HealthSouth
ALSO NOTED: HealthSouth reports Q1 loss; Johns Hopkins launches Center for Global Health; and much more...
> IBM is donating public health software that could be used to track pandemic flu. Article
> Shares of HealthSouth fell to $4.53 as the Birmingham based chain of rehabilitation hospitals reported first quarter numbers for the first time since 2002. The company posted a loss of $453.1 million for the quarter. …
... Read more...ALSO NOTED: HCA warns on Q1 numbers; HealthSouth flexing its muscles; and much more...
> The New York Times Magazine looks at the thorny legal questions involving donated tissue and organ samples that are beginning to emerge. Article
> WebMD Health said it will pay $30 million to acquire Summex, a provider of health and wellness programs. Article
> HCA said it expects first quarter …
... Read more...ALSO NOTED: WSJ interviews HealthSouth CEO Jay Grinney; Avian flu vaccine faces challenges; and much more...
> The Wall Street Journal interviews HealthSouth CEO Jay Grinney today on the challenges facing the company in the post-Scrushy era. Article
> In a SEC filing, HealthSouth said it lost $485 million last year. Article
> A report in the New England Journal of Medicine …
... Read more...HealthSouth accounting problems continue
HealthSouth said Friday that it still has problems with internal financial controls and that its losses for 2005 were at least $260 million greater than the year before. The company, which plans to release results for the year at the end of the month, warned in a SEC filing that a new report due soon its accounting firm will contain "an adverse opinion" of its internal controls. The rehabilitation chain has been in the spotlight since 2003, when a federal investigation uncovered a $2.7 …
... Read more...Suit links UBS to HealthSouth fraud
A lawsuit filed this week alleges that investment bankers at the Wall Street firm UBS were complicit in the HealthSouth accounting fraud. A lawsuit filed by a shareholder group accuses three employees at the firm of participating in the scheme. UBS investment bankers Bill McGahan and Ben Lorello and analyst Howard Capek are alleged to have participated in the fraud, allowing the company to mislead investors and prop up its share price. The allegations are supported by testimony by former …
... Read more...Scrushy paid media for coverage
Former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy paid a journalist to write flattering articles about him during his trial on federal fraud charges. The writer, Audrey Lewis, admits she was paid $10,000 through a PR firm for a series of pieces on Scrushy that appeared in the Birmingham Times. Scrushy was acquitted of the fraud charges after a contentious trial in which his defense team was accused of using improper tactics to win the sympathies of a majority African-American jury. In the …
... Read more...Scrushy sues HealthSouth for $70M
Ex-HealthSouth CEO Robert Scrushy has filed a lawsuit against the company, claiming he was wrongly terminated. In a suit filed in federal district court in Birmingham, AL, lawyers representing Scrushy cited his acquittal of fraud charges as evidence that he should not have lost his job. Scrushy became a celebrity after a federal trial in which he claimed his company's spectacular flameout was due to a conspiracy led by CFO Bill Owens. Last week, Owens was sentenced to five years in prison …
... Read more...Chutes & Ladders: Scrushy resigns from HealthSouth board
Ex-HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy said he is resigning his position on the board of his old company. Last fall, the executive was acquitted on federal charges related to the massive accounting fraud at the Birmingham, AL-based hospital chain. After the trial Scrushy announced plans to win his old job back, despite warnings that a comeback was probably impossible. The new HealthSouth board was in no mood to welcome him back and will be relieved at his resignation. Scrushy remains under …
... Read more...ALSO NOTED: Allergies have doubled since the 1970s; More on the PhRMA DTC rules; and much more...
> Researchers at the National Institutes of Health report that the number of Americans with allergies has doubled since the 1970s. Story
> The Washington Post writes that the Pentagon has drawn up new plans calling for "unprecedented military involvement" in domestic emergency response and crisis management in the event of attacks on the mainland US. …
... Read more...SPOTLIGHT: SEC to pursue Scrushy
Things may be about to get a little hotter for Richard Scrushy, the ex-CEO of HealthSouth, who was acquitted last week of federal fraud and racketeering charges. The Securities and Exchange Commission said this week that it wants its lawsuit against the former healthcare executive to continue. SEC lawyers argue that Scrushy should be ordered to pay back at least $800 million lost in the accounting fraud. Story
