Body Brokers – Ethics in Treatment

From up to 62 years in jail to zero; plea deal in body brokering case raises anger and questions

Posted on May 18, 2021May 18, 2021 by Gregory Gooden

From up to 62 years in prison to zero; plea deal in body brokering case raises anger and questions
Dylan Walker faced up to 62 years behind bars, but won’t serve a single day in jail after pleading guilty to 62 counts of patient brokering. Walker also won’t pick up one bit of trash along the freeway, or spoon one ladle of soup in community service after signing a May 6 plea deal that reduced the felony charges against him to misdemeanors.

Big bust: 52 million dollar scheme.

Posted on July 4, 2020July 4, 2020 by Gregory Gooden

‘Real-life Frankensteins’: Doctor, 5 others charged in $52M scheme involving sober living patients undergoing surgery, OCDA says
A Beverly Hills surgeon, his girlfriend and four others were charged in connection with an elaborate scheme, paying patients at Southern California sober living homes to undergo medically unnecessary surgeries, medical testing and other procedures to bilk insurance companies out of nearly $52 million, officials said Friday.

The Florida Shuffle

Posted on March 3, 2020March 3, 2020 by Gregory Gooden

She wanted addiction treatment. She ended up in the relapse capital of America.
Brianna Jaynes wanted help for her addiction to painkillers and heroin. She ended up trapped in a cycle that focused on running up big insurance bills and landing profitable kickbacks – not addressing her drug problem. In 2015, when Jaynes was 20, she started her rehab search by calling a number she found through Google.

We got a nod! – Relapse for Cash: How Patient Brokers and Unscrupulous Rehabs Prey on Addicts Looking for Help

Posted on July 1, 2019July 1, 2019 by Gregory Gooden

Relapse for Cash: How Patient Brokers and Unscrupulous Rehabs Prey on Addicts Looking for Help | The Fix
If you think patient brokering, also known as “body brokering,” is just about “professionals” getting kickbacks for referring a client to a certain rehab, you are wrong. It’s much more complicated and sinister than that.

First person found guilty of patient brokering sentenced to 3 years

Posted on April 2, 2019April 2, 2019 by Gregory Gooden

First person found guilty of patient brokering sentenced to 3 years
Nicholas Cirio, the first person to be convicted by a jury for patient brokering in Palm Beach County, was sentenced by Circuit Judge Cheryl Caracuzzo. WEST PALM BEACH – The first person to go to trial and be convicted by a jury of patient brokering in Palm Beach County was sentenced to nearly three years in prison Monday morning.

“Mom, When They Look at Me, They See Dollar Signs”

Posted on February 27, 2019February 27, 2019 by Gregory Gooden

A disturbing new phase of the opioid crisis: How rehab recruiters are luring recovering addicts into a deadly cycle
The offer was too good to resist: Go to rehab for a week, get $1,000 in cash. It was early 2017, and Brianne, a 20-year-old from a woody Atlanta suburb, had come to South Florida to leave her heroin addiction behind.

A look at South Floridians charged in health care fraud, opioid crackdown

Posted on February 7, 2019February 7, 2019 by Gregory Gooden

A look at South Floridians charged in health care fraud, opioid crackdown
Authorities charge 601 people in health care fraud, opioid crackdown. Federal authorities call it the largest health care fraud crackdown in history. Among the people charged are 165 doctors, nurses and other licensed medical professionals. Authorities charge 601 people in health care fraud, opioid crackdown.

Part of why we’re seeing less prosecutions

Posted on February 7, 2019February 7, 2019 by Gregory Gooden

Why judge’s ruling on patient brokering may up-end prosecutions
WEST PALM BEACH – Like dozens of others charged with patient brokering since prosecutors began their crackdown on Palm Beach County’s illicit drug treatment industry, James Kigar blames his legal woes on bad advice he received from an attorney.The excuse, once dismissed as idle finger-pointing, this week became a powerful tool Kigar and other treatment center operators can use to help them beat charges that they used recovering addicts to get rich.In a ruling that was praised

Kickbacks for Florida treatment center totaling nearly 250k

Posted on January 14, 2019January 14, 2019 by Gregory Gooden

Sober-home task force: Kickbacks for North Palm center totaled nearly $250,000
A Tequesta-area man is accused of paying to have patients sent to Reliance Treatment Center in North Palm Beach. A Tequesta-area man is charged with paying nearly a quarter-million dollars in kickbacks for referrals to his treatment centers.

California Lawmakers Want To Crack Down On Fraud At Drug Rehab Centers.

Posted on November 30, 2018 by Gregory Gooden

California Lawmakers Want To Crack Down On Fraud At Drug Rehab Centers. Will It Work?

Some lawmakers are aiming to cut down on corruption at addiction-recovery facilities by changing the way insurance companies reimburse providers. There are a whole host of problems with the drug rehab industry, according to a major investigation by the Southern California News Group: No degree, medical or otherwise, is required to get a facility license; and some centers are administering subpar, and even unnecessary, care and then billing insurance companies for it in the hopes of earning high reimbursements.