Legal & Regulatory Issues

Anesthesiologist Cory L. Pickens, MD, of Billings, Mont., has pleaded guilty to prescription fraud, according to a report from the Missoulian and Associated Press.

The Colorado Society of Anesthesiologists has sent a letter to Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter opposing his plan to opt out of a Medicare rule requiring physician supervision of certified registered nurse anesthetists.

Concerned about the growing numbers of patients under observation in hospitals, CMS is considering tightening its rules for observation, including strictly limiting the length of observation period, according to a report by Kaiser Health News.

The New York Times opinion section published an editorial addressing a recent study by Research Triangle Institute International, funded by the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists and published in Health Affairs, claiming CRNAs who provide anesthesia services without physician supervision…

Colorado Governor Bill Ritter is planning a policy change that would allow certified registered nurse anesthetists to administer anesthesia without a physician's supervision, a decision that has angered Colorado anesthesiologists, according to a Denver Post report.

John R. McLean, MD, a cardiologist from Salisbury, Md., has been indicted for allegedly putting unnecessary coronary stents in hundreds of patients and billing private and public payors for the procedures, according to a Baltimore Sun report.

The United States Fifth Court of Appeals has upheld a district court ruling that a health plan violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by refusing payment to a hospital for health services it felt were not "reasonable and customary,"…

In a comment letter to CMS on its proposed outpatient prospective payment system rule to start Jan. 1, 2011, the AHA expressed "serious concerns" about "the continuing failure of CMS to require ASC quality and cost reporting."

An Ohio appeals court has upheld a lower court's judgment to clear an ASC, orthopedic surgeon and CRNA sued by a patient who claimed her lung was punctured during a regional block placement, according to an Ohio Court of Appeals…

Robert J. Tomlinson, MD, a Fayetteville, Ark.-based orthopedic surgeon has been sentenced to 10 months in prison for healthcare fraud, according to an Arkansas News report.