Dr. Stokes: Case Study
Dr. Robert Stokes, a renowned dermatologist, has joined the ranks of many other healthcare professionals. He was implicated in a scheme to defraud the government. Using the Internet and other sources, research the case of Dr. Stokes. After completing your research, please respond to the following questions.
1) Discuss the case against Dr. Stokes.
2) What were the actual charges filed against him?
3) What was the punishment he received, if any? Do you feel the final outcome was justified?
4) Discuss the actions the state government and federal government later took in response to this case. …show more content…
Module I CA 2
In August 2001 Robert Courtney, a longstanding dermatologist in the Grand Rapids area of Michigan was convicted on 31 counts of health care fraud where he fraudulently billed insurance companies of nearly $2 million. After being tried in US District Court Dr Stokes was sentenced to ten and a half years of prison, a $175,000 fine and three years of supervised probation for his role in the fraud.
Many are upset as they claim Dr Stokes directly violated his Hippocratic Oath when he removed non cancerous moles from patients. He convinced unsuspecting patients that the marks were cancerous and had to be removed. After reevaluation some of the removed skin were simply freckles and caused no threat to the patient. Prosecutors argued that the doctors motives was to bill the surgeries for personal gain. He was also accused of reusing medical equipment that was only intended to be used on one patient. The reused scalpels, sutures, syringes and needles were cleaned in a disinfectant that would reduce the chance of transmitting disease but not eliminating it completely. What Doctor Stokes did was not the medical standard and for it he put many people at risk.
The reuse of medical instruments weren’t part of the trial but was discovered as Dr Stokes defended himself in court. Video of him in court showed that he was using unusually short sutures to stitch patients. This led to an investigation led by the Kent County Health Department. The investigation found Dr. Stokes had reused numerous medical devices when treating patients over the past 15 years. As of August 2008 13,000 of Dr Stokes former patients were notified that he may have put them at risk. Of the 13,000 notified 12 have been diagnosed with Hepatitis C. Hepatitis C is an infectious disease affecting primarily the liver. The infection is often asymptomatic, but chronic Module I CA 3 infection can lead to scarring of the liver and ultimately to cirrhosis.
Dr Stokes motivation for these actions was greed and his although his sentence was successfully appealed it was appropriate. In August 2010 Dr Stokes file an appeal and six months was shortened from his original sentence. An appeals court ruled he should be re-sentenced because the original sentence was wrongly based on his patients being considered "vulnerable victims." The judge did abide by reduced sentencing guidelines of 97-121 months because of the "vulnerable victim" issue, but ruled Stokes should serve near the top of the range of the new sentence.
Since Dr Robert Stokes ' fraud was brought to justice a state law was passed prohibiting doctors from reusing needles and other medical equipment. Under the bill, violators could get up to 10 years in prison and a $50,000 fine for reusing specified equipment. Although Michigan worked to ensure something like this never happens again many healthcare officials in the county are at odds with laws that prevent the reuse of some of the items listed as single use stating when properly used, disinfection and sterilization can ensure the safe use of invasive and non-invasive medical devices. However, current disinfection and sterilization guidelines must be strictly
followed.
References
Quiggle, J. (2009). Skin doc 's con more than skin deep. Retrieved from http://www.insurancefraud.org
Tunison, J. (2010). Disgraced East Grand Rapids doctor Robert Stokes gets 6 months shaved off decade-long sentence. Retrieved from http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids
Fleszar, c. (2010). Disgraced dermatologist Stokes seeking reduced prison sentence due to cancer. A.141211 . Retrieved from http://www.wzzm13.com/news
1) Discuss the case against Dr. Stokes.
2) What were the actual charges filed against him?
3) What was the punishment he received, if any? Do you feel the final outcome was justified?
4) Discuss the actions the state government and federal government later took in response to this case. …show more content…
Module I CA 2
In August 2001 Robert Courtney, a longstanding dermatologist in the Grand Rapids area of Michigan was convicted on 31 counts of health care fraud where he fraudulently billed insurance companies of nearly $2 million. After being tried in US District Court Dr Stokes was sentenced to ten and a half years of prison, a $175,000 fine and three years of supervised probation for his role in the fraud.
Many are upset as they claim Dr Stokes directly violated his Hippocratic Oath when he removed non cancerous moles from patients. He convinced unsuspecting patients that the marks were cancerous and had to be removed. After reevaluation some of the removed skin were simply freckles and caused no threat to the patient. Prosecutors argued that the doctors motives was to bill the surgeries for personal gain. He was also accused of reusing medical equipment that was only intended to be used on one patient. The reused scalpels, sutures, syringes and needles were cleaned in a disinfectant that would reduce the chance of transmitting disease but not eliminating it completely. What Doctor Stokes did was not the medical standard and for it he put many people at risk.
The reuse of medical instruments weren’t part of the trial but was discovered as Dr Stokes defended himself in court. Video of him in court showed that he was using unusually short sutures to stitch patients. This led to an investigation led by the Kent County Health Department. The investigation found Dr. Stokes had reused numerous medical devices when treating patients over the past 15 years. As of August 2008 13,000 of Dr Stokes former patients were notified that he may have put them at risk. Of the 13,000 notified 12 have been diagnosed with Hepatitis C. Hepatitis C is an infectious disease affecting primarily the liver. The infection is often asymptomatic, but chronic Module I CA 3 infection can lead to scarring of the liver and ultimately to cirrhosis.
Dr Stokes motivation for these actions was greed and his although his sentence was successfully appealed it was appropriate. In August 2010 Dr Stokes file an appeal and six months was shortened from his original sentence. An appeals court ruled he should be re-sentenced because the original sentence was wrongly based on his patients being considered "vulnerable victims." The judge did abide by reduced sentencing guidelines of 97-121 months because of the "vulnerable victim" issue, but ruled Stokes should serve near the top of the range of the new sentence.
Since Dr Robert Stokes ' fraud was brought to justice a state law was passed prohibiting doctors from reusing needles and other medical equipment. Under the bill, violators could get up to 10 years in prison and a $50,000 fine for reusing specified equipment. Although Michigan worked to ensure something like this never happens again many healthcare officials in the county are at odds with laws that prevent the reuse of some of the items listed as single use stating when properly used, disinfection and sterilization can ensure the safe use of invasive and non-invasive medical devices. However, current disinfection and sterilization guidelines must be strictly
followed.
References
Quiggle, J. (2009). Skin doc 's con more than skin deep. Retrieved from http://www.insurancefraud.org
Tunison, J. (2010). Disgraced East Grand Rapids doctor Robert Stokes gets 6 months shaved off decade-long sentence. Retrieved from http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids
Fleszar, c. (2010). Disgraced dermatologist Stokes seeking reduced prison sentence due to cancer. A.141211 . Retrieved from http://www.wzzm13.com/news