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Health Workers Arrested on Fraud, Abuse Charges

Authorities have arrested three more suspects in a $55-million Medicare fraud scheme at a Miami Gardens clinic, the Miami Herald reports. 

Arrested in connection to the Biscayne Milieu fraud scheme were: Broward County doctor Salo Shapiro, 69, nurse Marlene Cesar, 63, and a mental health counselor, Sonia Gallimore, 73, according to the Herald. Federal authorities say that since 2011, the clinic fraudulently submitted $55 million in Medicare claims related to mental health treatment, the Herald reports.

In an unrelated case, the house manager of a Medicaid-funded group home in Winter Haven is being charged with abuse, the Ledger of Lakeland reports. Bonnie L. Coleman, 54, was arrested on allegations that she hit a disabled man on the hand, with a broom handle wrapped in black tape, according to an affidavit filed by the State Attorney’s Office in Polk County.

Originally founded in December 2006 as an independent grassroots publication dedicated to coverage of health issues in Florida, Health News Florida was acquired by WUSF Public Media in September 2012.