Liberty Medical Files for Bankruptcy

Florida diabetes, CPAP provider cites several reasons for filing.

• By David Kopf
• Feb 21, 2013

After pressure from creditors and other entities, diabetic and CPAP provider provider Liberty Medical Supply Inc. (Port St. Lucie, Fla.; www.libertymedical.com) and its affiliates has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Various issues such as disputes with tax authorities and the CMS, led to the filing, Liberty CEO Frank Harvey said in a public statement. Harvey did not note whether or not CMS’s recently announced 72 percent cut in mail-order diabetic supply reimbursement contributed to the filing.

The affiliate filings include bankruptcy petitions from Liberty Healthcare Group Inc., Liberty Healthcare Pharmacy of Nevada LLC, National Diabetic Medical Supply LLC and Polymedica Corp.

The filing is listed under case number 13-10268 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in District of Wilmington, Del. Large creditors listed in the court documents include CGS Administrators (Nashville, Tenn.) to which Liberty owes $137 million and Abbott Laboratories (Abbott Park, Ill.), to which Liberty owes $5 million.

“It shouldn't have any effect on our day-to-day employees, or on our patients,” Harvey told West Palm Beach’s WPTV NewsChannel 5. “We're just taking a tool that's provided by the federal government to help us work through some of the things we do as a new company starting out.

“Some of the most successful businesses in the world have utilized this business tool of Chapter 11 to deal with some of the things faced short-term to come out more profitable on the back end,” he added. “They're tough decisions that you have to make. You never like to negatively impact an employee's life.”

Liberty, which also providers ostomy and pharmacy supplies, has been a key Port St. Lucie are employer, at one time employing 2,220 workers. The company currently lists 1,200 employees and has notified 200 employees that they would be laid off on March 2.