) and PharmaSwiss, among others.

- read the Financial Times piece

Related Articles:
Amid FCPA probe, AZ indicted in Serbia for bribery
Depuy pays $7.9 million to end UK bribe case
Gov't probes laundry list of drugmakers
Biomet to cough up almost $23M to settle bribery charges


Thank You Fierce Pharma and Mr Palmer

"is pretty clear it's a common practice in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries to bribe foreign officials, in many cases doctors working in national health systems"

And putting even More of our own, already grotesquely over lawyered, Bribeable 17% of GDP under National Control is a good idea Why?




"Capitalism without bankruptcy is like Christianity without Hell."
Frank Borman, CEO, Eastern Airlines

FBI Seizes Patient Records In Houston In Medicare Fraud Investigation

Chron.com has;

Feds Seize Mental Health Clinic Records In Medicare Fraud Probe

By Terri Langford

Updated 10:35 p.m., Thursday, April 26, 2012

Federal agents with search warrants seized hundreds of patient records from a Houston psychiatric hospital and its two mental health clinics Thursday, part of an escalating Medicare fraud investigation into financial exploitation and care of the mentally ill as detailed last year by the Houston Chronicle.

The files, belonging to patients who attend counseling sessions at Westbury Community Hospital and its clinics in southwest Houston and Baytown, were boxed up and loaded into trucks in a pre-dawn swoop by the FBI and investigators from the Texas Attorney General's office.

Sources familiar with the investigation told the Chronicle the probe into Westbury is centered on the care of patients as well as whether owners of personal care homes were paid by hospital or clinic workers to recruit residents for treatment, whether they needed the care or not.

Billing totals obtained by the Chronicle show that more than $6.2 million in Medicare payments for mental health services were paid in 2010 to Westbury's clinic at 6614 Hornwood, then called Continuum Healthcare.

'It's unfair'

David Edson, Westbury's vice president of operations, and Jerry Skinner, the hospital's vice president of organization integrity and compliance, said Thursday that employees are grilled about whether they have ties to personal care homes or other health care providers and must sign a form attesting that they do not.

"If there were any (ties), we didn't know that, and we have attestations," Edson said.

"We're the most compliant group in the entire city," Skinner added.

No charges have been filed against the hospital or its employees.

"We are conducting a law enforcement activity," said Pat Villafranca, a FBI spokeswoman, who declined to offer further details.

Watching the federal and state agents work at Westbury's outpatient clinic in southwest Houston were Jeff Parsons, Westbury's CEO, and Colleen Paxton, administrator.

"It's unfair because it's disruptive," Parsons said of the investigators' presence. Some 140 patients arrive each day at the Hornwood clinic to participate in multi-hour, daily therapy. Their clients come mostly from assisted-living facilities and personal care homes, a type of unlicensed housing option found throughout Houston. "At the end of the day, I think we're fine."

Ambulances' role

During the Chronicle's investigation last year, dozens of private ambulances were seen daily delivering mostly mentally disabled residents from personal care homes and other facilities into the hands of mental health clinics.

The Westbury hospital and its clinic on Hornwood were frequent EMS destinations, though many of the patients were able-bodied and did not require an ambulance - also paid with Medicare dollars.

Records obtained by the Chronicle revealed that $62 million in Medicare money went to ambulance companies in Harris County in 2009 alone.

Patients interviewed by the paper could remember the type of food they ate at the clinics, or watching videos, but could not recall the therapy.

Recent arrests

Westbury's visit by the FBI marks the third time in the past five months that authorities have descended on clinics offering partial hospitalization program (PHP) services, a type of counseling that is not regulated by Texas, but paid for by Medicare.

In February, the administrator of the PHP program at Riverside General Hospital was arrested and charged in a $116 million Medicare billing scheme. Mohammad Khan pleaded guilty for his role in the arrangement, which involved kickbacks to patient recruiters and the owners of personal care homes in exchange for steering residents to Riverside's mental health clinics.

Khan, who is cooperating in the continuing investigation into Riverside, is scheduled to be sentenced in the fall.

Last December, the owners of Spectrum Care were arrested and charged in a $90 million Medicare billing scheme that involved accusations of phony treatment. Their case is pending. A third person, the owner of an assisted-living facility, was also charged after accusations of funneling patients to Spectrum Care in exchange for kickbacks from the clinic's owners.

Thank You Chron.com and Terri Langford

And Thanks and a Hat Tip to Ms Karen Cheung at Fierce Healthcare

"Patients interviewed by the paper could remember the type of food they ate at the clinics, or watching videos, but could not recall the therapy."

San Francisco

"Could not recall the Therapy?" Did they at least get to Watch The Wizard of Oz and Tootsie for themselves, unlike San Francisco where the 'Mental Health' Illuminati watched those movies, and more, For them?

"$62 Million in Medicare Money went to Ambulance Companies"

Che Speaks, Dr Lu Hears & $12.9 Million Per Year For Social Justice Joy Rides



I AM The Law! A Paramedic Has Them Locked Up

pic cred to madison.com

OIG: Weak Medicaid Claims Data Fails To Recover Overpayments

Fierce Healthcare has;

OIG: Weak Medicaid Claims Data Fails To Recover Overpayments

April 25, 2012 — 1:20pm ET | By Karen M. Cheung 

Missing or inaccurate Medicaid billing data is holding back contractors from pinpointing providers overpaid by Medicaid and therefore hindering recoveries, the Office of Inspector General reaffirmed its concerns about the weak results from Medicaid Integrity Contractors (MIC) in a report Monday.

The problems with the quality of data and analysis, conducted by review MICs and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, lead to poorly identified audit targets, the OIG said in the report. CMS assigned auditors to 161 targeted providers with a potential $33.5 million in overpayments. However, as of Feb. 1, audit MICs completed only 127 of them, worth $285,629 in overpayments. Thirty-four of the audits were never completed.

What's more, the OIG said an average of 10 months lapsed from the time CMS assigned the audits to when audit MICs reported their findings to CMS.

CMS, however, defended itself and said it is improving audit target selection by improving the quality of the data that MICs can access for conducting data analysis. CMS also redesigned its audit assignments approach by instructing audit MICs to focus on collaborative projects.

This isn't the first time that OIG has been critical of CMS, suggesting that the recovery programs are slow and ineffective. OIG last month also called on CMS to use a reliable methodology for adjusting the national Medicare fee-for-service error rate. OIG said if CMS overturned Comprehensive Error Rate Testing (CERT) denials in its error rate calculations, it would have decreased the estimated value of reported errors in 2009 and 2010 by approximately $2 billion each year.

For more information:
- here's the OIG report (.pdf)Related Articles:
OIG: Medicare, Medicaid anti-fraud program is ineffective 
5 states top Medicaid fraud list, States recover $1.7B
Millions in Medicaid overpayments uncollected due to faulty auditing
State regulators pull back on Medicaid audits
OIG: CMS missing accurate Medicare error data
OIG critiques deployment of Medicaid integrity contractors

RELATED STORIES

• Georgetown University, hospitals audited for Medicare overpayments
• Hospitals retrain staff on Medicare compliance after OIG audits
• OIG: Nursing homes ill-prepared for disasters
• Brigham and Women's overbilled Medicare $1.5M
• Millions in Medicaid overpayments uncollected due to faulty auditing
• OIG: CMS missing accurate Medicare error data
• OIG: Home health claims add up to $432M improper Medicare payments
• Inadequate training, staff errors lead to Medicare overpayments at Jefferson, other hospitals
• OIG: Home health has 'limited' oversight, reporting
• CMS inaction leaves system holes for fraud, abuse

Thank You Fierce Healthcare and Ms Cheung

But take heart Citizens. Your CMS is On the Case, and all you have to do is sit back and let the Experts handle it.





Medicare Fraud Detection System Disappoints 

"To date, the $77 million computer system, which went online in mid-2011, had prevented exactly one bad claim by late last year. That totaled $7,591."

Obama Taps Dr Seuss To Run CMS

Correction: Rotenberg Shock Torture: ECT or GED? pt II

Here's MyFoxBoston.com (Video can be viewed at the link.)

Graphic Video of Teen Being Restrained, Shocked Played In Court

We called the Shock Treatment this Citizen was subjected to Electro Convulsive Therapy. We also claimed that this treatment did Not make use of an FDA approved medical Device. We were Wrong regarding FDA approval if the electrical device in question is a Graduated Electronic Decelerator. And IF, this Treatment was actually Legal at the time it was done, ....... what does That tell you about the 'Mental Health' Industry and the people at the FDA who approved this Device?

Devices at FDA: Graduated Electronic Decelerator

Having said That:

1: The Victim was subjected to Electrical Shocks.

2: The Victim suffered Convulsions - if not a Grand Mal Seizure as is typically associated with ECT the Victim suffered Emotional Convulsions of Fear and Physical Pain.

3: The process is described as a Therapy.

Here's from the Judge Rotenberg Center:

http://www.effectivetreatment.org/comp.html

Note the name Matthew L Israel on the header. According to Wiki he's a psychologist who trained with B. F. Skinner.^[4]

BF Skinner: Beyond Freedom & Reason & Dignity

Let's see Wiki's review.

Judge Rotenberg Educational Center

jump down to:

Destruction of videotapes

In May 2011, Matthew Israel was charged with misleading a grand jury over the school's destruction of tapes of episodes of students being shocked, as well as being an accessory after the fact. Israel resigned his position at the JRC in a deferred prosecution plea deal with the Massachusetts State Attorney General's office.^[16] The JRC is currently administered by a court-appointed monitor.^[17] In 2011 facilities licensed by the DDS (Department of Developmental Services) in Massachusetts, including but not limited to the Judge Rotenberg Center, were banned from subjecting new admissions to severe behavioral interventions including electric shock, long-term restraint, or aversives that pose risk for psychological harm. ^[18]

Andre McCollins lawsuit and videotape

McCollins' mother testified that he was catatonic three days after the episode.^[25] An expert witness for the prosecution stated that the ordeal permanently traumatized McCollins and was a "gross deviation from accepted standards".^[26] The unveiling of the video has led to widespread condemnation of the use of shocks and the JRC, with calls from Massachusetts Governer Deval Patrick and others to ban such use of shocks outright.^[27]In April of 2012 Andre McCollins sued the JRC with the charge of having shocked him excessively and caused permanent damage.^[19] During the trial a videotape of the incident was shown and aired by Fox News.^[20] The video showed McCollins being being held face down and shocked repeatedly for several hours after refusing to remove his coat.^[21] During the shocks he is seen screaming uncontrollably, and when taken to a hospital three days later by his mother was diagnosed with acute stress response caused by the shocks.^[22] On cross-examination, an expert witness for the defense admitted that the shocks had been unsuccessful in accomplishing any treatment goal whatsoever. ^[23] The JRC had successfully kept the video sealed until April 2012.^[24]

And, here's

http://law.onecle.com/massachusetts/265/13A.html:

(c) For the purposes of this section, “serious bodily injury” shall mean bodily injury that results in a permanent disfigurement, loss or impairment of a bodily function, limb or organ, or a substantial risk of death.

And here's the Massachusetts Medical Society acknowledging that there's a problem with:

Physician Health Matters: Reporting Impaired and Incompetent Colleagues

"Health care providers in Massachusetts are required by the Board of Registration in Medicine to report physicians who they have a reasonable basis to believe are either impaired or not competent to practice medicine."

If they're showing up drunk, hung over or drug impaired, they're showing up in a state of DSM, Psychiatric, Incurably Mentally Ill, and there goes Equal Protection for everyone else right Out the window again.

Here's the Mass Med Society's Physician Health Services Inc. page on the Reporting Mandate

Mandated Reporting Law and Exception

And here is the pg on Obligations in Mass. To Consider

Mandated Reporting: Obligations To Consider

"In Massachusetts, the law mandates reporting to the BRM when there is a reasonable basis to believe that a physician is practicing medicine while impaired by drugs or alcohol, or when a physician is a habitual user of drugs or alcohol."

Alcohol Intoxication, 2 drinks is All it takes, DSM 'Incurably, Mentally Ill'.

DSM-IV-TR Billing Code: 303.00 Alcohol Intoxication

http://law.onecle.com/massachusetts/265/13A.html:

(c) For the purposes of this section, “serious bodily injury” shall mean bodily injury that results in a permanent disfigurement, loss or impairment of a bodily function, limb or organ, or a substantial risk of death.

"Loss or Impairment of a bodily function,"

Catatonic? Isn't that the Impairment of Most Voluntary Bodily Functions?

But it's not Aggravated Battery after all, ..... unless a Judge decides it is. We were wrong.

It's Mental Health.

Dr Phil: Veterans w PTSD: "Damaged Goods, Monsters"?

You Served has;

Vets With PTSD Are "Damaged Goods", "Monsters".

April 20, 2012 By Cassy
Posted in Military Life, Military News, Opinion

PTSD: civilians just love to paint veterans as riddled with this disease, causing them to become violent, unhinged lunatics who will explode at the slightest provocation. Look at just about any news story where a violent crime is committed by a veteran, and PTSD is almost immediately floated as the reason. In the media narrative, violence and PTSD go hand-in-hand. At the same time, troops are criticized for not coming forward and admitting they have a problem, and seeking help for it. (Gee, could it possibly be because we paint veterans with PTSD as homicidal lunatics?)

Dr. Phil, arguably one of the most popular talk show hosts on the planet, decided to feature this issue on his show this week. And while he could have taken a reasonable approach, he went straight for the gut instead. Titling the show “From Heroes To Monsters”, he painted a picture of vets with PTSD as ticking time bombs of violence, describing them as damaged goods who “destroy families” and “dismantle marriages”.

One of Dr. Phil’s guests, Matt, is a former Marine who struggles with PTSD. He speaks about how, while deployed to Afghanistan, he repeatedly stabbed an enemy combatant in the face, even after he was dead, to get his anger out. He also claims he saw “lots” of innocent people killed, including women and children. (His last name isn’t given, so it’s impossible to verify his claims of killing women and children while deployed to Afghanistan.)

After Matt, Dr. Phil featured Mark and Heather. Mark is another veteran with PTSD who admits he has violent rages, says his life has been destroyed, and is afraid of what he will do to his family. Heather’s husband, Duane, had PTSD. He beat her and set her on fire.

The common thread between all of these stories: violence. Did Dr. Phil ever stop to point out that most veterans with PTSD don’t end up setting their wives on fire or stabbing people repeatedly in the face? Of course not. Indeed, recent research has found that the link between PTSD and violent behavior is actually weak. Another dirty little secret Dr. Phil didn’t feel was necessary to point out: civilians get PTSD, too. In fact, anyone can get it — anyone who has been through a trauma. According to the VA, about 7-8% of the general population will get PTSD at some point in their lives. For veterans, the risk is slightly higher, although not by much at 11-20%. And, believe it or not, the symptoms of PTSD do not include sudden violence such as setting your wife on fire or stabbing people in the face. Common symptoms include reliving the event, avoiding situations that remind you of it, feeling numb, feeling jittery, suddenly being angry or irritable, having trouble sleeping, etc. Setting your wife on fire? Not so much a normal occurrence. While relationship problems and violence may occur, acting as if it is a foregone conclusion (as Dr. Phil did) and saying that vets with PTSD are “monsters” is ridiculous and offensive.

It has been noted time and again, including here at You Served, that there is a stigma associated with veterans who have PTSD. While things may slowly be getting better, we still have a long way to go. And clearly, that goes for civilians as well. When the leading daytime talk show host runs a show calling veterans with PTSD “monsters” and “damaged goods”, it’s no wonder that there is a stigma attached to PTSD. The media gleefully paints vets who struggle with it as ticking time bombs, as stereotypes of lunatics about to snap at any given moment. The narrative isn’t new… but I don’t ever recall seeing veterans being so blatantly insulted by being called “monsters” and “damaged goods”.

I’m curious if Dr. Phil honestly thinks it’s helpful to paint such a negative, violent picture of veterans struggling with PTSD. I would wager he doesn’t care at all about how this affects our military. Because if he did, this show wouldn’t have existed. What he has done is continue to spread a false and harmful narrative about our troops, which spreads the stigma associated with PTSD even further. And what does that do? It encourages veterans who are struggling with symptoms of PTSD to become even more reluctant to come forward and seek help. Why would they? They’re being told that they’re monsters, damaged goods, violent abusive lunatics. While Dr. Phil is by no means the only perpetrator, this is by far the worst example I have seen in the media.

Having PTSD does not make you “damaged goods”. Does having cancer make someone damaged? What about depression, or bipolar disorder, or any number of other diseases? Telling someone who has PTSD that they are a monster and therefore need to get help makes about as much sense as telling a woman who has breast cancer that she’s damaged goods and therefore needs chemotherapy. It’s not going to encourage anyone to actually seek help. What it will surely do for vets, though, is reinforce the idea that they are somehow broken, that they’ll be judged and punished for having PTSD, and make them think that they are right to not tell anyone and to not get help. None of our troops who are afflicted with PTSD are monsters, they are not damaged, and 99% of them are not violent, homicidal maniacs about to snap at any moment.

The men and women who serve in our Armed Forces give up so much. They sacrifice their time with their families, their bodies, and their lives. For some, they sacrifice their mental health. This does not make them broken, or crazy, or violent, and it especially does not make them monsters. Meanwhile, here is Dr. Phil, taking the sacrifice and exploiting it, calling our troops — who have already given up so much for us — monsters. He should be ashamed of himself.

If he has any honor at all, any gratitude for the service of our veterans, he’ll issue an apology and a retraction. You can contact the Dr. Phil Show at:

http://www.facebook.com/drphilshow
https://twitter.com/DRPHIL
http://drphil.com/plugger/respond/?plugID=9164

Ed; The only point of difference we would raise with this article is its characterizing PTSD as a "disease". Diabetes, Cancer, etc meet the criteria of real 'diseases'. Psychiatric Labels do not., unlike Psychiatric Brain and Body damaging 'Treatments' which Do.

Thank You, You Served, VA Mortgage Center, and author Cassey.

Another 'Mental Health' expert sounds off: Sensationalism, Sanctimony, and Condescension.

If you're offended by Dr Phil, as you Should be, "You Served" has a few More people to contact.

So go to the original link and start contacting.

Hat Tip to http://woundedtimes.blogspot.com/