'Psychotic Break' in Doc's Tesla Cliff Crash? Doc Wins $4M in Discrimination Case

— A weekly roundup of healthcare's encounters with the courts

by Kristina Fiore , Director of Enterprise & Investigative Reporting, MedPage Today

MedpageToday
Legal Break over a blindfolded Lady Justice statue holding scales.

Dharmesh Patel, MD, the California radiologist who drove his Tesla off a cliff with his family inside and now on trial for attempted murder, had a psychotic break at the time of the crash, doctors testified. (Los Angeles Times)

Massachusetts doctor Jacquelyn Starer, MD, pleaded guilty to attacking a police officer during the Jan. 6, 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol. (NBC 10)

Cardiologist Rupa Bala, MD, was awarded $4 million in damages after a jury found she was discriminated against by Oregon Health and Science University for speaking out against inadequate patient care. (OregonLive.com)

Iowa surgeon Lynn Lindaman, MD, was sentenced to 50 years in prison for sexually abusing a child. (Des Moines Register)

William Husel, DO, who was acquitted of 14 murder charges related to patient overdose deaths, has filed another lawsuit against his former employer's parent company, alleging malicious prosecution. Husel's first lawsuit against Trinity Health was thrown out in March. (The Columbus Dispatch)

South Florida doctor Osmin Morales, MD, was sentenced to a decade in prison for running a pill mill. (CBS 12)

New Orleans nurse practitioner and children's book author Scharmaine Lawson Baker was indicted on healthcare fraud, accused of taking bribes from a Utah company to submit claims for genetic testing for cancer. (Nola.com)

A former partner at McKinsey has accused the company of making him a "scapegoat" to distract from investigations into its role in the U.S. opioid epidemic. (Reuters)

A nursing home chain in California and two of its executives will pay $7 million to settle allegations that it misused a COVID-era waiver to submit false claims for nursing home residents, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

Two former executives of Preferred Family Healthcare, a Missouri-based charity, were sentenced to prison time, according to the DOJ.

Three North Carolina doctors, along with a laboratory marketer, will pay $1.3 million to settle kickback allegations, the DOJ announced.

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    Kristina Fiore leads MedPage’s enterprise & investigative reporting team. She’s been a medical journalist for more than a decade and her work has been recognized by Barlett & Steele, AHCJ, SABEW, and others. Send story tips to k.fiore@medpagetoday.com. Follow