Supreme Court Upholds Eleventh Circuit Court’s Affirmation of Class Certification for RICO Lawsuit Filed by the Nation’s Doctors Against Leading HMOs

Plaintiff’s Co-Lead Counsel Archie Lamb: The denial of certiorari by the Supreme Court is the final answer to any question of class certification.

Monday January 10, 2005:  Washington, DC:  The United States Supreme Court denied certiorari confirming the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals’ earlier ruling in support of the United States District Court Judge Federico Moreno’s class certification in the landmark RICO lawsuit filed by the nation’s doctors against leading HMOs. The RICO case was filed by doctors and state medical associations to combat widespread and chronic contractual abuses by many of the nation's largest for profit HMOs. 

The three judge eleventh circuit panel noted in its earlier affirmation that: “(T)his trial is not about the managed care industry; it is about whether several large HMOs conspired to systematically underpay doctors. The issue is not whether managed care is wrong, but whether particular managed care companies failed to live up to their agreements. The plaintiffs are seeking nothing more than the compensatory damages to which they are contractually entitled, and the treble damages to which they are statutorily entitled…. (M)ore importantly, however, if their fears are truly justified, the defendants can blame no one but themselves. It would be unjust to allow corporations to engage in rampant and systematic wrongdoing, and then allow them to avoid a class action because the consequences of being held accountable for their misdeeds would be financially ruinous. We are courts of justice, and can give the defendants only that which they deserve; if they wish special favors such as protection from high -- though deserved -- verdicts, they must turn to Congress.”

”This is an unqualified and unprecedented victory for America’s hard working and heroic Physicians. “The HMOs have nowhere else to go and the stage is set for true and significant healthcare reform,” noted Archie Lamb, co-lead counsel for the over 900,000 physician members of the class.  “The doctors’ charges of fraud and racketeering against the HMOs are consistent throughout the country and are completely appropriate for class certification as now confirmed by our nations highest court,” concluded Lamb.

The case is being heard in the United States District Court, Southern District of Florida, Miami Division: MDL No. 1334; Master File No. 00-1334-MD-Moreno. Additional background information on the case can be found at: www.hmocrisis.com.