Feds Pitch QMEs to Decide Necessity of Surgeries in Kickback Case

Federal prosecutors are proposing that independent physicians be used to determine whether kickback-tainted surgeries at Pacific Hospital of Long Beach were medically necessary, to decide whether patients are entitled to restitution. The U.S. District Court for Central California has ruled that patients who had medically unnecessary procedures sustained a bodily injury and could qualify for restitution. Attorneys for Michael D. Drobot, the former owner of the hospital, and his son, Michael R. Drobot, have argued in court filings that surgeries were approved by qualified medical evaluators. B...