Articles Posted in In The News

A Nassau County, NY chiropractor has pleaded guilty to the charges of healthcare fraud and obstruction of a federal audit.

Dr. Melvin Cwibeker, owner of Mel Cwibeker DC, will pay both restitution and a $500,000 forfeiture. Cwibeker also faces a potential maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. He is due to be sentenced in early November.

According to court documents, Cwibeker and co-conspirators fraudulently billed Medicare in excess of $7 million for allegedly providing treatments for residents of assisted living facilities in 2006 -2012. Three chiropractors who are employed by Cwibeker have also pleaded guilty to healthcare fraud charges and were trained not to provide Medicare required patient care. Pretend patient records were created and sent to Medicare for payment.

A Superior Court Jury has ordered two cardiologists to pay the widow of a man more than $2.4 million. The jury in the case deliberated for three days before determining that Dr. Kevin Lenhart and his partner, Dr. Charles Landau of Connecticut Heart & Vascular Center had been negligent in the treatment of Wesley Wirth, 61. The mis-diagnosis resulted in Wirth’s death.

Court documents of testimony during the trial indicate that on May 12, 2008, Wirth was transported to St. Vincent’s Medical Center after complaining of chest pain and dizziness. The emergency room physician consulted with Lenhart, Wirth’s physician and determined that Wirth’s EKG was normal.

Wirth discharged himself from the hospital only to return a few hours later, again complaining of chest pain. Again, it was determined by Lenhart that the results of a stress test performed on Wirth were “unremarkable.”

The estate of a Turrington man has been awarded $3 million by a jury in a malpractice suit against a cardiologist who could have prevented the man’s death if he had paid closer attention to test results.

The jury handed down its verdict against Dr. Dariush Owlia and in favor of plaintiff Cynthia Olsen, the wife of Andrew J. Olsen and executor of his estate. The jury’s decision was made on Wednesday after hearing six days of testimony at a Superior Court in Hartford and deliberating for five hours.

The lawsuit named Olsen’s general practitioner, Dr. Stephen Bryant in its case. However, Bryant was not a defendant in the trial although the jury did determine that he was liable for 60 percent of the $3 million award in the case Owlia was liable for the other 40 percent.