Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital markets itself as Carilion’s “flagship facility,” bragging that U.S. News & World Report ranks it as one of the top six hospitals in Virginia.  Somebody better tell that to the Leapfrog Group.  The Leapfrog Group is a nonprofit watchdog organization that serves as a voice for health care consumers and purchasers, […] The post Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital – not getting good grades appeared first on Frith & Ellerman Law Firm, P.C ..read more

No one wants to be hospitalized and ABSOLUTELY NO ONE wants to be so sick or injured as to be in the hospital Intensive Care Unit (ICU).  The ICU provides specialized treatment to patients who are acutely unwell and require critical medical care. An ICU provides the critical care and life support for acutely ill […] The post Mistakes in Hospital Intensive Care Units appeared first on Frith & Ellerman Law Firm, P.C ..read more

Ballad Health is a 20 hospital system formed by the merger of Mountain States Health Alliance and Wellmont Health Systems.  It is the sole hospital option for over 1 million people living in Southwest Virginia and Eastern Tennessee and patients deserve better. Focusing on my home state, Ballad Health operates the following hospitals in Virginia: […] The post Ballad Health and Bad Emergency Room Care appeared first on Frith & Ellerman Law Firm, P.C ..read more

We all become anxious when we are hospitalized.  For many the anxiety is tripled when surgery is involved.  We are concerned about complications encountered during the surgical procedure.  We are concerned about the pain we will likely experience after the surgery. We dread the physical therapy and rehabilitation that will last weeks and sometimes months […] The post Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital and Dirty Surgical Instruments appeared first on Frith & Ellerman Law Firm, P.C ..read more

The Department of Justice announced settlements and judgments under the False Claims Act exceeded $2.68 billion in 2023. In total, 543 settlement and verdicts occurred–the highest number ever in one year. Healthcare fraud continued to lead the way with cases involving including Medicare Advantage, unnecessary services, and unlawful kickbacks at the top of the list. The post 2023 Highest Number of Whistleblower Resolutions in History appeared first on Frith & Ellerman Law Firm, P.C ..read more

In one of the most blatant money grabs in recent legislative history, Virginia legislators are contemplating making it legal for patients to receive anesthesia without doctor supervision. Why is this important? Anesthesia is one of the most important and risky parts of a procedure. An anesthesiologist essentially gets a patient as close to death as […] The post Unsupervised Nurse Anesthesia – HB1322 appeared first on Frith & Ellerman Law Firm, P.C ..read more

We’ve written before about the explosive growth of whistleblower lawsuits for financial fraud, especially with COVID funds. Just this week, the SEC levied fines of $18 million against JP Morgan.[1] The megabank JP Morgan Chase will pay a $18 million fine as part of a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Under the […] The post Financial Advisor Fraud appeared first on Frith & Ellerman Law Firm, P.C ..read more

This week, nine people were charged with healthcare fraud involving a company that provided home care to residents of Western Virginia. A recently unsealed November 2023 indictment revealed the extent of the scheme. All nine individuals that were charged were owners or employees of Adult N Pediatric Healthcare Service, a Medicaid-enrolled home health agency providing […] The post Southwest Virginia Home Health Company Charged With Fraud appeared first on Frith & Ellerman Law Firm, P.C ..read more

The title of today’s blog post is not mine or any of the other lawyers who work at Frith and Ellerman…but it sure could be. The title comes from an article published in an online medical news source called MedPage Today, and you can read the article here.  The online publication aggregates timely information about […] The post Patients Are Dying in Emergency Department Waiting Rooms appeared first on Frith & Ellerman Law Firm, P.C ..read more

What is telemetry monitoring? It is a system used in hospitals that enables the continuous tracking of your heartbeat.  It is attached to your body using electrodes, which transmit your vital data to a central monitor for analysis. Doctors use telemetry monitoring if you’ve been diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia). It is also used […] The post Hospital Telemetry: Does it Make Patient Care Better or Worse? appeared first on Frith & Ellerman Law Firm, P.C ..read more