State Farm Settles Lawsuit Against Fla. Surgery Center
By Daphne Duret, The Palm Beach Post, Fla. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
The details of the settlement are confidential, and no attorneys on either side of the case would comment. But a source close to the case who did not want to be identified estimated that
This group is among a number of people and companies whose names have landed in court records nationwide over disputes surrounding
The relationship between the lawyers, doctors and SpineWand makers thrived using business practices called known as the "DiscoCare model." (
According to the lawsuits, the DiscoCare model worked like this: An accident victim would visit a personal injury firm to seek help on getting compensated for damages. The lawyers would then refer the victim to places such as the Palm Beach Lakes Surgery Center, where doctors would conduct diagnostic tests and offer a plan for treatment.
At the Palm Beach Lakes Surgery Center, Bistline would most often conduct the diagnostic test.
Under the DiscoCare model, accident victims would receive letters of protection from their attorneys. These letters absolved them of any responsibility to pay the costs of their medical procedures if their accident lawyers failed to recover money from the insurance companies. If the accident attorneys prevailed, then the doctor and lawyers would take their fees from the victims' settlement.
Doctors would receive the SpineWand devices for free, and
Because operating the DiscoCare model took some coordination,
Carroll and Izydore in court records have denied any wrongdoing. In a legal pleading filed in August, Carroll's attorneys
Carroll, through his attorneys, said neither he nor Izydore ever had any dealings with
"
Still, Carroll and Izydore's names came up when the seemingly lucrative business model began to fall apart and
In 2009,
By mid-2010,
Though no law firms were defendants in
Those emails could have been part of
The settlement however, is not final for Gomez. Since the lawsuit, he has filed for bankruptcy. That means his settlement with
If the bankruptcy court rejects the Gomez settlement,
Since 2009,
Source:
The SpineWand case
The Palm Beach Lakes Surgery Center, and several of its former doctors and employees have fought a legal battle over their use of the SpineWand, a medical device whose manufacturers have paid insurance companies millions in settlements over alleged bad claims.
In December, according to court records, the doctors and surgery center owners settled a civil racketeering lawsuit in federal court with insurance giant State
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