Here are five court cases involving the healthcare industry to know, as reported by Becker's since Jan. 2:
1. Karel Felipe and Tamara Quicutis, both from Florida, were sentenced for their roles in a $93 million Medicare fraud and money laundering scheme. The pair conspired with others to submit false claims to Medicare for three home health companies based in Michigan.
2. UnitedHealth Group, parent company of Optum, sued two former executives for allegedly stealing confidential information to create their own competing corporate entities. The suit alleges Mark Pollman, Optum Lab's former chief technology officer, pressured a subordinate to hand over around 500,000 of United's sensitive emails and files on a hard drive after leaving the company in July 2021.
3. Robert Leon Smith, who owned and operated a network of durable medical equipment companies in Florida, Texas and Maryland, was charged in a $60 million scheme in which he allegedly submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare for medically unnecessary products and services.
4. Paul Giacopelli, MD, an anesthesiologist who works at New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health in Westchester and Long Island, both in New York, with privileges at Putnam Hospital Center in Carmel Hamlet, N.Y., was arrested for allegedly giving a woman anesthesia without her knowledge and sexually abusing her.
5. The conviction of Ron Elfenbein, MD, who was was convicted of five counts of healthcare fraud for submitting more than $15 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare and other insurers for COVID-19 tests, was vacated by a federal judge based on the ambiguity of E/M CPT codes used.