In Brief: CareFusion Announces $41 Million Settlement With Feds; Nevada Psychiatric Facility Accused of Patient Dumping
CareFusion Announces $41 Million Settlement With Feds
San Diego-based medical device distributor CareFusion has announced it will pay the federal government $41 million to settle allegations of improper marketing of its antiseptic surgical wipes to hospitals and medical professionals.
The company has been under investigation since at least 2011 regarding its sales practices surrounding the product, which is marketed under the product name ChloraPrep.
Although no indictment against the company has ever been unsealed, Care Fusion described the settlement in a statement as a “nonprosecution agreement” – suggesting that criminal charges could have been filed.
CareFusion is a spinoff company from healthcare product giant Cardinal Health. It focuses primarily infusion pumps, but it reports revenue of more than $500 million a year on its infection prevention products.
Nevada Psychiatric Facility Accused Of Patient Dumping
Nevada's biggest psychiatric hospital has come under scrutiny by federal investigators for allegedly dumping patients in other states, including as many as 200 in California.
The Sacramento Bee reported that Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital in Las Vegas put at least 1,500 patients on Greyhound buses since 2008, with as many as 500 of them being dispatched to California cites such as Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco. In some instances, patients were bused to cities they had never been before, with no family or support network available.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has since ordered Rawson-Neal to end the practice and formulate a correction plan, or risk losing federal funding to care for patients. Prosecutors in Los Angeles and San Francisco have also announced investigations that could lead to potential criminal charges.
Bill To Restore Medi-Cal Cuts Passes Key Committee
A bill that would restore the 10 percent cut to acute care providers, physicians and pharmacists participating in the Medi-Cal program has passed a key Assembly committee this week.
AB 900, authored by Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Salinas, was approved on a 17-0 bipartisan vote on April 30.
The Legislature enacted the 10% Medi-Cal cuts to hospitals in 2011 in an attempt to cut $600 million from the program and close a huge budget gap. In addition to the cuts to the hospitals, skilled nursing facilities within hospitals saw cuts as high as 25%.
“These cuts are a classic example of the state being pennywise and pound-foolish,” said California Hospital Association President C. Duane Dauner, who claimed they could eventually lead to the loss of 36,000 jobs and $2 billion a year in annual economic activity.
A full vote on AB 900 in the Assembly has yet to be scheduled.
