Vegas Hospital Volunteer Pleads Guilty to Soliciting Patients for PI Lawyers

A hospital volunteer in Las Vegas has pleaded guilty in a scheme to pay for patient information that he used to solicit clients for personal injury lawyers.

Richard Charette, 55, admitted in federal court on Tuesday that he paid $9,200 for 55 patient records at the University Medical Center, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the Las Vegas Sun and the Associated Press.

Prosecutors refused to comment when the Review-Journal asked whether Charette would identify conspirators, but some lawyers’ names have already surfaced in a racketeering lawsuit filed by Allstate.

The insurer alleges lawyers Andrew Taylor and Dennis Ramsey sent patients to chiropractors for unnecessary treatment and submitted “trumped up medical bills,” helping the lawyers leverage higher settlements, according to the Review-Journal and an earlier story by the Las Vegas Sun. The lawyers both denied the allegations.