TRENTON, N.J. - On Dec. 5, 2002, the U.S. government filed a lawsuit against Chiropractic Products' publisher, Medical World Communications, in U.S. District Court in New Jersey. The lawsuit accuses Medical World of fraud; filing false claims; conspiracy; breach of contract; and unjust enrichment.1,2
The civil complaint alleges that Chiropractic Products' publisher defrauded the United States by failing to pay more than $2 million in postage for mailing its magazines, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.3
The complaint alleged violations of the False Claims Act, and sought triple the amount of the company's more than $2 million in fraud proceeds. The government also sought penalties of between $5,000 and $10,000 for each of "hundreds of false records and/or statements [used] to conceal, avoid or decrease their obligation to pay money to the Postal Service," according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael A. Chagares, chief of the U.S. Attorney's Office Civil Division in Newark. Mr. Chagares handled the case for the U.S. government.
The action is based on the allegation that Chiropractic Products' publisher fabricated subscription requests in order to get a reduced postal rate. The alleged fabrications occurred as recently as the year 2000.
On July 2, 2003, after only seven months of "vigorously defending itself," Medical World agreed to pay $3.7 million to settle the allegations that it defrauded the United States by failing to pay adequate postage for mailing its periodicals. The Medical World publications involved were Chiropractic Products; Physical Therapy Products; Plastic Surgery Products; Podiatric Products; Orthodontic Products; Compendium of Continuing Education in Dentistry; Cardiology Review; Resident and Staff Physician; Family Practice Recertification; Surgical Rounds; and Clinical Lab Products.4
Medical World denied any wrongdoing as part of the settlement, but an Associated Press article quoted Assistant Attorney Chagares as stating: "The $3.7 million is significantly more than the actual damage to the government."5
References
Many relevant diagnostic signs are not performed deliberately by the examiner or by the patient at the examiner’s direction. They are observed as the patient reacts to their condition. Fortin’s finger sign, Minor’s sign, and Vanzetti’s sign are three examples of this principle.
Spearheaded by burgeoning scientific and clinical research literature, psychedelics have reached a level of media coverage and popular interest that has not been seen for over half a century. By “psychedelics,” we are referring to the unique class of substances that includes psilocybin (the active compound found in so-called “magic mushrooms”), LSD, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), ayahuasca, 5-MeO-DMT, and mescaline – each of which occurs in the natural world (except for LSD, which is a semi-synthetic compound).
While working at the Lovelace Medical Center in Albuquerque, N.M., one of the primary care physicians stated that imaging every patient prior to receiving chiropractic was not medically necessary. It was at that point I reconsidered the need for the imaging of every patient to avoid malpractice.
