A U.S. district court judge has ordered the Department of Justice to explain why its officials continue to comment on the trial, in violation of her order. The agency has until the end of this week to respond. 

Universal Health Services was found by a jury to be liable for fraud in an alleged scheme to destabilize Saint Mary’s during the COVID-19 pandemic. The ruling includes punitive damages.

Sean Clifford and his legal representatives first filed the lawsuit Sept. 24, 2024, in the New York State Supreme Court, contending a radiologist failed to spot signs of an impending stroke.   

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.

Clinic Director Paulette Valentine first suspected the problem after her employees fell ill, with one individual developing leukemia. 

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.