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.
The cardiovascular care of thousands of Missouri patients is suddenly up in the air. The heart of the issue is a practice's alleged interest in opening up a new private equity-backed clinic.
On Tuesday, a judge formally rejected a motion by the company to have the case dismissed. Carelon Behavioral Health, a subsidiary of Elevance, is accused of publishing an inaccurate directory of providers for those seeking mental health services.
In total, 131 hospitals are acting as plaintiffs. They’re asking a court to throw out 2023 changes to the Disproportionate Share Hospital calculation that altered the way Medicare Advantage and Social Security income were factored into the risk-adjusted payments hospitals receive for caring for vulnerable patient populations.
It’s unclear why Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare dropped its lawsuit, but it did so with prejudice, meaning the hospital cannot refile. There are many unanswered questions surrounding the unusual case, including how common incidents like this are and whether or not the hospital can technically bill for the time the room was occupied.
Sixty-one-year-old Lilit Gagikovna Baltaian, MD, is on the run after being convicted of fraudulently billing Medicare alongside co-conspirators at home health agencies. A federal court in California sentenced her to 54 months in prison.
Dr. Prateek Joshi, with the NHS hospital in Derby, England, was taking his wife, also a highly regarded physician, and three young children from India to the U.K. to start a new chapter.
The doctor is accused of using fake credentials for several months and performing approximately 50 procedures. This is the second time in recent months someone has been accused of impersonating a heart specialist and treating patients.
The insurer alleges The Guardian misrepresented the facts in a May 21 exposé that accused the insurer of pressuring nursing homes to delay and deny hospital transfers.
Evoke Health Care Management was accused of disseminating over 68,500 illegal ads that linked to a marketing call center, rather than actual addiction treatment services.
The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association—a trade lobby representing pharmacy benefit managers—argues a state law that would force companies to divest from drugstores could leave patients without access to critical medications.