Patric Hooper

Hooper Lundy & Bookman PC

Los Angeles

Litigation

As a founder and lead name partner of the health care boutique Hooper Lundy & Bookman PC, Patric Hooper has seen a lot of cases come and go. The firm celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2017. But nothing has equaled the deadly coronavirus pandemic.

"We are busier than ever," he said. "In this niche our people are swamped." Clients include the California Hospital Association and the California Association of Health Facilities, the professional groups at the center of the crisis. "Every day we are issuing new bulletins on regulatory changes."

A next phase in dealing with the pandemic will be the introduction of an antibody test that tells whether a patient has been exposed to the virus and now may have some immunity. Hooper represents a distributor for Cellex Inc., a Hong Kong-based biotech researcher with U.S. offices in North Carolina, whose blood test was the first approved by the Food and Drug Administration at the beginning of April.

"This will be a big step in getting America moving again," Hooper said. Those who test positive for the relevant antibodies may be among the first allowed to return to work. "We're in touch with several states and a U.S. manufacturer to get the process going."

Even with all that activity, the firm's bandwidth is broad enough that it has agreed to extend its representation to a physician client and his wife who were arrested and charged in the college admissions "Varsity Blues" matter. "Our clients are Gregory Colburn M.D. and his wife Amy Colburn," Hooper said. "We are among the 14 or so defendants who have pleaded not guilty and are insisting on trying the case." US v. Sidoo, 19-cr-10080 (D. Mass., filed March 5, 2018).

The Colburns are accused of paying $25,000 to have their son's SAT test corrected to obtain a higher score. Hooper and colleagues said the Colburns completely deny the allegations. Trial is set for January 2021.

"Dr. Colburn contacted me the same day he and his wife were arrested at their home in Palo Alto," Hooper said. Earlier, Hooper had represented Colburn, a radiation oncologist, and helped him successfully avoid a significant sanction, revocation of his Medicare billing privileges, that was about to be imposed by a Medicare administrative contractor.

"The contractor had sought to impose the sanction due to an innocent and inadvertent mistake, the use of an out-of-date provider number, made by Dr. Colburn's outside billing company," Hooper said. "Fortunately, we were able to obtain a positive resolution with the government after we filed a TRO request in federal court." Radiation Oncology Medical Partners v. Azar, 18-cv-06462 (N.D. Cal., filed Oct. 23, 2018).

"I like a good fight and you get them in health care," Hooper said. "And you get to work with a lot of great clients."

-- John Roemer