Tag: cancer

‘How do you put a hospice in a burrito stand?’ Watch Congress get stunned by new revelations about astronomical California fraud

The U.S. Congress is being stunned by unnerving revelations about the extent of hospice fraud in California, with alarming testimony indicating phony hospice centers purportedly located in a burrito stand as well as a tire shop.

Sheila Clark, president and CEO of the California Hospice and Palliative Care Association, told lawmakers Tuesday: “How do you put a hospice in a burrito stand in California? How do you put a hospice in a tire store in California? That all had to be vetted through licensure and certification and accreditation.”

“You’d be amazed at how many hospices – the door you can walk up to in California and there is nobody there. There is five months worth of mail that you can see stacked up from CMS and nobody’s there. And that passed a survey. How did that happen?”

The House Ways and Means Committee was so struck by Clark’s disclosure, it shared her testimony on social media, noting: “You heard that right. In Gavin Newsom’s California, a burrito stand masquerading as a hospice care facility was getting accredited and receiving taxpayer dollars.”

While Clark did not name any specific burrito stand, Politics on X explained: “This example illustrates broader federal and state probes into California hospice fraud involving overbilling Medicare, shell companies, identity theft, and improper enrollments, with one recent scheme alone allegedly defrauding Medi-Cal of $267 million.”

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Dr. Oz on Insane Fraud: After Stopping Payments to 450 Hospices in CA, NOT ONE Has Asked for Reinstatement of Funds

In March, investigative journalist Nick Shirley released video on uncovering $170 million in fraud in California.

“We uncovered over $170,000,000 in fraud as these fraudsters live in luxury with no consequences,” Nick Shirley said.

“California’s version of Medicaid called ‘Medi-Cal’ has more than doubled since 2022 from $108 billion to a proposed $222 billion in 2026. Their population, however, has not grown exponentially. However, their spending has,” Nick Shirley said.

“There has been a 1,000 percent increase in hospice care in Los Angeles County,” Nick Shirley said. It’s estimated that the fraud in California could be in the hundreds of billions of dollars.”

Nick Shirley visited ‘hospices’ in Los Angeles and ‘daycares’ in San Diego.

In early April, California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) announced his office had charged 21 suspects in a $267 million hospice fraud ring in Southern California.

A Trump administration Fraud Task Force also conducts raids against healthcare fraudsters across the southern part of the state. Eight people were arrested and charged with over $50 MILLION in fraud.

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23 Popular Hair Dyes Test Positive for Carcinogenic Chemicals: Report

An analysis of 23 popular hair color products sold in the United States found that all of them contained at least one carcinogenic chemical.

The tests were conducted on 21 boxed dyes and two temporary hair chalk products from brands including L’Oreal Paris, Dark & Lovely, Madison Reed, Manic Panic, Revlon, and Clairol, consumer advocacy group Consumer Reports (CR) said in a recently published report.

Product samples were sent to an accredited lab, where the items were tested for heavy metals, volatile organic compounds (VOC), and phthalates.

“All 23 samples tested positive for dichloromethane (methylene chloride), a volatile chemical widely used in the U.S. for a variety of products, including paint, adhesives, and pharmaceuticals,” CR said.

The chemical “is classified as a probable carcinogen for humans. Its use is restricted in cosmetics and is generally prohibited except for limited applications, such as in certain hair dye formulations.”

Six product samples contained toluene, a chemical toxic to the central nervous system and a lung irritant.

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Four out of five patients reported improvement or stabilisation of their cancer after 6 months of treatment with ivermectin and mebendazole

We have completed the largest real-world human analysis to date evaluating ivermectin and mebendazole in cancer patients – and the results represent one of the most compelling clinical signals ever documented for repurposed anti-parasitic therapies in oncology.

The manuscript is now available as a preprint on the Zenodo research repository, operated by the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, while undergoing peer review at leading oncology journals: ‘Real-World Clinical Outcomes of Ivermectin and Mebendazole in Cancer Patients: Results from a Prospective Observational Cohort’.

In this real-world prospective clinical programme evaluation, a diverse population of cancer patients (n=197) were prescribed compounded ivermectin–mebendazole, with each capsule containing 25 mg ivermectin and 250 mg mebendazole.

At approximately six months post-treatment initiation,we observed an 84.4% Clinical Benefit Ratio (“CBR”), with nearly half of cancer patients (48.4%) reporting either no evidence of disease (32.8%) or tumour regression (15.6%).An additional 36.1% reported disease stabilisation. This means more than four out of five patients reported either improvement or stabilisation of their cancer.

These results indicate that the inexpensive and safe off-label applications of these medications could be an important complement in the treatment of cancer.

The groundbreaking analysis was made possible through a unique collaboration between The Wellness Company, the McCullough Foundation, and the Chairman of the President’s Cancer Panel – uniting real-world clinical data, frontline medical experience and high-level epidemiologic expertise to deliver urgently needed insights in oncology.

This work was conducted byNicolas Hulscher, MPH (myself); Kelly Victory, MD; James A. Thorp, MD; Drew Pinsky, MD; Alejandro Diaz-Villalobos, MD; Peter Gillooly, MSc; Foster Coulson; Melissa Annazone; Chloe Radesi; Jessica Brooks; Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH; and Harvey Risch, MD, PhD (Chairman of the President’s Cancer Panel).

The paper can be accessed HERE.

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California Attorney General Charges 21 Suspects in $267 Million Hospice Fraud Ring

Democrat officials in California are suddenly interested in prosecuting hospice fraudsters after the Justice Department created a division dedicated to arresting fraudsters.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) on Thursday announced his office charged 21 suspects in a $267 million hospice fraud ring in Southern California.

Five of the 21 suspects have been arrested so far.

“California Attorney General Rob Bonta, together with the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), today announced charges filed against 21 suspects and the dismantling of a major hospice fraud scheme that defrauded California of $267 million,” Bonta’s office said.

“Operation Skip Trace resulted in the arrest of five people after ten different locations were searched in Southern California. In addition, two handguns and over $757,000 in cash were seized,” Bonta’s office announced.

“Investigators found that those involved purchased personal identifying information for people living outside of California on the dark web, then enrolled them in Covered California by posing as California residents,” Fox News reported.

“Straw owners” then bought a number of hospice companies and began billing Medi-Cal for services never provided to those stolen identities. The suspects used fake records, nonexistent offices, and fraudulent diagnoses to justify these claims, Bonta said.” – the outlet said.

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One of the California Hospices Targeted in Fraud Sting Had a Survival Rate of 97 Percent

One of the hospices targeted in ‘Operation Never Say Die’ today had a survival rate of nearly 100 percent. It’s amazing that these people got away with this for as long as they did.

People check into hospices to die. It’s extremely rare that someone leaves on their feet. At this place, 97 percent of the patients lived. That is a statistical impossibility.

Just imagine how much more of this there is out there.

CBS News reports:

Hospice with 97% survival rate accused of defrauding Medicare for $7.45M

The FBI arrested a married couple Thursday accused of fraudulently billing Medicare for $7.45 million while running a hospice with a survival rate reported to be more than 97% after five years. They were the first in a series of arrests planned Thursday, federal officials told CBS News.

A high survival rate at a hospice provider is one of a series of red flags identified by state auditors for fraud because most people enter hospice care in the final stages of a terminal illness. In past cases of fraud, operators were found to be using false or stolen identities to collect federal reimbursements for palliative care.

The targets of the early morning operation were Gladwin and Amelou Gill, a doctor and psychologist who co-own 626 Hospice, which does business as St. Francis Palliative Care, according to the FBI.

The FBI raid took place in the residential neighborhood of San Dimas, California, as FBI SWAT personnel announced over a loud speaker they have an arrest warrant. CBS News was at the Southern California location when the FBI agents executed the first early morning arrests. Also on the scene was Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Trump-appointed official who oversees the federal Medicare system.

The Justice Department later announced that eight people, including the Gills, had been arrested and federally charged in connection with a health care and hospice fraud investigation.

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EPA Failed to Warn Public of Pesticide Cancer Risks Even When Agency Found High Risk

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has routinely failed to put cancer warnings on pesticide products even when its own assessments have found a high risk of those products causing cancer, according to two new analyses released today by the Center for Food Safety and the Center for Biological Diversity.

The Center for Food Safety analyzed the level of risk the EPA permitted for both currently approved and legacy pesticide active ingredients.

The analysis found that pesticides have been allowed on the market with a cancer risk as high as 1 in every 100 people exposed, a far greater level than the EPA’s benchmark of a 1 in a million chance of developing cancer.

Over the last 40 years, the EPA has approved 200 active ingredients that are “likely” or “possible” carcinogens.

The Center for Biological Diversity analysis examined pesticide product labels for all currently approved pesticide products. The EPA has instituted cancer warnings on only 69 of 4,919 pesticide labels (1.4%) containing an active ingredient that the agency has designated a “likely” human carcinogen.

And the agency has instituted cancer warnings on just 242 of the 22,147 pesticide labels (1.1%) that contain an ingredient the agency has designated as a “possible” human carcinogen.

“It’s bad enough that the EPA approves cancer-causing pesticides,” said Bill Freese, science director at the Center for Food Safety.

“But if the agency is going to allow such chemicals to be freely sold at Home Depot, Wal-Mart and farm-supply stores, the very least the EPA must do is require a clear cancer warning on the label. Warnings save lives by incentivizing users to wear protective equipment that reduces risk.”

“It’s dumbfounding that the EPA has failed to require any cancer warning on thousands of pesticide products sold to the public that the agency itself has linked to cancer,” said Lori Ann Burd, environmental health program director at the Center for Biological Diversity.

“Why should anyone have confidence in the EPA’s ability to keep tabs on the pesticide industry and protect us all from harmful poisons when it won’t even compel companies to put long-term health warnings on pesticides it knows are really dangerous?”

These new analyses come before the April 27 oral arguments in the Supreme Court case Monsanto Company v. John L. Durnell.

Monsanto, since acquired by Bayer, is seeking substantial immunity from future lawsuits brought by Americans who used glyphosate-based products like Roundup and contracted rare cancers that numerous studies have linked to the pesticide.

The case hinges on whether the EPA has sole authority to implement pesticide label warnings.

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Whistleblower Points Finger at Gavin Newsom as Congress Digs Into California Hospice Fraud

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said his committee is focusing its investigation on alleged large-scale hospice fraud in California following a state audit that identified billions in questionable spending.

During a televised exchange, Sandra Smith introduced the issue by pointing to the scope of the allegations, stating, “California focusing on allegations of rampant hospice fraud, another wasteful spending on taxpayer dollars.”

Smith then asked Comer about the direction of the investigation, saying, “Let’s bring in our House Oversight Committee Chairman, James Comer, welcome to you, Mr. Chairman. So where is your energy focused here?”

Comer responded by outlining the committee’s current priorities, saying, “We’re focused solely on hospice fraud in California, specifically in Los Angeles County.”

He referenced the findings of a recent audit, stating, “A state audit just came out and confirmed that there’s at least three and a half billion dollars, billion dollars in hospice fraud, primarily in one county, Los Angeles County, in California.”

Comer emphasized the scale of the alleged fraud relative to federal spending, saying, “That three and a half billion dollar price tag represents over 10% of the total bill for the federal government, for hospice in all 50 states, in every city and every state in America.”

He said the audit raised clear concerns about systemic issues, stating, “So the red flags are there that there was rampant fraud.”

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CBS News Investigation Uncovers Massive Medicare Hospice Fraud In L.A. County

An investigation by CBS News has discovered massive Medicare fraud at more than 700 out of 1,800 licensed hospice providers in Los Angeles County

The scam utilizes stolen Medicare numbers to fraudulently enroll healthy seniors in hospice with fake terminal diagnoses, billing Medicare an average of $29,000 per patient without delivering care, to the tune of hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.

About 31 percent of hospice and home health companies in the U.S. are registered in L.A. County but when investigators visited the addresses listed, they found no clinics, patients or healthcare workers.

Instead they found multiple red flags, including multiple hospices in one building, high rates of terminally ill patients later discharged alive, excessive billing, and staff shared across multiple companies.

The California state auditor had sounded the alarm three years ago, saying that Los Angeles County had seen the number of hospice companies increase more than six times the national average, relative to its elderly population.

Let’s put this in perspective.

The population of residents age 65 or over in California is estimated at 6.3 million while Florida estimates its population of 65+ residents at 4.9 million.

Public records show 2,279 Medicare-certified hospice organizations in California with just 208 such Medicare-certified organizations in Florida.

This raises serious questions as to why California would have more than 10 times the number of Medicare-certified hospice organizations than Florida when it has less than twice the population of 65+ residents.

According to CBS, in just one year, L.A. County hospices overbilled Medicare by $105 million, prompting the state to investigate and revoke the licenses of 280 hospices.

This latest revelation of potential Medicare fraud shows that the problem of scammers enriching themselves at taxpayer expense extends far beyond Minnesota, which has been under scrutiny for the past few months over the alleged theft of billions of taxpayer dollars via social services.

It also reveals the silver lining that a mainstream news organization is finally willing to do investigative reporting on suspected fraud rather than leaving the heavy lifting to citizen journalists like Nick Shirley, who blew the lid off taxpayer fraud in Minnesota and then turned his sights on California.

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Nick Shirley Explains Exactly How the California Hospice Fraud Scheme Works

Independent journalist Nick Shirley has helped expose massive fraud in Minnesota, and now he’s set his sights on California, where the fraud is far worse.

Governor Gavin Newsom attacked him for his work, of course, because Newsom has aided and abetted the fraud. But Shirley isn’t alone. Dr. Oz, CBS, and Fox News have all shone a spotlight on the fraud, too. It’s likely to make Minnesota’s fraud look like pocket change.

Shirley also explained how the fraud works, and how the scammers are getting away with millions.

Shirley points out that one hospice, All Day Hospice Care, has billed for $3.1 million, or about $6,000 per patient, since 2023. It rented a small suite inside of an unmarked office building, where they close up shop when questions about their business arise.

Newsom was warned in 2022 about the fraud.

He ignored it. Or, more accurately, he paused hospice licensing, but didn’t address the 1,500 percent increase in agencies.

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