Dr. Emmanuel “Manny” Hostin, husband of The View co-host Sunny Hostin, is facing allegations of fraudulently billing an insurance company, according to a lawsuit filed in December and first reported by the Daily Mail on Tuesday. Hostin, an orthopedic surgeon, is one of nearly 200 defendants named in what the Daily Mail describes as one of the largest RICO cases ever filed in New York.
The lawsuit accuses Hostin and the other defendants of conducting fraudulent healthcare services and billing American Transit, an insurance provider for taxi companies and Uber drivers, in exchange for “kickbacks and/or other compensation disguised as dividends or other cash distributions,” according to court documents. The lawsuit, filed on December 17, claims that Dr. Manny Hostin has been the owner of Hostin Orthopaedics in New York City since February 2006. It further alleges that he “knowingly provided fraudulent medical and other healthcare services” and billed the insurance company for those services, the Daily Caller reported.
“Defendant Hostin is the record owner of Hostin Orthopaedics and purportedly provided examinations to Covered Persons through Hostin Orthopaedics, and fraudulently billed American Transit for medical and other healthcare services, pursuant to a fraudulent predetermined treatment protocol irrespective of medical necessity in exchange for kickbacks and/or other financial compensation paid by one or more of the Controllers and/or other entities owned, controlled, and operated by them and/or one or more of the John Does 2 through 20 or ABC Corporations 1 through 20,” the lawsuit stated.
William Natbony, an attorney representing the insurance company, stated that his client is combating “no-fault fraud,” a significant and growing issue in the state of New York. “American Transit filed a lawsuit as part of its statutory responsibility to fight such fraud,” Natbony said.
Daniel Thwaites, an attorney for Hostin, said his client denies all of the allegations and called the lawsuit a “blanket, scattershot, meritless lawsuit by a near-bankrupt insurance carrier,” according to the Daily Mail. The attorney accused the insurance company of “abusing the legal system to limit and restrict healthcare benefits” to its customers. “[The lawsuit] is meant to intimidate and harass doctors from collecting for care given to American Transit insureds and their passengers,” Thwaites added.
The lawsuit accused Hostin of seeing two patients in January 2023 who were involved in “low impact” collisions that would have caused “no more than soft tissue injuries,” according to the Daily Mail. The surgeon performed arthroscopic surgery on the patients within two months without verifying if they had recovered with less invasive care.
The insurance company pointed fingers at the “No-Fault Law,” a New York law from 1974 which requires insurers to pay up to $50,000 for medical expenses for those hurt in car accidents regardless of who is at fault, for the reported rise in “rampant” insurance fraud, the Daily Mail reported. American Transit is seeking $450 million in damages the report said.
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