Plastic Surgeon Jailed for Patient Death; Oncologist Sues NYU; NP Sex Abuse Charges

Plastic surgeon Geoffrey Kim, MD, will spend 15 days in jail and 2 years on probation for his role in the death of an 18-year-old woman who died during a breast augmentation procedure. In August 2019, Emmalyn Nguyen went into cardiac arrest after being given anesthesia and died 14 months later. Kim reportedly revived Nguyen on the spot, but over the next 5 hours, “misled her family about the seriousness of the situation, failed to transfer her to a hospital, and told staff members not to call 911.” (9 News)

Benjamin Neel, MD, the oncologist reportedly fired from NYU’s Perlmutter Cancer Center over his social media posts about the Israel-Hamas war, has filed a lawsuit against his former employer. Neel alleges that he was a “sacrificial lamb” who was “unceremoniously dumped” over his posts on X (formerly Twitter). His wrongful termination suit calls for a trial by jury and at least $500,000 in damages. (Business Insider)

Texas doctor Jonathan Rosenfield, MD, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for running a pill mill, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Clinic co-owner Elmer Taylor was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Massachusetts psychiatrist Mohamad Och, MD, was convicted by a federal jury for repeatedly prescribing a combination of benzodiazepines and stimulants without legitimate medical need, federal prosecutors said.

Former Iowa nurse practitioner Carl Markley is facing charges of sex trafficking, sexual exploitation of a child, and possession of child pornography. (Iowa State Daily)

Washington state-based PeaceHealth will pay up to $13.4 million to more than 15,000 low-income patients after an investigation by the state’s attorney general found it billed these patients without informing them that they were likely eligible for financial assistance. (Becker’s)

UnitedHealth Group is facing a class-action lawsuit for allegedly using an algorithm to deny rehabilitation care to seriously ill patients, even though it knew the algorithm had a high error rate. Earlier this year, Cigna was also sued for allegedly using a computer algorithm to automatically reject thousands of claims. (STAT, AP)

A microbiologist is suing the University of Auckland in New Zealand for allegedly failing to keep her safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a high-profile scientist providing public information about the pandemic, Siouxsie Wiles claims she was harassed online and was doxxed, and that security measures provided by the university didn’t go far enough. (Nature)

Attorneys for Maj. Michael Stockin, MD, have decided to bypass a preliminary hearing, and plaintiffs’ lawyers have filed five new federal civil complaints against the Army and the Department of Defense for failing to protect alleged victims from abuse. Stockin is facing accusations of improper touching from at least 39 individuals. (CBS News)

Salem Hospital in Massachusetts has been hit with a class-action lawsuit after it announced that improper IV procedures may have exposed as many as 450 endoscopy patients to HIV and hepatitis B and C. (CBS News Boston)

A Missouri jury has ordered Bayer to pay $1.56 billion to four plaintiffs who alleged they suffered injuries — including non-Hodgkin lymphoma — from using its Roundup weedkiller. (Reuters)

The Federal Trade Commission announced that it has sued to block California-based John Muir Health from buying San Ramon Regional Medical Center from Tenet Healthcare for $142.5 million.

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