News

August 20, 2012 — What could be better than having a dentist come to your child’s school and give them a free evaluation? Maybe it’s hard to get to a community dentist, one less thing to take care of on your own and the checkup is free. And how nice and comforting it is when the dentists coming to take care of your child is part of something called Big Smiles mobile dental...

Americans consistently rank physicians as among the most trusted professionals. Much of that trust is well earned and arises, in part, from the public perception that a doctor’s judgment is free of corrupting financial influences. But that confidence has been increasingly compromised by financial incentives that pharmaceutical and medical device companies have given to physicians. Ask...

The United States has reached a settlement in a False Claims Act/whistleblower suit against Altus Healthcare & Hospice Inc. — now known as AHH Historic Inc. — of Atlanta, Georgia. Altus has agreed to pay $555,572 to settle False Claims Act allegations that the hospice provider submitted fraudulent claims to Medicaid and Medicare for inpatient hospice services, according to an article...

July 16, 2012 — An Oklahoma City dentist has pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of Medicaid fraud, reports the FBI website. Robin Lockwood, 44-years-old, entered the guilty plea earlier in July, according to U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma, Sanford Coats. The dentist is expected to be sentenced in around 90 days. The charges of which Lockwood was accused could...

July 12, 2012 — The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Russell Wasendorf, CEO of Peregrine Financial Group Inc., with orchestrating a long-term SEC fraud scheme. Mr. Wasendorf is accused of making false statements to federal regulators as part of a securities fraud scheme that went on for years. When Mr. Wasendorf recently tried to commit suicide, he left a note detailing...

July 2012 — For over ten years, private equity investors have had their fingers in the nation’s dentistry pie, investing in at least two dozen dental management organizations – companies that profit by purchasing, consolidating, marketing and managing a host of dental practices in several cities or states. What’s...

Texas AG Joins Whistleblower Lawsuit Against Dallas Dentist and Dental Clinics

DALLAS — July 9, 2012 — Dallas-based law firm Waters & Kraus, LLP announces that Dr. Christine Ellis has sued Dr. Richard Malouf and several All Smiles clinics, alleging violations of the Texas Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act.

Dr. Ellis is represented by Waters &...

July 2012 — The U.S. Department of Justice has notified Universal Technical Institute, Inc. in Scottsdale, Arizona that it has become the target of a preliminary investigation involving federal False Claims Act violations, the company has announced in a press release. UTI is one of the nation’s largest providers of automotive technician training.

The investigation comes after a...