World Laparoscopy Hospital Warning against fraudulent training programs.
We want to warn surgeons and gynecologists in India and abroad against fraud going on.
1. Some fraudsters are using the name of World Laparoscopy Hospital and its employees to solicit laparoscopic training applications and require the training seekers/applicants to pay processing fees or deposit amounts, by sending false e-mails or by making fraudulent telephone calls. We request you not respond to these calls/emails.
2. It has been brought to our notice that one of our old OT assistants Dr. Rahul Pandey is claiming to be trained at World Laparoscopy Hospital and claiming himself as a faculty of laparoscopic Surgery.
3. Dr, Rahul Pandey is Nepali Citizen who claims to be a laparoscopic surgeon (A complaint has been filed against him to Nepal Medical Council). Click See his name as the laparoscopic course Director which they have posted on Facebook.
4. Dr. Rahul Pandey who was working as an OT assistant has stolen many laparoscopic documents, laparoscopic PowerPoints, Laparoscopic Surgical Videos, and other study materials from World Laparoscopy Hospital and claimed and fooled others that this is his work. (Case is filed against him for this act).
5. Dr. Rini Kuruvilla who is also falsely claiming associated with World Laparoscopy Hospital
6. Dr. Rini Kuruvilla was admitted as a Master's student but she did not complete her degree she could not finish University assigned thesis for her research at University from World Laparoscopy Hospital.
7. Dr. Rini Kuruvilla together with Dr. Rahul Pandey is offering Fellowship in Minimal Access Surgery course which is totally illegal and does not have any recognition by any association or any university and they have zero experience of performing laparoscopic surgery.
8. Dr. Rini Kuruvilla is claiming herself a faculty of World Laparoscopy Hospital with vast experience in doing laparoscopic surgery at our institute, which is totally wrong.
9. It has been brought to our notice by one of the participants that Dr. Rini Kuruvilla and Dr. Rahul Pandey are selling laparoscopic study materials, videos, and PowerPoints of World Laparoscopy Hospital as their own work.
10. Fellowship fraud is a sophisticated scam offering fake training opportunities to surgeons and gynecologists. This type of fraud is normally carried out through online services such as false websites, or through fake e-mails claiming to be from the World Laparoscopy Hospital. The fraudsters often request recipients to provide personal information and to make payments as part of their fake training process.
Beware of fraudsters spoofing the World Laparoscopy Hospital domain id to send fraudulent emails/offers. If you believe you have been a victim of training fraud, you are requested to approach law enforcement agencies immediately.
In a society that has almost normalized the practice of corruption, is it surprising that we are hearing the never-ending tales of scams in the educational sector? Yet, despite this routinization of corruption and even its societal acceptance, when we find a Dr. Like Dr. Rahul involved in selling fake degrees it becomes difficult to remain silent. The reason for this anguish is that if we continue to destroy the realm of medical education and devalue the vocation of laparoscopic teaching, none can save our innocent patients and activate the creative potential of really skilled surgeons and gynecologists. In the process of worshipping money, or celebrating the newly emergent ‘heroes’ techno-managers and fraud traders as educationists, and politicians as agents of the corporate elite. People who can not even MBBS are claiming themself as teachers. A lady who has never operated on any patient is a professor. We have almost forgotten that a society that has lost its teachers, the carriers of the illuminating light of medical education, is already dead.
Kindly write an email requesting the validation of a Fellowship in Minimal Access Surgery, training certificates CME certificate, etc. to md@laparoscopyhospital.com with the scanned copy of the document attached.
We are confronted with a crime that destroys the present and the future, undermining all meanings of competency, diligence, merit, and fair competition. This comes at a time when the leadership in the region, with the Indian leadership at its forefront, relies on education, sound academic research, and qualified citizens to spearhead the development process in the development of surgical skill.
First, a little background on the False Claim Act (FCA). The FCA, which was passed during the Civil War to crack down on extensive fraud perpetrated by war-time suppliers and contractors, has the same basic purpose today: making it illegal to obtain or keep funds from the federal government when the payee knows s/he is not entitled to the funds.
Residency and fellowship training is, except in rare instances, paid for through Medicare funding. Teaching hospitals are reimbursed by Medicare for two types of costs: (1) Direct Graduate Medical Education, which includes salaries and fringe benefits of faculty who supervise the residents; and (2) Indirect Medical Education payments, which covers the higher patient care costs typically associated with teaching trainees, such as extra tests or procedures. Each of these reimbursements relies on truthful reporting of all types of data related to the training programs and the activities of their trainees.
As with any medical insurance reporting, the opportunities for fraud abound. The federal government estimates that tens of billions of dollars are improperly paid out of Medicare and Medicaid coffers annually. Recent litigation suggests that part of the problem exists in residency and fellowship programs – a problem that conscientious residents, fellows, and attendings can help address.
Two federal district courts, just three days apart issued significant rulings in separate cases initiated by residents who alleged that their programs submitted false claims to fellowships for graduate medical education. These residents exercised their right to sue on behalf of the government (as a “relator”), an action that, in a winning case, entitles them to a percentage of the proceeds of a judgment or settlement that ranges from 15 to 30% depending on their role in the case.
In United States ex rel. Luay D.F. Ailabouni v. Advocate Health and Hospitals Corporation, an Illinois federal court declined to completely dismiss a resident’s claim that the hospital hosting her general surgery residency program defrauded Fellowship out of millions of dollars. Instead, the court ordered that the case would be dismissed entirely unless the resident, adds specifics to her claims about the procedures in which the hospital used (and billed extra for) non-resident assistants despite the availability of qualified surgical residents whose services were already covered, and where attendings “double scrubbed” into cases to boost billing, among other things. This ruling was primarily the result of the more exacting requirements for alleging fraud, as opposed to negligence or other forms of wrongdoing, which the Illinois federal court applied strictly.
A federal court in New York took a slightly more forgiving approach to the issue of how specifically relators must allege fraud. In United States and New York by seeking reimbursement for: the program director’s supervision of procedures that he did not attend, and the services of two residents whose licenses to practice podiatry had lapsed. Unlike the court in Illinois, the New York court ruled that complaint alleged enough detail about the program’s practices to allow the court to draw a plausible inference that specific false claims would be uncovered. Later stages of the litigation will test whether those specifics are borne out.
These cases are just the tip of the iceberg that has been gathering momentum for years. Residents, fellows, attendings, nurses, accounting staff, and others are in a unique position to serve as whistleblowers on fraud on hospitals and training programs that submit false and fraudulent claims to the government. As these court decisions illustrate, navigating these waters requires guidance from attorneys who have the knowledge and resources to pursue justice.
If you believe that your graduate medical education institution is committing healthcare fraud, consider contacting us to discuss whether our firm can assist in bringing those misdeeds to light while helping you to claim a portion of any recovered funds. Content on this website, including blog articles, are proprietary and copyright-protected. If you wish to use all or part of a blog article, we request that you properly attribute the work.
The arrests also came as a taint on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has the health portfolio. Taking stock of the situation, Banerjee ordered the CID and experts from the medical fraternity to look into the cases. The Chief Minister has asked various stakeholders to chalk out strategy to deal with the menace.
The fraud came to light when the accused Nagaraj Savanoor had treated 26-year-old Jyothi, a garment factory employee for fever on September 25, and administered three injections, following which she developed complications.
The victim went to the doctor and he gave her an ointment and advised her to consult another doctor. The victim approached another hospital and the doctor, after examination, advised her that the infection has been aggravated and needed surgery.
Shocked by this, the victim confronted the doctor, who allegedly offered to bear the medical expenses and asked her not to file any complaint. When the accused did not help her financially, the victim approached the police and filed a complaint.
This was only treatment but people are now scamming laparoscopic training. Frauds can go beyond any limit.
If you suspect an employee might be stealing from the institution, taking action is critical. But before we get to how you can deal with employee dishonesty, let’s cover what actually counts as employee theft.
What counts as employee theft within companies?
When most people think of employee theft, they probably imagine a staff skimming data from the computer. But there are various types of employee theft:
Inventory theft — This is when an employee steals inventory, whether for their own use or to resell.
Service theft — Using or selling a company service for personal gains, such as reselling company-provided discount codes.
Data theft — Stealing client or staff personal data, property secrets, and other data that can be resold or traded.
Money theft — Stealing funds covers many activities, from petty cash theft to embezzlement and fraudulent reimbursements.
Payroll theft — An HR or accounting employee might trick the system by creating fictional employees or paying themselves extra.
Time theft — An employee says they worked more hours than they really did.
It’s important to consider that the law does not weigh all types of employee theft equally. For example, data theft and inventory theft are clear-cut. But time theft isn’t technically a criminal act if you wanted to take legal action, you would need to sue Dr. Rahul Pandey for fraud.
He along with Rini Kuruvilla stole materials from WLH.
He trapped so many female docs, whom he found easy targets, adapted, and then trashed them when the purpose was solved or when their training was completed and they left the institute, with full confidence that nobody would turn up and complain. he chose targets like that and the list is long, there are so many female docs in the list. This all happened in WLH without even knowing Dr.Mishra sir, whom he trusted blindly.
This man is not only dangerous for the future of lap surgeons, whom he and Rini are training with their half knowledge and one-fourth experience but this predator is dangerous for society as well. Your Karma will hit you back Rahul Pandey and Aahhh, Rini ,the accomplice, you too will not be spared for your crime.
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