Stories about physicians and other healthcare professionals involved in lawsuits—as either a plaintiff or a defendant—or accused of breaking the law. Various legal updates or unusual stories in the news may land here.
McLaren Health Care fell victim to ransomware crime in 2023 and 2024, with the total number of victims exceeding 3.2 million. Those affected may be eligible for a cash payment. Per the terms of the agreement with lawyers representing victims, the health system does not admit to wrongdoing.
The U.S. Department of Justice said MultiCare admitted in court documents to ignoring warnings from a whistleblower and staff who said a neurosurgeon was performing spinal surgeries on patients without medical need and billing the procedures to Medicare.
The Federal Trade Commission was suing the pharmacy benefit manager over allegations it was deliberately inflating the price of insulin. Per the agreement, Express Scripts has agreed to end business practices that involved taking manufacturer rebates on wholesale drug costs without passing them on to patients.
Carleen Noreus, 51, faces allegations of running a pay-for-play nursing degree program, which may have helped unqualified people achieve licenses. Prosecutors are attempting to link the program to a medical error that killed a patient.
The nonprofit health system had allegedly deployed Meta Pixel, a common advertising tool, on its patient portal. This likely exposed sensitive health information to third parties. However, the hospital denies wrongdoing.
The settlement was reached with the U.S. Department of Justice as part of Chapter 11 proceedings. Exactech is currently under restructuring that will see its business bought out by multiple investment firms.
The 2024 ransomware attack on Ascension Health impacted operations in 12 states and led to protected health information being taken by hackers. A class action of plaintiffs is seeking damages.
Ohio Medical Alliance, which operates in six states to help individuals obtain medical marijuana cards, is facing a class action lawsuit after a cybersecurity researcher discovered a 323 GB trove of patient data online.
In May, a jury found the CVS subsidiary liable for filing 3.3 million fraudulent insurance claims between 2010 and 2018. The $949 million judgment was imposed in July.
Joshua Spriestersbach remained locked up in a Hawaii State Hospital psychiatric facility for nearly three years in a case of mistaken identity. However, a judge ruled neither the facility nor the staff is liable for his detainment.