Legal News

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.

PET imaging provider hit with multi-state phishing attack
Nashville, Tennessee-based Integrated Oncology Network alerted Health and Human Services in late June about the hacking incident, with thousands potentially affected.
Lehigh Valley Health admits to controlled substances violations in $2.75M settlement
The Pennsylvania-based health system reported drug diversion incidents to authorities involving a pharmacy technician who used employee passwords to steal pills from one of its hospitals.
CVS hit with $949M judgment over fraudulent Omnicare prescriptions
The pharmacy chain said it plans to appeal the ruling. The complaint was brought by a former employee turned whistleblower who alleged that Omnicare had billed the government for millions of unnecessary prescriptions.
Report: DOJ questioning doctors linked to possible Medicare fraud at UnitedHealth
According to the Wall Street Journal, the OIG and FBI are also involved in the DOJ's criminal probe into alleged incidents of upcoding by the Medicare Advantage insurer. UnitedHealth denied any wrongdoing.
Doctor arrested for $5.2M fraud linked to using medical ozone gas on patients
Jawad Bhatti, MD, is facing a 26-count indictment from the U.S. Department of Justice after he allegedly advertised the use of ozone gas as a treatment for pain, then billed Medicare and Medicaid for the unapproved procedures.

Asante Medical facing $488M in lawsuits after fentanyl diversion linked to 16 deaths

The nurse responsible has been charged with 44 counts of second-degree assault. Her criminal trial begins Dec. 30.

Trump selects Emmy-winning TV personality Dr. Oz to head CMS

President-elect Donald Trump announced the nomination of former "Dr. Oz Show" star Mehmet Oz just days after appointing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of health.

Healthcare hacker sentenced to 10 years in prison

Robert Purbeck, 45, of Georgia was found with data on more than 132,000 individuals taken from various breaches, including multiple providers, a police station and a city government.

Public health contrarian RFK Jr. nominated to HHS secretary

President-elect Donald Trump said he will let Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “go wild for a little while” if his appointment is confirmed by the Senate.

Medtronic sued by doctor for alleged patent infringement

Shirin Towfigh, MD, and her consultancy firm, Hexagon Health, claim Medtronic is selling patented surgical mesh with a novel fin-shaped design.

UnitedHealth defends $3.3B Amedisys acquisition

UnitedHealth subsidiary Optum is turning to the court of public opinion to defend the merger.

doctor in handcuffs after being arrested

Cardiologist receives 35 months in prison for health insurance fraud

Fazal Panezai, MD, faced up to 10 years in prison for coordinating a years-long fraud scheme from 2017 to 2022. His New Jersey medical license has already been permanently revoked.

33-year-old radiologist father of 4 dies while hiking

James MacDonald, MD, with Oregon Health & Science University, went missing Nov. 6 in the Mount Hood National Forest.

Legal News

PET imaging provider hit with multi-state phishing attack

Lehigh Valley Health admits to controlled substances violations in $2.75M settlement

CVS hit with $949M judgment over fraudulent Omnicare prescriptions

Report: DOJ questioning doctors linked to possible Medicare fraud at UnitedHealth

Doctor arrested for $5.2M fraud linked to using medical ozone gas on patients