ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER A patient rights advocate recently visited a residential care facility for senior citizens to visit a client and noticed that some of the doors were blocked.  He though the potential for elder abuse was serious enough to call the police immediately.  When the police arrived at the facility […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Elder abuse has become a serious problem in America; according to some studies, the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA) reports, up to 10% of seniors have been victims of at least one incident of abuse. This mistreatment can take a variety of forms, including neglect, physical, psychological, or emotional […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Exposing an organization’s misconduct or illegal activities requires courage. Employees who risk their professional careers by coming forward to report and help remedy illegal conduct are referred to as “whistleblowers.” After reporting the misconduct to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), whistleblowers often finds themselves patiently waiting for a […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER In a recent case, the U.S. Supreme Court said that take-it-or leave-it arbitration clauses could be used to prevent small businesses from pursuing their claims for abuse of monopoly power under the antitrust laws.  Prior to this ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court has said that arbitration clauses should […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER In the past, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took the lead role in investigating pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities for violations of good manufacturing practices (cGMP’s).  Recently, the Department of Justice (DOJ) became a more actively involved in enforcement actions against pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities due to whistleblowers.  The DOJ […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER         One lawsuit against Novartis alleges that the pharmaceutical company paid kickbacks to doctors to induce them to prescribe Novartis products over those from other companies.  Those Novartis products were then reimbursed by federal health care programs.  As a result, the federal government is alleged to have paid […]

  ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Banks Aid in Fraud Against Older Consumers Anyone can be targeted by unscrupulous marketers.  However, for a variety of reasons, older people are particularly vulnerable to deceptive pitches that arrive by telephone, mail, and the Internet.  Mass market fraud operations are commonplace in this country.  A recent […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns that antipsychotic medications should not be used on elderly people with dementia.  Prescribing such drugs to the elderly can hasten death.  Yet, medical experts and federal regulators say antipsychotic drugs are being used to at an alarming rate by nursing homes […]

–ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER- An IRS or tax fraud whistleblower is a person who tells the public about alleged illegal activities or misconduct in a government department or private company including those that commit tax fraud.  If you are a whistleblower for tax fraud or other types of fraud where the government […]

A new California health care law makes all employees, supervisors or administrators at nursing homes or assisted living facilities mandated reporters. As mandated reporters, they are legally required to report any physical abuse, abandonment, neglect, isolation or financial abuse of residents in long-term care centers to local law enforcement and […]