A spokesman for the Department of Insurance would not confirm or deny that the Department was investigating surgical centers affiliated with 1-800-GET-THIN. The massive insurance company Aetna Inc. said that it was cooperating with authorities, telling the Times “Since this is an ongoing investigation, there is no additional information that I can share.”

A lawsuit was recently filed against 1-800-GET-THIN and its affiliates by more than a dozen people, including 11 patients who say they were billed exorbitantly more than was necessary. A typical Lap Band surgery should cost between $12,000 and $20,000. One woman in the lawsuit says she was charged more than $179,000 for her procedure, which she says also included “medically unnecessary” procedures. Some patients say they underwent surgery for gallbladder removal, X-rays, and “sleep studies.”

The insurer Aetna Inc. said that it was cooperating with the California Department of Insurance law enforcement branch, as it “investigates alleged fraud against our members by the 1-800-GET-THIN … surgery centers.” The law enforcement branch of the Department has the power to make arrests and pursue criminal charges.

The Los Angeles County Coroner is also investigating the death of Paula Rojeski, an Orange County woman who died during Lap Band surgery at a center affiliated with 1-800-GET-THIN. The lawsuit against the company alleges that employees were instructed to cover up important evidence in the case to prevent law enforcement from investigating circumstances that contributed to Ms. Rojeski’s death.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also recently sent warning letters to eight surgical centers affiliated with 1-800-GET-THIN, saying that the advertising campaign is “misleading” and minimizes the risks of Lap Band surgery. In response to the FDA, the president of 1-800-GET-THIN, Robert Silverman, appeared before the L.A. County Supervisors to assure them that he would comply with the FDA’s instructions. Since that meeting, the company has placed a warning on its website that Lap Band surgery can cause death. Silverman told the supervisors “We are currently reviewing the television advertisements, the radio advertisements, and the billboards, as well as how we can develop even more substantial disclosures to comply with the FDA.”

The Lap Band is a silicone ring that is surgically implanted around a obese person’s upper stomach, intended to discourage eating and promote weight-loss. The device creates a small “pouch” in the upper stomach, and a person can only eat small amounts of food at a time, or they risk stretching the stomach. Many are concerned about the safety and efficacy of these products, after 10-year research found that one out of three patients experience a major complication, 40% of patients fail to lose weight, and results worsen over time.

How do I contact a Lawyer for a Lap Band Lawsuit?

The Schmidt Firm, LLP is currently accepting Lap Band side effect cases in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know has suffered a side effect or complication after Lap Band surgery, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Lap Band Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.

Attention Lawyers: We consider a referral from another law firm to be one of the greatest compliments. If your firm is interested in referring us a case or for us to send you a list of previous award judgments and/or average referral fees, please visit the Lawyer Referral section of our website.

The whistle-blower suit brings some serious accusations against 1-800-GET-THIN, LLC and the people involved in its conduct, particularly Julian and Michael Omidi, two former doctors reputedly behind the operation. The lawsuit is brought by Dyanne Deuel, a former manager at surgery centers affiliated with 1-800-GET-THIN, and Karla Osorio, a surgical technician.

The whistle-blower lawsuit accuses the Omidi brothers and 1-800-GET-THIN of the following actions:

• Employing commission-based illegal immigrants to staff the 1-800-GET-THIN call center, who then refer patients to one of the Omidi’s surgical centers
• Submitting fraudulent billings to patients’ health insurance
• Unsanitary and substandard surgical facilities
• Staff were instructed by the Omidis to perform medically unnecessary surgical procedures in order to increase the billing to patients’ health insurance
• They do not properly sterilize medical equipment
• They do not stock medications or equipment to handle a life-threatening medical emergency
• Staff are required to perform procedures that they are not qualified to perform
• When patients have died, they have covered up the evidence to prevent investigations by public health authorities and law enforcement, including falsifying medical records, removing malfunctioning medical equipment, and concealing information from inspectors

Some of these allegations have evidence in public records. Inspectors from the Department of Public Health documented unsanitary conditions at the centers, following an unannounced visit to a Beverly Hills facility in May 2009. Although the agency filled 22 pages with health and safety violations, they did not shut down the facility. Furthermore, they never again conducted an unannounced inspection of the facility, or any other facilities under the Omidis’ control or management.

The whistleblower suit also says that staff at the facilities regularly perform medical duties beyond their training or licensing. In 2007, the Medical Board of California accused Michael Omidi of allowing unlicensed employees to perform liposuction and suture patients. However, the Board did not revoke his medical license — instead, they placed him on a 3-year probation.

At least five patients have died in surgical centers affiliated with the 1-800-GET-THIN campaign since 2009. If you or someone you know has been injured because of weight-loss surgery, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries if you file a Lap Band lawsuit or a 1-800-GET-THIN lawsuit.

How do I contact a Lawyer for a 1-800-GET-THIN Lawsuit?

The Schmidt Firm, LLP is currently accepting 1-800-GET-THIN injury cases in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know has been injured by Lap Band surgery, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Lap Band Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.

Attention Lawyers: We consider a referral from another law firm to be one of the greatest compliments. If your firm is interested in referring us a case or for us to send you a list of previous award judgments and/or average referral fees, please visit the Lawyer Referral section of our website.

What You Can Do & How a Lap Band Malpractice Lawsuit Can Help

The Schmidt Firm, LLP is currently accepting Lap Band induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know has been injured by this product, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free Lap Band Malpractice Lawsuit consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Medical Malpractice Litigation Group or call us toll-free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.

Did you know?

Research has found that the Lap Band comes with a high risk of complications and failure.

• One out of three (33.1%) of Lap Band patients experience serious complications, including band slippage (6.3%), band erosion (9.5%), port problems (7.6%), stretched stomach pouch, pneumonia, and more
• One out of five (21.7%) of Lap Band patients require a major re-operation
• After five years, 40% of Lap Band patients have failed to lose weight and must have their Lap Bands removed
• The failure rate increased from 13% after 18 months, 23% at three years, 31.5% after five years, and 37% after seven years
• Only about 60% of patients successfully lose weight and suffer no complications with the Lap Band

Researchers recommend that Lap Band surgery should no longer be considered the procedure of choice for obesity.

Lap Band Malpractice Lawsuit

Medical malpractice occurs when a doctor, hospital, or other health care professional is negligent in his or her duties and causes injury to a patient. Doctors must perform their duties to a standard of care. Before performing a surgical procedure, they must provide safety information to a patient. While a surgeon is performing an operation, he or she must conform to the accepted standard of care. Medical errors are also considered malpractice.

Surgery itself is a procedure that comes with many risks, even with proper care. Just because a surgery had a bad outcome, this does not mean that your doctor is liable for complications. You will need to talk to an experienced Medical Malpractice lawyer to determine if your case qualifies for a malpractice lawsuit. The lawyer will need to determine if your doctor was negligent, which occurs when a doctor fails to exercise the care that would be expected.

A few examples of potential medical malpractice lawsuits:

• Your doctor fails to provide you with safety information, misleading you into choosing Lap Band surgery over other options
• Your surgeon makes an error during surgery, such as perforating / lacerating an internal organ while placing the Lap Band
• Your doctor fails to diagnose a serious problem when you start experiencing problems with your Lap Band, causing the problem to get much worse
• Your doctor fails to provide follow-up care after you get the Lap Band
• A doctor’s negligent actions cause the death of a patient
• And more. If you believe you have a Lap Band malpractice lawsuit, the malpractice lawyers at The Schmidt Firm, LLP offer a free case consultation. We can fight for your right to compensation.

A medical malpractice lawyer is an attorney who represents the interests of a person who was injured in a hospital or surgical center, as a result of errors or practices that did not meet the accepted standard of care.

A skilled, professional medical malpractice lawyer is trained to investigate the specific actions performed by doctors that contributed to the client’s injury. The lawyer will then litigate the case, seeking compensation for a client’s injuries. You may receive compensation for your pain, suffering, medical expenses, and lost income while your were unable to work due to the injury.

What are the Risks of Lap Band Surgery?

Common complications include band slippage, erosion of the band into the stomach, stretching the stomach, damage to the esophagus, vomiting, and more.

The Lap Band is a silicone ring that a surgeon fits around the upper part of a patient’s stomach, creating a walnut-sized pouch. A person who has Lap Band surgery must make dramatic changes to their diet, eating habits, and lifestyle. For many people, this is incredibly difficult — far more difficult than many anticipate, given that popular advertising for Lap Band surgery portrays it as a safe and effective way to lose weight. Many people who are obese have had serious underlying eating issues for their entire life. Frequently, they are unable to make dramatic lifestyle changes that are medically necessary after Lap Band surgery.

Accidentally over-eating can cause food to stretch the stomach, back up into the esophagus, cause vomiting, and may lead to pneumonia caused by food or fluid getting into the lungs. When the stomach pouch is stretched by too much food, it is more likely to cause the Lap Band to slip. Approximately one out of three Lap Band patients will suffer a serious complication. More than 40% fail to lose weight. Many people must have additional surgeries to adjust, remove, or replace the band. Every time a person undergoes surgery, there is a risk of death.

If your doctor or surgeon failed to warn you of the serious risks, you may have a Lap Band malpractice lawsuit. If your doctor failed to give you the care you deserve, you may have a lawsuit and be entitled to significant compensation. Contact The Schmidt Firm, LLP for a free case consultation. It will only take a moment of your time.

Do I have a Lap Band Malpractice Lawsuit?

The Schmidt Firm, LLP is currently accepting Lap Band induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know has been injured after Lap Band surgery, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Lap Band Malpractice Lawsuit Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.

Attention Lawyers: We consider a referral from another law firm to be one of the greatest compliments. If your firm is interested in referring us a case or for us to send you a list of previous award judgments and/or average referral fees, please visit the Lawyer Referral section of our website.

Drug companies and medical device companies routinely pay doctors large sums of money in exchange for providing advice and giving lectures. The Times estimates that one out of four doctors takes payments from a drug company or medical device company, and two out of three accept gifts of food.

Many consumer advocates see a problem with these payments, because these payments may influence a doctor’s treatment decisions. Ideally, doctors would be looking out for the patient’s best interests alone — not a drug company’s interests. A doctor who is receiving payments from a drug company might choose to prescribe a person with a higher-cost drug, or be more likely to prescribe a medication to a child.

If information about how much money a doctor is receiving from a particular company is made public, prospective patients could make their own decisions about whether to trust the judgment of that doctor. Obviously, a doctor who is accepting large amounts of money from a company might have a conflict of interest when determining the best care for his or her patients.

The disclosure will affect companies that have at least one product covered by Medicare or Medicaid, which will affect an estimated 1,100 companies. Top officials at each company would be held liable for failing to report payments, or for the inaccuracy of reports, which would be subject to federal audits. Accidental failures to report payments would be fined $10,000; knowingly failing to report would be fined $100,000 per instance, up to $1 million per year.

Medicare and Medicaid pays more than $100 billion on drugs and medical devices for older Americans, the indigent, and disabled. Advocates for transparency in the payments say that it is in the best interests of the American taxpayers to know which doctors are receiving money from drug companies, prescribing expensive drugs, and then billing the federal programs. The new transparency and accountability could reduce spending by deterring over-prescribing.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has criticized the payments that medical device manufacturers made to doctors who performed hip and knee replacement products, citing these as examples of inappropriate payments. Some doctors who subsequently performed these surgeries were paid thousands of dollars or given lavish perks. In the wake of the criticism against these companies, the manufacturers of several types of medical products are facing lawsuits after the products were found to be defective, including hip and knee replacements.

How do I contact a Medical Malpractice Lawyer for a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit?

The Schmidt Firm, LLP is currently accepting malpractice induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know has been harmed by the actions or inaction of a doctor, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Medical Malpractice Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.

Attention Lawyers: We consider a referral from another law firm to be one of the greatest compliments. If your firm is interested in referring us a case or for us to send you a list of previous award judgments and/or average referral fees, please visit the Lawyer Referral section of our website.

There is only one FDA-approved stem cell product, Hemacord, a product made from stem cells in the umbilical cord and used in patients with disorders affecting a patient’s ability to make blood.

Fraudulent Stem Cell Therapy: In December 2011, three people were arrested and charged with illegally manufacturing, selling, and using stem cells without FDA permission or approval. One of the accused is a Texas midwife who obtained umbilical cord blood, and sold it to a laboratory, which sold it to a “consultant” who posed as a doctor and traveled to Mexico to perform unapproved stem cell treatments on people with cancer, multiple sclerosis, and other incurable autoimmune diseases. The people involved in the scheme allegedly received more than $1.5 million from patients. A spokesperson for the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations said “Scammers like these offer false hope to people with incurable diseases in order to line their own pockets with money.”

The FDA makes the following warnings to consumers:

• Make sure any stem cell therapy you are considering has been approved by the FDA or is currently being studied in a clinical study that has been submitted to the FDA and explicitly allowed to proceed
• There is a safety risk when you put stem cells in an area of the body different from their original location, such as the formation of tumors, or migration of the cells to another part of the body.
• Ask your physician if the necessary FDA-approval has been obtained or if you are part of an FDA study — even if the stem cells are your own.
• Be very cautious if you are having stem cell therapy outside the U.S. Learn about the regulations and clinical studies that demonstrate the product is safe and effective.

How do I contact a Lawyer for a Stem Cell Therapy Lawsuit?

The Schmidt Firm, LLP is currently accepting stem cell treatement induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know has experienced a side effect after receiving stem cell treatment, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Stem Cell Therapy Lawsuit Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.

Attention Lawyers: We consider a referral from another law firm to be one of the greatest compliments. If your firm is interested in referring us a case or for us to send you a list of previous award judgments and/or average referral fees, please visit the Lawyer Referral section of our website.

In 2010, a previous OIG report found that 13.5% of Medicare beneficiaries in the hospital experience some type of adverse event that leads to more time in the hospital, going on life-support, permanent disability, or death. Some common types of incidents that result in patient harm are infection, pharmacy or medication error, events related to surgery or other procedure, and events related to patient care. An additional 13.5% experienced some event that required additional treatment, but was not life-threatening.

It is vital that these events be reported to hospital administrators, because safety issues can only be addressed if they are reported. Administrators can then improve treatment.

Despite the fact that all hospitals surveyed had incident reporting systems, they had surprisingly low reporting rates for adverse events. Overall, only 14% of adverse events were entered in the system.

The low reporting rate is unexpected, because a condition of participation in the Medicare program is that hospitals “track medical errors and adverse patient events, analyze their causes, and implement preventative actions and mechanisms that include feedback and learning throughout the hospital.”

Of the 189 hospitals surveyed, all had incident reporting systems designed to capture instances of patient harm. Yet administrators at only 34 hospitals reported that they expected staff to report patient harm or circumstances that could lead to harm. The administrators reported that they relied heavily on these reports to improve care and prevent future harm.

However, more than 86% of incidents were never reported. The OIG analysis found that a major reason for this was because hospital staff did not know what constituted a reportable event. Of the unreported events, 62% were unreported because the staff did not think the adverse event was reportable, and 25% were unreported because the staff commonly reported the event but not in this particular case.

The most common reason the errors were not reported was because the event was thought to be a common side effect of treatment, and the event was so common, the nurses or doctors thought it did not need to be reported. For example, only one out of 17 instances of catheter infection were reported. During the study, only 2 out of 18 events that led to permanent disability or death were reported (including hospital-acquired infections, and fatal bleeding caused hospital-administered by blood-thinning medication).

The OIG recommended that hospitals collaborate to create a list of adverse events and provide technical assistance to help the hospitals use the data. Hospital staff need to be educated about the full range of patient harm, so they know what to report.

How do I contact a Lawyer for a Hospital Malpractice Lawsuit?

The Schmidt Firm, LLP is currently accepting hospital induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know was harmed during hospital treatment, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Hospital Malpractice Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.

Attention Lawyers: We consider a referral from another law firm to be one of the greatest compliments. If your firm is interested in referring us a case or for us to send you a list of previous award judgments and/or average referral fees, please visit the Lawyer Referral section of our website.

What You Can Do & How We Can Help

The Schmidt Firm, LLP is currently accepting misdiagnosis and failure to diagnose claims in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know has been injured by the negligence of a doctor or other healthcare professional, you should contact our firm immediately for a free case consultation. Please click here to contact our Professional Negligence Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.

More Misdiagnosis and Failure to Diagnose Information

When we don’t feel good or think something is wrong with us, we rely on our doctors and other health care providers to find the answers. However, the fact is that the majority of malpractice cases in our country involve misdiagnoses, delayed diagnosis or other diagnostic errors. A study conducted in 1993 found that almost 52% of emergency room related malpractice cases involved an error in diagnosing the patient. But errors don’t just occur in the emergency room. Lab technicians or radiologists can misread studies, doctors can fail to order appropriate testing, or nurses can fail to relay symptoms. Most people think about delays in diagnosing cancer, but numerous other diseases, illnesses, and injuries are commonly misdiagnosed or not diagnosed. Heart attacks are one common example. When people are not accurately and promptly diagnosed, they are at risk of having a worse chance of recovery, a longer recovery period, permanent damage-such as paralysis, or even death.

Do I Have a Misdiagnosis or Failure to Diagnose Lawsuit?

The Schmidt Firm, LLP is currently accepting misdiagnosis and failure to diagnose claims in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know has been injured by the negligence of a doctor or other healthcare professional, you should contact our firm immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Professional Negligence Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753

What You Can Do & How We Can Help

The Schmidt Firm, LLP is currently accepting anesthesia error claims in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know has been injured by anesthesia during any type of procedure, you should contact our firm immediately for a free case consultation. Please click here to contact our Professional Negligence Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.

More Anesthesia Error Information

Anesthesia is so common these days. It is used not only in hospitals for major surgery but in doctor’s offices for routine procedures. While anesthesia deaths are rare, roughly 1 in every 250,000 patients, serious complications are much more common and can mean a lifetime of care and treatment.

The type and severity of the injury anesthesia can cause depends on the type of anesthesia used, the medical care provided, and the response time once a problem arises. Many if not most of anesthesia errors are caused by the negligence of the doctors and other healthcare providers, such as Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs), which administer and monitor patients.
Problems can arise in many different ways, for example too much or too little anesthesia may be given or a patient may not be properly intubated or monitored.

The most common injuries caused by anesthesia errors include:

• Tracheal damage
• Lack of adequate oxygen supply
• Heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular problems
• Birth defects
• Paralysis
• Brain damage
• Spinal cord injury
• Coma
• Death

These injuries can require a lifetime of care and treatment and the toll they take on families is enormous.

Do I Have an Anesthesia Error Lawsuit?

The Schmidt Firm, LLP is currently accepting anesthesia error claims in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know has been injured by anesthesia during any type of procedure, you should contact our firm immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Professional Negligence Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.

What You Can Do & How We Can Help

The Schmidt Firm, LLP is currently accepting nursing home negligence claims in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know has been injured while in a nursing home, you should contact our firm immediately for a free case consultation. Please click here to contact our Professional Negligence Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.

More Nursing Home Negligence Information

Approximately 1.5 million Americans reside at least temporarily in nursing homes each year according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Patients in nursing homes suffer various types of injuries from broken bones to pressure ulcers. In 2004, about 159,000 nursing home residents suffered pressure ulcers. Nursing home patients are injured by the neglect of their care providers in many different ways, including improper fall prevention, improper wound treatment, improper turning to prevent pressure ulcers, improper medication, failure to transport to a hospital, and various other forms of neglect.

Do I Have a Nursing Home Lawsuit?

The Schmidt Firm, LLP is currently accepting nursing home negligence claims in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know has been injured while in a nursing home, you should contact our firm immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Professional Negligence Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.

What You Can Do & How We Can Help

The Schmidt Firm, LLP is currently accepting medical malpractice claims in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know has been injured by a doctor, nurse, hospital, or another healthcare provider, you should contact our firm immediately for a free case consultation. Please click here to contact our Professional Negligence Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.

More Medical Malpractice Information

Medical errors kill more people each year than car wrecks. The Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences estimated that somewhere between 44,000 and 98,000 people are killed yearly in hospitals alone due to the negligence of healthcare providers. Hundreds of thousands of other people suffer injury due to medical negligence each year. Medical errors occur in many different ways. Common types of medical errors include:

• Failure to timely diagnose
• Failure to timely treat
• Anesthesia errors
• Improper medication
• Retained surgical instruments
• Misdiagnosis
• Failure to timely perform a c-section
• Surgical errors
• Misinterpretation of radiological and other studies

Do I Have a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit?

The Schmidt Firm, LLP is currently accepting medical malpractice claims in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know has been injured by a doctor, nurse, hospital, or another healthcare provider, you should contact our firm immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Professional Negligence Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.