April 22, 2014

Page 1

1st since 1983 American wins men’s division in Boston Marathon B1 SERVING SOUTH CAROLINA SINCE OCTOBER 15, 1894

TUESDAY, APRIL 22, 2014

75 CENTS

Tuomey appeals reserving $70M Judge ordered money set aside for hospital to continue its case BY BRADEN BUNCH bbunch@theitem.com (803) 774-1201 Hoping to avoid an outlay of cash hospital officials say they can’t afford at this time, lawyers with Tuomey Healthcare System filed an

appeal Monday with the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, asking the higher court to lower the amount of money it’ll need to place into reserves as it continues to pursue overturning the outstanding $237.5 million judgment against it. The appeal comes on the hospital’s deadline to respond to a previous ruling by the United States District Court, District of South Carolina. On April 10, Senior U.S. District Judge Margaret B. Seymour

ordered Tuomey to place $70 million into reserves — $30 million in a bond and $40 million in escrow — in order to continue with its appeal in its nineyear-old court case. Tuomey is facing the $237.5 million judgment after a federal jury last year found the hospital in violation of Stark Law. In its verdict, the jury determined Tuomey had signed illegal contracts with several of its doctors and as a result had submitted more than

21,000 false Medicare claims between 2005 and 2009. Lawyers for Tuomey had requested Seymour require only a much lower $30 million be placed into escrow to allow the hospital to continue its appeal. Without any ruling, federal guidelines would have required Tuomey place 125 percent of the judgment it was facing — about $295 million — into reserves. And because last year’s trial was a retrial of the same case previously ruled on in 2010, Tuomey already

SEE TUOMEY, PAGE A8

Finders keepers

MATT WALSH / THE SUMTER ITEM

Children take off during the Easter egg hunt and celebration Saturday at St. John’s United Methodist Church. See more photos from the church’s event on page A6.

Police will collect your old medications this Saturday BY BRISTOW MARCHANT bmarchant@theitem.com (803) 774-1272 For the eighth year in a row, local law-enforcement agencies will be doing their part in a national campaign to combat prescription drug abuse. Locations will be set up in Sumter County on Saturday to collect old prescription medications for the annual National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. Organized by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the take-back program allows people with old, expired or unwanted medication to safely discard them without risking the drugs falling into the wrong hands. “The biggest thing is that somebody does not get their hands on

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Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington recently. Many young officers are being told they have to leave as the wars wind down and Pentagon budgets shrink. “ When we increased the size of the Army, we recruited heavily in certain year groups. So as we draw the Army down, those are over strength,” Odierno said.

them for improper use,” said Tonyia McGirt, public information officer for Sumter Police Department. “Prescription drugs should only be used as prescribed by a physician, by the person with the prescription.” Sumter police along with Sumter County Sheriff’s Office are encouraging residents to take old medications to the City-County Law Enforcement Center, 107 E. Hampton Ave., between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday. Law-enforcement officers will collect medications free of charge. The take-back program is only equipped to take solid medications such as pills. The program can’t accept liquids, sharp items such as needles, ointments or

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

As Army shrinks, young officers being pushed out of their posts FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) — After the 9/11 attacks, tens of thousands of young men and women joined the military, heading for the rugged mountains of Afghanistan and dusty deserts of Iraq. Many of them now are officers in the Army with multiple combat deployments under their belts. But as the wars

SEE DRUGS, PAGE A8

DEATHS, B6 Donna M. Poole Bill Jones William J. Bryant Garry R. Moore Patricia Y. Naylor

Irvin F. Barger Frances M. Rodgers Tina Marie Hill John D. Lea Sr. Betty St. John

wind down and Pentagon budgets shrink, a lot of them are being told they have to leave. It’s painful and frustrating. In quiet conversations at Fort Bragg in North Carolina and Fort Eustis in Virginia,

SEE ARMY, PAGE A8

WEATHER, A10

INSIDE

SPRING STORMS

3 SECTIONS, 22 PAGES VOL. 119, NO. 160

An afternoon storm today with more possible this evening HIGH 82, LOW 54

Clarendon Sun C1 Lotteries A10 Classifieds B7 Opinion A9 Comics B5 Television A7


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April 22, 2014 by The Sumter Item - Issuu