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.
In 2024, a Denver cardiologist was sentenced to 158 years to life in prison for drugging and sexually assaulting multiple women he met through online dating apps. Six of his victims have now filed a civil lawsuit that claims the apps are “hospitable to serial predators.”
The January 2024 incident at Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin had all of the hallmarks of a ransomware attack, with an unknown cybercrime group taking credit in a letter to the payer. In total, 533,000 people were impacted by the data breach.
On Dec. 11, the Alaskan cardiologist was captured as part of a months-long investigation and charged with 10 counts of possessing child sexual abuse materials. The fire at his home occurred two days later.
The plaintiffs argue that the administration has overstepped its authority and that only Congress can levy such hefty fees. As noted in the lawsuit, healthcare relies on skilled labor immigration to bring doctors, nurses and researchers into the country.
Lauren Beene, MD, and Valerie Fouts-Fowler, MD, allege in a lawsuit that Ohio-based University Hospitals fired them for expressing concerns through a chat app. The health system accused the duo of misusing internal communications for personal gain.
A federal grand jury released a four-count indictment against the man accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The Department of Justice is seeking the death penalty.
The name and employer of a doctor accused of sexually and physically abusing multiple women is no longer being kept from the public. He faces a total of 20 charges, entering a plea of not guilty to all of them.
According to lawyers representing two of the plaintiffs, a shared EHR portal was used by a physical therapist at KU Health to access the sensitive photographs in what is being investigated as a data breach.
The two companies have been unable to assuage antitrust concerns raised by the Department of Justice. A magistrate will attempt to hammer out acceptable terms for the home healthcare merger at a conference scheduled for August.
John R. Manning, MD, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud for issuing unnecessary prescriptions billed to Medicare and receiving more than $812,000 in kickbacks.
UnitedHealth Group said it is seeking repayment of “interest-free” advances distributed to providers struggling during the shutdown of claims processing caused by the ransomware attack on Change Healthcare.
The academic medical center is accused of deploying lax security protocols that allowed an employee to access internet-connected cameras and private emails in acts of privacy invasion that lasted a decade.