Business
Mistrial declared again in Tenet kickback case
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted April 24, 2006
For the second time, a mistrial has been declared after a jury was unable to reach a verdict in a trial to determine whether a Tenet Healthcare Corp. hospital in San Diego paid illegal kickbacks to physicians to induce referrals.
U.S. District Judge M. James Lorenz declared the mistrial on April 4 following a seven-month trial and 4½ months of juror deliberations. His order came a little more than a year after jurors deadlocked, causing him to declare a mistrial the first time the case was tried.
Prosecutors alleged that Alvarado Hospital Medical Center and another Tenet subsidiary paid more than $10 million for physician relocation agreements between 1992 and 2002. They claimed a "substantial portion" of the money went to established doctors to induce them to make referrals to Alvarado. Alvarado's former chief executive, Barry Weinbaum, was also named as a defendant.
Tenet said it "continues to believe" that physician relocation agreements, like the ones at Alvarado, are an important tool in helping hospitals bring physicians to communities. Tenet's general counsel, Peter Urbanowicz, said in a written statement that the case "has amply demonstrated that the law surrounding physician relocation agreements is complicated and subject to differing interpretations."
U.S. Attorney Carol C. Lam did not immediately indicate whether she would attempt to retry the case. In a statement, her office said, "The government continues to believe that it is important to address violations of the Medicare anti-kickback statute."
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2006/04/24/bibf0424.htm.
