A class action has been filed against Lester E. Cox Medical Centers, Inc., and its debt collection division, Ozark Professional Collections, on behalf of patients who allege that the medical center misled them and other patients by collecting overdue payments through a fictitious third party in violation of the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The action seeks $1,000 in damages per letter or phone call received by patients since August 11, 2002, plus a minimum of $500,000 in punitive damages as allowed by the FDCPA.

The action alleges that the hospital sent debts to Ozark Professional Collections, a division of Cox Medical Centers, and instructed staff members not to tell debtors that Ozark was a part of Cox. The FDCPA forbids the use of any business, company or organization name other than the true name of the debt collector's business, company or organization. The action further alleges that Cox Medical Centers handles most of Ozark's administration, and does all the accounting and reconciling of Ozark's books. Debtors who ask about Ozark's ownership are reportedly told that staff members are not authorized to release ownership information, but may connect someone with management.

Allegedly, patients were intentionally left in the dark about the fact that Ozark was part of Cox. Rather, they were led to think that they had been turned over to a collection agency when, in fact, all that really happened was that a file went down a hall to another employee.

The action followed an August 5, 2003, order by the court in a separate case that Cox brought against Joe and Cary Huntsman, who disputed a portion of their medical expenses. Cox argued in court documents that it was exempt from the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act when using its own employees to collect debts. The judge found it was "painfully obvious" that Cox used a name other than its usual business name, and ruled that the hospital had violated the FDCPA by sending two collection letters to the Huntsmans on Ozark letterhead. This opened the door for the present action to be filed.

All entities Ozark Professional Collections serves are allegedly Cox affiliates, including but not limited to the Cox-St. John's joint venture Ozark Magnetic Imaging, Burrell Behavioral Health, Home Parenteral Services and Cox Monett, which has a separate hospital license.