Posted on 01/17/2013 12:06:35 PM PST by safetysign
Dr. John Natale, nationally recognized cardio-vascular surgeon was charged with Medicare fraud only to be found not guilty by the jury. He performed over 7500 surgeries in his career and never lost a patient on the operating table. The DOJ brought this case to court regarding 5 ruptured aneurysms performed in the emergency room on 5 elderly patients - all expected to die. Even the expert witness for the DOJ had to admit that Dr. Natale's skill as a surgeon was exemplary. The jury found that no fraud had been committed yet Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer, under the strong urging of the DOJ sentenced the doctor to 10 months imprisonment for errors found in two out of over 1200 operative notes reviewed by the DOJ. The errors were clerical and misstatements in dictation which isn't a crime.
SIGN THE PETITION at the link.
There are doctors who file false medicare reports to cheat the government. It certainly doesn’t sound as if Natale was one of them. It sounds as if he is a really splendid doctor who understandably made a couple of errors in thousands of reports. Big deal.
Maybe two doctors with influence on high went after him because they were jealous. Maybe the government was angry because he saved the lives of numerous patients who were scheduled to die—which is what the government usually wants when it gets involved with these things.
In any case, the petition certainly deserves to be signed.
No, we don’t know EVERYTHING about this case, but this is a clear example of judicial injustice.
A similar case of government tyranny lead to the suicide of Aaron Swartz:
see:
Aaron’s Law
It won’t bring him back. But the loss of the Internet activist has prompted a bill in Congress that would protect others from the same kind of prosecutorial abuse.
...
But now Congress may actually do something to remedy at least part of this important flaw. Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) has introduced a draft bill — importantly, first on Reddit, a platform Aaron had helped to build, and, once she gets the Net’s feedback, in the United States Congress — to change this rule of the CFAA and return contract law to its civil home. Her bill, which she calls “Aaron’s Law,” would limit the scope of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and exclude “crimes” that are nothing more than a breach of contract. No more “felonies.” No more prosecutions resulting in prison sentences. Violations of the “terms of service” would be a breach, not a crime. Had that change been made before Aaron’s death, the government’s felony charges would likely have collapsed. Had the government’s charges collapsed, Aaron Swartz, in my view, would still be frantically working to make the world a better place.
..
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/13/01/aarons-law/267247/#
sockkmonkey, I know the doctor. He worked from 5:30 a.m. till late at night when he did the reports. He never lost a patient. What does that say about his skill?
blackdog ~:” Why do I see a connection between Michelle Obama’s tenure on the boards of Chicago hospitals as a healthcare expert, and this good doctor? Vendetta? “
Possibly so..
I wonder if a FOIA request on Michelle’s email accounts , or Valerie Jarett’s accounts would expose who and how much influence motivated the DOJ .
Valerie has already stated publicly that the second term can be used for vengence .
Ya’ think? He might even be a WHITE Republican. Horrors!
sockmonkey ~:” Dr Painter and Dr Smith wanted to prove Dr Natale wrong…but in their quest to prove Dr Natale wrong…they not only proved Dr Natale right (the woman did not need surgery and she did have a patched aneurysm from the previous year )… Dr Painter at Dr Leighton Smith’s direction to operate and also to take pictures inside the woman….cost that woman her life. How awful. How irresponsible …How final “
Were Dr. Painter and Dr.Leighton Smith Democratic supporters ?
Is the a liability lawsuit pending ?
This then could be a “revenge” action , the motivation behind the DOJ’s push for incarceration .
Obviously the punishment (incarceration ) doesn’t fit the crime (clerical error ) !
Doctors frequently are narrcisists and ‘demigogues’ , and consider themselves above reproach . It’s an ego thing !!
I don’t know. In my experience when something sounds too bad to be true it usually isn’t.
I would bet you 50 cents that there is at least one pertinent fact missing from this narrative.
Why would the state maintain an expense?
Wait a minute. The jury found no fraud had been committed, yet the judge sentenced him? How can this be?
“Wait a minute. The jury found no fraud had been committed, yet the judge sentenced him? How can this be?”
Chicago politics.
Because the article is incomplete. The jury found him not guilty of the most serious charge (Medicare fraud), but found him guilty of several other charges, including making false reports.
blackdog~:” If you are a medical professional who is with the “Team Obama”, you kill patients over 58 with chronic illness and you also kill off those under the age of 12.”
Do you remember back with the Healthcare debates going on ,
when people idealized the British sytem of healthcare ?
People were extolling the British sytem of healthcare.
It was going to be painless, available to all, tax paid !
And what did they get ??
“Pathways” , where the elderly and sick youths are being denied food and water
and encouraged to die !!
There have been over 1200 official deaths in “Pathways “ due to denial of food and water .
And now , the Brits have awakened and are turned against that system !
That’s what socialized medical /healthcare has accomoplished !
Notice how no one in the U.S. is extolling the benefits of the British sytem now ?
Not even the Brits are content , and they are trying to change the system of their healthcare
but Socialism is hard to change once you have it,
whether you want it , or not !!
sockmonkey ~:” Dr Painter and Dr Smith wanted to prove Dr Natale wrong…but in their quest to prove Dr Natale wrong…they not only proved Dr Natale right (the woman did not need surgery and she did have a patched aneurysm from the previous year )… Dr Painter at Dr Leighton Smith’s direction to operate and also to take pictures inside the woman….cost that woman her life. How awful. How irresponsible …How final “
MALPRACTICE !!
Death by ego !
Indefensable !!
Reading the comments looks as though he was railroaded; the expert witness was no expert, etc.
Where the F**& is Congress?? You CANNOT put a Person in JAIL for NOT committing a Crime?? This Judge should have already been brought up for impeachment. Welcome to Nazi Germany Folks.
From Becker Hospital Review dot Com:
Hospital defends CMO’s lack of Medical License
The former CMO of Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, Ill., did not have a medical license for the duration of his eight-year tenure, but a hospital spokesperson said administration officials knew about his lack of license when he was hired, according to a Crain’s Chicago Business report.
Leighton Smith, MD, held post as executive vice president of medical affairs and CMO at the 496-bed hospital, even though his medical license expired in 1999. Dr. Smith has denied any connection between his June 1 departure from the hospital and the lacking license.
A NCH spokesperson defended the administration’s hiring decision, saying the CMO performs “an administrative function” and does not need an active medical license “because he doesn’t treat patients,” according to the report. There are no licensing requirements for CMOs in Illinois, although unlicensed CMOs are rare, according to the report.
Some experts say the lack of a medical-licensed CMO could tangle NCH’s defense in some malpractice cases, according to the report, and raise questions about the hospital’s quality of care.
I stand corrected. I figured Fox would have the correct info and was wrong.
“U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Singh Bhachu emphasized that ‘The need for deterrence is very strong in a case like this…. A message needs to be sent out to doctors.’”
It’d be a shame if U.S. Atty Bhachu or Judge Pallmeyer ever suffered an abdominal aortic aneurysm, wouldn’t it?
The real problem is will a physician be available when we need one?
Will they be from a foreign school with low standards?
Will we be placed on a wait list ...
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