LINKS TO MAPS
Central Map ..... Initial Map ..... USA Map ..... Australian Map ..... International Map ..... Corporate Practices Map

Corporate Health Care
MAP OF USA WEB PAGES

The USA is the home of corporate medicine. They have had 40 years experience. Multiple strategies have repeatedly failed to control the failures and excesses of this most inefficient, expensive, inequitable and corrupt system. The reasons for failure are quite clear - competitive market forces and responsibility to the share market. Advocates claim that their countries are different.

No one advocating the application of market forces and the introduction of market listed corporations can legitimately do so without clearly showing that their market system does not foster these forces or depend on the support of the share market OR that these forces operate differently in other countries. Commissioner Romanow invited corporate interests to meet this challenge in his recent Canadian Royal Commission into health care, and show an advantage. No one could.

Any legitimate debate about Corporate Health Care must start and end with a thorough examination of the US system. Advocates of market medicine avoid it like the plague. The US pages are at the heart of this web site for good reasons.

 

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The Corporatised US Marketplace
A general overview of the US health care corporate marketplace and the many frauds and scandals that have characterised this system. The page links to other pages which review individual areas and then link to pages about individual companies. The pages aim to explore more and more deeply so providing both overviews and an in depth resource.
(Created 4/2000 Update 10/2007)  

 

 

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The Financial Institutions in Health Care
This page gives a brief outline of the role played by large financial institutions (comprising banks, brokers and analysts), accounting businesses, and lawyers in the marketplace and so in health care. The consequences are illustrated by quotes from the Nov 2004 book "Critical Condition" by Barlett and Steele which examines many of these issues.

Joseph Califano and the Market Revolution
Joseph Califano was an early supporter of the use of impersonal economic levers to secure human outcomes. He wrote a book about health care in 1986. This web page examines the background, Califano's views, their failure and the reasons why they failed.
 

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Tenet Healthcare & NME
Overview and Access

This page provides an overview of, and access to web pages describing the scandals involving National Medical Enterprises (NME) in the 1990s and again in 2002 under its new name Tenet Healthcare.
(Created 4/2000 Update 7/2010)

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NATIONAL MEDICAL ENTERPRISES ---- TENET HEALTHCARE

THE IMPACT OF FINANCIAL PRESSURES ON CLINICAL CARE :: LESSONS FROM CORPORATE MEDICINE
A published paper written in 1996 describes the development of corporate medicine in the USA It analyses and describes the early 1990s fraud by NME, and examines its entry and departure from Australia (Created 12/1996 Update 7/2007)
SUBMISSION TO TENETS ETHIC'S COMMITTEE
In 1996 I made a submission to Tenet Healthcare's newly established and much advertised ethics committee relating to the conduct of senior staff in Singapore and Australia. It gives much more information about what happened in these two countries. The submission was ignored. (Created 12/1996 Update 7/2007)
The Senate Statement
A statement to the Australian senate describing Tenet's departure from Australia, my role in it , and its attempts to silence me.(Created 12/1996)
THE YELDHAM SCANDAL
Retired Justice Yeldham very controversially granted a hospital license in 1993 over objections by myself and others. In 1996 he committed suicide amidst revelations that his widely known clandestine sexual activities placed him at risk of improper influence. This page describes this and my attempt to have the decision reviewed.

Also on the web is an extract from my 1993 submission to Yeldham in which I predicted that the investigation would bow before market and political pressures to grant the license.  (Created10/1998 Update 8/2003)
National Medical Enterprises (now Tenet Healthcare) :: Founding Executives and Culture
This page examines Tenet/NME's founder and the disturbing culture which developed in the company under his leadership. (Created 7/2003 Update 7/2007)
TAKING ON NATIONAL MEDICAL ENTERPRISES (NME)
This is the personal story of my fight to expose NME's practices and force them out of Australia. (Created 8/2003)
REWARDS OF DEVIANCE : What will Happen?
This is the final section of my submission to Justice Yeldham in Australia in June 2003. It is so prophetic about what would eventually happen that I put it up in 2003 after the 2002 scandal (Created 7/2003 Update 7/2007)
Vista Healthcare and its National Medical Enterprises (NME) Heritage
Vista Healthcare was formed in Singapore in 1996 by Chase Manhattan bank and the core of Tenet/NME's international division. It expanded rapidly across Asia. These people who had been pressured out of Australia in 1995, because of their conduct, very quietly bought back into Australian hospitals in 1999. BUPA bought Vista in 2001. (Created 4/2000 Update 2/2007)
Tenet Healthcare :: Scandal in General Hospitals The story part 1 Rise and Fall (1999-2003)
This page describes the persistence of NME's culture and tells the story of the new scandal which erupted in 2002 (Created 7/2003 Update 6/2007)
Tenet Healthcare :: Scandal in General Hospitals The story part 2 The Struggle to Survive (2003-7)
This page tells the story of Tenet's struggle to survive as it battled multiple investigations, court proceedings and a precarious financial situation. Its restructuring and claims to have reformed are noted and questioned. (Created 7/2007)
PACMAN activities :: Mergers and takeovers of not for profit hospitals :: 2002
Tenet expanded its empire and secured regional dominance by merging or taking over not for profit community hospitals. It failed to honour its agreements and there was an angry community backlash. (Created 7/2003 Update 7/2007)
Fraud & Outlier plus Stop-Loss scandal :: 2002
This page explores Tenet's Medicare fraud and its manipulation of outlier Medicare payments, stop-loss insurance payments, payments from Workers Compensation, and Medicaid payments.(Created 7/2003 Update 6/2007)
Tenet Healthcare :: Price Gouging :: 2002
This page explores Tenet's policy of massively increasing prices and then chasing the uninsured aggressively for payment. It backfired badly when citizens fought back..(Created 7/2003 Update 5/2007)
SERIES: Tenet Healthcare and its doctors
Web pages where doctors played a major part in one way or another in what happened. Tenet's doctors connived in the needless admission and mistreatment of vast numbers of people in the 1990's. In 2002 some doctors are accused of carrying out needless cardiac surgery to boost profits. These pages explore the relationship between corporations and doctors using Tenet/NME as the focus.

Introduction to Tenet Doctors
This is the first page in the series about Tenet and its doctors. It examines trends and behaviours in the medical profession that render doctors vulnerable. It looks at the impact of market and corporate pressures on them. It then goes on to document my personal impressions of a Tenet hospital in the late 1980s, the behaviour of doctors and Tenet in the 1990s scandal and then some events and concerns leading up to the scandal in 2002. It summarises and links to the other pages in the series that address the 2002 Redding hospital fiasco and other disturbing events in which doctors played a part.(Created 7/2003 Update 7/2007)

Tenet Healthcare's Redding Hospital: Unnecessary Cardiac Procedures I (2003)
This page written in 2003 describes the exposure of the scandal at Redding Hospital in California. Two Tenet doctors led teams that are alleged to have carried out hundreds of unwarranted procedures and performed 769 major coronary bypass operations on people who did not need them. The page examines the doctor's histories and tries to provide an explanation of why and how this happened. (Created 7/2003 Update 7/2007)

Tenet Healthcare's Redding Hospital : Unnecessary Cardiac Procedures II (2007)
This page written in 2007 is the second page about the Redding hospital scandal in which 769 patients were alleged to have had unnecessary surgery in order to fuel profits. It provides more information about how and why this happened. It looks at the civil settlements that were reached and the role of whistleblowers. It describes how multiple attempts to get Tenet to confront the problem had failed. (Created 4/2007)

From Singapore to Redding : Dennis Brown : A Long Trail to Follow
Dennis Brown, the Tenet vice-president who is claimed to have played an important role in overseeing Redding hospitals operations first came to my attention when he was CEO of an international hospital in Singapore in the late 1980s. He later became CEO in Australia where I blew the whistle on Tenet's conduct. There were law suits involving the Singapore Medical Council, the Singapore courts and I faced defamation actions in Australia and Singapore. This web page tracks what I know of the allegations made about him, as well as what has been said about him and the conduct of the operations under his control. (Created 7/2007)

The fallout from the Redding Scandal
Unnecessary cardiac operations at Tenet's Redding hospital sparked concerns in cardiology across the USA. There were allegations and investigations of other Tenet hospitals. A doctor at a non-Tenet hospital was charged. The Tenet case was settled. As far as I am aware the findings of the investigations and the validity of allegations were never released or tested. Tenet denied them (Created 7/2007)

Tenet and Kickbacks
In the second 2002 scandal Tenet was again accused of paying kickbacks to doctors. A test case illustrated the legal problems in this area. After two mistrials the matter was still unresolved and a settlement was negotiated. All of Tenet's hospitals were investigated for kickbacks. The final settlement listed kickbacks amongst its charges but Tenet continued to claim what it did was legal..(Early version 2003 Rewritten 7/2007)

Tenet, its Doctors and Price Fixing
Tenet was accused of organising an illegal price fixing contract with a group of doctors for the purpose of negotiating with insurers in North Carolna. It was settled without penalty or guilty pleas by terminating the contract and accepting conditions. (Created 7/2007)

Unsafe Theatres : Dangerous Heart Surgery in Florida
Tenet's Palm Beach Gardens hospital continued to perform high risk cardiac surgery over a five year period when there were serious concerns about the risks of infection in its operating theatres. Fixing these would have cut into profits and the hospital would not have met its targets with the theatres closed. Surgeons could have forced the matter by refusing to operate but they continued to operate in spite of the risks. Government oversight authorities and the JCAHO could have forced them to fix the problems. They did not. One hundred and six of those patients who died or developed serious complications sued. They were awarded US $31 million. (Created 7/2007)

The Saga of Failed Sterilizers
When sterilizers in a Californian hospital were found to be operating suboptimally hospital administrators forbade the staff from telling the surgeons. They would have cancelled operations and financial targets (and ? bonuses) would not have been met. Surgeons have responsibility for their patients and make the decisions as to whether it is safe to operate or not. The chief of surgery resigned in protest when he found out. The JCAHO took no action. (Created 7/2007)

Tenet Has Problems With its Doctors
This page deals with medical whistle blowing and with the impact of the scandal on the doctors who referred patients to Tenet. Many became "splitter physicians". It examines the purchase of hospitals by physicians (Created 7/2007)

Tenet Healthcare :: Failures in Care :: 2002
Tenet's cost cutting, and deskilling of nurses resulted in many allegations of poor care. This page examines this issue. (Created 7/2003 Update 7/2007)
Tenet Healthcare :: The Nursing Disputes :: 2002
The nurses are the first to be aware of poor care and bear the brunt of corporate cost cutting and deskilling. The nurses organised themselves and were involved in ongoing bitter battles with Tenet. They aggressively exposed Tenet's practices in 2002. (Created 7/2003 Update 7/2007)
Tenet Healthcare : Accreditation and oversight page
Oversight and accreditation processes have failed repeatedly in the USA but seldom as dramatically as in the two Tenet Healthcare scandals. This web page examines these failures. (Created 7/2007)
Tenet Healthcare :: Additional Issues :: 2002
This page examines the massive incentives offered to administrators, the excessive salaries, bonuses and perks provided to executives, insider trading, political donations, and the many court actions taken against the company. (Created 7/2003 Update 7/2007)
Tenet and Hurricane Katrina
In the dreadful conditions following Hurricane Katrina hundreds of patients were trapped under dreadful conditions in one of Tenet Healthcare's hospitals. Forty five bodies were found a week later. A doctor and two nurses were accused of murdering four of these patients. The story is interesting because of the situation, the ethical issues and the way the matter was mishandled. (Created 6/2007 Update 8/2008) 
Update information
The following web site gives additional information about Tenet but has not been upgraded recently. http://www.somh.org. The author has played a key role in disclosing and opposing Tenet's conduct.

Melissa Davis at thestreet.com has also taken a keen interest in this company. She writes perceptively and in detail. Search for her articles at http://www.thestreet.com.

OPERATION LABSCAM
The FBI's 0peration Labscam targetted clinical laboratories and netted onver US $800 million in fraud settlements.

 

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COLUMBIA/HCA
 ACCESS TO WEB PAGES

This page gives a brief overview of the rise and rise of Columbia/HCA, its foray into Australia, its fall from grace followed by its US $1.7 billion fraud settlement. It briefly descibes efforts to keep it out of Australia.

It links to the remaining HCA pages.
(Created 4/00 Update 10/07 )

 

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COLUMBIA/HCA ----- Now HCA

COLUMBIA/HCA OVERVIEW :: Part one :: The Rise and Fall
Columbi/HCA's history, its growth, its business practices, and the raid by the FBI in March 1997.

COLUMBIA/HCA OVERVIEW :: Part two :: The Fraud Investigation
Written in 2000 this page tells the story of the fraud investigation and the multiple FBI raids. It describes the allegations made and the practices which were exposed..

Columbia/HCA Overview (now called HCA) :: Part three :: Fraud, Settlements and Recovery
Written 3 years later in 2003 this page examines the criminal plea and US $1.7 billion settlement. It documents the company's marketplace recovery.

Columbia/HCA :: Patient Care
An examination of staffing issues and allegations of poor care.

Richard Scott & Thomas Frist :: Columbia/HCA Leaders and Culture
An examination of the personalities of the company's leaders and the cultural consequences.

"IMPLICATIONS OF THE ENTRY OF COLUMBIA/HCA INTO AUSTRALIA" :: Submission 31 March 1997
In March 1997 market solutions were being introduced aggressively in Australia. Few were prepared to challenge this. Corporate failures were seen as isolated rogues. Columbia/HCA was about to move into Australia and was being welcomed. The object of this 1997 submission was not only to oppose Columbia/HCA but also to expose the problems in these patterns of thinking and show how widespread the problems really were.

  • Part 1 Background
    Background to corporatisation, globalisation and economic ideology with emphasis on its impact on social control. It puts health care in the wider context
  • Part 2 Health care in the USA
    This looks at what is happening in the health care marketplace in the USA
  • Part 3 Corporate Medicine in Australia
    This looks at the ascendancy of economic ideology in Australia at this time.
  • Part 4 : Columbia /HCA's Business Practices
    This looks at the confusing mass of information which was available and became available within days of the fraud scandal breaking.
  • Part 5 : Mayne Nickless in Australia
    This page looks at Mayne Nickless to demonstrate the similarity of its behaviour, its thinking and its business practices. It was to draw attention to the similarities and counter the "this can't happen here" response.
  • Part 6 : Conclusion
    This page draws it together and takes it back to the broader issues for society explored in part 1
  • Part 7 : References
    The material circulated to authorities to oppose Columbia/HCA's entry and used to write the submission.

Corporate Medicine - I told you so
I used the exposure of Columbia/HCA's practices, further FBI raids in July 1997 and other information to say "I told you so" and build credibility in my opposition to Sun Healthcare's entry to Australia

Corporate Medicine - Hospital licenses :: Revising the regulations
I used Columbia/HCA's admission that its practices caused the problems to press licensing authorities to prohibit them in legislation.

HCA : 2004 to 2007 (An Update)
This page takes the story of the company Columbia/HCA, now called only HCA through tight economic conditions. It examines involvement in the price gouging scandal, concerns about staffing and care, allegations of insider trading, and finally a management led private equity buyout (Created 10/07 )

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AGED CARE
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This page gives a short introduction and then links to a broad review of corporate nursing home care and to multiple pages describing individual corporate chains.
(Created 4/00 Update 10/07 )

 

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OVERVIEW OF AGED CARE

Overview of Corporate Nursing Home Care *** Links to Genesis**
A broad overview and analysis of the corporatised nursing home marketplace and how it comes to exploit those it is meant to serve. Updated August 2003.
SUN HEALTHCARE

SUN HEALTHCARE : ACCESS TO WEB PAGES
The entry point for Sun Healthcare in the USA but not Australia
BEVERLY HEALTHCARE

Beverly Healthcare : Overview and access to web pages
Review of Beverly and access to detailed reference pages which contain additional comments and extracts from references. Beverly is the largest and best established of the corporate chains. To some it is the ultimate evil empire.
VENCOR AND KINDRED HEALTHCARE

VENCOR (renamed Kindred Healthcare)
Introductory Overview of Vencor's business practices, patient care, fraud and bankruptcy and access to other Vencor Pages
INTEGRATED HEALTH SERVICES (IHS)

Integrated Health Services (IHS) : Overview and Access to pages
An overview of the company's rise and rise then precipitous fall into bankruptcy.
GENESIS HEALTH VENTURES

Genesis Health Ventures : Overview and Access to Genesis Pages
A description of this company which set out to do the right thing and care for seniors - how it became a victim of the marketplace.
MARINER POST ACUTE NETWORK

Mariner Overview and Access to Reference Pages
A review of Mariner's origins from a collection of poor providers of care, its rapid failure and bankruptcy
Extendicare

Extendicare Overview
A brief review of this Canadian company's tarnished record in the USA
National Healthcare Corporation (NHC)

Overview : National Healthcare Corporation
A bried overview of NHC's problems with care, insurance and fraud.
Centennial Heathcare

Overview : Centennial Heathcare
An overview of this growth company which tried to solve its problems by selling intself to fianciers and going private. It eventually entered bankruptcy in 2002.
Guardian Healthcare

Guardian Healthcare Overview
Overview and references describing how criminal proceedings instead of regulatory sanctions were used for the first time to address failures in care and the neglect of the elderly.

 

 

Access Managed Care
Links to the pages on the web site dealing with managed care with some comments
Managed Care

Managed Care Part I : The issues, the problems and the crisis.
This page looks at managed care, what it does, how it works, why it is so dysfunctional, and why it has become so unpopular.

Managed Care II :: The crisis unravels, politics and law suits
This page describes the battlefield and what happened there. How people power and corporate power clashed. Concessions were won. The power of the HMOs was dented but remains.

Managed Care III :: Globalisation of Managed Care
The forces driving the HMOs to expand internationally and the way they responded.

 

HEALTHSOUTH

 

 

 

HEALTHSOUTH : Overview and Entry Web Page
The massive fraud at HealthSouth, done in thousands of little bits, is far larger and has gone on for far longer than in any other health care company. Its fraud is on a par with Enron and Worldcom.

This page gives a broad overview of what happened, the investigation, the court actions and HealthSouth's surprising recovery. It links to pages which explore the issues in greater depth.

(Written 7/03 Last revised 10/07)

 

HEALTHSOUTH
HEALTHSOUTH

Chronology of HealthSouth
A year by year account of HealthSouth's progress to giant to fraudster to rehabilitated company. (Written 7/03 Last revised 10/07)

HEALTHSOUTH : The Accountancy Fraud
This page addresses the allegations made about the accounting fraud and uses brief comments and several extracts from the many press reports to tell the story. (Written 7/03 Last revised 10/07)
HealthSouth's Relationships
This page deals with HealthSouth's board and the way it was run, with some of the complex of interrelated companies, and with directors and insider trading (Written 7/03 Last revised 10/07)
CareMark and MedPartners : A HealthSouth Protégé
This page examines the two companies Caremark, a major part of the early 1990's fraud scandal, and MedPartners, a company closely tied to HealthSouth. MedPartners purchased Caremark. The page also documents the rise and fall of the Physician Management Industry of which both were a part, and MedPartners reemergence as Caremark, a pharmaceutical services company making vast profits as a Pharmacy Benefit Manager. Caremark finally buried itself inside another giant CVS. (Written 7/03 Last revised 10/07)
HEALTHSOUTH : Auditors and Banks
This page examines the worrying relationships HealthSouth had with other sectors of the marketplace including Ernst & Young, KPMG, UBS Warburg and AmSouth. Is it credible that they did not know of the fraud? (Written 7/03 Last revised 10/07)
HealthSouth : Medicare Fraud
This page addresses the many allegations that HealthSouth engaged in Medicare fraud. The number of sources and the nature of the allegations point to the probability that this occurred. A US $325 million settlement of whistleblower initiated Qui Tam lawsuits in January 2005 indicates that this was extensive. Press reports show how its reputation as an exemplary company in providing care unravelled. (Written 7/03 Last revised 10/07)
HealthSouth : Failures in Medical Care (Patient Fraud)
This page addresses the conflicts which arise from the pressures to structure the service for profit even when this is not in the interests of care. It considers whether, and if so then to what extent, care might have been compromised. (Written 7/03 Last revised 10/07)
HealthSouth in Australia
HealthSouth entered Australia in 1997/98. While there it participated in the international part of the HealthSouth fraud. Australian authorities took no action. HealthSouth sold in 2006. (Written 10/07)
HealthSouth : Context, Leadership, Culture and Community
This page looks at the workplace context in HealthSouth. It examines personality and social structures in an attempt to understand why the company misbehaved so badly. (Written 7/03 Last revised 10/07)
HealthSouth : The Congressional Investigation - "The Financial Collapse of HealthSouth"
This web page describes what happened at the congressional investigation into HealthSouth's fraud and its financial collapse. There are links to transcripts at the foot of the page. (Written 10/07)
HealthSouth : The Richard Scrushy Fraud Trial
This web page describes how the prosecution's apparently strong fraud prosecution against Richard Scrushy, HealthSouth's founder came undone. The strategies of the prosecution and the defence are examined. It gives a fascinating insight into the US legal system. trial by jury and the patterns of relationships in parts of the USA. (Written 10/07)
HealthSouth's Richard Scrushy and the Bribery Trial
Scrushy was accused and convicted of paying the governor of Alabama US $500,000 as a bribe to appoint Scrushy to a government committee. The manner in which this was done shines a light on the way Scrushy and HealthSouth conducted business. (Written 10/07)
HealthSouth Staff and the Fraud
This web page addresses the lenient sentences given those at HealthSouth who pleaded guilty to the fraud, and the trial and harsh sentence of the only person who was convicted by a jury after pleading not guilty. (Written 10/07)
HealthSouth Court actions
This web page examines the multitude of court actions taken against or by HealthSouth, and documents some of the larger settlements. Litigants include government agencies, shareholders, employees, bondholders, auditors, insurers and many others. These are additional to those described on the other pages. (Written 10/07)
HealthSouth's Collapse and Recovery
When the scandal broke in March 2003 the company spiraled rapidly towards bankruptcy. Everyone expected it to go under. Instead it made a remarkable recovery and by 2007 it was doing well. Whether that was a good thing or not is certainly debatable but it was a monumental achievement. This web page tells the story of that achievement. (Written 10/07)

 

 

PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY
PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY

The Pharmaceutical Industry
This page examines the socially disturbing practices of the drug industry to illustrate the lines of friction that have developed between a historical and social ethos of humanitarian service and the recent more market centred competitive focus on profits and growth adopted by the industry.

Fraud and the Pharmaceutical Industry
Examples of the many allegations of fraud made about the pharmaceutical companies. This page shows that the leaders in the drug business are as prone to indulge in fraud and unsavoury conduct as the leaders in every other sector of the health care marketplace.

 

 

DIALYSIS

 

Renal Dialysis in the USA and Australia
This web page summarises the conduct of the global and local corporations providing kidney dialysis in the fraud prone US system. Many have reached large criminal and/or civil fraud settlements with government. Fresenius paid the largest US settlement in this sector and Gambro Healthcare (now Diaverum) was a recurrent offender. Three of these companies have recently started providing dialysis services in Australia. They have been welcomed and supported by politicians who have contracted the care of public patients to them. All Australian state health licensing regulations have probity clauses restricting the sort of organisationa that can operate in this country. Questions are raised about the granting of licenses to these companies. (Written 8/08)

 

 

DIALYSIS

Diaverum (New Name for Gambro Healthcare)
This web page traces the dialysis services supplied by Gambro. a Swedish multinational. It examines its repeated fraud settlements in the USA, the problems with its equipment, the sale of its US dialysis clinics to DaVita, and the sale of its remaining global dialysis business to private equity. It was renamed Diaverum. It operates in Australia. (Written 8/08)

Fresenius
Fresenius is a German multinational providing dialysis equipment and services, as well as a number of similar products and services. It has paid the largest fraud and criminal settlement in the sector and is once again under investigation. It now operates dialysis services in Australia. (Written 8/08)
Baxter
Baxter is a large US multinational provider of intravenous fluids, infusion equipment.and dialysis machines. It has diversified into several other areas including dialysis clinics. By comparison with the rest of the sector in the USA, Baxters track record for fraud is quite good. There have however been some serious problems with its dialysis products with a large number of deaths resulting. Baxter now operates dialysis services in Australia. (Written 8/08)
US Only Dialysis Companies
A large number of US dialysis businesses have consolidated, many acquired by Fresenius and Gambro. DeVita is the main local US survivor. It is under investigation itself, Renal Care Group is still being investigated for fraud but has been acquired by DaVita. Competition issues from this recent spate of acquisitions has forced the sell off of a large number of clinics. These have been snapped up by two newly formed companies, Renal Advantage and National Renal Institutes (Written 8/08)
Australia Welcomes Dialysis Multinationals
 Dialysis provided for the benefit of shareholders is a recent development in Australia. It has been associated with a move from hospital to community setting. The same companies that have paid massive fraud settlements and whose care has been inferior to not for profit entities in the USA have been welcomed here. They have been given licenses by state authorities and contracted to care for public patients. Australian legislation requires that the providers of these services be "fit and proper" persons. Companies reaching criminal settlements could not possibly qualify. They should not be operating here. This information is and has been readily available on the most basic of internet searches. It is not possible for politicians and government officials to be ignorant of this unless it was a deliberate decision not to look. In spite of their international track record available indicators suggest that these companies have performed well here and have been good corporate citizens. There is no readilyavailable data on the quality of care provided in Australia. (Written 8/08)

 
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Citigroup

Citigroup, the giant financial group is used as the vehicle for an exploration of the problems of Wall Street. This page provides a short summary of the scandals surrounding Citigroup and Financial markets.

This is followed by an overview of the issues and links to pages giving more details of the scandals and frauds. It describes Citigroup's involvement in Health care and the purchase of Mayne Health hospitals in Australia by a Citigroup subsidiary.

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Citigroup Purchases Mayne Hospitals

Mayne Health becomes Affinity Health
This page describes the sale of Mayne Health's hospitals to Venture Capitalists including a subsidiary of Ctigroup. It examines the implications and possible adverse outcomes.

The Companies Buying Mayne Health.
This page examines available information about the three Venture Capital groups that have purchased Mayne Hospitals. It documents the way in which Citigroup's ownership was carefully omitted from reports in the Australian press so that the public was unaware of the nature and track record of the purchaser.
Early Citigroup Activities

Citicorp and Citibank (before the 1998 merger)
This page documents the money laundering and other allegations of unsavoury conduct by John Reed's Citicorp before the Citigroup merger in 1998.

Salomon Smith Barney (before the 1998 merger)
This page documents the scandals and frauds in which the various arms of Sandy Weill's companies were involved prior to the 1998 merger to form Citigroup.
Citigroup after the Merger
This page examines the allegations made about Citigroup's behaviour and the scandals after the merger to form Ciitigroup in 1998.
CITIGROUP : The Big 21st Century Scandals

The Banking Marketplace
This page examines the financiers marketplace, its ideology, its power, its control over other markets including health care, and its political influence.

The Dotcom and Technology Bubbles : Market Analysts and Fraud
This page examines the conflicts of interest and the close links between market analysts and bankers working for Citigroup and others. These resulted in dishonest positive reports which brought in business for banks but fueled the technology bubble and defrauded investors who lost trillions of dollars. It was at the heart of the 21st century fraud scandals.
Company CEOs : Bribery by Spinning Shares
This page documents the way in which bankers and analysts illegally diverted lucrative share offers away from the public to solicit business from wealthy business colleagues, a form of bribery.
Company Employees : Exploiting Novice Investors
This page explains the way in which inexperienced employees with share options were persuaded into risky investments which benefited Citigroup but bankrupted many employees.
The WorldCom Collapse : Citigroup's Guiding Hand
This page describes the incestuous and self-serving role played by Citigroup bankers and analysts in the meteoric rise of WorldCom and its spectacular collapse.
Structured Finance: The Enron Debacle
This page uses the Enron fraud and collapse to describe the nature and intent of structured finance. It looks at the way the financial institutions used it to aid and abet Enron's fraud. It examines the roles of Citigroup bankers and analysts, accountants, lawyers, and also the political strategies used by these groups.
The Financiers and Health Care
This page speculates on the possible role which pressures generated by financial institutions, particularly bankers and analysts may have played in the various health care scandals. It goes on to describe Citigroup and UBS Warburg's documented long term involvement with the fraudulent HealthSouth.
The Settlement and The Response
This page describes the investigators and regulators, the negotiation process which resulted in a fraud settlement, the nature of the fraud settlement and its inadequacies, the inappropriate response of many of those involved, and finally back to business.
Citigroup Culture and People
This page examines the characters of people involved in the Citigroup saga and in doing so looks at the culture of Citigroup, the New York Stock Exchange and the lobbying and political system.
An article "Hazards in the Corporatisation of Health Care" which I wrote was published in New Doctor in March 2004 <available at http://www.drs.org.au/>. It summarises Australia's disturbing record with multinationals and describes the Citigroup led purchase.
 

SYSTEM PROCESS AND SYSTEM FAILURES IN THE USA

At various stages in dealing with companies and problems I have hurriedly written pages of varying depth about system issues. It is clear that the system has failed multiple times and at multiple poiints. The pages display varying degrees of insight, theorising and naiveté. Most need more research and documentation. Some are incomplete and need more thought. I have placed these in the broad section of "Corporate Practices". I have provided duplicate links here to those pages which seem to have particular relevance to the other pages about the USA.

LINKS TO MAPS
Central Map ..... Initial Map ..... USA Map ..... Australian Map ..... International Map ..... Corporate Practices Map
This page created June 2004 by Michael Wynne
Modified September 2004