Guilty Plea From Delray Chiropractor Richard Davidson Came Just Months After Feds Moved In
Seven Bridges Resident, Subject Of “Information” In May, Entered Guilty Plea In September. Faces Decade In Federal Prison. Unrelated To Other Seven Bridges Lawsuits, Indictments, FBI Activity The United States Dept, of Justice says Dr. Richard Davidson of Delray Beach entered a guilty plea. He faces ten years in prison for Medicare fraud.
The United States Department of Justice confirmed to BocaNewsNow.com that the Richard Davidson who pleaded guilty to Medicare fraud charges last week is the same Richard Davidson who goes by “Dr. Rich” to patients of his Boca Raton practice, Totality Chiropractic, on Yamato Road. Davidson owns a home in “Seven Bridges” in Delray Beach. Federal court documents obtained by BocaNewsNow.com show the incredible speed in which prosecutors filed an “information” — a charging document that doesn’t require a grand jury — and accepted Davidson’s guilty plea. The information was filed in May. The guilty plea came last week. By pleading guilty, the Department of Justice says Davidson admits to his role in massive healthcare fraud. He faces a decade in prison and has agreed to forfeit $2,472,087 to the United States.
From the Department of Justice:
“According to the plea agreement, in 2018, Davidson and his conspirators established a conglomerate of durable medical equipment (“DME”) supply companies. During the creation of the companies, they lied to Medicare to secure billing privileges. The scheme involved placing the companies in the names of straw owners. By concealing their true ownership, the conspirators secretly gained control of multiple companies, which Medicare prohibits. This enabled the conspirators to submit high volumes of illegal DME claims while attempting to evade law enforcement scrutiny. In one year, through the conglomerate, Davidson and his conspirators submitted more than $20 million in illegal DME claims, resulting in more than $10 million in payments from Medicare and the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (“CHAMPVA”).” The case was investigated by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the FBI, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the IRS, and other agencies.
BocaNewsNow.com reported on an FBI raid in Seven Bridges in June. That raid appears unrelated to this case. This case is also unrelated to another Seven Bridges resident facing federal charges in what prosecutors call an “illegal dietary supplement scheme.” Also unrelated: a federal lawsuit filed by a homeowner against another homeowner in the community as well as the homeowners association. Whether Davidson’s prompt guilty plea results in a reduced sentence won’t be known for some time — a sentencing date has not yet been set. Davidson’s wife signed a $100,000 bond agreement to secure her husband’s release.
Source: BocaNewsNow.com
Michigan Suit Brings Another Loss for Chiropractic Clinic with COVID-19 Business Interruption Claims
A Michigan chiropractic practice is not covered for COVID-19 losses under the firm’s policy with State Farm, a federal judge ruled Thursday in a decision that centered on the words “to,” “of” and “or” in commercial insurance policies.
The policy only covers lost income in the event of physical damage to a property, and even if that were not the case, the virus exclusion in the policy would bar pandemic-related coverage, the judge ruled. The ruling adds to the growing list of insurer wins on the issue of business interruption coverage for coronavirus-related losses. In the case, Turek Enterprises Inc., d/b/a Alcona Chiropractic v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., State Farm Fire and Casualty Co., a Harrisville, Michigan-based chiropractic practice sought coverage for losses it incurred due to government-mandated closures of nonessential businesses in March, following the spread of COVID-19 in the United States. The suit filed in June in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan Northern Division sought class-action status. State Farm filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. In ruling for State Farm, Judge Thomas F. Ludington noted that the policy wording required direct physical loss to a covered property for business interruption coverage to be triggered.
“Plaintiff suggests that ‘physical loss to Covered Property’ includes the inability to use Covered Property. ... This interpretation seems consistent with one definition of ‘loss’ but ultimately renders the word ‘to’ meaningless. ‘To’ is used here as a preposition indicating contact between two nouns, ‘direct physical loss’ and ‘Covered Property’,” the ruling states.
The policyholder’s argument might be plausible if the policy offered coverage for “direct physical loss of covered property,” according to the ruling.
State Farm’s interpretation is also consistent with other court rulings on the issue, in particular a Texas federal court’s decision in August against a group of barbershops seeking business interruption coverage, Judge Ludington said. A separate federal court ruling in favor of a group of hair salons in Missouri that sued their insurer did not help the chiropractor’s case, the judge said. The policy at issue in the Missouri case “covered losses arising from ‘accidental physical loss or accidental physical damage to property,” and the policyholders, in that case, alleged that the virus was present on their premises, the ruling states.
By contrast, in the Michigan case “Plaintiff asserts that COVID-19 never entered its premises,” the ruling states. Even if the policy wording on direct physical loss did allow for business interruption coverage, the virus exclusion in the policy would still bar coverage, the judge ruled.“The plain, unambiguous meaning of the Virus Exclusion today negates coverage,” he said in the ruling.
The ruling is one of several recent COVID-19 decisions that have favored insurers.
Source: Businessinsurance.com
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