Skyrocketing Cancer Treatment Costs a Concern

Oncologists Report Patients Rationing Medication, Avoiding Treatments
   WASHINGTON - (BUSINESS WIRE) - 10/9/10 - Ninety five percent of the nation's oncologists report a rise in their patients' concerns over treatment costs in the past six months, according to a survey conducted by MDLinx (www.mdlinx.com), one of the U.S.'s largest doctor portals. More than 60 percent of US oncologists regularly visit the websites of MDLinx, whose services help physicians stay current with latest and most important medical research in each specialty.
   The survey of 106 U.S. oncologists was conducted from August 20 to August 30, 2010. Respondents were asked about their patients’ financial concerns over the first six months of 2010. Eighty four percent of respondents said they had invested more time and effort into the financial planning of patients' treatments in the last six months than at any time previously. Sixty-seven percent of responding doctors reported patients rationing medications or forgoing treatment due to financial and insurance coverage concerns.
   Aki Tomaru, CEO of M3 USA, which owns the MDLinx site, says that oncology patients' heightened financial challenges may be the result of several factors.
   "We believe that the change in the air in the United States regarding medical coverage has injected an additional measure of anxiety for what is already often the most anxious times of these people's lives," Tomaru said. "In addition, the continuing grinding effect of the worldwide economic downturn has its obvious effects as well."
    Wisconsin-based oncologist Dr. Shahid Shekhani says that patients are canceling appointments, follow up visits, and even treatment due to financial concerns. “I just had a young grandmother, in her 60s, halt lung cancer treatment that would have extended her survival in order to preserve her family’s finances and her ability to leave an inheritance to her children.”
    MDLinx aggregates medical articles and research from more than 1,200 peer-reviewed journals and leading news media every weekday. Its physician editors rank, sort and summarize this content into 36 medical specialty sites and more than 800 subspecialty sections. MDLinx is owned by M3 USA, a Sony Group Company. The company specializes in creating effective communication channels between physicians and industries who wish to reach them.
   For more information, visit the corporate site at www.usa.m3.com.

Former Insurance Broker Pleads Guilty in Scheme

    NEWARK, N.J. – 10/7/10 - A former partner of the New Jersey-based insurance brokerage firm Smith Gatta Gelok pleaded guilty today to a $20 million fraudulent loan scheme, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
    Gavin Gatta, 48, of Wayside, N.J., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Dennis M. Cavanaugh to criminal information charging him with wire fraud.
    According to the information to which Gatta pleaded guilty and statements made in court, Gatta is a former partner at Smith Gatta Gelok (SGG), an insurance brokerage firm based in Monmouth County, N.J., which assisted businesses in purchasing commercial insurance. When businesses could not pay the entire insurance premium up front, SGG also would assist them in obtaining financing for the premium from one of several premium finance companies (PFCs).
   Gatta admitted that in 2003, he began preparing fake applications for premium financing on behalf of customers who did not need or request such financing and, in fact, previously had paid the full premium to the insurance carrier. Gatta would submit these fake applications to one of several PFCs and ask that the loan funds be sent back to SGG on behalf of the customer.
    Gatta used these fake applications for financing to steal more than $20 million in illicit proceeds, which he used to fund extravagant personal expenses such as jewelry and luxury automobiles – including a Mercedes, a Porsche, an Aston Martin and several Ferraris.
    “Even with his name on the company letterhead, Gavin Gatta wasn’t satisfied with an honest living,” Fishman said. “Instead, he traded it all for quick, stolen millions. The fake deals he made put big money in his account and high-end cars in his garage. But like so many others, his life built on lies couldn’t last. Whether your victims are individuals or institutions, we are working to uncover your crimes and take the proceeds of your sham success.”
    “This has become a far too familiar story,” said Michael Ward, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Newark divisiod Michael Ward said. “An individual commits a white collar crime, surrounds him or herself with the trappings of success, quickly squanders the ill-gotten proceeds trying to support an extravagant lifestyle, and in the end is exposed and held accountable. Gavin Gatta followed this script from inception to epilogue, and despite the expensive jewelry and numerous luxury automobiles, is simply the latest to plead guilty in this pattern of activity.”
    The wire fraud count to which Gatta pleaded guilty carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gain or loss from the offense. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 24, 2011.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward in Newark, with the investigation that resulted in today’s guilty plea.
   The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Kelly of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Economic Crimes Unit in Newark. It was brought in coordination with President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force.
   Source: Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force

Back Taxes in Illinois? No Worries — For Now

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      By Bill McMorris 
  Illinois Statehouse News
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   SPRINGFIELD, IL — 10/5/2010 — Tax evaders, late filers and others delinquents and debtors have been granted a stay of execution, as the state looks to ramp up collections from those who have yet to file income taxes.
   Those who owe back taxes have through Nov. 8 to make good with the state without fear of penalties or fees. The program was enacted by Gov. Pat Quinn in order to draw delinquent tax filers from the woodwork, who might otherwise continue to duck the state. The governor is confident the program can generate millions in additional revenue for a state reeling in debt and mired in unpaid bills.
   “Every so often we have found that this is a good way to bring forward men and women in Illinois, businesses, as well, that owe money to the state and see this as the best time to do it,” Quinn said.
   The amnesty program that started Friday helps debtors to the state by allowing them to pay off their back taxes without any of the sizable interest rates, fines and penalties associated with filing late. The Department of Revenue, however, will not be as forgiving after the five week amnesty period ends. Department Director Brian Hamer issued a warning to delinquent filers as stern as Quinn was optimistic.
   “Taxpayers who don’t pay during the moratorium program will be subject to double interest and double penalties and they will face our ever more sophisticated and efficient toolbox of enforcement capabilities,” he said.
   Department estimates say the moratorium will generate anywhere from $100 million to $250 million.
Illinois last saw a tax amnesty program in 2003, in which the state made more than $500 million, though there are no studies looking at the actual effectiveness of such programs. Quinn hopes to generate as much money as possible from late filers as the state works to cover some debts of its own–namely $6 billion in unpaid bills–by year’s end.
   “It is something that has proven itself in the past to trigger [a] response from the individual taxpayers and business taxpayers that they come forward and pay what they owe without question,” he said. “It has realized a significant amount of money in the past; we hope to do so in the current time.”
   The General Assembly last spring passed the program with only one dissenting vote–from the Republican gubernatorial candidate state Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington.
   “Sen. Brady has opposed the tax amnesty program because it becomes an incentive for delinquent taxpayers who simply wait for the next program to pay late taxes,” said Patty Schuch, spokeswoman for the Brady campaign.
   Information about the tax amnesty program can be found on the website for the Illinois Department of Revenue: http://www.revenue.state.il.us/Amnesty/AmnestyQandA.htm.
   Story courtesty of Illinois Statehouse News.

BP to Pay Single-Facility Clean Air Act Penalty

WASHINGTON - (EPA) -10/3/2010 - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Justice Department announced on Sept. 30 that BP Products North America Inc. has agreed to pay a $15 million penalty to resolve federal Clean Air Act violations at its Texas City, Texas petroleum refinery.
   The penalty is both the largest ever assessed for civil violations of the Clean Air Act’s chemical accident prevention regulations, also known as the risk management program regulations, and the largest civil penalty recovered for Clean Air Act violations at an individual facility.
   “BP’s actions at the Texas City refinery have had terrible consequences for the people who work there and for those in nearby communities,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Today's settlement, in conjunction with other actions already taken by EPA and other federal agencies at Texas City, demonstrates the agency's continuing commitment to actively and vigorously working to hold BP accountable and to make them comply with our nation’s environmental protection laws wherever the company operates.”
    “The Clean Air Act is intended to prevent not only accidents like the fatal March 2005 accident, it also penalizes accidents like these three that result from poor practices and cause air pollution,” said Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “This settlement emphasizes the serious nature of the fires and releases of hazardous air pollutants that occurred at BP’s Texas City Refinery and puts industry on notice that the Department of Justice and the EPA will aggressively pursue those who fail to comply with the laws that protect our environment.”
    The settlement, which is subject to court approval, addresses violations stemming from two fires that occurred at the refinery on March 30, 2004 and July 28, 2005, and a leak that occurred on August 10, 2005. During the three incidents, each of which resulted in the surrounding Texas City community to shelter-in-place, thousands of pounds of flammable and toxic air pollutants were released. The settlement also resolves allegations that BP failed to identify all regulated hazardous air pollutants used at the refinery in plans submitted to EPA.
    The EPA identified the Clean Air Act violations addressed in the settlement during a series of inspections of the Texas City refinery initiated after a catastrophic explosion and fire on March 23, 2005 that killed 15 people and injured more than 170 others.
   In addition to the Clean Air Act General Duty Clause and risk management program violations resolved by today’s settlement, EPA also identified violations of other Clean Air Act requirements at the refinery relating to the control of benzene, ozone-depleting substances, and asbestos.
   Exposure to benzene can significantly harm human health and exposure to asbestos, a known human carcinogen, can cause two types of cancer: lung cancer and mesothelioma. These other violations were resolved in a February 2009 settlement that required BP to spend more than $161 million on pollution controls, enhanced maintenance and monitoring, and improved internal management practices at the refinery, as well as pay a $12 million civil penalty and perform a $6 million on a supplemental project to reduce air pollution in Texas City and the surrounding area.
    With the Sept. 30 settlement, the federal government will have recovered approximately $137 million in criminal, civil, and administrative fines related to process safety violations at the Texas City refinery. In addition, BP Products has performed approximately $1.4 billion in corrective actions and the company will spend an estimated additional $500 million, to improve safety at the refinery as required by settlements entered into with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the criminal Clean Air Act plea agreement following the fatal March 23, 2005 explosion.
    The Clean Air Act General Duty Clause and risk management program regulations contain a comprehensive set of requirements to prevent accidental releases of hazardous air pollutants, an important objective of the Clean Air Act. These regulations require owners and operators of facilities, such as petroleum refineries, to, among other things, perform adequate and timely equipment inspections and repairs, train employees involved in the operation and maintenance of equipment, evaluate the consequences of changes to operating practices and equipment, and ensure that operating procedures contain clear and comprehensive instructions.
    BP’s Texas City refinery is the third largest in the United States, with a production capacity of more than 460,000 barrels of oil per day.
    The proposed settlement was lodged today in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. The settlement is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval.
    Source: http://www.epa.gov/. For more information: http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/cases/civil/rcra/bptexas.html