Medscape In The Case Of Dr. Fata

This research paper is being submitted on December 8, 2011, for Mara Pehkonen’s M230 Medical Law and Ethics Course.

Between early June 1951 and Henrietta’s death on October 4, 1951, doctors involved in her treatment would continue to violate ethics code. Henrietta complained of discomfort in early June that morphed into pain. During the 1950s, segregation was still occurring in the country (Skloot, 2010, p. 63). Therefore, it was common for black patients to not question white professionals (Skloot, 2010, p. 63). It was also common practice for doctors to withhold information from patients so they would not be upset or confused by medical terms such as cancer (Skloot, 2010, p. 63). Within two months, the pain was so severe she could be heard screaming a block away from her home (Skloot, 2010, p. 65). By the time doctors examined her properly, she was inoperable and a “stony hard mass” (Skloot, 2010, p. 64) could be felt on her abdomen. The doctors during previous follow up visits wrote notes about her complaints but still stated no evidence of reoccurrence. Therefore, these unnamed doctors did not demonstrate appropriate professionalism because they neglected to perform a thorough exam required to give Henrietta a proper diagnosis breaching codes: 1.04 integrity, 1.07a exploitative relationship, 2.09 treatment/intervention

Physicians should respect the patients decision to abandon life continuing treatment, deliberately causing death is morally impermissible.

Rising costs of healthcare is a valid concern for many households in America. A factor in the cost of healthcare insurance is fraud. Fraud is often very difficult to detect. The magnitude of healthcare fraud is unknown. Initial reimbursement and payment and billing timeframe of 90 days allows for fast payment of services, however, many times before there is an indication of fraudulent billing the company has closed up and moved on. Fraud in American healthcare, costs American’s millions perhaps even billions of dollars annually. Without doubt, behind every act of fraud lies a lapse in ethics. This paper will review several pieces of literature to look

1. In May of 2014, some 107 healthcare providers including doctors and nurses were arrested in several cities. These ones were charged with cheating the programs out of some $452 million in funds.

Fata was in charge of seven Detroit, Michigan-based offices. It was in these offices that he prescribed false diagnosis including chemotherapy and expensive treatment charges. The total amount of theft from Medicare and other

First, Nelson makes a bold claim stating, “Today, legality—rather than moral principle—has become the deciding factor”. This helps Nelson show a major flaw that needs to be taken into consideration. If speaking about ethics and professionalism, there is a grey line between moral and legal. This being the case, one must beware of the forces behind action especially in the health care industry. Is it caused by legal reasons or ethical reason?

One example of many health insurance fraud cases involves a $115 million whistleblower settlement involving Park Ridge Hospital and Adventist Health System. The lawsuit arose when three longtime employees of Park Ridge hospital had creditable insider knowledge about the hospital paying kickbacks to physicians’ who were intentionally referring their patients to the hospital for illegal monetary incentives. The civil suit also alleged that the health system was overbilling patients for medical services. One example of the overbilling is when Park Ridge Hospital devised a scheme with partnering physicians to perform outpatient procedures inside the hospital for higher reimbursement when in fact the procedure could have be done in an office setting at a lower cost. The act of health care fraud not only financially hurts the victims but it also compromises the quality of the patients care and puts patients’ health at risk. Adventist Health System agreed to settle the lawsuit with the United States government for $115 million dollars which includes the whistleblower’s reward, which will roughly amount to a little over $118 million after legal fees are calculated (Moss,

In today’s health care culture some individuals are presented to undertake unlawful medical actions based on personal guidance; however, ethical and legal issues effect one’s actions if he or she is not qualified to make such decisions. The case of Jerry McCall is an example of such a scenario in today’s health care environment.

In the healthcare field, one of the rudimentary rules first learned is maleficent, “to do no harm.” However, medical malpractice seems to be skyrocketing throughout the years. In 2010, according to the American Medical Association (AMA), the United States was experiencing its third full blown medicine liability crisis with many physicians’ practices becoming limited due to increasing malpractice costs (Ellington, 2010). According to Sage (2012), United States has the most expensive healthcare system in the world and a high rate of litigation. Under the healthcare delivery system, it is viewed as far from perfect and the primary cause for high unjustified medical spending. As well as, the largest financial damages awarded to successful plaintiffs

Her mind focused on making a resolution centered upon her own moral compass and with the thought of future legal or ethical consequences that she could encounter if she reluctantly surrendered to the pressure from her naïve co-worker and the stubborn physician of the practice. Although she believed in her heart that she did not share, the stance that insurance, companies take when covering the cost of medication. The insurance companies’ rulings are in most cases not centered on sound ethical principles and the harmful impact on the patient as they wait for prior authorization. Furthermore, their decisions focused on the best of their stakeholders, which is to save money by providing the patient with a little as possible. In this particular case and so many others, the ones that the other person handled, she lied on the forms to expedite the approval process to ensure the patient received the medication without any delays. Consequently, in all the cases she handled she continued to operate in an ethical manner. She knows that it was quite aggravating to her physician, and probably lead to her dismissal from the company. Nevertheless, she would not change a thing because she rather operates with integrity at all

With the implementation of the Affordable Health Care Act; the role of the Federal government has taken a strong stance on ensuring that every American has health care coverage. The delivery of health care and public policy-making consists of several structures which directs the implementation of medical treatment and it's fairness. But what about the effects of Bio-ethical issues in the delivery of health care? Health care administrators are constantly faced with these type ethical issues in the medical setting; who gets the best medication available, how will it be divided? What is done about physicians not performing ethically? Patient's who are terminally ill, seek care from physicians whom they trust and believe. " The ethics of 'principlism' is common, wherein there are four guiding principles: justice, autonomy, beneficence and non-maleficence (Bioethicsorgau, 2016)." In conclusion, there is an absolute must that there be policies and laws in place to ensure that health care is delivered appropriately and in all fairness without

The other day, I read a New York Times article titled, “U.S. Charges 412, Including Doctors, in $1.3 Billion Health Fraud.” According to the article, the Department of Justice accused individuals, many of whom were physicians, of participating in illegal acts such as billing Medicare and Medicaid for unpurchased drugs and gratuitously prescribing opiates to addicts. As an aspiring physician, it is disheartening to read such headlines. It is shocking that doctors would resort to exploiting their patients and our health care system. Exorbitant costs already burden the system and we don’t need doctors to compound the problem with their greed.

Constraining health costs can compromise the integrity of the patient-physician relationship and reduce the quality of care received by patients. Ethically, some of the techniques can undermine the physician's obligation to serve as the patient’s advocate. The Hippocratic Oath emphasizes the primacy of trust in the relationship between patient and physician. This oath obligates the physician to keep his/her patient's information confidential, to avoid mischief and sexual misconduct, and to give no harmful or lethal agents. To simplify, the physician becomes the advocate for his/her patient, using his knowledge and the patient's trust for the patient's good. Conversely, these new financial incentives force physicians to balance the interests of patients with their own personal interests. The fear of retribution from superiors for providing appropriate, but more expensive care has become a powerful force in distorting physicians' clinical judgment (Council of Ethical and Judicial Affairs,

It accounts for a small percentage compared to the amazing physicians, nurses, and paramedics that are out there. Whenever a physician has done something wrong, it is usually magnified as major news coverage. A great example is the recent case against Dr. Farid Fata. Dozens of people were given false diagnoses or treatment for cancer that was never there (Schecter, 2015). Over two dozen victims made their way to the Detroit courthouse on Monday for a weeklong sentencing hearing. Dr. Fata have been accused of, and pleaded guilty to biking patients and insurance companies out of millions (Schecter, 2015). This resulted in the prosecutors requesting a 175 years prison sentence. One victim in particular was 68 years old man who was told that he had non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Feta proceeded to implant a mediport into his chest and gave him 25 treatments with one chemo drug in six months (Schecter, 2015). The patient then went to an additional group of oncologists’ who told him that he didn’t have cancer. That’s when he was reported and many others came forth to testify against him. Others including 553 people who got unnecessary treatment from Fata, amounting to 9000 injections or infusions that cost insurance companies and patients millions (Schecter, 2015). The twist to the story is, some of them weren’t even sick, and the remaining patients got sick from the treatment. It did more harm than good. A doctor who