Editor’s note: Somebody, please assure this Shark that this bunch of criminals are NOT somehow associated with the thugs in the Probate Court of Cook County. Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com
Another Sacred Heart Hospital doctor charged
The owner, a senior executive and four doctors affiliated with a West Side hospital were arrested today in a kickback scheme. (CLTV)
A fifth doctor has been charged with prescribing narcotics without a license in connection with a wide-ranging investigation of Sacred Heart Hospital on Chicago’s West Side, authorities told the Tribune today.
Dr. Kenneth Nave, 50, who practiced at Sacred Heart and has offices on the Far South Side, was arrested Wednesday night in Miami, according to Randall Samborn, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Chicago. He was expected to appear this afternoon in federal court in Miami and could be brought to Chicago as soon as Friday.
Nave was charged in a criminal complaint with prescribing narcotics without a license at Sacred Heart about a decade after he was suspended for abusing drugs and alcohol. Records show that state regulators reinstated Nave’s license to practice medicine last year on a probationary basis, but his license to prescribe drugs -- which is monitored by the Drug Enforcement Administration – was never renewed.
Since Nave violated his probationary status, state authorities suspended his medical license effective today, according to Sue Hofer, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.
According to the complaint, Nave used the DEA registration number of a colleague, referred to only as “Physician I,” to issue prescriptions for the powerful narcotic hydrocodone to patients at Sacred Heart. From Nov. 1 through Feb. 25, Nave wrote at least 101 prescriptions to about 33 patients at the hospital, according to the complaint.
Last month, a hospital administrator cooperating in the investigation recorded a conversation between her, Nave and hospital CEO Edward Novak in which the status of Nave’s license was discussed, according to the charges. “I know there is a problem,” Nave was quoted as saying at the outset of the meeting. He then explained that he thought as long as he was affiliated with Physician I, it was within the legal guidelines to use his DEA registration number.
“From now on, (Physician I)’s got to do everything,” the complaint quoted Novak as responding. “Otherwise you’re going to have a problem. You’ve already got the two strikes against you. You know what I mean?”
The three-year investigation of Sacred Heart came to light earlier this week when federal agents arrested Novak, 58, of Park Ridge, as well as another hospital executive and four other physicians in connection with a scheme that prosecutors said subjected the poor and elderly to sometimes risky procedures that weren’t medically necessary.
Also charged were the hospital's executive vice president and chief financial officer, Roy Payawal, 64, of Burr Ridge, as well as four of the hospital's affiliated doctors: Venkateswara Kuchipudi, 66, of Oak Brook; Percy Conrad May Jr., 75; Subir Maitra, 73; and Shanin Moshiri, 57, all of Chicago.
jmeisner@tribune.com
Dr. Kenneth Nave, 50, who practiced at Sacred Heart and has offices on the Far South Side, was arrested Wednesday night in Miami, according to Randall Samborn, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Chicago. He was expected to appear this afternoon in federal court in Miami and could be brought to Chicago as soon as Friday.
Nave was charged in a criminal complaint with prescribing narcotics without a license at Sacred Heart about a decade after he was suspended for abusing drugs and alcohol. Records show that state regulators reinstated Nave’s license to practice medicine last year on a probationary basis, but his license to prescribe drugs -- which is monitored by the Drug Enforcement Administration – was never renewed.
Since Nave violated his probationary status, state authorities suspended his medical license effective today, according to Sue Hofer, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.
According to the complaint, Nave used the DEA registration number of a colleague, referred to only as “Physician I,” to issue prescriptions for the powerful narcotic hydrocodone to patients at Sacred Heart. From Nov. 1 through Feb. 25, Nave wrote at least 101 prescriptions to about 33 patients at the hospital, according to the complaint.
Last month, a hospital administrator cooperating in the investigation recorded a conversation between her, Nave and hospital CEO Edward Novak in which the status of Nave’s license was discussed, according to the charges. “I know there is a problem,” Nave was quoted as saying at the outset of the meeting. He then explained that he thought as long as he was affiliated with Physician I, it was within the legal guidelines to use his DEA registration number.
“From now on, (Physician I)’s got to do everything,” the complaint quoted Novak as responding. “Otherwise you’re going to have a problem. You’ve already got the two strikes against you. You know what I mean?”
The three-year investigation of Sacred Heart came to light earlier this week when federal agents arrested Novak, 58, of Park Ridge, as well as another hospital executive and four other physicians in connection with a scheme that prosecutors said subjected the poor and elderly to sometimes risky procedures that weren’t medically necessary.
Also charged were the hospital's executive vice president and chief financial officer, Roy Payawal, 64, of Burr Ridge, as well as four of the hospital's affiliated doctors: Venkateswara Kuchipudi, 66, of Oak Brook; Percy Conrad May Jr., 75; Subir Maitra, 73; and Shanin Moshiri, 57, all of Chicago.
jmeisner@tribune.com
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-fifth-doctor-charged-in-sacred-heart-hospital-scheme-20130418,0,7616077.story
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for commenting.
Your comment will be held for approval by the blog owner.