Gavin Newsom on Thursday filed a civil rights complaint against Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, after Oz posted a video accusing Armenian crime groups of carrying out widespread healthcare fraud in Los Angeles. A day after the video was posted, Newsom issued a statement on X saying that his office was reviewing reports that Oz was targeting the Armenian American community. Oz fired back in his own statement on X, saying, “if there were a real defense for California’s fraud crisis, we’d hear it. CMS and law enforcement will keep doing the actual work: going after fraudsters, period.”California has been investigating healthcare fraud since a 2020 Los Angeles Times investigation that uncovered widespread Medicare fraud in the state’s booming but loosely regulated hospice industry. AdvertisementSince 2021 the state Department of Justice has charged 109 people with hospice-related fraud and filed 24 civil suits related to hospice fraud.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 30, 2026 15:40 UTC