Calif. sues doctor over billing tactics to collect fees from ER patients

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/aug/17/local/la-me-southpas-doctor-20120818

State suing doctor over billing tactics
Jeannette Martello's aggressive tactics to collect fees from emergency room patients — including lawsuits and taking out liens on their homes — prompt unprecedented court case by state officials.
August 17, 2012 | By Anna Gorman, Los Angeles Times

When Bill Buck accidentally cut off the tip of his finger at his Duarte cabinet workshop two years ago, he headed to Huntington Memorial Hospital's emergency room.

He assumed his insurance company would sort out the $12,630 bill from the plastic surgeon, Jeannette Martello.

But Martello wasn't satisfied with the $3,500 insurance reimbursement, so she returned the check and filed a lawsuit against Buck, his wife and his business for the full amount, according to the state attorney general's office. She also began a process to force the sale of Buck's home to collect the money, records show.

Martello's use of aggressive tactics to collect fees from emergency room patients like Buck — including lawsuits, taking out liens on their homes and damaging their credit — prompted an unprecedented court case by state health officials and a judge's order for Martello to cease the practices.