Linda Rodrigue is a partner in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. She has been practicing law since 1989 and joined the firm in March 1991. Linda is the senior attorney in the firm’s health law regulatory group. She represents physicians, physician groups, nurses, nurse practitioners, social workers, physical therapists, rehabilitation agencies, physician assistants, and businesses that provide services to health care providers.  She has experience in health care administrative, regulatory and litigation matters including defense of qui tam cases; fraud and abuse advice and defense; defense of Medicare and Medicaid audits; compliance advice  and compliance investigations; HIPAA compliance; and Medicare and Medicaid exclusion and reinstatement.  She also represents healthcare providers before numerous licensing boards, as well as before credentialing agencies such as managed care organizations and hospitals.

Linda is listed in the 2009 and 2010 editions of The Best Lawyers in America in Health Care Law.

Representative Experience

• Defense of federal False Claims Act litigation, including whistleblower lawsuits.
  
• Defense of physicians, optometrists, dentists, pharmacy providers, home health agencies, waiver providers, CMHC's and mental health rehabilitation providers in defense of Medicare and Medicaid audits. 
• Representation of physicians, social workers, licensed professional counselors, radiologic technologists, pharmacists, physician assistants and nurses in licensing board matters, both in and outside of Louisiana.  Extensive representation of physicians before the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners (the LSBME).
  
• Representation of physicians in hospital credentialing matters.  
• Representation of healthcare providers in joint ventures.
• Representation of continuing care retirement communities in litigation, regulatory and transactional matters.
• Serve as special counsel with criminal defense attorneys in health care criminal cases.
  

Education

Linda earned her J.D. from The University of Memphis School of Law, with highest honors, in 1989. She earned her B.G.S. from Louisiana State University in 1986.

Admissions

• Admitted, Tennesse, 1989; Louisiana, 1991
  
• Admitted, U.S. Court of Appeal, Sixth Circuit, 1989
  
• Admitted, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, 1990
• Admitted, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 1991
  
• Admitted, U.S. District Courts for the Eastern, Middle and Western Districts of Louisiana, 1991
  
• Admitted, U.S. Supreme Court, 2008
  

Memberships

• Baton Rouge, Louisiana State (Health Law Section) and American Bar (Health Law Section) Associations
  
• American Health Lawyers Association
• Louisiana Medical Group Management Association
• Louisiana Hospital Association, Society of Hospital Attorneys

Articles, Publications and Presentations

Federal Court of Appeals Absolves Louisiana Hospital of Liability in Failure to Report Physician Impairment While on Medical Staff, Louisiana Law Blog, October 2008
OIG Opines Favorably on Electronic Kiosks Provided by Pharmaceutical Manufacturer, Louisiana Law Blog, July 2008
Health Law Notes, July 2008
Health Law Notes, June 2008
Health Law Notes, February 2005
Phase II of the Final Stark Regulations:
Health Law Notes, February 2004
Health Law Notes, June 2006

Community Service

• Board of Directors, Treasurer, Vice President, Battered Women's Program
• Volunteer, Friends for Life-Baton Rouge AIDS/HIV Task Force
• Board of Directors, Vice President, Louisiana Lupus Foundation
• Chair, Louisiana Legal Network
• Member, YWCA, Connections Subgroup
• Lawyers in the Classroom
  
• Graduate, Greater Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce Leadership Class of 2001
• Board of Directors, Capital Area CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates)

Lecturer

• Health Care Reform Briefing Series, Baton Rouge, June 24, 2010 (additional sessions to follow in August and October, 2010).
  
• Your Tax Dollars at Work: Understanding Federal Government Investigations of Medical Practices, Video Seminar, December, 2009.
  
• Quality of Care: A Fraud and Abuse Issue?, 2006.
• Collateral Issues in Settling Medical Malpractice Cases and Fraud and Abuse in Quality of Care, National Business Institute Seminar, 2006.
• Collateral Issues Related to Pleading Guilty to Health Law Crimes, Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, New Orleans, 2006.
• National Patient Safety Act, 2005.
• Panelist, Fraud and Abuse Teleconference, ABA Health Law Section, Young Lawyers Division, ABA Center for CLE, 2004.
• Faculty, LAMMICO Annual Defense Counsel Meeting, 2004.
• Third Party Reimbursement Issues, Baton Rouge, 2003.
• Nursing Law in Louisiana, NBI, Baton Rouge, 1991.
• Legal Expert, LAMMICO Fraud and Abuse Seminars, Baton Rouge, Hammond, Lafayette, Alexandria, and Monroe, Louisiana.
• Speaker, Louisiana Healthcare Financial Management Association, 2001 and 2002 Winter Conferences on "Compliance Issues."
• HIPAA Privacy and Proposed Changes to the Rule, Physician CME Seminar, Baton Rouge, 2002.
• Panelist, Professional Negligence Teleconference, ABA Health Law Section, Young Lawyers Division, ABA Center for CLE, 2002.
• Medicare/Medicaid Fraud and Abuse, Lake Charles (2001) and Baton Rouge (1999, 2000, 2001), covering Stark Law, Anti-Kick back Statute and Civil False Claims Act. .
• Qui Tam Lawsuits, Baton Rouge, 2000
• False Claims Act, Lorman Education Series, Baton Rouge, 2000.
• Third Party Reimbursement Issues, Baton Rouge, 2003.

Authorships

• Professional Courtesy Exception under Stark III:  Significant Changes, 2008
• Medicaid Recoupment Based on Lack of Necessity Not Permitted if Based on Review of Billing Records Alone, 2007.
  
• Fraud and Abuse: Physicians Have Questions, LAMMICO newsletter, The Letter, July/August 2005.
• On the Healthcare Horizon: Legal Issues, Baton Rouge Business Report – What's New in Healthcare, 2003.
• Physicians Opting-Out of Medicare, LAMMICO Newsletter, The Letter, 2001.