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 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.
Nashville, Tennessee-based Integrated Oncology Network alerted Health and Human Services in late June about the hacking incident, with thousands potentially affected.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Multiple professional groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Physicians, challenge recent policy changes to vaccine recommendations for COVID-19, which end routine inoculations for minors and pregnant women.
Sweeping tax cuts and reduced spending on Medicaid and SNAP were signed into law by President Donald Trump. However, a key provision that would have paused new AI regulations was removed by the Senate.