2016

The United States and Tennessee filed suit in U.S. District Court in Nashville Thursday, alleging that Matthew Anderson, a Chiropractor from Lenoir City, Tenn., and David Florence, a Doctor of Osteopathy from Manchester, Tenn., made fraudulent claims to Medicare and TennCare in violation of the False Claims Act and the Tennessee Medicaid False Claims Act, announced David Rivera, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee. The suit also names the Cookeville Center for Pain Management; Preferred Pain Center of Grundy County; McMinnville Pain Relief Center; and PMC Management; and claims that the defendants have been unjustly enriched and caused Medicare and TennCare to pay out money through mistake of fact.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office will work with our federal and state partners and aggressively pursue those who seek to profit at the expense of taxpayers,” said U.S. Attorney David Rivera. “It is imperative that those who profit from dispensing pain medication always consider the well-being of patients as well as the addiction epidemic facing this country.”
Anderson is a chiropractor who operated four pain clinics in Tennessee. Although several of these clinics changed names at times, they were recently known as Cookeville Center for Pain Management; Spinal Pain Solutions in Harriman, Tenn; Preferred Pain Center of Grundy County in Gruetli Laager, Tenn; and McMinnville Pain Relief Center. Anderson operated these clinics both on his own and later through his management company, PMC Management. All of the clinics are now closed, except that the clinic in Harriman, Tenn. now operates under a new name with new owners.
According to the complaint, Anderson believed that medical clinics had to have a physician owner, so he recruited several physicians to serve as the sham owners of the four pain clinics, while Anderson, and later his company PMC, managed the clinics. In fact, according to the complaint, Anderson was the true owner who controlled the pain clinics during the entire time they were in operation.
The complaint alleges that the four pain clinics engaged in the following fraud schemes:
• Anderson operated Cookeville Center for Pain Management as a pill mill in which a nurse practitioner wrote prescriptions for controlled substances for Medicare and TennCare patients that had no legitimate medical purpose. Medicare and TennCare ultimately paid for those prescriptions, which were not allowable under Program rules.
• Anderson instructed employees at the four pain clinics to upcode office visits, by assigning an inaccurate billing code to increase Medicare reimbursement.
• Anderson continued to allow the pain clinics in Cookeville and Harriman to operate as pain management clinics and bill Medicare for services during a period in 2012 in which medical directors were not on site for the minimum time during operating hours as required by Tennessee law governing pain management clinics. As a result, according to the complaint, Medicare paid for non-reimbursable office visits, injections, and controlled substances prescriptions written by nurse practitioners at the clinics, without the required oversight of a medical director.
• In addition, David Florence, a doctor of osteopathy in Manchester, Tenn., who was one of the sham physician owners, also ran a pill mill out of his Center for Advanced Medicine in Manchester.
According to the complaint, Anderson reaped over $5 million from the four pain clinics, and took over 90% of the pain clinics’ profits, while the sham physicians only earned a salary for their service as medical directors. The government alleges that the scheme defrauded Medicare and TennCare of at least $1 million. The United States and Tennessee are seeking to recover treble damages plus penalties pursuant to the False Claims Act.
“These defendants allegedly supplied narcotics to patients without regard to medical need,” said Derrick L. Jackson, the Special Agent in Charge at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General in Atlanta. “The result was an expansion of abuse and addiction to controlled substances which enriched the defendants at the expense of the taxpayers.”
“Our office is dedicated to fighting Tennessee’s prescription drug crisis with every tool at our disposal,” said Tennessee Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III. “Pursuing individuals who attempt to take advantage of the system serves as a deterrent and helps protect the integrity of our healthcare programs.”
“Like many states, Tennessee is battling a prescription drug epidemic,” said TBI Director Mark Gwyn. “We want to hold those accountable who unnecessarily provide prescription drugs with no regard for the taxpayer’s dime and ensure legal medications get in the hands of citizens who really need them.”
The allegations in Thursday’s complaint were originally raised in a lawsuit filed by the former office manager in the Cookeville pain clinic. She brought her claims under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act, which allow private citizens with knowledge of false claims to bring civil suits on behalf of the government and to share in any recovery.
The case was investigated by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ellen Bowden McIntyre represents the United States, and Assistant Attorney General Philip Bangle represents Tennessee.
The case is docketed as United States ex rel. Norris v. Anderson, No. 3:12-cv-00035 (M.D. Tenn.). The claims in the complaint are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
(Newspartner WMSR-Manchester)

The American Red Cross has a significant need for type O negative blood donors to donate blood for patients.

Type O negative blood can be transfused to patients with any blood type and is often used in emergency situations. While less than 7 percent of the U.S. population has type O negative blood, hospitals depend on frequent O negative donations to ensure it’s always available for patients in need.

Eligible donors with type O negative blood are encouraged to make a whole blood or double red cell donation, where available, through the Red Cross. During a double red cell donation, two units of red blood cells are collected while most of the plasma and platelets are returned to the donor.

“Type O negative donors are an important part of the Red Cross trauma team,” said Garry Allison, director of donor recruitment for the Red Cross Tennessee Valley Blood Services Region. “While all blood types are needed, type O negative donations are necessary in emergency situations when there is no time to determine a patient’s blood type. Because there is such a high demand for type O negative blood, O negative donors are needed to donate often.”
 
Blood donation appointments can be quickly and easily scheduled by using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting redcrossblood.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).

Because of generous donors, the Red Cross is able to provide blood products to trauma patients like Carla Randecker. In 1995, a semi-truck failed to halt at a stop sign, changing Randecker’s life forever. She suffered a broken neck and femur. She woke from surgery to see a bag of blood attached to her IV.

“I’m O negative, a rarity,” said Randecker. “All I remember was, wow, someone gave their blood for me. I made a promise that day to do the same. When I was well enough, I’d return the favor.”

Randecker became a regular blood donor and gave for many years. This past year, her family fulfilled her wish to give blood together. Five of the family members who gave were type O negative, and since then, donating blood has become a family tradition. “If I teach them nothing else, it’s that they should always, always, do for others,” said Randecker.

The Red Cross must collect approximately 14,000 blood and platelet donations every day for the patients at about 2,600 hospitals and transfusion centers nationwide. Blood and platelets are needed to respond to patient emergencies, including accident and burn victims, heart surgery and organ transplant patients, and those receiving treatment for leukemia, cancer or sickle cell disease.
Those who come to donate now through May 15, 2016, will be entered to win four single-day tickets to any of 10 Cedar Fair theme parks in the U.S. For a full list of participating parks, visit redcross.cedarfair.com.

How to donate blood
Simply download the American Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) to make an appointment or for more information. All blood types are needed to ensure a reliable supply for patients. A blood donor card or driver’s license or two other forms of identification are required at check-in. Individuals who are 17 years of age (16 with parental consent in some states), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also have to meet certain height and weight requirements.
 
Blood donors can now save time at their next donation by using RapidPass to complete their pre-donation reading and health history questionnaire online, on the day of their donation, prior to arriving at the blood drive. To get started and learn more, visit redcrossblood.org/RapidPass and follow the instructions on the site.
 

Tennessee’s 2016 spring turkey season opens on Saturday, April 2 and continues through Sunday, May 15. The state young sportsman hunt for youth ages 6-16 is March 26-27.
Spring turkey harvest numbers have been consistent for a number of years in Tennessee. Tennessee turkey hunters have passed the 30,000 harvest mark for 13 consecutive years during the spring hunting season.
Hunting hours for turkeys are 30 minutes prior to legal sunrise until legal sunset. Legal hunting equipment includes shotguns using ammunition loaded with No. 4 shot or smaller. There is no restriction on number of rounds in magazine. Longbows, recurve bows, compound bows and other bows drawn or held by a mechanical device are permitted.
Firearms and archery equipment may have sighting devices except those devices utilizing an artificial light capable of locating wildlife. Night vision scopes are illegal.
Bag limits are one bearded turkey per day, not to exceed four per season.
For more information on the 2016 spring turkey season, check the 2015-16 Tennessee Hunting & Trapping Guide. The guide is available at TWRA offices, license agents, and online at www.tnwildlife.org.

To hear President Obama talk about Obamacare, you’d be forgiven for thinking the law was something of a success. After all, the Obama administration claims to have insured some 20 million people (never mind that the figure includes Medicaid beneficiaries and young adults staying on their parents’ insurance). But while President Obama talks about all that Obamacare can give you, it is wise to remember what this law is already costing you.
Earlier this year, for example, we learned that Obamacare was responsible for $750 million in erroneous tax credits to individuals of unverified immigration status. Later that same month, a report from the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office found that the healthcare law doled out $68 million in subsidies for people in prison. Perhaps Obamacare’s most egregious waste, however, is the least reported: The failed experiment of the Obamacare “co-ops.”
Under Obamacare’s co-op program, the law created 23 nonprofit, consumer operated insurance companies; companies that received more than $2.4 billion in federal funding to get off the ground. Today, more than half of them have closed, wasting scarce taxpayer dollars and leaving families scrambling for coverage along the way.
That fact alone is plenty upsetting to taxpayers in my district, but the story is made worse when we consider the details of how these co-ops operated. In my home state of Tennessee, our co-op tried its hand at giving away free smartphones to prop up enrollment numbers until state regulators advised that the practice was against the law. The company would go on to shut its doors for good in the fall of 2015.
Similarly, the nation’s largest Obamacare co-op, located in New York, went belly-up last November – resulting in more than 200,000 customers suddenly without insurance and $200 million in unpaid claims for the state’s hospitals. Now, state agencies are conducting an investigation into the co-op for “substantial under-reporting” of its finances.
For the fraction of Obamacare co-ops that have remained in business, the prospects for continued viability remain dim. Co-ops based in Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio and Maine lost about $270 million last year alone; more than quintuple their losses in 2014.
Congressional Democrats’ defense of Obamacare co-ops betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of how the markets work. They blamed these troubles on “deep funding cuts forced by the GOP” – because apparently $2.4 billion in government money to fund the launch of the program just isn’t enough.
Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton repeated this same debunked argument earlier this month, telling an audience at a Fox News town hall, “We need to get more companies, more nonprofits, to fill this space. The [co-ops] that knew what they were doing have provided good services, but a lot of them have failed because they didn’t have the right support.”
Unfortunately for Secretary Clinton and congressional Democrats, the hard truth is that the Obamacare co-ops’ reasons for failure are embedded in the program’s design, which is why I previously carried legislation to repeal this system in its entirety.
First, the bureaucrats who drafted the co-op program decided it was a good idea to make prior experience in healthcare delivery a disqualifying factor in determining eligibility for a loan. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services rule stipulated that an organization cannot apply for a co-op loan if it was a “pre-existing insurer.”
Evidently no one in the Obama administration thought that, when launching a grand, taxpayer-funded experiment in health insurance, it might be beneficial to at least allow participation for those who have done this before.
Second, the program fails to offer members a stake in these co-ops’ long-term success. Co-ops work in other scenarios – be it a farmers’ co-op or a utility co-op – because every participant has skin in the game. In other words, they are viable because members have a vested interest in ensuring that is the case. Under Obamacare, however, these 23 co-ops have, to date, been supported by air-drops of taxpayer dollars; money we won’t be getting back any time soon.
In the private sector, a 50 percent failure rate typically results in finding a new job, but under Obamacare it is apparently license to press forward with a broken program and reason to continue throwing good money after bad. Already, Obamacare co-ops’ financial woes have spread to the state exchanges, where collapsed marketplaces in Oregon, Hawaii, New Mexico and Nevada have cost taxpayers $733 million. Left unaddressed, more co-ops and exchanges will fold and the problems will compound.
Congress has voted dozens of times with my support to defund, repeal, or delay Obamacare both in part and in full. Earlier this year, we finally got the Senate to join us in that effort; advancing an Obamacare repeal bill all the way to the President’s desk for the first time since the law was enacted. As expected, however, President Obama vetoed the measure.
With a willing partner in the White House, we can move these efforts across the finish line and erase this fatally flawed health care once and for all, including its crony co-op program. Both are failing the members who buy into them and the taxpayers, who are ultimately left holding the bag.

The United Way of Rutherford and Cannon Counties, in partnership with Murfreesboro City Schools, recently launched LEGO™ Robotics as a pilot afterschool program. Through funding from the MOTT Afterschool Grant, the United Way was able to provide the program to Bradley Academy and the Discovery School at Bellwood.
LEGO™ Robotics kits are sets of materials that enable children without formal training in engineering and computer programming to design, build, and program small-scale, robots. Through the use of LEGO™ Robotics, students are required to read and follow instructions, learn to write code, work with gears and motors, and use a computer to run a machine of their own construct. Students are able to take the knowledge that they have collected and use that as a basis for new creations and problem-solving.
Dr. Kristy Mall, Educator for Discovery School, said, “Students are not just playing with a toy… These skills are going to prepare them for a future that is not yet written. It has planted a seed that will grow into a possible career and future for a group of children that have never worked with robotics before.  They have literally opened a door that may not have presented itself before, and helped them to discover aspirations, abilities, and dreams.”
The Mott Foundation’s Afterschool Grant supports initiatives that promote learning beyond the classroom, especially for traditionally underserved children and youth as a strategy for improving public education.
Murfreesboro City Schools hopes to expand the program to additional afterschool sites in the future. To learn more about LEGO™ Robotics, visit www.education.lego.com/en-us.

Older drivers with a history of falling are 40 percent more likely to be involved in crashes than their peers, according to a new study released by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. Falls limit an older drivers’ ability to function behind the wheel and can make driving risky for themselves and others on the road. These findings are important since annually a record 12 million older adults will experience a fall.

“Drivers age 60 and older are involved in more than 400,000 crashes each year, and it’s important that we find ways to keep them and others safe on the road,” said Don Lindsey, Tennessee Public Affairs Director, AAA – The Auto Club Group. “This research is critical because it shows that we can now use an older driver’s fall history to identify if they are at greater risk for a crash.”

The report, Associations Between Falls and Driving Outcomes in Older Adults, is the latest research released in the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety’s Longitudinal Research on Aging Drivers (LongROAD) project. Researchers from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus along with the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety say that falls can increase crash risk in two ways:

    Falls can result in a loss of functional ability (i.e. wrist fractures or a broken leg), which can make it difficult for older drivers to steer or brake to avoid a crash.

    Falls can increase an individual’s fear of falling, which can lead to a decrease in physical activity that weakens driving skills.

“When it comes to physical health, you either use it or lose it,” said Lindsey. “Falls often scare people into being less active, but decreasing physical activity can weaken muscles and coordination and make someone more likely to be in a crash.”  

The research suggests that seniors and their families should view falls as a possible early indicator of declining physical fitness. Addressing the health issues that originally led to the fall such as lower body weakness, poor balance, slow reaction time, certain medications, dizziness, or vision problems, can help older drivers strengthen their functional ability and lower their risk for crashing or experiencing another fall in the future.

“Older drivers should find activities that enhance balance, strengthen muscles and promote flexibility,” continued Lindsey. “Even a low impact fitness training program or driver improvement course can help safely extend an older driver’s years on the road.”

Fall prevention is a great way for older drivers to keep themselves and others safe while on the road.  Those concerned about a parent or other older driver should help them monitor risk factors that address health concerns or household dangers. AAA recommends a series of exercises and stretches to improve neck, shoulder, trunk, back and overall body flexibility, which can help a driver who has suffered from a recent fall.  As a leading advocate for senior driver safety, AAA also offers a variety of programs and resources to help older drivers improve their driving performance and avoid crashes. Click here to learn more about senior driving education offered by AAA.

Older drivers represent the fastest growing age group in the U.S., and by 2030 about one in four licensed drivers will be over 65. AAA offers many suggestions to improve driving safety for older drivers in Tennessee such as vision testing during license renewal.
 

A folklorist with wide acclaim in arts, music and public policy will discuss “Creativity, Career and Public Education” when he speaks on the MTSU campus early next week.
Bill Ivey, one of America’s foremost arts administrators and public policy leaders, will deliver the keynote address for the 10th annual Scholars Week.
Ivey will speak at 7 p.m. Monday, March 28, in the Student Union Ballroom. The event is open to the public.
Scholars Week emphasizes the research, scholarly efforts and collaboration of undergraduate and graduate students and faculty.
“Bill Ivey is one of the nation’s leading thinkers on culture and creativity, and his insights into the arts and public policy are consistently thought-provoking and impactful,” said College of Media and Entertainment Dean Ken Paulson, who also serves as president of the First Amendment Center.
Ivey’s abstract for his MTSU talk reveals that “in an era when business, technology, economics and education are increasingly intertwined, he seeks to explore and define a balanced understanding of artistic expression, creativity, scholarship and their impacts on American democracy and quality of life.”
Ivey is a visiting research associate in the Indiana University Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology.
Highlights of Ivey’s career include:
• Founding director of the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy at Vanderbilt University from 2002 until retiring in 2012.
• Team leader in the 2007 Barack Obama presidential transition.
• Appointed by President Bill Clinton and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, he was the seventh National Endowment for the Arts chairman from 1998-2001.
• First full-time director of the Country Music Foundation and the related Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum from 1971-98.
• Served two terms as chair of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
An author and consultant, Ivey holds degrees in history, folklore and ethnomusicology. The Calumet, Michigan, native and University of Michigan and University of Indiana (master’s degree) graduate founded the Washington-based Arts Industries Policy Forum.
Ivey is a trustee of the Center for American Progress, a Washington-based “think-tank,” and is the author of numerous articles and two books about art, public policy and politics: “Arts, Inc.: How Greed and Neglect Have Destroyed Our Cultural Rights” and “Handmaking America: A Back-to-Basics Pathway to a Revitalized American Democracy.”
Ivey has written and lectured extensively about the importance of cultural policy and the value of cultural engagement in the pursuit of a high quality of life. He coined the phrase “Expressive Life” to define the part of the human experience shaped by cultural heritage and creative practice.
The Distinguished Lecture Fund, Department of Recording Industry and College of Media and Entertainment are sponsoring his appearance.
 

The Woodbury Lions Club still has plenty of room left for tonight’s Princess Ball.  The 9th Annual event will take place at the Cannon County Senior Center.  The ball is a father and daughter dance open to girls 18 years and younger accompanied by their father or a father figure.  A father figure can be a grandfather, an uncle or even older brothers.  All escorts to the dance must be 18 years of age and older.  The Princess Ball is a fundraiser of the Woodbury Lions Club and tickets are available at the door for $35 per couple.  For more information call 615-542-2311.

Moonshine fans in Woodbury  will have an opportunity to meet with Mark Ramsey and Digger Manes, legendary distillers and stars of the hit show Moonshiners.

The celebrity duo will visit liquor stores in Woodbury, Mount Juliet, Murfreesboro,and Franklin Saturday March 26. Fans will have an opportunity to shake hands, take a photo and purchase a signed jar of Mark and Diggers Rye Apple moonshine.  They are scheduled to stop in Woodbury from 3:30 to 5:30 at Bootlegger’s Liquors 810 McMinnville Hwy

As young outdoorsmen in the backwoods of Cocke County, Tennessee, Mark and Digger were introduced by trusted friends to a legendary local moonshiner who had gained notoriety for his shine. But he needed strong backs for bigger batches and youthful legs for wider distribution, and Mark and Digger were a perfect fit.

The duo recently partnered with Sugarlands Distilling Company to craft a world class spirit—Mark and Digger’s Rye Apple—an 80 proof, apple infused rye moonshine available for purchase throughout the state.

Everyone is invited to celebrate birthday 100.  W.T. McBroom will be celebrating the century mark this coming Saturday at the Senior Citizens Center From 2-4 in the afternoon.  You are encouraged to come and wish her a happy birthday Saturday.  No gifts please but birthday cards are also encouraged.