Pacific Hospital Defendants Say QME Process Won't Resolve Restitution Dispute

Defendants convicted of various roles in the Pacific Hospital of Long Beach scheme said a suggestion to use independent doctors to review medical necessity for kickback-induced surgeries is unworkable. It will take a long time just to agree on the doctors and at the end of the process, the court could be left with competing opinions as to necessity, the defendants said in court filing Tuesday. U.S. District Court Judge Josephine Staton in July said she wanted to award restitution but didn’t know whether she could. She said that whether patients are entitled to restitution would lik...