Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1368676
109 HEALTHCARE NEWS USC to pay $1.1B settlement over physician sex abuse scandal By Alia Paavola T he University of Southern California in Los Angeles agreed to pay $1.1 billion to hundreds of patients who filed class-action lawsuits accusing a former student health gynecologist of repeated sexual abuse, ac- cording to e New York Times. e billion-dollar payout, the combination of three sets of settlements, sets a record for collegiate sex abuse payouts, according to the report. e Los Angeles Superior Court approved the largest settle- ment March 25, requiring USC to pay $852 million to 710 women who filed a class-action suit against the university and George Tyndall, MD. e settlement amount also includes a $215 million settlement reached in 2019. USC said the settlement reached March 25 "marks the end of a painful and ugly chapter in the history of our university." "I am deeply sorry for the pain experienced by these valued members of the USC community," USC President Carol Folt, PhD, said. "We appreciate the courage of all who came forward and hope this much needed resolution provides some relief to the women abused by George Tyndall." Dr. Tyndall served as USC's only full-time gynecologist at its student health clinic from 1989 to 2016. Prosecutors say he abused his position of power and trust by subjecting his female patients to both physical and verbal abuse. USC suspended Dr. Tyndall from his role in 2016. In 2017, he was forced out of USC. e university allegedly received reports of sexual harassment by Dr. Tyndall dating to the 1990s but didn't report them to the Medical Board of California until 2018, when approached by the Los Angeles Times regarding an investigative report about the scandal. In 2018, an investigation was launched into the conduct of Dr. Tyndall and the university's handling of the sexual assault allegations. Following the investigation, Dr. Tyndall was arrested and charged with 29 counts of sexual assault, and in 2020, an investigation by the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights found USC mishandled reports of the allegations. Dr. Tyndall, who now faces 35 counts of criminal sexual misconduct, pleaded not guilty to the charges and awaits trial, according to the Times. e scandal forced then-USC President C.L. Max Nikias, PhD, to resign in 2018. n 5 states with the highest medical malpractice payouts By Ayla Ellison T exas is the state with the lowest medical malpractice award payout amount per capita, according to an analy- sis by WalletHub, a personal finance website. Medical malpractice payouts were one of 19 metrics analysts compared to determine the best and worst states to practice medicine in 2021. Based on the analysis, the following five states tied as having the highest medical malpractice award payout amounts per capita: Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Alaska. Texas has the lowest award payout, according to the analysis. It's followed by Arkansas, Idaho, Wisconsin and Mississippi. n Michigan healthcare CEO gets 15 years in prison for $150M fraud By Ayla Ellison T he CEO of a group of Texas-based hospice and home health companies was sentenced Feb. 3 to 15 years in prison for his role in a $150 million healthcare fraud and money laundering scheme, according to the Department of Justice. Henry McInnis was sentenced more than a year after he was convicted of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, conspir- acy to commit money laundering, obstruction of justice and healthcare fraud. From 2009 to 2018, Mr. McInnis and others submitted more than $150 million in false and fraudulent claims for healthcare services. The claims were submitted through Merida Group, a hospice company with dozens of locations in Texas. Mr. McInnis was CEO of Merida. He had no medical train- ing but acted as the director of nursing for the company. He also enforced a companywide practice of falsifying medi- cal records to conceal the scheme and ordered employees to change medical records to make it appear patients were terminally ill. Mr. McInnis also paid bribes to physicians to certify unquali- fied patients for home health and hospice. Mr. McInnis was sentenced less than two months after the owner of Merida Group, Rodney Mesquias, was sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to pay $120 million in restitu- tion. n