Pirates are attacking interventional cardiology meetings. Interventional cardiologists planning to attend the upcoming TCT meeting should be aware that at least one pirate web site is out to dupe them. (The annual TCT meeting, which runs this year in San Diego from September 21-25, is the première meeting for interventional cardiologists.) The pirates are trying…
Warning: Pirate Sites Are Now Kidnapping Doctors Booking Hotels At Medical Meetings
July 24, 2018 by 1 Comment
The Shaky Scientific Edifice: Watching Retracted And Unretracted Papers
September 22, 2015 by Leave a Comment
The good news is that retracted papers really are worse than papers that have not been retracted. The bad news is that unretracted papers still have plenty of problems. That’s the inevitable conclusion of a fascinating new paper from Darrel Francis’s group in the UK. In the past few years the same group has exposed fraud and…
Embattled Stem Cell Researchers Sue Harvard And Brigham And Women’s Hospital
December 17, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Two embattled and highly controversial stem cell researchers are suing the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School for an ongoing investigation into their research. The investigation has already resulted in the retraction of one paper in Circulation and an expression of concern about another paper in the Lancet. The suit was filed by Piero Anversa, the highly prominent…
Cigna Sues Embattled HDL Laboratory For $84 Million
October 20, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The Cigna Health and Life Insurance company is suing Health Diagnostic Laboratory Inc. for $84 million. As reported previously, the embattled lab company is the subject of an ongoing Federal investigation concerning kickbacks and fraudulent billing. The charges against HDL in the suit filed last week in federal court closely echo the earlier allegations against the company….
Doctor: You’re Going To Have A Heart Attack! Patient: Your Tests Results Are Giving Me A Heart Attack!
October 17, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Last month I wrote a series of articles (starting here) about HDL, a laboratory company under investigation by the DOJ for giving kickbacks to physicians who use their tests. I reported additional allegations of serious misconduct based on questionable sales, marketing, and billing practices involving unnecessary testing. In response to those articles I’ve received emails from several individuals,…
Embattled HDL Laboratory CEO Resigns Amid Federal Investigation
September 23, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Tonya Mallory, the embattled President and CEO of troubled Health Diagnostics Laboratory, has resigned her positions, the company announced today. Mallory said she was leaving to help her brother start a new business. Dr. Joe McConnell, a co-founder of the company and its Chief Laboratory Officer, will succeed her. Mallory will remain on the HDL Board of Directors. As previously reported (by…
Way Beyond Kickbacks: More Serious Misconduct Alleged Against Medical Testing Company
September 18, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The problems go way beyond kickbacks. As previously reported (here and in the Wall Street Journal) the US government is conducting an investigation into Health Diagnostic Laboratory, a medical laboratory testing company that has enjoyed explosive growth since its founding in 2008. Previous reports centered on kickbacks given to physicians by the company to encourage greater use of the company’s…
Medicine Or Mass Murder? Guideline Based on Discredited Research May Have Caused 800,000 Deaths In Europe Over The Last 5 Years
January 15, 2014 by 2 Comments
Last summer British researchers provoked concern when they published a paper raising the possibility that by following an established guideline UK doctors may have caused as many as 10,000 deaths each year. Now they have gone a step further and published an estimate that the same guideline may have led to the deaths of as many…
New York Area Cardiologist Admits $19 Million Fraud
April 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Jose Katz, a 68-year-old cardiologist with offices in New York and New Jersey, has pleaded guilty to charges that he committed health care fraud, the US Attorney for New Jersey announced yesterday. Katz admitted that he billed Medicare Part B, Medicaid, and numerous private insurers “for unnecessary tests and unnecessary procedures based on false diagnoses…
79-Year-Old Cardiologist Sentenced To 6 Years In Prison For Fen-Phen Fraud
March 27, 2013 by Leave a Comment
A 79-year-old Florida cardiologist has been sentenced to 7 years in prison for his participation in the Fen-Phen fraud, according to a report by John Martin on Philly.Com. The article notes that other cardiologists have been convicted for similar reasons in the Fen-Phen case, but Tai’s case is unusual because of the length of the…
Nine Italian Cardiologists Arrested In Broad Investigation Of Research Fraud And Misconduct
November 11, 2012 by 2 Comments
Nine Italian cardiologists have been arrested as part of a broad investigation into serious medical misconduct at Modena Hospital, according to multiple reports in the Italian media. The investigation encompasses at least 67 other individuals and a dozen medical equipment companies, including 6 foreign companies. The charges include conspiracy, fraud, embezzlement, bribery, forgery and performing…
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