A Hialeah councilwoman and owner of a drug and alcohol rehab center is facing charges that she and others engaged in a healthcare kickback scheme that resulted in the submission of more than $19 million in fraudulent insurance claims. Angelica Pacheco, owner and operator of Florida Life Recovery and Rehabilitation LLC, was indicted by a Miami grand jury late last month on one count of conspiracy...
Prior to the FDA’s authorization of the four new products, the agency had denied applications for menthol-flavored vapes. Liudmila Chernetska/iStock via Getty Images ~~~~~ On June 21, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the marketing of the first electronic cigarette products in flavors other than tobacco in the U.S. Of the four new authorized products, two are sealed,...
A Florida businessman has agreed to pay more than $27 million to resolve allegations he and his companies violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by submitting false claims to and receiving payments from, Medicare for cancer genomic (CGx) tests that were not medically necessary and were obtained through illegal kickbacks. Daniel Hurt of Fort Lauderdale owned and/or operated Fountain Health Services...
The federal government in 2020 and 2023 changed who it said could safely donate organs and blood, reducing the restrictions on men who have had sex with another man. But the FDA’s restrictions on donated tissue, a catchall term encompassing everything from a person’s eyes to their skin and ligaments, remain in place. Advocates, lawmakers, and groups focused on removing barriers to cornea...
Last month, the Federal Trade Commission voted to ban non-compete agreements for workers in for-profit companies. The move upends non-compete laws across the country and has healthcare workers, as well as those who employ them, wondering about its implications. Non-competes are common in physician and mid-level practitioner employment agreements. Since the FTC non-compete ban was announced,...
If you seek to receive reimbursement by insurance payors in Florida, either through federal programs (Medicare, Medicaid, and Tricare), or commercial insurance (including Personal Injury Protection and Bodily Injury), you will either need a Health Care Clinic License or qualify as exempt under one of the exemptions. The process of getting a Health Care Clinic License is tedious but not...
