Halstead, et al., Sentenced for Health Care Fraud

In March 2003, Dynamic Chiropractic reported that chiropractic consultant Dr. Ronald L. Halstead, William C. Filcheck, DC, and Scott G. Taylor, DC, had been convicted of health care fraud. Harsh sentences in these cases were recently handed down, sending the message that health care fraud will be prosecuted to the extent the law will allow. Dr. Halstead, 65, was sentenced to 10 years, while Drs. Filcheck and Taylor each received three-year prison terms.

In September 2001, Drs. Halstead, Filcheck and Taylor (as well as Robert Burns Jr., DC, who awaits extradition from Ireland, where he remains in custody) were named in a 30-count indictment filed in federal court in Clarksburg, W. Va. The indictment alleged that clinic owner Dr. Burns and his two associates, Dr. Filcheck and Dr. Taylor, committed health care fraud by performing services under the name and authority of the clinic's medical doctor (who was not on the premises when the services were rendered), and for billing medically unnecessary services.

Dr. Halstead was indicted for the advice he gave Dr. Burns in setting up the "MD/DC" clinic, and for counseling some of the allegedly illegal treatment and business practices. The indictment questioned the legitimacy of the MD/DC business model as practiced by Dr. Burns and his associates.

To review some of the history of this case, read the following articles in Dynamic Chiropractic: "Consultant Ron Halstead, DC, Indicted on Conspiracy and Health Care Fraud," April 8, 2002 (www.chiroweb.com/archives/20/08/05.html); "The MD/DC Business Model: An Interview with Attorney Richard Jaffe, Esq.," July 1, 2002 (www.chiroweb.com/archives/20/14/15.html); and "Halstead Convicted in Federal Court," March 10, 2003 (www.chiroweb.com/archives/21/06/05.html).

Dr. James Giordano, Texas Chiropractic College (TCC) professor of pathology and director of research, has discovered that good things can happen in threes - especially when it comes to reaping the rewards of hard work and dedication to the profession:

1. Dr. Giordano was recently notified that a work he co-wrote with Dr. Thomas Schultea, TCC professor of research and neuroanatomy, has been accepted for inclusion as a chapter in a forthcoming text, Manipulation Under Anesthesia: Concepts in Theory and Application (CRC Press). The chapter focuses on possible sites of pain generation in a variety of pathologic conditions.
2. Dr. Giordano has been awarded a fellowship from the American Psychological Association to the Advanced Training Institute for the Study of Biomedical Neuroimaging (fMRI) at the A.A. Martinos Neuroimaging Center of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge, Mass. The fellowship is for studying the use of fMRI for assessing neuropathic pain.
3. Dr. Giordano's paper, "Integrating Chinese Traditional Medicine into a Biomedical Public Health Paradigm," coauthored by Dr. M. Kay Garcia, research assistant professor at M.D. Anderson Cancer Research Center in Houston; and Dr. George Strickland, assistant professor in the Department of Health Sciences at Lamar University in Beaumont, has been accepted for publication in the October volume of the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. The paper proposes a model in which Chinese traditional medicine as a form of complementary/alternative practice could be integrated into mainstream public health.

The Academy of Chiropractic Orthopedists, the American College of Chiropractic Orthopedists, and the ACA Council on Chiropractic Orthopedics recently announced that the next Diplomate Certification Examination in Chiropractic Orthopedics would be administered Oct. 9, 2004, at Northwestern Health Sciences University in Minneapolis, Minn. The exam was administered in Toronto, Canada, in April, and Orlando, Florida in May.

To be eligible to take the exam, which leads to diplomate status with the Academy of Chiropractic Orthopedics, applicants must provide valid transcripts that show successful completion of a chiropractic orthopedic course within the past 20 years, or completion of an orthopedic residency program; however, applicants who completed their postgraduate studies more than five years ago are urged to attend a refresher course.

The exam was developed through a labor-intensive delphi committee process by testing developers, educators, and members of the chiropractic orthopedic community, among others, and is endorsed by all three major chiropractic orthopedic membership organizations. It is touted as an affordable, fair and successful exam. For an application or more information, call 515-981-9427.