“The View” star Sunny Hostin blasts insurance company suing her husband for fraud, demands apology

The View star and legal expert Sunny Hostin responded forcefully to a recent lawsuit that accuses her husband, Dr. Emmanuel Hostin, of insurance fraud.

In a statement obtained by Entertainment Weekly, Hostin claims that the plaintiff, American Transit, an insurance group that primarily works with ride-share drivers, filed the suit "to avoid paying for medical and surgical procedures for people it insured who were in pain. This company has a history of filing frivolous claims, has been investigated by New York State and has been sued by Uber Technologies."

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The lawsuit that names Dr. Hostin among nearly 200 other defendants is one of the largest RICO cases ever filed in New York state. Dr. Hostin is an orthopedic surgeon and the owner of Hostin Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine, a practice established in Manhattan in 2006.

The 698-page complaint obtained by Entertainment Weekly alleges that Dr. Hostin "knowingly provided fraudulent medical and other healthcare services including arthroscopic surgeries to Covered Persons through Hostin Orthopaedics" and then fraudulently billed American Transit for the costs. Dr. Hostin allegedly perpetrated this fraud "in exchange for kickbacks and/or other compensation which were disguised as dividends or other cash distributions."

Hostin alleges that American Transit is "on the verge of bankruptcy," and by naming her husband, is attempting "to poison the well of public opinion because it does not have a valid case." Instead, the company "used my celebrity status to start a disgusting media smear campaign against my husband," which constitutes "harassing me and my family in a frantic attempt to not pay its bills."

Hostin vows, "Our family will not be intimidated and harassed. We remain unbowed."

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"We have put American Transit on notice and will file a five-million-dollar counter lawsuit for their defamatory claims, an amount that is likely to increase as the reputational damage that American Transit has intentionally caused is difficult to quantify at this time," Hostin continues in her statement. She also demands that American Transit "withdraw these false allegations, pay my husband what he is owed and issue a public apology."

"Insurance companies like American Transit make an already broken healthcare system nearly impossible for Americans to navigate and get good healthcare by engaging in despicable tactics like harassing doctors," Hostin concludes, "Let me be clear, where I come from, American Transit will receive a PhD from FAFO University."

"FAFO" stands for "f--- around and find out."

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Dr. Hostin's attorney, Daniel Thwaites, stated in comments shared with Daily Mail that his client "denies each and every allegation," and called the suit a "blanket, scattershot, meritless lawsuit by a near-bankrupt insurance carrier." Thwaites claimed that the filing is "meant to intimidate and harass doctors from collecting for care given to American Transit insureds and their passengers."

The lawsuit brought against American Transit by Uber that Sunny mentions in her statement was filed last February. That complaint identifies 23 lawsuits filed by American Transit between August 2016 and July 2023 related to claims from accidents involving Uber drivers. The company similarly alleges that American Transit has demonstrated a "pattern and practice of failing to adhere to reasonable claims-handling practices and failing to reasonably resolve claims and lawsuits on its insureds' behalf."

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly