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 shiny Tesla Cybertruck cost $100,000. Its owner, Kevin Curry, 64, was convicted by a federal jury for his role in orchestrating a kickback scheme to defraud the military healthcare program. He awaits sentencing.
Five beneficiaries of the safety-net healthcare program have sued with the support of the National Health Law Program. They are joined by prestigious industry lobbies, including the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Plaintiffs allege Anne Arundel Medical Center in Maryland, the target of the data breach, had a server containing unencrypted patient data that hackers were able to access during the breach. The hospital and its parent health system are still recovering from the incident.
In a complaint, a California doctor accused his former employer and colleagues of making false statements to damage his reputation. The hospital argued, successfully, that the internist failed to exhaust internal dispute resolution procedures that could have stopped him from losing income.
The judge did not rule that Cigna was justified in refusing to pay but did agree that, under provisions of the NSA, federal courts have no right to compel payments.
The managed care company does not admit to doing anything wrong. The data breach constituted its use of third-party tracking technology on its website, which shared data with Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Meta and others.
Gregory R. Ball, MD, of Orchard Park, New York, and his attorneys first filed the complaint against Southtowns Radiology Associates in February, seeking some $2 million in damages.
HHS’s 340B drug discount program is set to shift to a rebate model on New Year’s Day. But a lawsuit and temporary restraining order filed by the AHA and others may block the change from going live on time.
Eric Cordes, MD, 63, of Simi Valley, California, was a highly respected diagnostic specialist with Adventist Health Simi Valley and Focus Medical Imaging.
Authorities allege the pharmacy chain gave patients more insulin than prescribed and then billed Medicare and Medicaid for the full amounts. This allegedly occurred for more than a decade.
A psychiatric patient suffering from hallucinations injured employees at University of Iowa Health Care during a physical altercation. Clinicians restrained and sedated him successfully, but the cocktail of drugs allegedly caused his heart to stop, leading to a permanent brain injury. The case has been settled out of court.
Surveillance footage and a 911 call were shown during a preliminary hearing in which the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was present. Hearings will continue this week in a New York state court, where a judge will rule on defense motions to exclude certain evidence from trial.