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Surgeon Gets 7 Years for Unnecessary X-Rays; Agency in Chaos Over Trans Health Cases

— This past week in healthcare investigations

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INVESTIGATIVE ROUNDUP over an image of two people looking at computer screens.

Welcome to the latest edition of Investigative Roundup, highlighting some of the best investigative reporting on healthcare each week.

California Doctor Sentenced to Prison Over Medically Unnecessary X-Rays

An orthopedic surgeon was sentenced to 7 years in prison after he was accused of administering excessive and medically unnecessary x-rays to healthy patients, according to .

Gary Wisner, MD, who practiced in Lodi, ordered medically unjustifiable x-rays for 10 patients from 2012 to 2016. The scans were then improperly billed to both Medicare and Medi-Cal, the state's Medicaid program.

"Gary Wisner used both his patients and state resources to line his own pockets," said California Attorney General Rob Bonta . "Due to his dishonest behavior, patients at his clinic had to undergo unnecessary medical tests so he could steal from the state's Medi-Cal funds."

The California Department of Justice first became aware of Wisner's fraudulent billing practices in November 2016, and began investigating his clinic, which oversaw the care of 26,000 patients. After randomly selecting 10 of his patients, they found evidence of false billing to both Medicare and Medi-Cal.

Wisner administered x-rays to his patients even during routine office visits, and he scanned multiple parts of the body even if their condition did not merit it, the investigators found.

Wisner received his sentence from the Sacramento Superior Court on Friday. "This sentence reaffirms what we know to be true: Abuse of power by medical practitioners will never be tolerated within our state's healthcare system," Bonta said.

Texas Child Protective Services Imploding Over Trans Healthcare Investigations

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) is on the "brink of collapse" over investigations into parents of transgender children, according to a .

Sixteen current and former employees at DFPS filed an amicus brief to an Austin appeals court, citing an exodus of workers from the agency that inhibits it from performing its basic duties. In the brief, the staffers requested that all investigations into the parents of transgender youth be put on hold while the policy is being litigated.

Since the policy change was put into effect earlier this year, chaos has ensued at the DFPS, the Dallas Morning News reported. Approximately 2,000 employees have left their jobs this year.

Advising the court that the agency is on the verge of a breakdown, DFPS workers stated in the filing that "the politically motivated decision to compel DFPS employees ... to investigate non-abusive loving and supportive families who merely rely in good faith on their doctor's advice would put DFPS over that brink."

The employees added that individualized gender-affirming care, such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy, is supported by the state's top medical organizations.

"The great mass of DFPS employees did not choose the child welfare profession to break up loving families who, with no ill motive, malice, or negligence toward their child, are simply following medical advice and administering medicine under a doctor's supervision," the employees stated.

The brief was filed in support of an unnamed DFPS staffer who sued the state after being investigated for allowing her transgender teenager to access gender-affirming care, and a Houston doctor who treats pediatric transgender patients.

North Birmingham a Center of Environmental Injustice

In Birmingham, Alabama, a 100-year-old power plant on 35th Avenue that produces a type of fuel called coke has been falling apart for years, allowing pollutants to invade the surrounding community. While business owners and city leaders have yet to enact change, nearby residents -- a majority of whom are people of color -- have been exposed to a heap of cancer-causing chemicals for years, according to .

Birmingham is one of the most heavily polluted cities in the south, and has become an epicenter of environmental injustice, according to ProPublica. While coke production fueled the city's economic development, white leaders enacted housing policies that forced Black residents to live in the most polluted areas of the city.

In 2019, the plant came under the ownership of Bluestone Coke, a coal company owned by the family of Jim Justice, who became the governor of West Virginia in 2017.

In July 2020, the 35th Avenue plant was found to have released excessive levels of toxic emissions on most days that year. Jefferson County cited Bluestone for a series of violations, totaling up to nearly $600,000. But the fine was scrapped, and Bluestone was allowed to continue operating the plant.

Violations continued to add up, and eventually the Jefferson County Department of Public Health denied Bluestone's request to renew the site's permit and sued the company for damages, calling the plant "a menace to the public health," according to ProPublica. The plant stayed open and continued to emit toxic chemicals, yet promised to make the repairs needed to halt pollution.

The Jefferson County Board of Health and Bluestone recently entered talks to settle the lawsuit, ProPublica reported. If an agreement is reached, the plant will be able to continue to emit cancer-causing chemicals into the surrounding community, causing harm to the marginalized communities who reside there.

  • Amanda D'Ambrosio is a reporter on app’s enterprise & investigative team. She covers obstetrics-gynecology and other clinical news, and writes features about the U.S. healthcare system.