On April 11, the medical director and the owner of a pain clinic in Kentucky were sentenced to prison for their roles in a scheme to defraud federal healthcare programs and commercial insurance companies for medically unnecessary urine drug testing. Previously, in March 2023, the clinic’s medical director, William Lawrence Siefert, was convicted of healthcare…

On Tuesday, April 23, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a final rule designed to promote competition and new business formation that, when effective, will impose a nationwide ban on non-compete agreements across all industries.

Existing non-compete agreements for employees will become unenforceable. Existing non-competes for senior executives can remain in force, but employers will…

On April 10, Virginia-based nurse practitioner Daphne Jenkins was sentenced to prison for her participation in a $7.8 million telemedicine fraud scheme that involved medically unnecessary orders for durable medical equipment (DME). As part of the scheme, Medicare claims were submitted based on false documentation and tainted by kickbacks.  

The orders Jenkins signed were pre-populated…

The New York State 2024-2025 budget includes legislation that extends until July 1, 2026 the independent practice authority for certain qualified nurse practitioners with over 3,600 practice hours. 

Our prior post on this topic provides additional details on which nurse practitioners qualify to practice independently, that is, without a written practice agreement or collaborative relationship…

On Thursday, April 11, in the next installment of Rivkin Radler’s Healthcare Compliance Lunch & Learn series, Rivkin Radler’s Bob Hussar, Chris Kutner and Mary Aperance will present “Defending Provider Audits.”  The program will take place from 12:00 noon to 1:00 PM Eastern time via Zoom.

The program will cover the similarities and differences in…

An article in the April issue of Healthcare Risk Management, “Patient and Family Complaints Require Careful Response,” highlights ways that healthcare organizations can address patient and family complaints in a professional and courteous way to avoid further escalation. Rivkin Radler partner Eric Strober was quoted in the article.

“Healthcare professionals should be…

On March 28, the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and the Treasury collectively issued final rules with respect to short-term and limited duration insurance (STLDI) plans in an effort to reduce healthcare costs by protecting consumers from purchasing such “junk” health plans that may provide little to no coverage in many scenarios. …

Marc S. Ullman, of counsel to Rivkin Radler, wrote the March 28 article “FDA sends a message with two warning letters to Amazon” in Natural Products Insider.

In the article, Marc explains the importance of the FDA warning letters on homeopathic “supplements” and products that contain active pharmaceutical ingredients. Marc writes, “During the…

Rivkin Radler’s Frank Izzo and Jeff Ehrhardt authored an article in the Spring 2024 issue of USLAW magazine, “New York Joins List of States Prohibiting Geofencing Near Healthcare Facilities.” The article discussed geofencing laws, enacted partly in response to the Supreme Court Dobbs decision, in depth by state.

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