HCA to sell hospitals being sued for malpractice, as SEC investigate Frist

[dajoki]

link
http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusgen/ap10-10-200007.asp?t=apnew&vts=101020052012
Lawyers in W. Va. hospital lawsuit question HCA motives

By LAWRENCE MESSINA
ASSOCIATED PRESS


CHARLESTON, W.Va., Oct. 10 — HCA Inc.'s plan to sell five hospitals, including its four in West Virginia, is a ruse to avoid hundreds of millions of dollars in potential damages from malpractice allegations against a doctor, according to lawyers who have asked the state to review the $330 million deal.

<<snip>>

The proposed sale was announced in July, four months after a Putnam County circuit judge ruled that West Virginia's caps on damages in medical malpractice cases do not apply to the allegations against Putnam General and its parent company in the lawsuits against Dr. John A. King and his former assistant.

With more than 270 hospitals and surgery centers in 23 states, HCA said it wanted to shed all facilities ''primarily in rural and nonurban markets'' when it proposed selling Putnam General, along with St. Joseph's Hospital in Parkersburg, St. Francis Hospital in Charleston, Raleigh General Hospital in Beckley and Clinch Valley Medical Center in Richlands, Va.

<snip>>

The lawsuits come as HCA also deals with a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into the massive sale of HCA shares by company insiders and executives, including U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., totaling some $112 million between January and June. Frist has said he sold the shares to eliminate the appearance of a conflict of interest, using only information that was publicly available.

[Greeby]

1. The spirits of a lot of cats are looking down and smiling

Crash and burn, Frist :evilgrin:

[dajoki]

2. oh, i hope they nail him n/t

[texpatriot2004]

3. Frist has to downsize, he's retiring to a prison cell for insider

trading and the spirits of the cats he murdered are smiling and so am I.
:D :7

[grannylib]

5. Bet he won't look nearly so stylish in a crocheted poncho by the time he

gets out.

[NVMojo]

4. one of HCA's spin-off chains came to our market, got into a few lawsuits

and sold this year ...seems to be a for-profit strategy ...also with lots of stock dumping beforehand ...

[dajoki]

6. what a bunch of bastards...

the polar ice caps may be melting, but the world has become a much colder place since January 2001.

[bluedawg12]

7. When a man as skilled as Dr. Faust....er...Fist..uh..

anyway, when dr. Bill diagnosed ms. skiavo by watching a videotape of her sitting in a chair drolling and was able to state with certainty that her higher brain was on par with shrub and she was cognizant I knew that he could also be skilled enough to know intuitively when to dump a stock in a stinking hospital scandal.

[texpatriot2004]

8. Right. He's not all there and yet evil enough to succeed in greed

Dr. Faust...that's great.

[bluedawg12]

11. He lookes like a wax Ken doll- can;t stand the sight of him. n/t

[dajoki]

12. i think he looks like...

santorum's big brother.

[bluedawg12]

13. You mean Satanorum? n/t

[leesa]

9. Is there a limit to the number of times HCA can commit fraud?

So it's dumping the facilities that are probably needed most...rural and nonurban. Well, you can't accuse HCA of ever giving a rat's ass about patients.

[texpatriot2004]

10. Doesn't that violate the Dr's oath? Sure should be limit for # of

crimes HCA can get away with...for the rest of us it's 1 or less.

[dajoki]

14. and frist is making laws...

on tort reform, medicare and prescription coverage. nothing fishy there.:sarcasm: