IN THE MATTER OF THE SEARCH OF:
COLASANTE CLINIC, LOCATED AT Case No: 1-11-mj-23-GRJ
610 NW 16TH AVENUE, GAINESVILLE,
ALACHUA COUNTY, FLORIDA
IN THE MATTER OF THE SEIZURE OF:
M&S BANK ACCOUNT #138171 Case No: 1-11-mj-31-GRJ
IN THE NAME OF “COLASANTE CLINIC”
and
CAMPUS USA CREDIT UNION Case No: 1-11-mj-29-GRJ
CHECKING ACCOUNT
#149817-9 IN THE NAME OF
ONA COLASANTE
and
CAMPUS USA CREDIT UNION Case No: 1-11-mj-30-GRJ
SAVINGS ACCOUNT
#149817-0 IN THE NAME OF
ONA COLASANTE
______________________________________/
RECONSIDERATION OF MAGISTRATE’S ORDER
GRANTING AN EMERGENCY MOTION FOR RETURN
OF SEIZED PROPERTY AND DOCUMENTS
TO UNSEAL AFFIDAVITS
AND
FOR IMMEDIATE ADVERSARIAL HEARING
________________________________________________________________
I, Dr. Ona Colasante, had counsel in the above-named cases but, due to complete depletion of funds resulting from continued good faith management and patient care at Colasante Clinic following the forfeiture of my bank accounts and stoppage of payments for services to patients by the Medicare program, am in the process of securing a public defender because I can no longer retain such counsel. While this Court has set a hearing for my earlier-filed motion for emergency relief, I, Dr. Colasante, respectfully request reconsideration of the timing of the hearing, given the emergent circumstance.
In this period of emergency for my 3000 patients and 20-plus staff at Colasante Clnic I am filing this motion pro se to request an immediate hearing for the return of funds representing working capital for the Clinic, without which the Clinic will shut down on Thursday, September 1, 2011, unable to meet payroll, staff health insurance premiums, malpractice and general liability insurance coverage requirements, medical supplies and other operating costs due to indebtedness which has accrued since the complete forfeiture of the Clinic and personal bank accounts of Colasante Clinic and Ona Colasante, and due to an inter-agency federal communication which has resulted in stoppage of Medicare payments owed to the Clinic.
Moreover, the sudden disposition of these 3000 patients, who will need to seek medical care elsewhere for sometimes life-threatening conditions, is likely to result in a health crisis for some of them, especially in light of the fact that the largest part of their written medical documents is not readily available to them, having been seized by the federal government and now being stored at an unknown facility in Tampa, Florida. Since the seizure of all records on June 16, 2011 many patients have requested these vital documents for purposes of ongoing healthcare. Thus it is likely that if Colasante Clinic is forced to close on Thursday, September 1, 2011 these patients will have no easy access to their important health records.
Since the affidavits substantiating the massive publicized raid of the Clinic’s medical, personnel, log sheets, and other important records and forfeitures have been sealed, it remains unfathomable what misunderstanding or misinformation could have impelled the events leading to this current personal and professional catastrophe. Dr. Colasante has served rural Floridians in Alachua and Putnam counties for 18 years and has relationships with patients that go this far back. The defamation of her reputation by the insurgence and overconfidence of the agents on June 16, 2011, as well as by the loss of patient records and the publicity given this event, and the rabid intent to destroy the clinic (the lead agent said, “If I could have convinced the judge to shut this clinic down today, I would have!”--other agents told patients to find another doctor because this clinic was not going to be here much longer--) have attenuated Dr. Colasante’s standing in the community). Now the financial stranglehold makes it likely that the agents’ stated intentions, in the absence of a Judgment to close the clinic, will be fulfilled.
The Prosecutor in these cases has been approached by Dr. Colasante’s counsels, first Mr. Mark Thomas, then Mr. Curtis Falgatter, upward of twenty times in this matter, with the express purpose of negotiating a solution to the crisis for patient care and the imminent shutdown of the Clinic resulting from the drastic measures taken against the Clinic, and he has responded repeatedly with indifference. It is only after failure of these numerous, urgent requests, and depletion of Clinic and personal liquid assets necessary to fund legal representation and the continued function of the Clinic, that the Court is petitioned, as a last resort, in this desperate matter, for an immediate hearing to prevent closure of the Clinic and unintentional harm to patients.
Dr. Colasante has in the prior two and a half months, despite great confusion and anxiety, acted with utmost professionalism and commitment and, as always, in her patients’ and staff’s best interests, continuing the excellent medical care patients have always received and from which they have greatly benefited. She can no longer do so without immediate financial relief and without an opening of the affidavits for the purpose of addressing the contents therein with rational and meaningful intent. Therefore I, Dr. Colasante, request reconsideration of the timing of the hearing on the Motion before the Court.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
ONA COLASANTE MD
COLASANTE CLINIC, PA
810 NW 16TH AVENUE
GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA 32601
- Financial statement for Colasante Clinic for July and August 2011
- Cato Journal article: “HIPAA and the Criminalization of American Medicine”
- Statement from financial consultant with report of assets, no liquidable
- Bank statement from M&S Bank
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