Three Calif. Doctors Arrested in Outpatient Surgery Center Scam

May 17, 2007

  • May 17, 2007 at 7:44 am
    Stop Bad Faith says:
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    The only fraud that is occurring here is the fraud that the insurance industry is imposing on the people by going after good doctors that help patients get care insurance companies are refusing to cover. We need more Insurance Companies prosecuted to prevent this ongoing problem from continuing. I hope these doctor counter sue for malicious prosecution.

  • May 17, 2007 at 9:50 am
    Annica Reddish says:
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    I hope the doctors and the people who willingly participates in these scams are brought to justice and prosecuted to the fullest extend of the law. We all pay for these scams through higher insurance premiums. I do not believe insurance companies go after honest doctors. The scammers have studied the system and have found the loopholes. Shame on the doctors who scam. Have they forgotten the oath they took when they became doctors?

  • May 18, 2007 at 12:11 pm
    Incredulous says:
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    I understand a lot of people are disgruntled with the insurance companies; however, I fail to understand what this has to do with prosecuting medical doctors who perform unnecessary surgeries on healthy people in order to make loads of money.

  • May 17, 2007 at 12:27 pm
    a concerned citizen says:
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    i would hope if these doctors are found guilty that they will spend the rest of their life in prison and their familys are striped of all the wonderful things that money buys, no wonder ins. cost are so high, and in that if some judge lets them off for a lessor sentence he is just as guilty.

  • May 18, 2007 at 5:29 am
    Joseph Whitlark says:
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    Thoracic sympathectomies are the treatment of choice for palmer hypeerhidrosis or \”sweaty palms\”. Creams and botox simply do not work. I realize sensationalism sells, but you should try to stick to the facts.

  • May 18, 2007 at 7:07 am
    Dr. Denny says:
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    If the facts in this article are anywhere close to accurate, then these docs need to be stripped of their licenses, stripped of the money gained illegally, and to spend some years in the slammer… They make the vast majority of us who behave ethically look bad…

  • May 18, 2007 at 7:59 am
    Jane Q. Public says:
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    As a patient/victim of numerous so-called medical practitioners, I am hardly surprised by the greed and nihilism of today\’s health care providers. Medicine used to be considered a \”calling\” like the priesthood, now it\’s a profession. But unlike every other profession, doctors get to \”bury\” their mistakes.

    Personally, I like the Chinese method of medical insurance. You pay the doctor directly while you are healthy, but not while you are sick. When you recover, you continue making regular small payments. If you don\’t recover, the doctor doesn\’t get anymore money.

  • May 18, 2007 at 9:24 am
    B Thomas Bagman says:
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    Just proves there is no ethics or professionalism left in any business or profession these days

  • May 18, 2007 at 9:34 am
    a doc says:
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    An interesting idea, except for the multiple things patients do that is the true cause of their illness. Lack of adequate (or any) exercise, eating horrible fast food and soda only based diets, smoking tobacco, excessive alcohol use, illicit drugs, and refusal to follow any advice from their physician. Basically, taking absolutely no personal responsibility for their own health. This is my day! How fair would this payment system be with my patients.

  • May 18, 2007 at 9:59 am
    Totally disgusted says:
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    To: Stop Bad Faith
    You disgust me! Good doctors don\’t need cappers to bring in the business! If you\’re good, you\’re good. These so called \”patients\” and \”doctors\” were obviously having no problem getting surgeries covered and paid for by the insurance companies. These criminal doctors and recruiters have no shame or morals. As I said, your thoughts are truly disgusting to believe that they are not in the wrong and that they should counter sue. I can see that your standards are hitting the floor!

  • May 18, 2007 at 10:01 am
    Clark Feaster says:
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    If you think this is bad, try imagining the amount of fraud on Medicare which is spending 1 billion dollars daily. It\’s time for Health Savings Accounts.

  • May 18, 2007 at 10:35 am
    David A says:
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    What if the medical profession actually provided preventative health care, focused on diet & lifestyle, rather than being puppets of the drug companies? Doctors live off the sick, and holistic practitioners have their own set of unregulated scams. WTF do we do for real healthcare in America? eg Niacin is much more effective & safe than Lipitor & related Rx drugs, but what doc will tell you that?

  • May 18, 2007 at 10:47 am
    Caliche-Pit says:
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    One of the ways that worked for a while (until we lost our nerve and stopped it) was Capitation. Doctors were given so much per patient per year and there job was to keep them healthy. Doing MORE didn\’t get the Dr. more money. I am told that, thousands of years ago, in China, doctors were given a set amount annually. If their patient died, the doctors were beheaded. I guess you\’d call that DE-Capitation?

  • May 18, 2007 at 11:23 am
    What\'s New? says:
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    The entire medical and insurance industry is corrupt. You have a headache and you are referred for a $1000.00 scan that you don\’t need. Your tonsils are swollen because they are doing their job and they are removed. Your blood pressure is high because you are afraid of your doctor and what he might do to you, and you are given high blood pressure medication for the rest of your life. Your cholesterol is perfectly normal (by all other countries standards) and you are put on Lipitor for the rest of your life . A vast majority of medical interventions are not needed and a waste of money – a complete scam! And the doctors all know it. These doctors who were caught were simply not scamming within the rules. Doctors are nothing more than pawns for the drug companies. Each and every medical doctor who is not actively participating in trying to change this broken system, is knowingly involved in the greatest of all scams and are personally responsible for the sickest of all nations. Don\’t blame the patients! They have been stripped of their ability to take charge and make wise decisions by an arrogant medical establishment. The insurance industry loves the high cost of medical care. If it was cheap, no one would buy health insurance. The entire industry is fear driven. What a beautiful scam. It makes Cheney and Halliburton look like chior boys. At least the doctors that were arrested did not kill anyone. Their fellow doctors on the other hand killed over 850,000 patients just last year – and got paid while doing it!

  • May 18, 2007 at 11:24 am
    What\'s New? says:
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    The entire medical and insurance industry is corrupt. You have a headache and you are referred for a $1000.00 scan that you don\’t need. Your tonsils are swollen because they are doing their job and they are removed. Your blood pressure is high because you are afraid of your doctor and what he might do to you, and you are given high blood pressure medication for the rest of your life. Your cholesterol is perfectly normal (by all other countries standards) and you are put on Lipitor for the rest of your life . A vast majority of medical interventions are not needed and a waste of money – a complete scam! And the doctors all know it. These doctors who were caught were simply not scamming within the rules. Doctors are nothing more than pawns for the drug companies. Each and every medical doctor who is not actively participating in trying to change this broken system, is knowingly involved in the greatest of all scams and are personally responsible for the sickest of all nations. Don\’t blame the patients! They have been stripped of their ability to take charge and make wise decisions by an arrogant medical establishment. The insurance industry loves the high cost of medical care. If it was cheap, no one would buy health insurance. The entire industry is fear driven. What a beautiful scam. It makes Cheney and Halliburton look like chior boys. At least the doctors that were arrested did not kill anyone. Their fellow doctors on the other hand killed over 850,000 patients just last year – and got paid while doing it!

  • May 18, 2007 at 12:48 pm
    Jane Q. Public says:
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    If your patient is not practicing a reasonably healthy lifestyle then whatever damage they do to themselves that results in illness or death would be considered a self-inflicted wound, or suicide
    .
    Example: I know smoking MAY kill me or cause other health issues, so I sign a contract with my doctor that says he is not to be held liable if I die from lung cancer or end up with a hole in my throat and a voice box. If I drink like a fish, it\’s my fault if I need a new liver, not the doctor\’s.

    The pay while you are healthy plan works because the patient is expected to do their best to maintain their health. If the patient ends up dying because the doctor misdiagnosed pancreatic cancer by assuming early warning symptoms in an otherwise healthy woman was simple diabetes; and (like my mother) the patient dies a slow and excruciatingly painful death…

    Well, I for one don\’t believe that doctor deserves to be paid. And frankly, he owes me death benefits, because if he\’d found the cancer in its early stages (done the test like I asked because mom\’s lifestyle didn\’t indicate a propensity for adult diabetes and no one else in the family has ever had it) it would have been operable and she\’d still be alive.

  • May 18, 2007 at 2:10 am
    a doc says:
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    Jane Q. Public – I am sorry for your loss. If you did suggest an imaging study and your mothers doctor refused – I\’m sure that makes your hurt and anger even worse. In many cases pancreatic cancer is very difficult to cure, even if caught early and treated with surgery. It really is one of the worst cancers a person can get.

    What you suggest about the smoking and drinking wouldn\’t work – at least not in the US. Ethically, medical systems couldn\’t deny treatment to someone simply because they are the cause of their own disease. I can\’t tell you how many times I saw alcoholics brought into the ER, allowed to sober up, given the card for the local AA meetings and caringly encouraged to get sober – only to see them back again within the week. (Healthcare cost$ – each visit probably cost minimum $200-300 and usually the hospital has to write this cost off because the patient has no insurance.) Yes, I know, alcoholism is a disease. Would you be the person standing in the ER doors blocking the stretcher from rolling in the door? What if this guy vomits and suffocates on his vomitus? Or, how about the lifelong smoker who is dearly loved by her 25 family members and has severe emphysema. Could you deny her a breathing treatment when you see she might die from not getting it?

    Capitation simply allows the insurance companies to keep piling more patients onto a physicians panel without allowing for the time he/she will need to properly care for them. Do you like 5-7 minutes for doctors visit? Docs face falling reimbursement from the gov\’t and private insurance, plus increasing costs to run their offices due to HIPAA. I know, I know poor doctors . . . but if put your life on hold for 11 (family doc like me) or more years to pursue a profession and accumulate typically greater than $200,000 in debt to get there. . . I want to make more than the RN who works (usually very hard) beside me with only 4 years of schooling.

    more later – gotta go

  • May 20, 2007 at 12:59 pm
    Frank says:
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    I had emergency surgery performed on me by one of the doctors mentioned in this article a few years ago. I had been scheduled for a routine procedure weeks later, but I began exhibiting symptoms on Saturday afternoon which meant that something needed to be done sooner. My scheduled surgeon was not available, the mentioned doctor was on call and he spent much time on the phone with me explaining what was happening and the possibilities. Saturday night the problem accelerated and he advised me to go to the hospital, where I was admitted. The doctor operated on me early the next morning, the surgery was successful, and I healed quickly. Much of his weekend involved me and my problem.

    This man is a gifted surgeon and a good doctor. Whether or not he is found at fault here, I must wonder whether something is wrong with a system where a skilled individual cannot be compensated commensurately with his talent and performance. The fact is that exceptional young men are no longer choosing medicine as a profession in the numbers they once did since they can earn much more in easier careers.

  • May 19, 2007 at 2:45 am
    How To Stop says:
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    Upon conviction, these three physicians should be put in front of a firing squad and shot. That\’s the kind of leadership we need in this country.

  • May 20, 2007 at 12:13 pm
    Trevor says:
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    I am a physician myself and have seen reimbursements from insurance companies decline precipitously over the years, yet drug companies continue to make record profits and the executives of the insurance companies I participate with give themselves major bonuses each year. I can see why the docs may have done what they did, but I am also mad because they let their greed take over. The article vilifies \”greedy\” physicians, however, one never hears about how little reimbursements we get for performing surgeries and seeing patients. Just want people to know that there are two sides to be considered when it comes to insurance companies. And please don\’t lump all doctors into the \”fraudulent\” category. Most of us are hard working, honest people.

  • May 24, 2007 at 3:26 am
    To Totally Disgusted says:
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    I think you might have missed \”stop bad faith\’s\” message…or at least I read it a different way and thought maybe i could clarify???? if i\’m wrong, i apologize.

    I think what he was saying is that sometimes the insurance companies are the ones that wrongly deny procedures or surgeries when LEGITIMATE doctors are saying they LEGITIMATELY need to be done.

    Case in point, 2 years ago, after an AKG, the doc realized his Karotid (sorry for spelling) arteries were more than 95% clogged. The doc chose not to do an angioplasty…they just wanted to clean them out without putting a stent in….they thought the stent would be too much for him. fast forward a year and a half, the arteries were clogged again (this time from scar tissue). when the doctor told the insurance company my dad would need to have the angioplasty done, they denied it at first. My dad went to bed every night for three months scared he was going to die in his sleep until the insurance company decided he could have the surgery.

    I think that\’s what \”stop bad faith\” was referring to.

  • May 24, 2007 at 3:29 am
    To Totally Disgusted says:
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    Sorry, I just read what I typed….the story is about my father….

    Case in point, 2 years ago, after an AKG, the doc realized my father\’s Karotid (sorry for spelling) arteries were more than 95% clogged. The doc chose not to do an angioplasty…they just wanted to clean them out without putting a stent in….they thought the stent would be too much for him. fast forward a year and a half, the arteries were clogged again (this time from scar tissue). when the doctor told the insurance company my dad would need to have the angioplasty done, they denied it at first. My dad went to bed every night for three months scared he was going to die in his sleep until the insurance company decided he could have the surgery.

  • June 13, 2007 at 11:50 am
    Trevor says:
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    I suppose that you are privy to information the rest of us don’t see. I thought Chan was owner of the ASC and, therefore, had access to the billing portion as well. I agree that there are two sides to every story, however, the allegations are pretty serious and sound like they’ve been going on for a long time.

  • June 13, 2007 at 5:47 am
    SoCal Consultant says:
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    In the end the doctors will all be legally vindicated of fraud allegations. The facility fees of surgery centers and hospitals are not the responsibility of the doctors. Therefore, the $30M scam as alleged is BOGUS. In healthcare, insurance companies do not pay charges and the three doctors combined facility fee collections totalled approximately $5M. None of the three doctors had access to the facility fees.

    The Orange County DA claims the doctors performed unnecessary surgery but where is the assault and battery charge if true. Screening colonoscopies and diagnostic laparoscopies are diagnostic procedures as well as surgeries.

    The “bad guys” have already plead guilty to their crimes. In total 17 people including the three doctors have been arrested and charged with crimes in this case. The DA’s star witness is a convicted felon?

    Is the DA really committed to busting doctors? Over 25 doctors in Orange County perfoemd cases at Unity.

    This is a sensationalized case involving an overzealous DA who will lose in a court of law.

    The lesson here is that if you hang out with dogs prepare to get fleas.

  • July 16, 2008 at 1:06 am
    mack mcglothin says:
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    i am the operating room technician who preformed all those procedures on those patients as ordered by the doc,s. i was fresh out of school.i grew up in watts in the projects i have done all the bad things gang bangers did in the 1980,s and i was no joke never the less i changed my life and entered medicine as a career to raise my family and i loved it i was really giving back to people i hurt a total change every body all around southcentral respect me for that and said if i can change any body can but just like a roll of the dice my new career was gone after 2 years house car wife every thing gone every one blammed me they thought i was on drugs but now they finally can see what happened and the war has started with me and those surgeons we worked hand to hand i trusted those men we eat together talk family values joke laugh and stress together all the while destroying my life in my face.well i have a book to finish it,s called hear me cry i,ll get fix,ed in time to submit a copy to oprah,s book club it,s all real no holds barred it will be juicy because it envolves real surgeons i have worked hand to hand with and i know a lot of things that has really waken me up to the real world.now we will see what herbal life and cedars think about their dr rosenberg.

  • February 21, 2009 at 3:10 am
    MACK MCGLOTHIN says:
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    phone 213-364-8383 for book comments.

  • February 23, 2009 at 7:25 am
    Tom says:
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    Hi Mack:

    I have been following this story as well. Could you let me in on some of the
    inside” things that you are aware of? I used Dr. Rosenberg in the past and thought that something was “fishy”.

    Thanks Tom



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