Wheelchair-bound victim saved by swimmer after plunging into pond

BOSTON -- A quadriplegic man was rescued from drowning in Jamaica Pond.

The victim rolled into the water at full speed while in a wheelchair around 11 a.m. on Tuesday.

Julia Hutfless and her friend, who happened to be walking by, came to the man's rescue.

"This man who was... driving his wheelchair really fast on the pier, and normally, one would slow down toward the end, and we both saw him not slow down," said Hutfless. "We both said, 'He's not going to stop! He's not going to stop!' and just went right off the edge... His wheelchair went one way, and he was headfirst and lying in the water."

Hutfless recalled how she and her friend, Amy, sprinted down to the water to check on the man. While her companion rushed to call 911, Hutfless jumped into the pond to try and help the victim.

"I just jumped in and grabbed him and turned him over," said Hutfless. "He coughed a little... He asked where I came from. I think, perhaps, he was a bit mad at the fact that I helped him, but then, he was thankful when he was initially on the stretcher going into the ambulance."

Another Good Samaritan, who also witnessed the scene, reportedly jumped into the water to assist.

The three witnesses were able to pull the victim over to the side of the pond by the time authorities arrived.

(Copyright 2007 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

TRENTON, N.J. - May 29, 2007 - It's always a big day when anyone gets a new set of wheels, but nothing compared to what this day was like for a young man in Trenton.

"People do care. It's not a harsh life," said Rafael Garcia.

The donated motorized wheelchair that will give back mobility to Rafael arrived at the Mercer Junior-Senior High School in Hamilton Township Tuesday afternoon.

It was donated by a family in Chalfonte, Bucks County after seeing our story last week about thieves stealing Rafael's electric wheelchair from in front of his Trenton home.

"It was very sad to think someone would steal somebody's wheelchair. Very heart-wrenching. I thought I could help him out with the chair that we have," said Jennifer Seidman, who donated the wheelchair.

Rafael, who suffers from cerebral palsy, tried out the new chair and was happy to be back in the driver's seat again. He just needs to get the new chair charged.

Since his old wheelchair was stolen, he has had to rely on people pushing him everywhere because he doesn't have the upper body strength to propel himself.

"He wants to be independent. He deserves to be independent and the power chair will bring him back his independence," said teacher Leslie Brady.

School officials say at least a dozen people offered to donate a motorized wheelchair to Rafael.

"We had a huge outpouring from the community of people wanting to help. Then we had to sort through every one trying to help and figure out who really had the equipment that would fit Rafael," said physical therapist Greg O'Brien.

"Whoever took it, what they did made me so sad. To know there are some nice people out there who can help us with Rafael, I'm really thrilled," said principal Jean Radimer.

And so is the young man who very much wants the mobility the electric wheelchair gives him.

Police are still looking for whoever stole his wheelchair.

(Copyright 2007 by Action News and 6abc. All Rights Reserved.)

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DMEs are taking National Stroke Month especially seriously this year because of their concern about the affect of competitive bidding on patients' access to home medical equipment. Stroke is the leading cause of long-term adult disability in the United States. Someone in the United States suffers a stroke every 45 seconds and dies from stroke every three to four minutes. Fifteen people died of stroke during the hour before you read this. It's not just an illness affecting the elderly, either: Twenty-eight percent of stroke victims each year haven't even reached their 65th birthday.

The prevalence of stroke and the devastating toll it takes on peoples lives is the reason for National Stroke Awareness Month.

Many of the 700,000 Americans who will experience a stroke this year will rely heavily on medical-equipment providers for the rehabilitation and assistive technologies that can help them recover some of their pre-stroke lives. Already, DMEs serve the 5.5 million stroke survivors in the United States who make medical equipment an integral part of their daily lives as they regain mobility and try to live independently.

In a surprise for health-policy analysts, the number of people who died from stroke in the United States in 2004 (the most recent year for which data is available) dropped by 6.5 percent, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. The decline contributed to the overall two percent decline in the number of U.S. deaths in 2004, the largest decline in 60 years. While experts attribute the drop to better medical care and improved procedures and medications, they also caution that the overall mortality and morbidity trend is upward, primarily because of Americans' high-calorie, high-fat diets and lack of regular exercise.

Stroke occurs when a blood vessel in the brain breaks or is blocked. The surrounding brain tissue is damaged by bleeding and lack of oxygen. Brain cells begin dying, and brain damage follows. The exact area of the brain where the stroke occurs and the extent of brain tissue affected by ischemia or hemorrhage determine the kind and extent of victims' disability.

To learn more about stroke and National Stroke Awareness Month, visit www.stroke.org/.

Regardless of what they think about the guilt or innocence of The SCOOTER Store, DMEs are still reeling this week after the company announced it would settle with the Justice Department on charges it had sought to defraud Medicare. The news couldn't have come at a worse time as providers are trying to build support in Congress for legislation that would soften the effects of CMS's attempts to rein in equipment reimbursements and stem fraudulent claims.

News of the SCOOTER Store's alleged efforts to get Medicare to pay fraudulent claims made it much more difficult for DMEs' Capitol Hill advocates to explain how CMS's reform efforts will hurt small, independent providers.

In return for Justice dropping criminal charges, The SCOOTER Store will pay $4 million and give up many millions more in pending claims for Medicare reimbursement to Medicare. The SCOOTER Store's founder, Douglas Trent Harrison, also agreed to personally pay $500,000 and forego dividends from his shares in the company for the next year.

The Scooter Store denies any wrongdoing.

While some providers lamented the adverse economic impact of the government's actions against The SCOOTER Store, others found it difficult to let the San Antonio-based company off the hook.

To read details about The SCOOTER Store settlement, see http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2007/May/07_civ_344.html.

To: NATIONAL EDITORS

Contact: U.S.  Department of Justice, +1-202-514-2007, TDD +1-202-514-1888

WASHINGTON, May 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The SCOOTER Store Inc. will pay the United States $4 million, and give up many millions more in pending claims for reimbursement to Medicare, to settle allegations that the company violated the civil False Claims Act and defrauded the United States, the Justice Department announced today.

In addition to the $4 million cash payment, the San Antonio wheelchair supplier will give up the right to reimbursement for most of its pending Medicare claims. Such claims total more than $43 million, but Medicare estimates that the payments The SCOOTER Store could actually expect to have received based on those claims is approximately $13 million. Medicare commonly reimburses less than the face value of claims presented to the agency for payment.

The cash component of the settlement package includes a $500,000 contribution by The SCOOTER Store founder Douglas Trent Harrison, who also agreed to forego dividends from his shares in the company for the next year in exchange for a release of his personal liability.

The settlement resolves a lawsuit brought by the United States in 2005, in which the government alleged that The SCOOTER Store engaged in a multi-media advertising campaign to entice beneficiaries to obtain power scooters paid for by Medicare, Medicaid, and other insurers. Instead of the "zippy" power scooters that were advertised, The SCOOTER Store sold the beneficiaries expensive power wheelchairs that they did not want, need, and/or could not use.

By representing to physicians that their patients wanted and needed power wheelchairs, The SCOOTER Store obtained thousands of "Certificates of Medical Necessity" from physicians who did not know about the company's fraudulent practices. The SCOOTER Store then billed government and private health care insurers for power wheelchairs, which were far more costly than power scooters, and collected millions of Medicare and Medicaid dollars.

The SCOOTER Store received $5,000 to $7,000 in reimbursement for each power wheelchair it sold, more than twice the amount for a scooter, which sold for around $1,500 to $2,000. Many beneficiaries had no idea what kind of equipment they were getting, until it was delivered by The SCOOTER Store.

The government's lawsuit also alleged that The SCOOTER Store knowingly sold used power mobility equipment to beneficiaries and billed Medicare as if the equipment were new, in violation of Medicare regulations. In addition, the U.S. alleged that The SCOOTER Store charged Medicare millions for unnecessary power mobility accessories.

"This settlement is part of our ongoing commitment to fighting abuse of Medicare's durable medical equipment benefit," said Assistant Attorney General Peter D. Keisler. "Equipment suppliers whose practices violate the law need to know that we are dedicated to protecting Medicare funds and beneficiaries from their fraudulent schemes."

New rules for power mobility implemented last year by the Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are designed in part to prevent the abuses that resulted in the government's lawsuit against The SCOOTER Store. In addition, The SCOOTER Store will

operate for the next five years under a Corporate Integrity Agreement with the Office of the Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services that is designed to help ensure future compliance by the company with Medicare regulations.

The civil settlement resolves several lawsuits filed by The SCOOTER Store against the United States seeking payment for its claims to Medicare. As part of the settlement, The SCOOTER Store gave up those claims and agreed to dismiss the lawsuits.

The civil settlement also resolves claims in a suit brought by a whistleblower who was a former employee of The SCOOTER Store. As a result of the settlement, the whistleblower will receive $3,228,251 as the statutory award, and the whistleblowers' suit also will be dismissed. Under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, private parties can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of the settlement if the government reaches a monetary agreement with the defendants.

The case was investigated by the FBI's San Antonio Health Care Fraud Unit, the Texas Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and the Office of the Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services and was handled by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas and the Civil Division of the Department of Justice.

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice