David JacksonContact ReporterChicago Tribune
For years, wealth and controversy have followed Chicago-based nursing home operators Morris Esformes and his son Philip Esformes, who was arrested in July in what prosecutors have called one of the largest health care bribery and kickback schemes in U.S. history.
Their dozens of Illinois, Florida and Missouri nursing facilities have earned millions of Medicaid and Medicare dollars annually despite repeated federal law enforcement probes and Chicago Tribune investigations alleging substandard care and incidents when disabled patients were assaulted by fellow residents.
A lawyer for Philip Esformes, Michael Pasano, told the Tribune that Esformes is innocent of the current charges and added that no wrongdoing was proved in the other, prior cases. "While Mr. Esformes and his father have been involved in prior litigation in connection with their nursing homes, those cases were resolved and no finding of misconduct was ever made," Pasano said.
Among the allegations the Esformeses have faced:
•1998: A Tribune investigation found that Morris Esformes had employed three people to scout shelters and hospitals for recruits to nursing facilities he and Philip Esformes controlled. Some of those homeless people caused violence in the homes and surrounding communities, the Tribune reported.
•2006: Without admitting wrongdoing, Philip and Morris Esformes joined a group of businessmen who paid $15.4 million to settle a U.S. Department of Justice Medicaid fraud civil lawsuit alleging they paid kickbacks to physicians in exchange for patient referrals to a Florida hospital they controlled.
•2009: The Tribune's "Compromised Care" investigation found that violent felons had assaulted elderly and disabled residents in Esformes homes, including south suburban Burnham Healthcare. There, 63-year-old invalid Thomas Donovan died after beatings by fellow residents, the Tribune reported. No one was charged in Donovan's death.
"Unfortunately, nothing has ever happened," Donovan's sister Diana O'Connell told the Tribune in a recent interview. "It's sad. He didn't have the best of life, but for that to happen was very difficult. I would have liked to have seen some justice."
•2010: The Tribune used confidential FBI reports and interviews to show the Esformeses had been at the center of what prosecutors called a "horrific" patient-brokering scheme in which nursing home residents were shuttled to and from a Northern Illinois psychiatric hospital for unnecessary treatments. The Esformeses denied wrongdoing and were not among the medical professionals charged in that case. About two years later, the Esformeses sold their Illinois facilities and focused on their Florida operations.
•2013: Philip and Morris Esformes paid the U.S. government $5 million to settle a whistleblower's court allegations that they took kickbacks to complete the sale of a nursing home pharmacy company. Again, the father and son did not admit wrongdoing.
Their dozens of Illinois, Florida and Missouri nursing facilities have earned millions of Medicaid and Medicare dollars annually despite repeated federal law enforcement probes and Chicago Tribune investigations alleging substandard care and incidents when disabled patients were assaulted by fellow residents.
Among the allegations the Esformeses have faced:
•2006: Without admitting wrongdoing, Philip and Morris Esformes joined a group of businessmen who paid $15.4 million to settle a U.S. Department of Justice Medicaid fraud civil lawsuit alleging they paid kickbacks to physicians in exchange for patient referrals to a Florida hospital they controlled.
•2009: The Tribune's "Compromised Care" investigation found that violent felons had assaulted elderly and disabled residents in Esformes homes, including south suburban Burnham Healthcare. There, 63-year-old invalid Thomas Donovan died after beatings by fellow residents, the Tribune reported. No one was charged in Donovan's death.
"Unfortunately, nothing has ever happened," Donovan's sister Diana O'Connell told the Tribune in a recent interview. "It's sad. He didn't have the best of life, but for that to happen was very difficult. I would have liked to have seen some justice."
•2010: The Tribune used confidential FBI reports and interviews to show the Esformeses had been at the center of what prosecutors called a "horrific" patient-brokering scheme in which nursing home residents were shuttled to and from a Northern Illinois psychiatric hospital for unnecessary treatments. The Esformeses denied wrongdoing and were not among the medical professionals charged in that case. About two years later, the Esformeses sold their Illinois facilities and focused on their Florida operations.
•2013: Philip and Morris Esformes paid the U.S. government $5 million to settle a whistleblower's court allegations that they took kickbacks to complete the sale of a nursing home pharmacy company. Again, the father and son did not admit wrongdoing.
Copyright © 2016, Chicago Tribune
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for commenting.
Your comment will be held for approval by the blog owner.