Thomas F. O’Neil III and Melinda H. Waterhouse DLAPiper Dec. 6, 2007 As federal and state enforcement authorities pursue companies and corporate officers with ever-increasing fervor, they are developing novel theories of liability to expand dramatically the targets of their investigations. Over the past decade, both chief legal and compliance officers have found themselves in the spotlight previously beamed on their colleagues in accounting and finance. A recent case in the health care sector highlights the potential exposure. In September 2007, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), through DOJ’s Civil Division and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, filed a lawsuit against Christi Sulzbach (Sulzbach), former general counsel to Tenet Healthcare Corp. (Tenet or the Company), seeking tens ... (more...)

Added: Dec 7, 2007 10:55 am | Comment |  Email This Post  | Print

As many of you know, a few years ago I battled Tenet Healthcare Corporation in the case of Kathleen Garrett, an elderly woman who was being forcibly shocked at a St. Louis Tenet-owned hospital. They tried to threaten and bully me into silence with threats of lawsuits, etc. I now keep track of Tenet's bad behavior (and it's really quite bad) on this website. It seems that Eli Lilly is using the same tactics, what are called SLAP lawsuits, in their effort to shut activists up about the dangers of the drug Zyprexa. But they've actually filed lawsuits against Mindfreedom.org and a number of activists. Read all about it and spread the word! Find out what Eli Lilly doesn't want you to ... (more...)

Added: Feb 7, 2007 2:24 pm | 2 Comments |  Email This Post  | Print

Redding Record By Kelly Brewer, Columnist Sunday, January 21, 2007 Some books are good enough to keep me in a chair reading eight hours straight, but not many of them are medical-legal nonfiction. "Coronary: A True Story of Medicine Gone Awry" was riveting. The book, about the 2002 FBI investigation into Tenet Healthcare and accusations of unnecessary heart surgeries at Redding Medical Center, was released Jan. 9. Local bookstores can hardly keep it in stock. "Coronary" is paced like a thriller, but this long-form journalism is a factual account packed with details. It captures well the tone and history of the region, and recounts the stunning effect the scandal had on the medical community, patients and California's north state at large. The author ... (more...)

Added: Jan 23, 2007 3:17 pm | 1 Comment |  Email This Post  | Print

StreetInsider.com Nov 22, 2006 Tenet Healthcare Corporation (NYSE: THC) has reached a settlement with the Internal Revenue Service to resolve certain disputed issues in connection with the audit of its tax returns for the fiscal years 1995, 1996 and 1997. As part of the settlement, the company said it expects to make a payment in the fourth quarter of 2006 of approximately $80 million representing taxes and interest owed under the settlement. The company expects the settlement announced today will not have a material impact on income from continuing or discontinued operations after taking into account the impact of the deferred tax valuation allowance.

Added: Dec 22, 2006 3:29 pm | Comment |  Email This Post  | Print

The Associated Press Nov 24 2006 WASHINGTON -- Whistle-blowers tipped off the government to $1.3 billion worth of fraud cases over the last year, largely at hospitals or other healthcare providers, the Justice Department said this week. Whistle-blowers were paid $190 million over the year for alerting the government to the fraud. In all, the department recovered a record $3.1 billion in settlements from individuals and companies during the 2006 fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. The largest settlement, worth $920 million, came against Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare Corp. Following claims from six whistle-blowers, prosecutors accused Tenet of overbilling the government for $806 million in Medicare payments and paying $49 million in kickbacks to doctors who referred patients to the ... (more...)

Added: Nov 24, 2006 4:40 pm | 2 Comments |  Email This Post  | Print

Jill Nawrocki Corporate Counsel October 19, 2006 Law.com Tenet Healthcare Corp. didn't admit any wrongdoing when it reached a civil settlement with the government earlier this year over alleged Medicare fraud. But the company voluntarily made a significant number of personnel changes, an apparent acknowledgment that not everything was right at the Dallas-based hospital chain. In addition to bringing on several new executives and directors, about 80 of the 97 vice presidents who were at Tenet prior to January 2003 are now gone. The shake-up was one of several major reforms that the company has implemented over the last few years. The sweeping personnel overhaul at Tenet was "uncommon," says Peter Henning, a former lawyer in the criminal division of the U.S. Department of ... (more...)

Added: Oct 23, 2006 2:32 pm | Comment |  Email This Post  | Print

"Affairs Public" @LIST.NIH.GOV on 09/28/2006 11:15:44 AM Sent by:    owner-hhs-oig-media-l@LIST.NIH.GOV To:    cc: Subject:    OIG Posts Tenet CIA/Release, MFCU 04/05 Annual, 3 Audits   9/28 Hello To All, OIG today posts a Corporate Integrity Agreement with Tenet Healthcare Corporation and an accompanying press release. From the press release: OIG Executes Tenet Corporate Integrity Agreement Unprecedented Provisions Include Board of Directors Review Inspector General Daniel R. Levinson announced today that the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has reached an agreement with Tenet Healthcare Corporation on a Corporate Integrity Agreement (CIA).  The CIA is part of Tenet's resolution of its civil and administrative liability for a wide range of investigated conduct, including Diagnosis Related Group (DRG) upcoding, improper outlier payments, kickbacks to physicians, and other fraudulent activities. "OIG is committed to protecting the integrity ... (more...)

Added: Oct 5, 2006 5:55 pm | Comment |  Email This Post  | Print

New York Times August 23, 2006 The University of Southern California sued the Tenet Healthcare Corporation yesterday in an attempt to take over a Los Angeles university hospital that Tenet owns and operates, saying the company’s reputation is in tatters. Years of disputes, litigation and settlements have reduced Tenet’s unrestricted cash, forcing the company “to substantially alter and vary its funding and capital investment” for the hospital, the university said in its complaint, which was filed in State Superior Court in Los Angeles. The lawsuit seeks to terminate Tenet’s lease and operating agreement. “With the material difficulties Tenet has brought upon itself, the company has cut back on its financial support for the hospital,” said Marshall B. Grossman, a lawyer for U.S.C. “The university ... (more...)

Added: Aug 24, 2006 3:49 pm | 3 Comments |  Email This Post  | Print

Associated Press August 23, 2006 SAN DIEGO - A former executive of a troubled San Diego hospital owned by Tenet Healthcare Corp. was sentenced to three years' probation and fined $27,000 for conspiracy in an alleged scheme to give doctors kickbacks for patient referrals. Mina Nazaryan, 45, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy in 2005 and was sentenced Monday. According to court documents, she admitted that, as associate administrator of Alvarado Hospital Medical Center, she plotted to make illegal payments to doctors disguised as compensation for relocation expenses. Nazaryan could have spent 27 months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines, but prosecutors asked for leniency because of her cooperation. Nazaryan testified in the first of two trials against Barry Weinbaum, the hospital's former ... (more...)

Added: Aug 24, 2006 3:47 pm | 1 Comment |  Email This Post  | Print

The Recorder By Jeff Chorney December 22, 2004 Tenet Healthcare Corp. has agreed to pay $395 million to settle 769 claims that doctors at its Redding hospital performed unnecessary heart surgeries. The massive settlement -- which must still be approved by 95 percent of the plaintiffs and a Shasta County judge -- will end litigation against the health care giant in connection with the surgeries. Once approved, the settlement money will immediately go into an interest-accruing fund, and plaintiffs can expect to see payouts as early as January, said Luke Ellis of Gillin, Jacobson, Ellis & Larsen of Orinda, which represents 186 of the plaintiffs. Ellis noted that the cases were resolved relatively quickly. The questionable surgeries came to light when FBI agents raided Tenet's Redding Medical Center in October 2002, and many of the ... (more...)

Added: Jul 25, 2006 5:56 pm | 1 Comment |  Email This Post  | Print

Tenet Healthcare Corporation Timeline

Added: Jul 24, 2006 12:39 pm | 1 Comment |  Email This Post  | Print

February 26, 2001 St. Louis Post-Dispatch STATE hospital inspectors saw a psychotic man wandering nude through a hallway. Suicidal patients had access to bleach and other materials that could have been used to end their lives. A psychiatric patient with a history of arson got his hands on a cigarette lighter. He used it to set fires in three patients' beds -- while the patients were in them. You might expect hefty fines for such shocking breeches of federal and state regulations. You might expect heads to roll at SouthPointe Hospital, where it all happened in the psychiatric ward. You might expect the hospital's psychiatric unit to be shut down, at least for an hour or two. You might, but most hospital ... (more...)

Added: Jul 23, 2006 12:39 pm | Comment |  Email This Post  | Print

February 24, 2001 By Judith Vandewater St. Louis Post-Dispatch Missouri Health Department officials have approved SouthPointe Hospital's plans for correcting conditions that government inspectors said endangered psychiatric patients. The approval averts a shutdown of the south St. Louis hospital. The state will not revoke the hospital's license at this time, said Carey Smith, head of the state's hospital regulatory staff. Tenet Healthcare-St. Louis operates the hospital, at 2639 Miami Street. It was called Lutheran Medical Center until renamed by Tenet in 1999. SouthPointe Chief Executive Doug Doris said he was pleased that the state accepted the hospital's plan for correcting problems found by state and federal inspectors earlier this month. "We have given this our highest level of attention because patient care and safety are ... (more...)

Added: Jul 23, 2006 12:39 pm | Comment |  Email This Post  | Print

February 21, 2001 St. Louis Post-Dispatch By Judith VandeWater SouthPointe Hospital in St. Louis will remain open -- for now -- while state investigators assess the hospital's plan to correct conditions they say put psychiatric patients in danger. Earlier this month, state and federal regulators put the hospital on notice that it is at risk of being shut down unless managers fix problems quickly. The Missouri Department of Health threatened to revoke or suspend the operating license of the 408-bed hospital. The hospital, at 2639 Miami Street, has 104 licensed psychiatric beds. Lois Kollmeyer, director of the state's hospital-licensing division, said Tuesday that SouthPointe had made progress. The likelihood that the state will yank the hospital's operating license and prevent it from treating ... (more...)

Added: Jul 23, 2006 12:39 pm | Comment |  Email This Post  | Print

Psychiatric facilities Wednesday, February 21, 2001 St. Louis Post-Dispatch Source: Missouri Certificate of Need program; Bureau of Hospital Licensing; Missouri Department of Health In St. Louis and St. Louis County, only 16 facilities provide beds for psychiatric patients. SouthPointe Hospital represents nearly 8 percent of the 1,354 beds available. Hospitals, ranked by number of psychiatric beds: 1. St. Louis Psychiatric Rehabilitation Center, 5300 Arsenal Street, St. Louis, 215. 2. St. Anthony's Medical Center, 10010 Kennerly Road, south St. Louis County, 158. 3. Metropolitan St. Louis Psychiatric Center, 5351 Delmar Boulevard, St. Louis, 111. 4. Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 915 North Grand Boulevard, St. Louis, 117. 5. Barnes-Jewish Hospital, 216 South Kingshighway, St. Louis, 109. 6. SouthPointe Hospital, 2639 Miami Street, St. Louis, 104. 7. St. John's Mercy Medical Center, ... (more...)

Added: Jul 23, 2006 12:39 pm | 1 Comment |  Email This Post  | Print