Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Indiana Medicaid Fraud In Child Welfare

Here will be one of my textbook examples of a Medicaid Fraud Scheme in Child Welfare.

What is contained within this fraud scheme are key components to validate what I have coined as child abuse propaganda.

Without being said, I will immediately question whether any of the children were temporary/permanent wards of the state, (i.e. foster care, adoption).

It is organizations such as these who present these false data to be compiled to develop public policy. What is most statistically egregious is the national data will never be amended.

This happens everyday all across the nation.

State Investigation of Whistleblower Lawsuit Supports Medicaid Fraud Allegations Against Madison Center

For more than 10 years, Madison Center actively sought and enrolled low-income, "problem students" from the local school system and enrolled them in its day treatment program. To boost its Medicaid revenues even more, Madison Center would convince parents that the siblings of those students also should be sent to Madison Center for treatment instead of school, the "qui tam" (whistleblower) lawsuit says.

But the children weren't properly diagnosed, and they were given little or no treatment to help them, according to the whistleblower lawsuit. Since the children's families were poor, Medicaid covered the Madison Center's charges for the treatment the children supposedly received. The state estimates it paid Madison Center more than $10 million in Medicaid payments for fraudulent billing charges.

It seems people are finally listening to me...and I have so much more to say.

Madison Center Qui Tam False Claims Act Complaint

Michigan $5 Billion Dollar Health Fraud

Here we have the latest piece of evidence, almost $5 billion, that Michigan's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit does not do jack shit. Top that off with Candidate for Michigan State Representative Shanelle Jackson (incumbent) prancing around claiming Detroit needs more mental health money for the so-called mental health authorities that are buying her off, and you get audit reports such as this.

There was severe strain between Bernard Kilpatrick and Ficano with both accusing the other of caring more about control of the agency and its contracts than about care for the mentally ill.

Tensions became further strained after the county sought to depose Kilpatrick under oath in its lawsuit seeking to recover funding from a more than $20 million contract given to Jon Rutherford, the operator of a homeless shelter who has been indicted for income tax evasion.

Michigan Auditor General audited 11 programs as major programs and reported known questioned costs of $489.0 million and known and likely questioned costs totaling $4.4 billion. Known and likely questioned costs were based on documentation provided to us by DCH during our audit fieldwork. However, it is possible that DCH could obtain

We identified instances of noncompliance that are required to be reported in accordance with U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-133 (Findings 6 through 27, 29, and 31 through 35).

Adverse opinion was issued for the Medicaid program as Department of Community Health's internal controls over the program did not ensure compliance with federal law and regulations regarding reporting.

I normally post the actual audit, but since the state has started locking its reports, that is not going to happen for some time, so here is the direct link.

Monday, June 28, 2010

U.K. Social Workers Practice Phrenology

Through the parsimony of constructing my mission, I have succinctly identified my subject matter, that being Medicaid in child welfare, but this has not limited my focus on the international communities.

I have recently been introduced to State Intervention, a blog of with a prolific voice in the United Kingdom.

Unlike the United States, the United Kingdom has always believed that moral depravity is the root cause of social decay. In this case, the social decay giving rise to grounds for removal and termination of parental rights is learning disabilities.

The United Kingdom, much more aggressively and openly, continues to embrace the practice of phrenology which is still being promoted today, embedded deep within the curriculum of social work.

Phrenology was used during to detect criminals in the 18th century. Basically, any individual who deviated from the normally acceptable standards of physical symmetry, giving momentum to Social Darwinism.

Social Darwinism is a belief, popular in the late Victorian era in England, America, and elsewhere, which states that the strongest or fittest should survive and flourish in society, while the weak and unfit should be allowed to die. The theory was chiefly expounded by Herbert Spencer, whose ethical philosophies always held an elitist view and received a boost from the application of Darwinian ideas such as adaptation and natural selection.

The United States tends to keep with its own institutional traditions, subversively calling the weakest, or rather minorities, as "Targeted Populations" or "Beneficiary Groups."

Targeted case management (TCM) refers to case management that is restricted to specific beneficiary groups. Targeted beneficiary groups can be defined by disease or medical condition, or by geographic regions, such as a county or a city within a state. Targeted populations, for example, may include individuals with HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, chronic physical or mental illness, developmental disabilities, children receiving foster care, or other groups identified by a state and approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS).

The imperialistic morality parade began the beating of its "Survival-o'fittest"drums in England, but I dare say, the United States has legal kidnapping down to a much more complete and artful science.

GAO African American Children In Foster Care: Additional HHS Assistace Needed to Help States to Reduce theP...

This is another classic example of U.K. child abuse propaganda.

UK Social Workers Acting Like Nazis (Again)

Lucy Anderson and Stuart Creaney have not done anything wrong. Yet they are being sent a message loud and clear by UK Social Workers that they cannot have children. Their only 'crime' is that they both have Learning Difficulties.

So what is the UK's answer to preventing these people from breeding? Of course they simply take away all of their kids! Welcome to Nazi Britain people, get used to it or get out.

Previously, Mark Goldring of Mencap has quite rightly pointed out that "over half of all people in the UK with Learning Difficulties will have their children removed" by Gestapo like Social Workers from the UK. And as Lord Justice Wall quite rightly stated, British Social Workers are "arrogant, enthusiastic removers of children."

Question 1 - What happened to the rights of the child?
Question 2 - Is discrimination not illegal?
Question 3 - Why were the parents not given a chance to prove themselves?
Question 4 - What happens if the children face abuse or die in foster/adoptive care?
Answer to all of the above - The UK Government couldn't give a fuck.

So people who don't believe that the UK is a Nazi state, it's time to wake up to the injustice which is happening all around you.

And to those of you who think you somehow have some magic invisible shield around you which prevents you from becoming a victim of state corruption, it's only a matter of time before Nazi Britain comes along and pisses all over your parade. If you still live in the UK, I strongly recommend you get out while you still can!

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Baby LK Report June 21, 2010

Baby Lk recaps the week in news for the child welfare industry.

Ghostwriting Parades

Ghostwriting is a typical practice in the academic world and is not limited to the medical profession.

You have a broad range of special interest groups that can influence social policy from outside the elected officials office from a more indirect manner, and that is through benefactor activities.

You will find this in scholarships, fellowships, and most other funding initiatives. Take foster care for example. You have universities who set up their own child welfare institute who will only publish research that is beneficial to its federally funded revenue-maximization scheme due to the fact that most social work training in child welfare is funded through Title IV-B and E initiatives.

In this manner, the only authority to turn to becomes the only literary source of information. And that is how the imperialistic morality parade keeps marching along.

Propaganda at its finest.

Report Urges More Curbs on Medical Ghostwriting

Should more light be shed on the relationships between drug makers and certain prominent doctors who publish scientific articles about their medicines?

A new Congressional report calls on medical journals, medical schools and even the National Institutes of Health to take additional measures to ensure the integrity of the scientific articles many doctors rely on to make treatment decisions for their patients.

The report, issued Thursday by Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, focuses on medical ghostwriting.

Ghostwriting is the practice in which prominent researchers sign on as authors to articles for scientific journals that have been developed by third-party medical education companies at the behest of drug or medical device makers. Influential doctors listed as authors, the report said, have had varied input on articles drafted by industry-financed writers that have been published in medical journals.

“Manipulation of medical literature could lead physicians to prescribe drugs that are more costly or may even harm patients,” the report said.

Over the last few years, industry documents made public in government investigations and product liability lawsuits against drug makers have shown medical ghostwriting to be widespread.

In response, many medical journals have tightened their policies requiring authors to disclose industry funding and editorial assistance. Last year, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a drug industry trade group, revised its clinical research principles, adopting standards that ask authors to disclose industry contributions to research publications.

A number of drug makers have also changed their publication policies to acknowledge their supporting roles. Some leading medical schools, meanwhile, have added policies explicitly prohibiting faculty from signing on to ghostwritten articles.

But the senator’s report said a variety of scientific institutions, including the National Institutes of Health, should be more vigilant to ensure the integrity of the medical literature.

Even when articles in medical journals acknowledge industry-sponsored medical writers for “editorial assistance,” for example, the role of drug makers in such publications may remain unclear to readers, the report said. A drug maker may have initiated an article, chosen the medical writer, influenced the outline or draft before it is sent to an academic author for review, or vetted the final manuscript, before it is submitted to a medical journal, according to the report.

Senator Grassley recommended in a separate letter to Dr. Francis S. Collins, the director of the N.I.H., that applicants who apply for agency research grants should be required to disclose any industry support, whether financial or editorial, that they have received for articles.

A spokesman for the N.I.H. said the agency had received Mr. Grassley’s letter and would respond at a later date. It already is considering a new rule to increase disclosure of the financial sponsorship of researchers seeking grants.

Ghostwriting in Medical Literature

Unemployment is Child Abuse

Who said unemployment was child abuse?

Why, the U.S. Administration for Children and Families did in 1985!

# 21

a. Was the child an actual or potential AFDC recipient’

b. Was financial need established’

c. Was the child removed from home of a specified relative’

d. Was deprivation of parental support or care established’


"DERIVATION OF PARENTAL SUPPORT - There must be a specification of how the child is deprived of parental support or care. This can be by reason of death, absence, or the physical or mental incapacity of one parent, or, at State option, by the unemployment of the principal wage earner.

25 years later, very little has changed.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Alaska Medicaid Fraud Control Unit Neglects Youth

What about the youth? Is there a reason the States Medicaid Fraud Control Units do not provide the same protection for children? Why is there Medicaid Fraud in Child Welfare?

It's called Child Protective Services (CPS).

The law enforcement functions overseeing children were bifurcated and housed within a newly created agency within the executive branch, leaving the public impression that it was transparent. Freedom of Information Act laws allow anything dealing with children to be sealed and sequestered from public scrutiny. The only information released to the functions of child welfare are done through propaganda campaigns and fallible curriculum.

Power to enforce the law was bestowed upon an agency that does no take ant oath of office to execute the duties of child welfare with respect to constitutional rights and the laws of the land.

Simply put, any Medicaid fraud performed in child welfare will never be prosecuted and recovered.

Medicaid Fraud Unit Expands into Abuse and Neglect Cases

June 21, 2010
Monday

Anchorage, Alaska - The Alaska Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Department of Law announced today they recently obtained criminal convictions of two women in a case from late 2007 in which an 81-year-old veteran was abused.

The unit, formed in 1992 to focus on fraud, recently has expanded its scope into abuse and neglect cases.

Alejandra A. Schaub, 65, formerly of Anchorage, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of domestic violence assault on June 7. Ofelia Guiel, 47, pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment on June 8. At the time of the crime, Schaub was providing care for the elderly veteran in Guiel's Anchorage home.

The abuse came to light after Schaub took the victim to appointments at the Veterans Administration clinic and at Elmendorf Air Force Base. Various caregivers voiced suspicions of abuse to Guiel, who disregarded them and returned the victim to the home, where Schaub continued the abuse.

The Alaska Medicaid Fraud Control Unit was notified of the abuse in 2009. The victim previously had not revealed the identity of the abuser because he relied on her for assistance with his daily life. After he was transferred to another assisted living home, he disclosed that Schaub had broken his finger, flattened his nose and deformed his ears. Schaub fled the state, but with the assistance of the U.S. Marshall's service, she was found in Nevada and returned to Alaska.

Schaub, who had no prior record, was sentenced to a year in jail, with six months suspended, and was given probation for three years, with conditions that she have no contact with the victim and provide no care for elderly or infirm individuals. Guiel received a 90-day suspended jail sentence and also was placed on probation for three years. She is also prohibited from having any contact with the victim and from working in the Alaska Medicaid program for five years.

"Alaska will continue to ferret out those who prey on our most vulnerable, and will prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law," said Deputy Attorney General Rick Svobodny, head of the criminal division in the Department of Law.

The Alaska Medicaid Fraud Control Unit is funded primarily by the federal government to investigate fraud and patient abuse and neglect, and is staffed by investigators, and auditor and a prosecutor. The unit has participated in nationwide actions against pharmaceutical companies that have resulted in the return of millions of dollars that had been siphoned from the state Medicaid program.

Last year, the unit concluded a case against one of the most significant known defrauders of Medicaid services in Alaska history. Sherry T. Trotter, president of On Call Nursing of Alaska, pleaded guilty to a felony theft charge and was sentenced to 36 months in prison, 28 months suspended, and ordered to pay more than $800,000 in restitution.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Family Reunification Day

Michigan's First Family Reunificaiton Day is today, June 24, 2010. The even starts at 2:00 p.m. EST in the courtroom of Mary Beth Kelly, on the 15th floor of the Coleman A. Young Municipal Building, followed by a reception.

Michigan has also, as early word has it, "passed" its federal audit of its child welfare operations. Let's see if the State Auditor General concurs.

I personally would like to commend the American Bar Association for promoting this event and Justice Maura Corrigan for finally waking up.

As the state has allowed weight to be assigned to Foster Care Review Board reports for the court decision making in child welfare cases, this is the perfect opportunity to create more oversight in referring violations of law to the attorney general.

National Reunification Day

Statement of ABA President Carolyn B. Lamm: Celebrate Children’s Return Home from Foster Care!

This year, a number of national organizations are working together to organize the first National Reunification Day on June 19, 2010. The goal of National Reunification Day is to celebrate families and communities coming together and to raise awareness about the importance of family reunification to children in foster care. While June 19, 2010 is the official day, a number of jurisdictions are celebrating on different days and weeks. The important part of this initiative is to celebrate successful reunifications whenever it works for you. Please click here for more information.

Register Your National Reunification Day Celebration

Please register your National Reunification Day celebration so that we can keep track of what is going on across the country.

To register your event, please complete the form and email it to Elizabeth Thornton.

I encourage any organization interested in participating in national reform to set up your own event, and register it.

Now onto National Reinstatement of Parental Rights Day!

Psych Evals On Fetus

It will not be long before Child Protective Services picks up on this as grounds for termination of parental rights. Wait, they already do.

Pre-Crime? Try Pre-Diagnose and Pre-Drug: Psychiatrists target infants as mental patients



By CCHR International
June 23, 2010

A new study, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry and headed by psychiatrist John H. Gilmore, professor of psychiatry and Director of the UNC Schizophrenia Research, claims to be able to detect “brain abnormalities associated with schizophrenia risk” in infants just a few weeks old. We would like to point out the obvious flaw in this bogus study; there is no medical/scientific test in existence that schizophrenia is a physical disease or brain abnormality to start with. There is not one chemical imbalance test, X-ray, MRI or any other test for schizophrenia, not one. So with no evidence of medical abnormality to start with, the “associated with schizophrenia risk” amounts to what George Orwell called Doublespeak (language that deliberately disguises, distorts, misleads)—it means nothing.

For decades, psychiatrists and Pharma have spouted lines to the press and public amounting to, “researchers now believe” they have medical evidence of schizophrenia as a physical/biological abnormality, or “new evidence suggests” evidence of schizophrenia as a real disease. But despite millions of dollars in research funds and countless tales of “belief” —no evidence to support the theory. One of the most common tricks employed by the Psycho/Pharmaceutical industry to mislead the public, legislators and the press, is to take X-rays or brain images of people who have been long-term users of antipsychotic drugs (known to cause brain atrophy/shrinkage) and then claim people with schizophrenia have smaller brains. They’ve spouted similar studies on kids with ADHD having smaller brains, but the bottom line to that study was that the kids with smaller brains, were…smaller kids. These are just a few of the many PR spins employed by Psycho/Pharma to try and maintain the “belief” in psychiatry, in their credibility as a science. As evidenced by the recent statement of psychiatrist Allen Frances, former DSM- IV Task Force Chairman, this belief is falling apart even within their own ranks, “There are no objective tests in psychiatry-no X-ray, laboratory, or exam finding that says definitively that someone does or does not have a mental disorder.” —Allen Frances (And Frances isn’t the only psychiatrist exposing the fraud of the biological brain disease model; click here for more.)

The logical question the press should be asking is what are the American Journal of Psychiatry and “the Director of UNC Schizophrenic Research” really after? What is their goal?

As we have exposed in the article “Australian Psychiatrist Patrick McGorry Wants His Pre-Drugging Agenda to Go Global” there is a concerted push being headed by Australian psychiatrist Patrick McGorry and other pharmaceutically funded psychiatrists for the global implementation of a new mental health paradigm; preventative mental health, i.e., pre-diagnosing (diagnosing children before they develop a “mental disorder”) and pre-drugging children ( before they show “signs” of the mental disorder). There is an obvious push for the same pre-diagnosing and pre-drugging agenda with this latest study, which claims ”major cases of schizophrenia are usually not diagnosed until a person begins witnessing its related symptoms like delusions and hallucinations as a teenager or adult . However, by that time, the disease [notice the term disease despite no medical evidence of disease] crosses the stage of preliminary treatment and is difficult to treat.” In other words, if we wait to administer drugs to them it may be too late. That along with Gilmore’s statement, “It allows us to start thinking about how we can identify kids at risk for schizophrenia very early and whether there are things that we can do very early on to lessen the risk.” This is the pre-diagnosing, pre-drugging agenda being pushed and the new “preventative” model of mental health that is more akin to a Brave New World than anything previously witnessed. And this latest “study” tells us infants are also on the agenda.

And finally, to psychiatrist and lead study author John H. Gilmore, we think you should take a lesson from the former National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Chief of the Center for Studies in Schizophrenia, the late Loren R. Mosher, M.D. who stated in his letter of resignation to the American Psychiatric Association, “The fact that there is no evidence confirming the brain disease attribution is, at this point, irrelevant. What we are dealing with here is fashion, politics and money. This level of intellectual/scientific dishonesty is just too egregious for me to continue to support my membership…After nearly three decades as a member it is with a mixture of pleasure and disappointment that I submit this letter of resignation from the American Psychiatric Association. The major reason for this is my belief I am actually resigning from the American Psychopharmacological Association. Luckily, the organization’s true identify requires no change in the acronym…”

To read more from Loren Mosher, including his two-year outcome study treating patients diagnosed “schizophrenic” without the use of drugs, his vehement stance against the biological psychiatric model of “disease” and more, click here.

To read the latest bogus psychiatric study, click here.

Here is the John Gilmore's letter to the editor:

The authors report no financial relationships with commercial interests.
This letter (doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2010.10010105) was accepted for publication in March 2010.

Dr. Gilmore Replies
To the Editor: I thank Drs. Read and Bentall for their interest
in my editorial comments about brain development and the causes of schizophrenia. I am pleased they are in agreement with the overall argument made. They rightly point out that risk factors across the entire range of prenatal and postnatal development ultimately contribute to schizophrenia and call our attention to the literature regarding early childhood adversity. As they note, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis alterations and epigenetic regulation are likely candidate mechanisms that deserve study. Their discussion of the potential role of environmental enrichment is very important, since we realize that it may be difficult to prevent many of the multiple causes of schizophrenia but may be possible to identify and modify developmental trajectories of risk.

JOHN H. GILMORE, M.D.
Chapel Hill, N.C. 

The actual article addresses of the lack research on the effect of maternal psychiatric medication on fetal health during pregnancy and the possibility of brain imaging for pregnancy management and fetal development.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

What The Child Abuse Propaganda Machines Do Not Want You To Know

What you are about to witness is what the Administration on Children and Families and the child abuse propaganda machines do not want you to know.



These are the stories no one wants to hear.



All paid with your hard earned dollars.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Foster Parents Recruited in Child Welfare Fraud Schemes

Child welfare fraud manifests in all shapes and forms. Here is a child welfare fraud scheme where the foster parent has been unscrupulously recruited to participate in aberrant billing, questionable ethical practices, multiple civil rights and criminal violations.

This foster parent blog describes a foster care fraud scheme that results in the generation of fraudulent documentation submitted for state and federal reimbursement of costs.

Note: Here is an interesting blog post from a foster parent. The real mother is being lied to and thinks that she is working towards reunification while everybody else involved in the stealing of her children is working towards just the opposite, and lying to her about it in the process.

When Special Agent Perez made this speech, he did so to stop people like this.

Testimony of DHHS OIG Special Agent March 4, 2010

Rhode Island Contracts With CoA For National Cover Up

Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families is seeking national accreditation from the Council on Accreditation (CoA).

Now, why is that.

DCYF may seek national accreditation


PROVIDENCE — The state Department of Children, Youth and Families could seek national accreditation beginning in July 2011 if legislation approved by the General Assembly is signed into law by Governor Carcieri this week.
But the effort hinges on whether state lawmakers appropriate the estimated $300,000 the state agency will need to cover the cost of being evaluated to determine whether it’s eligible for the seal of approval from the not-for-profit Council Of Accreditation. And the cost could run higher, agency officials say, if attaining accreditation requires changes such as reducing employee caseloads or raising the professional credentials of its supervisors...more

Well, there are two reasons why Rhode Island is seeking national accreditation.

The first reason, the same reason Missouri went after national accreditation, is that the main requirement to gain the seal of approval from CoA is to give them money. Giving CoA money will cover up the aberrant billing and egregious practices in its child welfare system.

The second reason verifies my suppositions of CoA being nothing more than a glorified fixer organization, willing to cover up administrative mess ups with its national certification scheme. Rhode Island wants national accreditation to reduce its penalties because it is being sued.

First Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion in M v. DONALD L. CARCIERI

Monday, June 21, 2010

Taxpayers Fund New York Child Welfare Fraud

Here we have pervasive fraud in New York's child welfare system, specifically, the juvenile justice system. Since there is iron curtain of secrecy in dealing with anything relating to children, the only way to expose what is going on must be done through first-hand information, but in a second voice. That second voice is mine for there is nothing anyone can do to me, for I speak the truth, as I am An Original Source.

As you read this piece, I want you to walk away to question why your federal and state dollars are allowed to fund waste and fraud across the country, at the expense of a child.

This is a child welfare fraud scheme from the New York Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS)


Incarcerating Kids for Cash.  Just Another NY-OCFS Child Welfare Racket

Here we have pervasive fraud in New York's child welfare system, specifically, the juvenile justice system. Since there is iron curtain of secrecy in dealing with anything relating to children, the only way to expose what is going on must be done through first-hand information, but in a second voice. That second voice is mine for there is nothing anyone can do to me, for I speak the truth, as I am An Original Source.

As you read this piece, I want you to walk away to question why your federal and state dollars are allowed to fund waste and fraud across the country, at the expense of a child.
This is a child welfare fraud scheme from the New York Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS)

It is amazing that taxpayers in North Dakota, Texas, Nebraska and every other U.S. taxpayer is required to contribute to NYS's $150 million dollar correctional bill, but has no vote in NYS politics to elect-out the people who allow such policies, fraud and waste to exist. We'd like to hear what non-NYS taxpayers have to say about NYS' policy of not putting Federally funded contracts out for bid. We'd also like to hear what non-NYS taxpayers have to say about footing a $240,000 per incarcerated youth annual bill.

Given the above statistics, why then does it cost $240,000 per year to incarcerate one youth.

Currently, OCFS is under intense scrutiny by the NYS Legislature, the Press, various advocacy groups and the Department of Justice.

To manage the public scrutiny OCFS says one thing, but does another.


What OCFS is doing:

According to inside reports, OCFS is submitting falsified reports to the Courts for the purpose of convincing Judges to keep kids incarcerated longer.


According to OCFS insiders . . .

OCFS is puttingemployees in a difficult situation because OCFS expects us to purport to judges, auditors, guardians, legislators etc. to have provided the required services to the youths in our charge when the reality is that these services are not regularly being provided.

OCFS' choice of not providing prescribed services to youth has been directly related to management, and management has failed to remedy the discrepancy between what is being reported and what is actually being provided.


For instance, weekly individual counseling sessions, treatment groups, family sessions, conference calls with guardian/after care, sex offender and generic treatment groups which addresses the youth's criminal history, preconditions to offending, cognitive distortions, aids in developing empathy and an acceptable relapse prevention plan, all of which ultimately impacts recidivism have been grossly neglected and under-provided yet this fact is disguised through false reporting and submission of false petitions to the Courts where OCFS is attesting that services are being provided to youth when they are not in order to convince the Courts that youth should remain incarcerated in OCFS' custody for longer periods of time.


Note: OCFS' employees have been retaliated against, even terminated, for speaking out about this issue.

To keep a youth in OCFS' custody, it costs Taxpayers $240,000 per youth per year
It is amazing that taxpayers in North Dakota, Texas, Nebraska and every other U.S. taxpayer is required to contribute to NYS's $150 million dollar correctional bill, but has no vote in NYS politics to elect-out the people who allow such policies, fraud and waste to exist. We'd like to hear what non-NYS taxpayers have to say about NYS' policy of not putting Federally funded contracts out for bid. We'd also like to hear what non-NYS taxpayers have to say about footing a $240,000 per incarcerated youth annual bill.

What you can do. Contact the Department of Justice and the NY Office of the Inspector General and demand an audit and investigation into NY (including NYC) no bid contracts especially those contracts funded with Federal taxpayer monies. Outside of NYS, send your Congressman this release and demand to know why you are paying $240,000 a year to incarcerate a NYS child.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Baby LK Report June 20, 2010

Baby LK recaps the week in news for the child welfare industry.

Oklahoma Medicaid Fraud Lap Dog

Sit back, if you can, and imagine that you have been accused of child abuse and neglect. You are at trial, fighting for your children to bring your children home, fighting to stop the state from terminating your parental rights based upon falsely generated reports. The prosecutor is gaining momentum in his closing arguments painting you as the horrible monster on the poster of the child abuse propaganda industry.

As you hold back the tears, tightly clinching yourself for comfort from a room filled with professionals, hovering like vultures, having been trained only in further processing children deeper in the foster care system, there is a sound from the bench...

mmmmmmmmmuuuuuuuuuuuaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh "The children have been remanded to the custody of the state as your parental rights have been terminated."

Arrest Warrant Issued For Former Creek County Judge



CREEK COUNTY, OK -- An arrest warrant was issued Monday for former Creek County judge Donald Thompson (left).

The warrant was issued for failure to pay court costs related to Thompson's indecent exposure case from Creek County in 2005.

Thompson was convicted of using a sexual device while presiding over cases in his Creek county courtroom.

After being disbarred, he was charged with a string of other offenses including driving under the influence.

Protective Order Filed Against Donald Thompson

Former Creek County Judge Arrested



NOW I COME, asking Oklahoma's Attorney General W.A. Drew Edmondson, (below) the state's top lap dog of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and protector of citizens, whose lap is he laying in, being stroked?

There has not been one review of any of the child protection court cases of the former masterbating judge Thompson, but there has been action by the "Oh-well-since-the-kids-are-already-in-the-system-we-might-as-well-keep-them-in-instead-of-stopping-the-fraud" group.

In addition, I ask General Edmondson when is he going to become a watch dog and stop Medicaid fraud in child welfare and advocate for the state's most vulnerable citizens who are the original guardians who were in front of Thompson.

Lastly, I ask the child abuse propaganda machines if they will ever stand up and report on what goes on behind the iron curtain of child welfare.

Ride For Accountability of Children's Aid Societies

Ride For Accountability of Children's Aid Societies

Posted By 2mindless
18 hours ago

I am part of a volunteer advocacy group; I have networked with John Dunn (from Ottawa) who's the founder & director of the "Foster Care Council of Canada". There are grave issues with the status of foster children in Ontario; abuses & DEATHS in care. We seek to try & give a voice to these children & educate the public, make them aware of their rights, how to deal with child protection investigations (all aspects from the legislative act to the constitutional act; Court procedural processes etc.). We've been rallying all over Ontario in front of our jurisdictional CAS offices, to try & get public attention. Hence the reason John's embarked on a cross province ride to bring awareness to the need for accountability & transparency of CAS's. Most people still incorrectly believe CAS is regulated by Government. They are NOT. CAS is a private business, under the Corporations Act, they merely get their funding for administration of child apprehension duties from Provincial coiffures.

I encourage you to read the Belleville news article about the ride....and to visit www.accountablecas.ca for more information on RACAS. I am looking forward to joining John Dunn when he comes to Leamington; then to accompany him into Windsor
whereby he will complete the last leg of his journey up to the WECAS offices on Riverside Drive; meet with news media and/or newspapers for interviews, hand out a petition for signatures & perhaps connect with some dignitaries/officials, or just meet with the public, hold a moment of silence for former WECAS Jim Malone. I would sincerely appreciate if you'd contact Mr. Dunn, or myself, to arrange for Windsor A-channel news to come out & do a feature....I've included some file attachments for your review...a RACAS brochure & some photo's of John Dunn during some of his ride in Eastern Ontario (Cornwall/Belleville).


Ride for Accountability covered in Belleville EMC News

http://www.emcbelleville.com/20100617/news/Ride+aimed+at+accountability+for+CAS+branches


John is targeting arrival in Leamington June 27th-29th, then Windsor June 29th/30th. He wants to be back home to Ottawa for Canada day. He is tired & re-thinking the council work. He invested alot of himself in this ride. There wasn't the organization or public showing of support. This is such an IMPORTANT cause. CAS is not accountable to Government. They get away with falsehoods & disseminating families under unfair legislation. It is the responsibility of our elected officials to protect children & to see to the protection of rights. People remain self-focused on the personal stories of harm...WE MUST unify & work together toward a common goal. The root of the problem is not CAS it is BIGGER than that. Crown systems are entrenched in the constitution. If you’re children were in foster care through no fault of your own; as a marginalized, abused, female living in poverty, then you’d see the actual processes & the magnitude of what is at stake. Begin making a claim for the preservation & protection of your family….by educating yourself in Child Rights & Child Welfare….make the Legislature do it’s duty to the voting public.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Psychotropic Drug Abuse in Foster Care

This is a well written article, but there is a variable to this equation that was not mentioned, and that is the States administrative "revenue-maximization schemes" that allow this to happen, and continue.

Psychotropic Drug Abuse in Foster Care Costs Government Billions
Seven-year-old Gabriel Meyers didn't want soup for lunch one Thursday in April, 2009. When his 23-year-old foster brother sent Gabriel to his room for dumping his soup in the trash, Gabriel threatened to kill himself. He kicked his toys around his room, then locked himself in the bathroom.

Police reports say Gabriel was home sick that day from his elementary school in Margate, Fla., under the care of Miguel Gould, his foster father's son. Around 1:00 p.m., city police responded to Gould's frantic 911 call and found Gabriel had hanged himself.

A troubled child who had previously suffered from neglect, sexual assault, and abusive parenting, Gabriel spent the previous year shuttling among several foster parents while taking a constellation of antipsychotic medicines, including Lexapro and Vyvanse, to control his depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Like most children in Florida state foster care, Medicaid paid Gabriel's medical expenses.

Just one month before his suicide, Gabriel's doctor prescribed him Symbyax, an anti-depressant restricted for treatment of children. The medication's FDA-required label features a warning that use of the drug by children or teenagers can lead to suicide.

Symbyax
does not meet criteria established by Congress for Medicaid reimbursement., so it is illegal for Medicaid to pay for a prescription of the drug to a child. Sohail Punjwani, the doctor who prescribed Gabriel's Symbyax, received a stern letter from the FDA about his history of over-prescribing mental health drugs.

According to a number of foster care experts who spoke with Politics Daily, children in foster care, who are typically concurrently enrolled in Medicaid, are three or four more times as likely to be on antipsychotic medications than other children on Medicaid. Alarmingly, many of these drugs are medically prohibited for minors and dangerous to the children taking them. Often young patients under state supervision are also prescribed three or four high-risk drugs at a time -- all paid for by Medicaid.

State foster care programs and child protective services have had mixed success addressing the pervasiveness of dosing their clients with prescription psychotropic drugs. Using federal Medicaid monies to purchase dangerous prohibited prescriptions for children, which cost the government up to $600 per dose, is technically a violation of the law.

Now, the Senate Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, chaired by Democratic Sen. Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, has asked the Government Accountability Office to look into the drugging of foster care children. The investigators will attempt to account for estimates in the hundreds of millions of dollars of possible fraud arising from prescriptions for drugs explicitly barred from Medicaid coverage. The GAO is collecting data from Oregon, Massachusetts, Florida, Maryland, Minnesota, and Texas, to search for patterns of abuse. This effort marks the first time suspicion of Medicaid fraud related to psychotropic drugs has been examined at the federal level. According to Senate staffers working on the investigation, the committee will likely hold hearings on the matter later this year.

Psychotropic medications, also called "antipsychotics," act on the central nervous system and alter brain function, mood and consciousness. The GAO investigation is chiefly focused on anti-depressants, widely used in foster care in dangerous combinations, and for so-called "off-label" uses to treat symptoms for which they have not been medically approved. Antipsychotic medications have been a factor in a number of children's deaths.

Statistics on psychotropic drugs in foster care have until now come out in scattered reports, mostly from investigations of foster care failures by individual states. For example, in 2003 a Florida Statewide Advocacy Council study found that 55 percent of Florida's foster children were being administered psychotropic medications. Forty percent of them had no record of a psychiatric evaluation. Another Florida report also indicated anti-psychotic medication use increased an astounding 528 percent from 2000 to 2005.

A Texas state study in 2004 revealed that 34.7 percent of Texas foster children were prescribed at least one antipsychotic drug -- and 174 children in the care of the state aged 6-12 were taking five or more psychotropic medications at once.

Last April, an investigation by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution exposed several companies operating foster care homes in Georgia repeatedly used antipsychotic medications to "subdue" children in their care. Despite being cited repeatedly, none of the agencies were fined more than $500.

According to child care experts and assessments by both advocacy groups and state government agencies, many states lack efficient records management and adequate oversight of foster care, contributing to pervasive lack of medical continuity for the children. Social workers have oversized caseloads of foster children, who are often shunted between families and prescribed antipsychotics from doctors unfamiliar with their medical histories. Without a case history, experts and foster care alumni say, doctors are more likely to add medications than take them away, resulting in record numbers of children dispensed several antipsychotic medications at once. In many cases, the drugs are prescribed off-label to kids with behavior problems.

Julie Zito
is a professor of pharmacology at the University of Maryland who conducted a 2008 study of the Texas foster care system that found 41 percent of the children prescribed psych drugs received three different medications. She told Politics Daily what little research has been done suggests children in foster families are rarely assessed properly, a failure leading to serious effects. There has been no research on multiple-drug regimens, professor Zito explained, and "blitzes" of medication have become a pervasive way of dealing with behavior problems in foster care. "We've expanded the medication practice in response to children not getting better," she said, and children who fail to improve, "are getting more medication."

Pharmaceutical companies manufacturing psychotropic drugs have played a major role in encouraging their increased use on foster care clients. Drug companies participate in aggressive marketing, conduct misleading research about efficacy and safety, and in some cases, "bribe" psychiatrists to prescribe their drugs, according to Zito and Jim Gottstein, an Alaska lawyer and founder of the Law Project for Psychiatric Rights, who has mounted several lawsuits against pharmaceutical corporations.

For example, last year the St. Petersburg Times reported that a psychiatrist in Jacksonville, Fla., was paid for speaking engagements to encourage her to prescribe Seroquel, a drug used to treat bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and a neurologist in Tampa received free trips to Spain and Scotland from AstraZeneca, the drug's British manufacturer, for her innumerable prescriptions of the drug for headaches. Seroquel is the top-selling antipsychotic drug in the U.S., with over $4 billion per year in worldwide sales. AstraZeneca recently paid $520 million to settle lawsuits -- some brought by doctors who had been offered swag in exchange for prescriptions -- over its illegal promotion of off-label uses for Seroquel.

According to Jim Gottstein, the increase of antipsychotic use in foster care amounts to "drug companies sacrificing children's lives on the altar of corporate profits." Gottstein recently filed a citizen's suit on behalf of the state of Alaska against several doctors, drug companies, and insurance companies, claiming that they knowingly promoted Medicaid fraud.

Reform Attempts

In response to the devastating study of the Texas system in 2004, that state's top health agency introduced a new set of guidelines stressing specific treatment goals for medication and "informed consent" of parents and guardians. That effort led to decreased use of psychotropic drugs relative to the number of children enrolled in foster care from 2002 to 2009, according to data from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.

In May 2005, Florida expanded foster parents' rights to reject psychotropic treatment for the children in their care. Four years later, however, a review found that the new requirements were being flauted, and the panel that investigated Gabriel Meyers' suicide concluded that every level of the Florida system had missed "warning signs" that Gabriel's care was inadequate. Thirteen percent of Florida foster children were on one or more psychotropic drug, and 16 percent of those were not approved by parents or guardians.

In 2008, Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), the only psychiatrist in Congress, introduced a bill titled Invest in KIDS Act, which included stronger oversight for prescription medications in foster care. McDermott held a hearing on psychotropic drugs' use in foster care, but the bill died in committee. Near the end of George W. Bush's second term, Congress passed a law co-sponsored by McDermott that included increased oversight for "mental health" in foster care, but did not specifically mention psychotropic drugs.

"Some children in foster care may need and benefit from psychotropic medication," McDermott told Politics Daily. "But these drugs should not be used as a shortcut to treat foster children when more effective treatments, including counseling, might provide long-term benefits."

Federal and state agencies have pursued drug companies that illegally market their drugs for off-label uses, a practice that experts say heavily contributes to the overuse of psychotropic drugs in foster care.

Last year, a Justice Department action against Pfizer led to a $2.3 billion settlement, the largest in the department's history. Companies convicted of major health fraud are barred from participating in Medicaid and Medicare. But worrying that a conviction would cause Pfizer to fail and cost its employees their jobs, the government allowed Pfizer's shell company, which exists solely to plead guilty in lawsuits, to be charged instead, and the drug company paid a fine. Pfizer maintains that it did not break the law.

In 2006, the New York Times obtained a batch of internal documents that showed Eli Lilly, the maker of Zyprexa, a medication approved exclusively for treating the severe mental illnesses of schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder, was suppressing information on the drug's harmful side effects and advertising it illegally. Lilly paid $62 million to settle lawsuits with 32 states and the District of Columbia, and agreed to ensure that its marketing complied with the law.

How to Fix It

The problems that lead to psychotropic drug abuse in foster care are complex and deeply entrenched, but activists and advocates have proposed a number of solutions for limiting the overuse of anti-psychotics. Foster care experts, including a current task force of the American Academy of Pediatrics, believe that getting foster children a "medical home" -- one physician who manages their care over the long term and has access to relevant records -- would reduce the over-prescription of antipsychotic medications.

"Having a drug to take the edge off the pain and fear and sadness saved my life a time or two, but it's not a lifestyle." said Misty Stenslie, a former foster child who is currently the deputy director of Foster Care Alumni of America. Children under the protection of government agencies deserve the assurance of safe and decent health care. Especially, as Stenslie points out, "We can't give kids what they really need, and that's a family and love."

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Oregon Foster Care Fraud Scheme

Ore. drug rules tighten for foster children
6/15/2010, 12:11 a.m. PDT
The Associated Press


(AP) — PORTLAND, Ore. - Effective July 1, Oregon will have a new law and new rules to ensure closer scrutiny of psychiatric drugs given to children in foster care.

The change follows a November 2007 investigation by The Oregonian that found children in foster care were prescribed powerful psychiatric medications at four times the rate of other children covered by Medicaid.

A state audit the next year found one in five children in foster care was prescribed at least one psychiatric medication.

Under the new law, children must have a mental health assessment before they are given any anti-psychotic drug or more than one of another type of psychiatric drug. There will also be mandatory medication reviews for children younger than 6 who are taking psychiatric medications and for older kids with more than two psychiatric prescriptions.

Does this mean other Medicaid children are prescribed powerful psychiatric medications at a higher rate of children who hold private insurance?  Well, of course!

HHS OIG Reports to Congress

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General Daniel R. Levinson presented its semi-annual report to Congress.

For me, these were the highlights of the report:

Medicare and Medicaid Information Systems and Data Security Reports Information Systems: Usefulness of Medicaid Statistical Information System Data for Detecting Medicaid Fraud, Waste, and Abuse

We determined that Medicaid Statistical Information System (MSIS) data were not
timely, accurate, or comprehensive for detection of fraud, waste, and abuse. The MSIS is the only source of nationwide Medicaid claims and beneficiary eligibility information. CMS collects MSIS data directly from States to, among other things, assist in detecting fraud, waste, and abuse in the Medicaid program. Timely, accurate, and comprehensive MSIS data can assist HHS in meeting Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) objectives to combat health care fraud.

CORRECTION: They did not determine MSIS was inefficient, I did.  I have developed a timely, accurate and comprehensive system for detection of fraud, waste and abuse in child welfare, and as such, maintain as An Original Source, nationwide data on Medicaid fraud in child welfare. 

Medicaid Fraud Control Units

MFCUs are key partners in the fight against fraud, waste, and abuse in State Medicaid
programs. State MFCUs operate in 49 States and the District of Columbia pursuant to the Medicare-Medicaid Anti-Fraud and Abuse Amendments of 1977 with the objective of
strengthening the Government’s capability to detect, prosecute, and punish Medicaid
fraud. MFCUs investigate and prosecute, or refer for prosecution, providers charged with defrauding the Medicaid program or abusing, neglecting, or financially exploiting beneficiaries in Medicaid-sponsored facilities.

Since 1979, OIG has been responsible for administering the Medicaid fraud control grant program and providing oversight and guidance to State MFCUs. This involves
administering Federal financial grants to MFCUs, assessing the performance of MFCUs,
and partnering with MFCUs in conducting joint investigations and performing other
outreach work. During FY 2008, OIG provided oversight for and administration of
approximately $184 million in Federal grants distributed to the 50 MFCUs.
CORRECTION:  The States Medicaid Fraud Control Units do not do anything, absolutely nothing (except for elementary initiatives out of North Caroline).

Let's hope General Levinson and Congress will finally listen and end Medicaid fraud in child welfare.
HHS OIG Semiannual Report to Congress Fall 2009

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Baby LK Report June 13, 2010

Baby LK recaps the week in news for the child welfare industry.

Banality of Evil

Philadelphia social workers get prison terms in death of teenager by starvation

Social workers get prison for girl's death

A Philadelphia caseworker was sentenced Friday to 11 years in prison for failing to visit a disabled teenager who starved to death while under her mother's care.

U.S. District Judge Stewart Dalzell handed down the sentence to Julius Juma Murray, 52. He also sentenced Mariam Coulibaly, 41, another employee of a social services contractor, to 11 years in prison for fraud and obstruction, saying that the case reminded him of the "banality of evil" seen in Europe during the Holocaust.

The social workers routinely skipped home visits to Philadelphia's most troubled families, leading to the slow, painful death of Danieal Kelly, 14.

The girl was one of eight children being raised by her mother in a squalid two-bedroom home. By the time Danieal died in August 2006, she weighed 42 pounds and had not been to school or seen a doctor in the previous 10 months, despite being on the city's radar.

And where is Attorney General Tom Corbett???  I guess he is too busy campaigning than to go after recovering the Medicaid funds that were defrauded in this case.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

No TINA In Kiddy Kickbacks

In Child Welfare, there is no Truth in Negotiations (TINA):
  • Contracts are no-bid
  • Freedom of Information Exclusion and Exemptions allow not-for-profits to forgo disclosures on pricing or risk
  • Child Placing Agencies operate as geographic monopolies, with uncapped access to 100% federally funded Title IV-E and Targeted Case Management reimbursements
  • Child Welfare contracts are "padded" with extra costs to fund major public relations campaigns to promote revenue maximization fraud schemes.
This is why child welfare fraud has remained untouched and unstoppable for decades: kiddy kickbacks will never allow TINA in the fraud game.

Compare the following fraud scheme litigated in 2004 with the above child welfare fraud scheme. The only difference is the Department of Defense contracted was prosecuted. Child Welfare organizations are untouchable.

In a federal lawsuit filed in the Western District of Texas in September 2004, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) is accused of violating the Truth In Negotiations Act. SAIC was awarded numerous firm-fixed price no-bid contracts to perform environmental clean-up at Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. The contracts required SAIC to fully disclose any and all cost and pricing data to ensure that the negotiations between the Air Force and SAIC were conducted on a level playing field.

In computing their cost estimates, SAIC is accused of having built in undisclosed risk reserves to help ensure profitability. Internally, SAIC estimated the risks associated with each project, assigned a dollar figure to each risk and then “padded” their proposals to ensure funds would be available if the risk were realized. SAIC did not disclose this methodology or the existence of these risk reserves to the government. This practice helped contribute to an average profitability of 38% and as high as 260% on contracts with negotiated profit margins of 8-10%.
Indicators of this Scheme:

  • Profit margins higher than negotiated that cannot be logically explained
  • Contractor refusal or reluctance to provide post-award / in progress actual cost data
  • Non-disclosure of the existence of risk or management reserve data during negotiations
Ways to Reduce the Risk:
  •  An open dialogue with contractors on their perceived project risks where TINA applies 
  • Aggressive surveillance / post-award audit of actual costs on fixed price no-bid contracts 
  • Ensure no-bid firm-fixed price contracts are used only when appropriate and justified

    Money Follows the Person

    The following is a 2004, date of original policy, regarding the principles of "Money Follows the Person" (MFP). This is the term given to the concepts for individual receiving Medicaid services, or for the purposes of child welfare, Targeted Case Management Services.

    What is really entertaining about this 2004 policy is, not just the title, MFP, but the state examples of initiatives.

    California

    Maine

    Nevada

    HHS CMS "Money Follows the Person" (MFP) Letter to States Medical Directors 2004

    Instead of following the money, it does makes more sense to follow the person. What better way of demonstrating effectiveness of services and its programs.

    Here is an excellent example of a summative evaluation, utilizing the MFP technique looking at Targeted Case Management services.

    Legally Kidnapped On CPS Chronicles

    Legally Kidnapped to be interviewed this evening, 9:00 p.m. EST, 6:00 p.m. CST, on The CPS Chronicle.

    North Carolina Medicaid Fraud Reporting Campaign

    State warns against Medicaid fraud

    DHHS Secretary Lanier Cansler is requesting that the posters be displayed in prominent locations inside more than 70,000 provider offices and state/county agencies.

    Part of DHHS’ new “Medicaid fraud and abuse cost YOU!” campaign, the posters encourage citizens to report Medicaid fraud, waste and abuse to the Division of Medical Assistance (DMA) via a toll-free hotline, 1-877-DMA-TIP1 (1-877-362-4871).

    Or report an online complaint.

    And do not forget to thank Attorney General Roy Cooper for this groundbreaking initiative to end Medicaid fraud in child welfare.

    Love ya, Roy! Send me a poster!

    Corbett Propaganda Campaign



    Returned enough to pay for his entire department???

    Let's do the cover up math:

    $3,283,206
    +
    $113,026,678
    +
    $35,514,447
    ___________
    $187,338,778*

    *These figures are only based on estimates from small sample  (county) Title IV-E claims.  Targeted Case Management improper and questionable claims will be directly associated with these estimated amounts.  Actual total amounts of Pennsylvania's child welfare revenue maximization fraud scheme are easily expected to far exceed $500.000.000.

    Protect and Preserve Child Welfare Fraud: Vote Corbett for Governor

    Federal Probe Into Research Conflicts of Psych Drugs

    Even though the following article does not specifically mention child welfare or anything relating to pediatric or juvenile medicine, it is all inclusive in dealing with the inherent conflict of interests of major research institutions and fraud.

    Just look at Cornell.

    Disclosure of conflicts of interests is not a political issue, it is an issue of preserving the economic security of the nation and the health of the public.

    Pharmalot
    Grassley Probes Nemeroff and University of Miami


    By Ed Silverman

    June 8, 2010
    The Charles Nemeroff (right) affair encompasses more people all the time. Now, the University of Miami Medical School has become ensnared in the ongoing probe launched by US Senator Chuck Grassley, who investigated Nemeroff as part of an inquiry into undisclosed financial conflicts of interest among academic researchers who receive federal grants.

    You may recall Nemeroff, who was recently hired by the University of Miami, had departed Emory University after the Senate probe disclosed he was accepting sizeable consulting fees from GlaxoSmithKline at the same time he was the primary investigator on an NIH-funded grant for research into a Glaxo drug (see this). Before his departure, Emory imposed a two-year ban on grants for on Nemeroff. This week, however, the U of Miami med school head, Pascal Goldschmidt, was quoted as saying the ban was “an immediate reaction to political pressure” (see here).

    Angered at the remark, Grassley has sent a letter to Donna Shalala, the University of Miami president and a former US Secretary of Health and Human Services to say “I hope that you would agree - contrary to Dr. Goldschmidt’s views that disciplining researchers for failing to disclose conflicts of interest is merely a political issue - that enforcing federal conflict of interest policy iinvolves ethical and legal issues that ensure taxpayer trust.” Grassley wants Shalala to provide all conflict of interest forms filed by Nemeroff, as well as all e-mails and communications by Goldschmidt and Nemeroff’ about conflicts and NIH grants.

    But there’s more. Grassley also wrote a letter to HHS Office of Inspector General Dan Levinson to examine the ties between Nemeroff and NIHM director Tom Insel. Insel apparently helped Nemeroff win his job at the University of Miami (see this) and Levinson is already investigating Nemeroff (look here). Ironically, the NIH has just proposed new rules on conflicts, although Insel is one of Nemeroff’s long-standing allies and he was on the panel that reviewed the new rules (background).

    Now, where did I read about this before...hmm...I remember!

    DHHS OIG Speech: Trust, but Verify

    Republicans Nominate Pennsylvania Tenured Fraudfesor

    What better way to continue a revenue maximization scheme in child welfare and to cover up Medicaid fraud than to nominate a candidate who has been doing it for years!

    Republicans nominate Pennsylvania Tom Corbett for governor.

    HHS and DOJ Letter To State Attorney Generals To Stop Medicaid Fraud

    Oh wait! Where's the call to action for the States Attorney Generals (and the few exception States that warehouse the unit in other divisions) to animate its Medicaid Fraud Control Unit?

    Here it is:
     I am sending this call to action to state attorneys general urging them to work with HHS and federal, state, and local law enforcement officials to mount a substantial outreach campaign to educate citizens and other Medicaid beneficiaries about how to prevent scams and fraud beginning this summer.


    HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Letter to State Attorneys General On ...