Two Florida men charged in $34.8M Medicare fraud; HHS to shut down University of Miami’s ‘unsafe’ organ agency; Rep. Greg Murphy backs Trump’s revival of Presidential Fitness Test with new bill – Morning Medical Update

Two Florida men charged in $34.8M Medicare fraud scheme

Federal prosecutors have charged two Florida men with orchestrating a $34.8 million scheme to defraud Medicare by billing for medically unnecessary equipment, including orthotic braces and glucose monitors. According to the indictment, Kenneth Charles Kessler III and Michael Andrew Gomez, both 42, operated seven durable medical equipment companies, using illegal kickbacks, deceptive telemarketing and sham telemedicine orders to generate false claims. The scheme allegedly exploited thousands of Medicare beneficiaries. If convicted, the defendants face up to 65 years in prison.

HHS moves to shut down University of Miami organ agency after safety issues

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said it will decertify the University of Miami’s Life Alliance Organ Recovery Agency following years of unsafe practices, poor training and chronic underperformance. A federal investigation uncovered a list of systemic problems, including a 2024 error that caused a donated heart to be rejected for transplant. The move comes as part of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s broader reforms of the organ transplant system, which has faced criticism for oversight lapses and inefficiencies. Nearly 100,000 Americans remain on transplant waitlists, and an average of 13 patients die each day waiting for organs, according to the report.

Rep. Greg Murphy backs Trump’s revival of Presidential Fitness Test with new bill

Rep. Greg Murphy, M.D. (R-N.C.), introduced the “Make America’s Youth Healthy Again Act” to codify President Trump’s executive order restoring the original, merit-based Presidential Fitness Test. First launched in the 1960s, the test set measurable performance standards for students before being replaced in 2012. Murphy, a practicing surgeon, argues that reinstating objective standards will combat rising childhood obesity, declining fitness levels and related health complications. The bill also reestablishes the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, intended to promote exercise and healthy eating in schools nationwide.

“As both a urologist and the only practicing surgeon in Congress, I have seen firsthand the devastating decline of the health of America’s youth,” Murphy said. “We must challenge America’s youth to improve their health and fitness through the original, merit-based Presidential Fitness Test.” Read Murphy's Op-Ed in the Daily Caller for more.