Federal Judge Backs Healthcare Racketeering Verdict, Triples Monetary Damages for Scheme to Hold Houston Woman in Psychiatric Facility

Verdict exposes orchestrated plan to illegally detain patients, bilk insurance providers

DALLAS, April 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A federal judge's order in a Texas healthcare racketeering lawsuit triples monetary damages awarded to a Houston woman and paints a vivid picture of an elaborate scheme to hold patients in psychiatric hospitals against their will in order to bilk insurance providers.

The order filed March 31 by U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant upholds a May 2021 jury verdict won by trial lawyers from the Law Offices of Frank L. Branson and triples the $300,000 RICO in damages awarded to a woman who was involuntarily detained in a Houston area hospital for four days. The monetary award is likely to increase after the judge rules on attorney fees, court costs and a separate $1.2 million damages award.

"Jurors in this case listened carefully and recognized that this was a horrifying, coordinated enterprise to take away this woman's freedom, all because of greed," said trial lawyer John Burkhead of the Law Offices of Frank L. Branson in Dallas. "This ruling is an important step toward making sure those involved don't harm anyone else."

The Behavioral Hospital of Bellaire settled before the trial. The scheme revolved around Dr. Yupo Jesse Chang, who owned a series of related businesses, including an online telemedicine business called "DrSays" and Universal Physicians, a physician group. Other defendants included Dr. Timothy Tom, a Las Vegas-based doctor with no training in psychiatry who performed sham telemedicine consultations; and Angela Yao, a notary who fraudulently signed the bogus paperwork, according to court documents.

Diane Creel's August 2017 experience was typical of the conspiracy, which played out 3,955 times in 2017 alone, according to the judge's order. During Ms. Creel's brief hospital visit to inquire about outpatient group grief counseling, Dr. Chang contracted with Dr. Tom to perform a telemedicine evaluation. The telemedicine appointment never occurred, but Dr. Tom wrote a false evaluation with made-up symptoms for Ms. Creel. The evaluation was then entered into the "DrSays" software platform and sent to Ms. Yao, who notarized the report without Dr. Tom being present as required by state law. The same software platform owned by Dr. Chang was used to obtain an emergency detention warrant and for medical billing.

When Ms. Creel and her husband decided to conclude their visit to the Bellaire hospital and go home, they learned that the doors were locked and an emergency detention warrant was already in hand.

"To describe these people and entities as connected is an understatement," Judge Mazzant wrote in his order. "Without one component of this enterprise in place, the entire scheme would fall apart … Defendants did not care about the emotional, psychological, and financial destruction their scheme had on victims like Diane Creel."

The Law Offices of Frank L. Branson represented many others victimized by the scheme; all but Ms. Creel's lawsuit settled before trial. In addition to Mr. Burkhead, the Branson team included trial lawyers Tim Newsom and Debbie Dudley Branson. Additional counsel included Michael Smith and Becca Skupin, now with Scheef and Stone, with the late Clyde Siebman, as local counsel, and Marty Cirkiel of Cirkiel Law Group.

The case is Diane Creel and Lynn Creel v DrSays LLC et al. in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, case No. 4:18-CV-615.

The Law Offices of Frank L. Branson maintains a reputation for courtroom excellence based on significant verdicts and settlements for clients in high-stakes personal injury litigation. Visit http://www.flbranson.com to learn more.  

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SOURCE Law Offices of Frank L. Branson