LOS ANGELES, Dec. 3, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Tenet Healthcare Corporation (NYSE:THC) is the subject of a securities class action accusing the for-profit hospital chain of defrauding its investors, Berman DeValerio Pease Tabacco Burt & Pucillo said today.
The lawsuit was filed November 14, 2002 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. It seeks damages for violations of federal securities laws on behalf of all investors who bought Tenet securities from October 3, 2001 through October 31, 2002 (the Class Period).
Berman DeValerio has represented investors in class actions for 20 years. To review the complaint and learn more about becoming a lead plaintiff, please visit the firm's website at www.bermanesq.com.
The lawsuit claims that Tenet artificially inflated its financial results by using aggressive pricing tactics to over-bill Medicare.
Investors began to learn the truth about Tenet on October 28, 2002 when a UBS Warburg analyst revealed that the company was far more dependent than other hospitals on Medicare outlier payments, and that those payments had tripled over 3 years to total nearly a quarter of Tenet's projected revenue for this fiscal year. Outlier payments are reimbursements made from Medicare when patient care exceeds the normal cost.
Then, on October 31, 2002, news broke that the FBI was investigating two doctors at Tenet's Redding Medical Center in California for allegedly performing many unnecessary heart surgeries and billing Medicare for them, thus artificially boosting the hospital's revenue and profits. According to the news articles, the two doctors had performed these unnecessary and invasive procedures on as many as 25 to 50 percent of their patients since at least 1995. Three other doctors associated with Tenet had concluded that many of the procedures were "medically unnecessary," but Tenet refused to investigate or stop the practice after hearing of the complaints, according to the lawsuit.
As a result of these revelations, Tenet's stock price has dropped from an all-time high of $52.50 per share on Oct. 3, 2002 to around $15 per share today, erasing a staggering $11 billion in market value.
If you purchased Tenet stock during the period October 3, 2001 through October 31, 2002 you may wish to contact the following attorneys at Berman DeValerio Pease Tabacco Burt & Pucillo to discuss your rights and interests.
Joseph J. Tabacco, Jr., Esq. Nicole Lavallee, Esq. Jennifer S. Abrams, Esq. 425 California Street, Suite 2025 San Francisco, CA 94104 (415) 433-3200 Jeffrey C. Block, Esq. N. Nancy Ghabai, Esq. One Liberty Square Boston, MA 02109 (800) 516-9926 law@bermanesq.com
If you wish to apply to be lead plaintiff in this action, a motion must be filed on your behalf with the court no later than December 31, 2002. You may contact the attorneys at Berman DeValerio to discuss your rights regarding the appointment of lead plaintiff and your interest in the class action. You may also retain counsel of your choice. To be a member of the class, however, you need not take any action at this time.
Berman DeValerio Pease Tabacco Burt & Pucillo prosecutes class actions nationwide on behalf of institutions and individuals, chiefly victims of securities fraud, antitrust law violations and consumer fraud. The firm consists of 36 attorneys in Boston, San Francisco and West Palm Beach, Florida.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca