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NBC Bay Area >> A Los Angeles man was sentenced to six years in prison last week for his role in a power wheelchair scam, topping what prosecutors say has been a series of Medicare fraud cases. David James Garrison, 50, a former physician assistant, was found guilty by a federal jury for his role in submitting $18.9 million in fraudulent Medicare claims for power wheelchairs and other equipment. The wheelchair case is the third time Garrison has been accused of Medicare fraud. Garrison's physician assistant license lapsed in 2009, said Russ Heimerich, a spokesman for the Department of Consumer Affairs, which oversees many state licensing boards. He said the board examined the tax evasion case and did not see it as grounds for discipline. According to court documents, Garrison's cases involved the use of "cappers" or "marketers" who recruited Medicare beneficiaries to submit to unneeded care or hand over their personal information. That information was used to bill the program for Medications, services or supplies that the patients didn't need. In the wheelchair case, prosecuted by the Los Angeles U.S. attorney's office, one witness testified that marketers had to recruit beneficiaries as far as 300 miles from Los Angeles because so many local people had already been used in other fraud schemes. In the first health fraud case linked to Garrison, he was described as an "at large" suspect in October 2007 when then-Attorney General Jerry Brown announced arrests in a $1.5 million health fraud scam.

After trading blows over the last two decades for supremacy in the consumer electronics market, Samsung Electronics and Sony are set to continue their rivalry in the new arena of medical devices. Only a decade ago, the Japanese company led almost every sector in the information technology industry while its Korean competitor trailed behind trying to catch up. Now, Samsung finds itself ahead in major markets such as smartphones and other consumer electronic goods. It remains to be seen whether Sony can strike back in the medical equipment market, where it's experience and sophistication in optical technology and systems could provide an advantage. Both firms are planning aggressive investment in the business during the second half of the year. Following a change of leadership from Howard Stringer to Kazuo Hirai in April, Sony has been vocal about its intentions to find new growth engines, one of them being the medical business. New CEO Hirai said during his inauguration press conference on April 11 that the company plans to make the medical sector a "business worth 100 billion yen ($1.25 billion) in the mid- and long-term." According to statements released on the same day, Sony has set a sales target of 50 billion yen ($629 million) for its 2014 fiscal-year. It is planning to purchase 58.18 percent share of subsidiary Sony Entertainment, which in turn holds 55.19 percent of M3, a medical service provider. The main motivation behind the purchase is to take managerial control of M3. Out of some 280,000 doctors based in Japan, around 200,000 are reportedly subscribed to an Internet information service offered by M3. The Japanese firm is also planning to buy shares of Shinjuku-based lens maker Olympus, which saw its stock price plummet after admitting guilt to the biggest accounting fraud in the country's history. Olympus makes the best endoscopes in the world, a must-have business for Sony in order to successfully venture into the medical arena. The electronics

Health regulators are including warning to the medicine labels of popular cholesterol-lowering drugs that they might increase blood sugar and possibly cause memory loss. FDA has publicized last week that there has been alterations in the safety information labels of statins of Merck & Co's, AstraZeneca and Pfizer - medicines that are used by millions of Americans. Statins have long proven that it is effective in reducing the risk of heart attack and other heart disorders and, according to FDA, this new development must not scare people into halting the use of the medicines. FDA announced that they know of studies wherein several patients taking statins might have an increased risk of having high sugar levels in the blood and, eventually, of being diagnosed with diabetes. They have apparently known for 4 years now that statin 'slightly' increases blood sugar but they are insisting that this does not change that statins are effective in reducing heart risk for patients. This is the first time that FDA has officially connected the use of statin to cognitive disorders like confusion and forgetfulness, even though several patients have already reported those problems for years. The drugs affected include big brands such as Vytorin, Crestor, Zocor and Lipitor.