State Farm v. 01373
In State Farm v. 01373 filed in 2011, State Farm claimed that a radiologist lied about wholly owning eight MRI centers and that he only owned 50% along with a non-doctor. If true, this would require an AHCA license since they were not “wholly owned.”
In this case, State Farm was able to easily prove this case because the doctor sued the non-doctor complaining about the way the profits were paid and attached a copy of the “Joint Venture Agreement” to his lawsuit. The agreement showed that there was a 50/50 ownership between the doctor and non-doctor. The attorney representing the doctor who drafted and filed the lawsuit committed malpractice because he didn’t know the ”wholly owned” requirement.
The Joint Venture Agreement was enough evidence to show that the clinic was not “wholly owned” by the doctor and, therefore, State Farm was owed back any money previously paid.
DISCLAIMER
This is based on a real court case that was previously filed against a medical provider/doctor. The case number has been partially redacted and names have been changed to protect the Defendants’ names. This example is posted to help educate others on the laws and potential pitfalls. This posting is not intended to embarrass or defame anyone. I have limited the information and simplified some of the facts in the lawsuit to reflect key points and make a complicated case easier to understand. This “example” is directly from a complaint filed by an insurance company; therefore, I am using the facts THEY presented. There are always two sides to a story so please understand this is just one side of the story. This information was found through records available to the public.