Talk:Danny Porush

Current employment

There has been some recent edit warring by IP addresses to remove information about the current work of Daniel Porush. According to the sources, Porush currently works with a Boca Raton, Florida-based medical supply company which has operated under the names Med-care Diabetic & Medical Supplies, Christian Diabetics and the Christian Healthcare Network. The sources provided are:

• Maiello, Michael; Stewart, Emily (2008-08-21). "Blood Money". Forbes. Retrieved 2014-1-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
• Crowley, Kieran (2013-04-15). "With film release approaching, 'Wolves of Wall Street' scammers are back on top". New York Post. Retrieved 2014-1-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)

Discussion may be needed about this. Changes to the article by editors should explicitly state any problems with the information. And, as always, strict adherence to WP:BLP guidelines for this information should be followed. — CactusWriter ^(talk) 16:33, 18 January 2014 (UTC)

Christian Diabetics

Again, IP addresses have removed the name "Christian Diabetics" from Porush's business history because it is "inactive". However, the text does not claim current activity, but rather that he has operated a business under that name -- which is a fact verified by reliable source. Please note that an encyclopedia is not time sensitive: facts of the past remain true in the future. Most individuals have operated businesses which are no longer in business, but that does not mean the business name is removed from their biography. (Case in point: Stratton Oakmont is also no longer active but that company name is not removed from Porush's biography.) Please discuss on this talk page before any further removals. — CactusWriter ^(talk) 19:30, 19 January 2014 (UTC)

Stratton Oakmont founding - consistency issue

This page claims that: Stratton Oakmont was a Long Island, New York, "over-the-counter" brokerage house founded by Jordan Belfort and Danny Porush.(link)

The Stratton Oakmont page on the other hand... Stratton Oakmont was a Long Island, New York, "over-the-counter" brokerage house founded by Jordan Belfort and Kenny Greene, and later bought by Danny Porush.(link)

Clearly there is an inconsistency here on who actually founded the firm...

Some quick googling shows that NY state requires a 'Certificate Of Incorporation'; but does not seem to post them online, so interested parties could presumably solve this with a physical source reference or something. [(link)] Being as I am out of state and not interested enough, will pass on doing it, but placing this on both talk pages as a general FYI of the issue to interested parties. 74.140.37.168 (talk) 04:29, 20 January 2014 (UTC)

Medicare hearing

IP addresses and SPA editors have been removing referenced information about: (1) a United States Senate hearing concerning Medicare fraud which focused on the Med-Care company, and (2) a US Senate bill, one part of which targeted Porush and his involvement with Med-Care. The mention in the article is supported by citations. Two relevant quotes from the cited sources are:

• ...that didn’t keep the government from permitting Porush to move into a new line of business: selling medical supplies to Medicare patients through the Boca Raton-based Med-Care Diabetic & Medical Supplies. The company has been the target of complaints and a Congressional investigation. ... Porush is accused of failing to disclose his interest in the Medicare company called Med-Care Diabetic & Medical Supplies. In April 2013, Med-Care was a subject of a congressional hearing. Company officials testified that in 2012 Med-Care received about $35 million in Medicare payments for providing such products as diabetes supplies as well as breathing and oxygen equipment, Reuters reported.

-- Green, Laura (May 25, 2014). "Legislation aims to curb Medicare scams". West Palm Beach Post. Washington. Retrieved 8 September 2014.

• Under Medicare currently, providers who previously had an ownership interest in an organization that defrauded the Medicare program could potentially get back into the program by using a different name and failing to disclose their interest in the previous organization -- how the Wolf of Wall Street’s business partner allegedly defrauded Medicare after failing to disclose his ownership interest in the company. The bill would require Medicare to verify provider ownership interests using other databases, including information obtained under the Physician Payments Sunshine Act.

-- "All-out press to combat Medicare fraud". Media Release. United States Senator Bill Nelson. May 13, 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.

If there is reliable evidence that the information presented by the newspapers, news services and the US Senator's office is incorrect, then those sources should first be cited so that the article can be edited accordingly. At present it appears that the information is factual and verified. And, IMO, of sufficient weight to be included in the article. It should not be removed without discussion. — CactusWriter ^(talk) 18:32, 11 September 2014 (UTC)

Additions to add balance

@CactusWriter: Hello Cactus, I work for Danny Proush and we wanted to clear some things up on his page. We do not want to delete anything, only add to it with sources. These are the things we want to add.

Stratton Oakmont Porush helped Jordan Belfort found Stratton Oakmont, a Long Island, New York "over-the-counter" (OTC) brokerage house. Stratton Oakmont developed into one of the largest OTC firms in the country during the late 1980s and 1990s. It sponsored initial public offeringfor 35 companies, including Steve Madden Ltd., Hemesphere Biopharma, Dualstar Technologies, D.V.I. Financial, Paramount Financial, M. H Meyerson & Co., Czech Industries, M.V.S.I. Technology, Questron Technologies, and Etel Communications. Porush bought out Belfort in 1993 and was C.E.O. and Chairman of Stratton Oakmont. After receiving numerous complaints regarding Stratton Oakmont, Alabama Securities Commissioner Joseph Borg helped form a multi-state task force which eventually led to the prosecution of the brokerage.[6] It was determined that Stratton Oakmont was involved inpump and dump stock fraud that involved artificially inflating the price of stocks through false and misleading positive statements, in order to sell cheaply purchased stock at a higher price. Once the operators of the scheme "dumped" their overvalued shares, the price fell and investors lost their money.[7] In September 1999, Porush and Belfort pleaded guilty to 10 counts of securities fraud and money laundering.[8] He cooperated with authorities and as part of his sentence, turned over all of his assets. Porush was sentenced to four years in prison, and was released on probation in 2004 after serving 39 months.[1][9] In 2013, the story of Stratton Oakmont was made into Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street based upon Jordan Belfort's 2007 memoir of the same title. In the film Jonah Hill portrays a character named Donnie Azoff, loosely based on Porush as described in Belfort's book. Porush has stated that many of the book's incidents are fictional.[10] The character's name was changed during movie development after Porush threatened to sue Paramount Pictures if he was depicted.[11]

Medical supplies Following his release from prison, Porush started working at a Boca Raton, Florida-based medical supply and medical equipment company which, according to Forbes magazine. Med-Care Diabetic & Medical Supplies, Inc., a leading wellness company, helps patients manage their chronic conditions by providing cost-effective, high-quality medical and pharmacy supplies delivered directly to their homes. Porush has disclosed his role in the company with Medicare. The company recently announced it has expanded to larger office space in Boca Raton, Florida and will grow from 500 to 800 employees. Christian Diabetics and the Christian Healthcare Network were names the company used related to charitable work with churches, but the company now solely operates all business and philanthropic programs under the Med-Care brand, such as its $100,000 donation to Best Buddies International.[12][13]

In April 2013, Med-Care’s president provided testimony at a congressional hearing on Medicare fraud in April 2013.[14][15] The company also provided follow-up information to Sen. McCaskill that is publicly available on the Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee website. In May 2014, Porush's involvement with Med-Care was cited as reason for a portion of the federal "Stop Scams Act of 2014" which would require Medicare providers to disclose their ownership interests.[15][16] However, the company has said it has fully disclosed Porush’s role with CMS. In 2014, Porush and five other personnel of the Med-Care company were named in a whistleblower lawsuit alleging fraudulent Medicare claims,[14] but the case was dismissed in federal court in June 2014 for lack of any specific proof. Judge Kenneth L. Ryskamp found that the facts “do not show that Med-Care submitted specific false claims to Medicare." [17]

New office space and hiring more employees: http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2014-08-15/business/fl-diabetic-supplier-expands-20140815_1_250-new-jobs-company-respiratory-diseases

Danny’s role with Med-Care disclosed to CMS: Christian Diabetics name: http://www.pharmacychoice.com/news/article.cfm?Article_ID=1225490

Best Buddies donation: https://www.facebook.com/bestbuddies/posts/10152649044703718

Follow-up information regarding Congressional Hearing: http://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/response-from-med-care-diabetic-and-medical-supplies-inc-to-chairman-mccaskill-regarding-business-services-involving-medicare

Can you please respond as to the best way and best practices to do so. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Anthonylauria (talk • contribs) 13:19, 5 November 2014‎ (UTC)

Anthonylauria, first, thanks for stating that you have a close relationship with the subject of this article. Your upfront disclosure about a conflict of interest is appreciated — and I do suggest that you familiarize yourself with the Wikipedia guideline on that. Suggesting changes on talk pages such as this one, rather than editing the article directly, is the proper way to proceed. As far as the changes that you suggest, I see none that can be employed in the form that you have provided. in fact, it appears that all of those suggestions have already been deleted for a variety of reasons as stated in the editing history. For example, the expansive information about Stratton and Med-Care does not meet our policy concerning promotional text (WP:PROMO) nor our guideline on independent reliable sources (WP:RS) and verifiability (WP:V). This is the reason that information was already deleted. The additional references that you propose are equally invalid: Facebook is not a valid source here (see section on WP:Verifiability#Sources that are usually not reliable); a company letter is not an independent reliable source; the Sun Sentinel article is a company new release printed as a business service (much like any employment advertisement) which fails independent referencing and does not mention the subject; and the Pharmacy Choice ref is already used in the article at its original newspaper link from the Palm Beach Post (see ref#18). Currently, the article is written in a neutral tone, in an encyclopedic form and the information provided about the individual is structured upon their notability as discussed by reliable sources. If you find good independent sources which directly discuss this individual in a relevant manner, please feel free to provide them here. — CactusWriter ^(talk) 18:17, 6 November 2014 (UTC)

@CactusWriter: The Sun Sentinel is not a reprinted press release, the article was written by a business reporter who covers jobs for the Sun Sentinel.

The letter submitted to Senator McCaskill was made public by her office on a government website and directly refutes the claims made in the Reuters article that Med-Care did not provide the information McCaskill requested: Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri, who organized the hearing, asked Silverman to provide additional information by Feb. 17. A spokeswoman for McCaskill said the office has not received the requested documents.

The Pharmacy Choice/Palm Beach Post article directly refutes “Stop Scams Act of 2014” claims as it states that Danny’s role in Med-Care was previously disclosed.

The Pharmacy Choice/Palm Beach Post article also provides more detail on the Christian Diabetics and Christian Healthcare names as mentioned in the Forbes article. It offers different information on why and how those names were used and also updates the Forbes information since those names are no longer being used. This information would be appropriate to add to provide balance and neutrality. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.175.109.117 (talk • contribs) 10:46, 10 November 2014 (UTC)

IP66.175.109.117, the article requires reliable independent sources which directly discuss this individual in a relevant manner. As stated previously, the Sun Sentinel bit makes no mention of Porush. The letter to the Senator is not an independent reliable source nor does it make any mention of Porush. Perhaps my edit searcher is broken or my eyesight is faulty, but I am unable to see anything about Christian Diabetics in the Palm Beach Post article. (Please post on the talk page here the exact quotation from that article where it mentions Christian Diabetics.) Based on that newspaper article, I have added a sentence in which the company's attorney states Porush's involvement was previously divulged to CMMS. I hope that addition is satisfactory. Please remember that sourced information which is not directly about Porush will be generally irrelevant in a brief encyclopedic biography. — CactusWriter ^(talk) 00:21, 11 November 2014 (UTC)

@CactusWriter: I’m requesting you remove this line: In May 2014, Porush's involvement with Med-Care was cited as reason for a portion of the federal "Stop Scams Act of 2014" which would require Medicare providers to disclose their ownership interests.[15][16]

I believe the two citations don’t meet guidelines – but open to what you think. A press release is not an independent source. The part of the West Palm Beach article that is publicly available does not say anything about Senator Nelson and the “Stop Scams Act of 2014” (not sure what that article claims because I can’t access it).

In addition, the claims made in Senator Nelson’s press release are not true and not based in fact. Mr. Porush’s role with Med-Care was disclosed to CMS as is cited in next line. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Anthonylauria (talk • contribs) 13:19, 5 November 2014 (UTC)

The article in the Palm Beach Post (authored by Laura Green, May 25 2014, Legislation aims to curb Medicare scams) is entirely about the legislation authored by Senator Nelson. It specifically discusses Porush's involvement with Med-Care as a reason for some of the proposed legislation. ("...The proposed legislation would give the government access to additional information and backgrounding tools to prevent convicted conmen from getting into the Medicare business. The bill would require Medicare to verify provider ownership interests using various databases. It would also permit insurance carriers noticing suspicious activity to report it the Medicare agency. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services would also be allowed to share information with insurance carriers. Porush is accused of failing to disclose his interest in the Medicare company called Med-Care Diabetic & Medical Supplies..." "...In April 2013, Med-Care was a subject of a congressional hearing.... A report by congressional staff looked at a sample of the claims filed by Med-Care. It found that 68 percent of them were improper.", etc.) Please read WP:PAYWALL concerning paid access to sources -- that is not a problem. Media releases can be reliable sources depending on the circumstances -- in this case, it is a release by a United States Senator as well as a government agency [1] acting in official capacity about their own authorship of federal legislation. And Nelson specifically mentions Porush as the reason for a portion of the Stop SCAMS Act of 2014. There appears to be no reason to remove the sentence based upon the sources. If you wish, the sentence can be altered to show that the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging cited Porush as a reason for a portion of the bill. — CactusWriter ^(talk) 21:51, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

And, as of Jan. 15, 2015, the FBI has confirmed that it was "conducting law enforcement activity" at the offices of Med-Care Diabetic and Medical Supply Inc. in Boca Raton, FL. In plain English, it was a raid; they hauled off boxes of evidence. [Chicago Sun-Times, 15 Jan 2015, p20] Once a shyster, always a shyster. 209.117.8.178 (talk) 15:38, 15 January 2015 (UTC)HelenChicago

Lead Sentence

There have been recent attempts to remove the "best known" portion of this article's introduction by User:Pdavidson2000. As stated in the Wikipedia guidelines at WP:LEDE, the first sentence should concisely summarize what the individual is known for in the referenced text. The current lede is:

Daniel M. Porush (born February 1957, Lawrence, New York, U.S.) is an American entrepreneur and former stock broker who is best known for his supervision of a "pump and dump" stock fraud scheme in the 1990s.

IMO, this reflects the preferred manual of style examples as presented at WP:BLPLEAD. It adequately summarizes the primary notability for Daniel M. Porush -- i.e., his involvement and conviction for stock fraud as the primary descriptor in the independent reliable sources. I suggest that any changes to the language should be discussed here before it is altered. And, as always, a neutral point-of-view must be maintained -- presenting the biographical information according to the facts only. — CactusWriter ^(talk) 00:56, 15 November 2014 (UTC)