NP Recorded Sexual Assaults; Hadden Trial Under Way; Largest Addiction Fraud Yet

Nine female patients were sexually assaulted by a nurse practitioner who died of an overdose at Ottumwa Regional Health Center in Iowa in October, according to police and hospital officials. Devin Michael Caraccio’s cell phone revealed him sexually assaulting the nine patients — while they were under sedation — in 2021 and 2022, officials said. (The Courier)

More patients have accused the late physician Eric Salata, MD, of sexually assaulting them during procedures. The total number of alleged victims now stands at 18. (News-Press)

The federal trial for a former New York gynecologist accused of sexual abuse began on Monday. Prosecutors allege that Robert Hadden, MD, sexually abused scores of patients over almost 2 decades. Hadden’s institutions, Columbia University Irving Medical Center and New York-Presbyterian Hospital, have already agreed to pay more than $236 to settle civil claims from more than 200 patients. (U.S. News)

Seattle’s public schools sued big-tech companies — including Google parent Alphabet, Facebook parent Meta Platforms, Snap Inc, and TikTok-owner ByteDance — alleging their social media products are to blame for the worsening mental health crisis among students. (Reuters)

Florida physician Michael Ligotti, DO, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for what’s alleged to be the largest addiction treatment fraud ever charged by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Ligotti served as a medical director or authorizing physician for more than 50 sober homes, abuse treatment facilities, and clinical labs, often signing orders for expensive and unnecessary tests at those facilities. He allegedly billed more than $746 million, and federal insurers paid out $127 million in fraudulent drug tests and addiction treatments, according to the DOJ.

Jeffrey Sutton, DO, of Niles, Ohio, was accused in federal court of trading drugs in exchange for sex with his patients. (FOX8)

The family of a Massachusetts man has filed a federal lawsuit against three production companies, claiming their dad died of a COVID-19 infection he acquired on the set of the television show “American Horror Story” early in 2021. (NBC10)

Patrick Bassett, the Michigan man originally charged with making a bomb threat against an Upper Peninsula hospital, was sentenced to time served. (MLive)

A former model was sentenced to 10 to 25 years in prison for her role in the murder of psychiatrist Thomas Kirk Burchard, MD, whose body was found in the trunk of her abandoned car just outside of Las Vegas. (CBS News)

Aarti Pandya, MD, and her practice will pay $1.85 million to resolve charges that she billed the government for unnecessary cataract surgeries and diagnostic tests and for office visits that didn’t provide the level of service claimed, according to the DOJ.

New York gastroenterologist Morris Barnard, MD, was sentenced to 30 months in prison for billing Medicare for colonoscopy and gastroenterological procedures that were never performed. Most of the $3 million in billings indicated the services were for disabled beneficiaries living in residential group homes, according to the DOJ.