Surgeon Sues Over Lethal Tummy Tuck; ‘Fake ICU’ Lawsuit; Relabeled Peptides Scheme

Ohio plastic surgeon Shahryar Tork, MD, has sued a surgery center for alleged negligence after one of his patients died following a “tummy tuck.” Tork alleged two nurses gave the patient a fatal overdose of opioids after he left the facility. (WLWT)

A Connecticut family is suing a local hospital over their son’s death, alleging he was left unattended in what their attorney called a “fake ICU.” (CT Insider via Yahoo! News)

California physician Rajiv Bhuva, MD, garnered almost $72 million from Medicare in 2024 treating some 2,800 patients across 126 California hospices, surpassing nearly every other hospice physician in the state in recent years — except Domingo Barrientos, MD, who took in $90.3 million and is currently in federal prison for conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. (CBS News)

A surgical technician at a New Jersey hospital is accused of stealing millions of dollars worth of medical supplies, in particular a bone graft surgery product made by Medtronic. (ABC 6 Action News)

Utah family medicine physician Justin Watkins, DO, allegedly put fake labels on peptide drugs made in China and sold them to patients, according to federal prosecutors.

Midwives in Georgia are suing to make it easier to practice in the state. (NBC News)

A travel nurse was arrested in Tennessee after allegedly diverting pain medication from a patient. (WVLT)

Georgia urologist Jitesh Patel, MD, and his practice Advanced Urology, will pay $14 million to settle allegations that they billed federal healthcare programs for urology and diagnostic procedures that weren’t necessary or that were never performed, according to federal prosecutors.

Ohio’s Trinity Hospital will pay $1.7 million to resolve allegations of improper financial relationships with two referring physicians through the use of office space rental arrangements, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said.

James Robles, MD, of Texas, was charged with illegally distributing millions of opioid pills at his cash-only clinic in Houston, the DOJ said.

Eight defendants — including three nurses and a chiropractor — were arrested for allegedly running sham hospice care facilities that tried to pull in $50 million from Medicare by using people without terminal illnesses as beneficiaries, federal prosecutors said.