Mini-Ping. Happy New Year!
Mini-Ping. Happy New Year from Terri Country.
JANET REHNQUIST, FORMER INSPECTOR GENERAL AT U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES, JOINS VENABLE
Ms. Rehnquist will co-chair Washington health care practice and take major role in litigation and pharmaceutical matters
WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 8, 2003) – Longtime senior government attorney Janet Rehnquist has joined Venable LLP in Washington where she will co-chair the firm’s Washington health care practice.
For the past two years, Ms. Rehnquist has served as the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, the chief enforcement position at that department.
Ms. Rehnquist bore primary responsibility for the oversight of the Medicare and Medicaid programs, along with over 300 other HHS programs in 12 different agencies and with a combined annual budget of over $400 billion.
Ms. Rehnquist, 46, returns to private practice after 10 years in the federal government which began with positions as Counsel to the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and Associate Counsel to the first President Bush, followed by nearly seven years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney where she prosecuted civil enforcement actions in health care fraud, often leading to multi-million dollar resolutions.
In all, she has spent 10 years in health care litigation and enforcement. She has served as a trial attorney, senior government enforcer and spokesperson on national health care policy issues.
“Janet is an outstanding addition to our health care and pharmaceutical practices,” said Robert Zinkham, a health care lawyer who chairs Venable’s Business Division. “Her breadth of experience as a White House advisor, federal prosecutor and Inspector General uniquely position her as a valuable resource for our health care and pharmaceutical clients facing significant regulatory challenges.”
In her role as Inspector General for HHS’s massive array of programs, Ms. Rehnquist managed a staff of over 1,600 auditors, investigators, lawyers, and evaluators who worked out of more than 80 cities nationwide. She reported directly to HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson and Congress, and frequently was called on to brief other high-level Department and Administration officials as well as members of Congress and their staffs. She also testified regularly before Congressional committees, particularly on Medicare and Medicaid.
“Janet takes an aggressive and pragmatic approach to her job that produces strong results,” said Tommy G. Thompson, Secretary of Health & Human Services. “She deftly tackled the complexities of the health care system and strengthened protections for health-care consumers. Janet is a smart, tough and fair-minded person, who develops common-sense solutions to challenging problems. She is a tremendous asset to any organization.”
Thomas A. Scully, Administrator of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said, “I have known Janet for more than 20 years. She is a tremendously talented and hard working lawyer who did a great job as the Inspector General at HHS, and I’m sure she will be a great fit at Venable. I look forward to working with her in her new role.”
Ms. Rehnquist’s move follows the addition to Venable’s Health Care group of Ted Ramirez, who represents multi-hospital systems and health care providers in their operations, governance issues and business transactions. Mr. Ramirez and Ms. Rehnquist will co-chair Venable’s Washington health care practice. Venable has over 40 attorneys practicing nationally in the related areas of health care, pharmaceuticals, food & drug, and bioscience.
“It was important for me to come to a Washington-based law firm that already had established health care and pharma practices and a strong base in litigation,” said Ms. Rehnquist. “I also wanted to be at a firm that has shown a lot of forward movement. I did a gut check, and decided that Venable is the place I want to be.”
Ms. Rehnquist sees significant change on the horizon for the entire health care industry: “We are in the midst of a sea change in health care, with the Medicare reform bill high on the Congressional agenda and an unprecedented amount of public debate on issues such as drug pricing, marketing, access and re-importation of medicines from Canada, Mexico and other countries,” she said.
She noted that issues surrounding pharmaceutical companies are front and center in public consciousness largely because prescription drugs are becoming even more successful and life-changing for large segments of the population, particularly seniors. Consequently, the public is demanding that the government ensures their access to these drugs and that costs are kept down.
The Wall Street Journal reported that in just the last three fiscal years, the government has collected $4.21 billion in fines, settlements and restitution payments from its health-care investigations, far greater than the $3.29 billion it had collected in the previous ten years combined. Aggressive policing of alleged fraud and other violations will be a continuing trend, says Ms. Rehnquist, as the government makes unprecedented forays into health care and the public continues to ratchet up spending on pharmaceuticals.
“The side-effect of increased government involvement in the economic and business aspects of the pharmaceutical industry is greater government scrutiny, which in turn engenders greater enforcement,” said Ms. Rehnquist. “I look forward to helping Venable’s pharma clients successfully meet both the government’s and the public’s high expectations.”
“Janet has a remarkable combination of credentials in public sector law,” said Venable Chairman Benjamin R. Civiletti, himself a former U.S. Attorney General. “She has experience that is of tremendous value to our clients in litigation, compliance, investigations and regulatory matters. And she is part of a new generation of leaders in Washington. We welcome her enthusiastically.”
Ms. Rehnquist is a 1985 graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law.
FV SAYS: MEDICAID??? PROSECUTED HEALTH CARE FRAUD? OOPS! She missed Terri's health care fraud while at HHS.
Isn't TERRI SCHINDLER SCHIAVO ON MEDICAID since her rehab monies were taken from her??? To be in Hospice, Terri has to be re-certified every six months that she's terminally ill which she is not.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST with Wm Rehnquist getting to decide if Terri's Law is accepted or turned down??? His daughter MISSED PROSECUTING TERRI'S MEDICAID FRAUD CASE. Clearly, there is one.
"On January 11, 1983, 25-year old Nancy Cruzan was driving alone on an icy road, lost control of her vehicle, and was seriously injured in the resulting accident. She never regained consciousness and became one of the approximately ten thousand Americans living in a persistent comatose state. Her medical status was that of a "severely handicapped" person. She required no life support machinery other than a feeding tube implanted in her stomach in early 1983. She was not terminally ill. " In order to kill Cruzan, it was necessary to first dehumanize her, a task willingly and expertly taken up by Dr. Fred Plum, Chief of Neurology at the Cornell New York Hospital. During testimony, he referred to her as a mere "collection of organs" and an "artifact of technological medicine."In an interview with Nat Hentoff, Dr. Ronald Granford observed that she was the "moral equivalent of a biopsy from Nat Hentoff's arm," and asserted that her "legal personhood" should be removed so she could be disposed of or experimented upon without the bother of having to go to court.
"Nancy's parents petitioned a lower court to order the Missouri Rehabilitation Center at Mount Vernon to allow their daughter to die. This court granted the petition, but the Missouri Supreme Court overturned the lower court decision, stating that a decision to withhold or refuse treatment must be an "informed" one, and, most importantly, that a state's interest in human life does not depend on the of that life. On appeal, the case became the first to directly address the question of euthanasia at the United States Supreme Court level. In a stunning victory for life, the Supreme Court narrowly averted making this case the euthanasiast's by denying that the so-called "right to die" is unfettered and absolute. The justices ruled that the States may require "clear and convincing" evidence that a comatose person actually wished to die before they lost their ability to decide their fates for themselves. The Court essentially held that the States do not have to buckle under to family member's demands when a patient's wishes cannot be concretely proven.
"However, the ruling indicated that there is a Constitutional right to refuse tube feeding and other life-sustaining measures when patients make their wishes clearly known before they become incompetent. So a determined Joe and Joyce Cruzan headed back to the Missouri courts, and rounded up a string of Nancy's co-workers who were willing to testify that she would never want to live "like a vegetable." Nobody bothered to explain how her co-workers could all remember such a statement so clearly after more than eight years. Nancy did not enjoy any kind of representation in the State court; nobody testified for her, because all of those who wanted her to live were ruled nonparties by the judge. The outcome of the one-sided hearing was a foregone conclusion.
"Her feeding tube was removed on December 14, 1990 at the Missouri Rehabilitation Center in Mount Vernon, Missouri. In a chilling portent of the future, the first rescue mission staged to save a person from death occurred on Tuesday, December 18, 1990. 19 persons were arrested as they tried to reach Nancy's hospital room. They were charged with the same offenses they encountered at abortion mills; criminal trespass and unlawful assembly. Scores of armed police officers patrolled the halls of the Missouri Rehabilitation Center (George Orwell would be proud!) until she finally died of starvation and thirst after 12 days, on the day after Christmas 1990. 1988 - Missouri Supreme Court
"On January 11, 1983, 25-year old Nancy Cruzan was driving alone on an icy road, lost control of her vehicle, and was seriously injured in the resulting accident. She never regained consciousness and became one of the approximately ten thousand Americans living in a persistent comatose state. Her medical status was that of a "severely handicapped" person. She required no life support machinery other than a feeding tube implanted in her stomach in early 1983. She was not terminally ill. " In order to kill Cruzan, it was necessary to first dehumanize her, a task willingly and expertly taken up by Dr. Fred Plum, Chief of Neurology at the Cornell New York Hospital. During testimony, he referred to her as a mere "collection of organs" and an "artifact of technological medicine."In an interview with Nat Hentoff, Dr. Ronald Granford observed that she was the "moral equivalent of a biopsy from Nat Hentoff's arm," and asserted that her "legal personhood" should be removed so she could be disposed of or experimented upon without the bother of having to go to court.
"Nancy's parents petitioned a lower court to order the Missouri Rehabilitation Center at Mount Vernon to allow their daughter to die. This court granted the petition, but the Missouri Supreme Court overturned the lower court decision, stating that a decision to withhold or refuse treatment must be an "informed" one, and, most importantly, that a state's interest in human life does not depend on the of that life. On appeal, the case became the first to directly address the question of euthanasia at the United States Supreme Court level. In a stunning victory for life, the Supreme Court narrowly averted making this case the euthanasiast's by denying that the so-called "right to die" is unfettered and absolute. The justices ruled that the States may require "clear and convincing" evidence that a comatose person actually wished to die before they lost their ability to decide their fates for themselves. The Court essentially held that the States do not have to buckle under to family member's demands when a patient's wishes cannot be concretely proven.
"However, the ruling indicated that there is a Constitutional right to refuse tube feeding and other life-sustaining measures when patients make their wishes clearly known before they become incompetent. So a determined Joe and Joyce Cruzan headed back to the Missouri courts, and rounded up a string of Nancy's co-workers who were willing to testify that she would never want to live "like a vegetable." Nobody bothered to explain how her co-workers could all remember such a statement so clearly after more than eight years. Nancy did not enjoy any kind of representation in the State court; nobody testified for her, because all of those who wanted her to live were ruled nonparties by the judge. The outcome of the one-sided hearing was a foregone conclusion.
"Her feeding tube was removed on December 14, 1990 at the Missouri Rehabilitation Center in Mount Vernon, Missouri. In a chilling portent of the future, the first rescue mission staged to save a person from death occurred on Tuesday, December 18, 1990. 19 persons were arrested as they tried to reach Nancy's hospital room. They were charged with the same offenses they encountered at abortion mills; criminal trespass and unlawful assembly. Scores of armed police officers patrolled the halls of the Missouri Rehabilitation Center (George Orwell would be proud!) until she finally died of starvation and thirst after 12 days, on the day after Christmas 1990. 1988 - Missouri Supreme Court
Is Michael preventing Terri from getting physical therapy? Can Terri get better? And will Michael Schiavo strike it rich if his wife dies?
http://www.tampabaylive.com/programming/flashpoint.shtml
I believe this program will be SUNDAY... this was sent to me, I haven't ckd it out yet.
I'm taking down names of all the folks at the March for Life Rally.
http://www.rollye.net/listen.html (RE: TERRI)