Author: Justin Lane

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) has issued fewer large fines to financial firms through July of 2013 than it did in the first half of 2012, according to a recent report. The measurement is of sanctions brought by regulators and does not reflect customer complaints. “The fines pale in comparison to the profits generated by Wall Street,” commented Peter Mougey, an attorney with the Levin, Papantonio law firm who heads the firm’s business litigation department. “Fines are only meaningful deterrents if there is some pain involved rather than simply the cost of doing business.” Increased numbers of...

Medicare requires that many procedures provided by healthcare facilities be directly overseen or observed by a physician. When this does not occur, the patient is at risk of receiving inadequate care and Medicare will not consider those services eligible for reimbursement. When a facility falsely represents that a physician did oversee a procedure when one did not, things get more complicated. According to the Department of Justice, a number of facilities in the Gulf Coast were improperly billing Medicare, Medicaid and Tricare for oncology services. These facilities included: Sacred Heart Health System Inc., West Florida Medical Center Clinic P.A.,...

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Dr. Gustave Drivas will be serving 151 months in prison and paying $77 million for his participation in a scheme to defraud Medicare. Drivas was convicted in April of this year and sentenced Monday. For his part, Drivas allowed a medical clinic in Brooklyn to submit bills to Medicare using his billing number. Drivas never practiced medicine at the facility, instead, according to the DOJ’s release, Drivas put in an appearance at the facility to pick up his paycheck. “Medicare suffers from rampant fraud,” commented Christopher Paulos, an attorney with the Levin,...

Despite promises to reign in the corruption on Wall Street, lawmakers are continuing to drag their feet allowing banks and investment agencies to continue fattening their wallets. In 2010, President Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Since the laws passing, less than half of its provisions have been implemented. In the absence of the Volcker Rule’s provisions, along with the other 200 plus rules yet to be fully enunciated, the wealth of the nation’s 10 largest banks has grown by nearly 40%, according to the Wall Street journal. According to this report, the reason...

Below are Ring of Fire’s top stories from the past week. Video Rewind Alec Behind Common Core Education Standards In 2010, the United States adopted the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI), purportedly to streamline states’ education curricula using standards-based education reform principles. The controversial decision to implement national educational content standards has been referred to as an “uncommonly bad idea” for American education by many. Recently, educator and education advocate Morna McDermott has illuminated the initiative’s extensive corporate ties, many stemming from the American Legislative Exchange Council. … Read more. Tea Party Attacks Kentucky Public Libraries The Tea...