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 U.S. Department of Justice announced the judgment, which was issued against two facilities in Pennsylvania. The nursing homes fraudulently billed Medicare and Medicaid for working hours despite staff not being on the floor.
In court documents, an unnamed Minnesota woman said that in 2022, she was admitted to an Allina Health hospital and scheduled for the removal of her infected spleen, only for an error to result in her left kidney being removed instead.
Community Health System and Physician Network Advantage, an affiliated technology consultancy firm, were accused of bribing physicians for patient referrals in the form of paid vacations, expensive gifts and business meetings held at strip clubs.
The company told Cardiovascular Business it respectfully disagrees with the jury's decision and is evaluating all possible legal options going forward. The Association of Medical Device Reprocessors, meanwhile, celebrated the news.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal reports that UnitedHealth Group is being investigated for criminal fraud, likely stemming from its Medicare Advantage billing practices.
The pharmacy chain was accused of filling “millions” of unlawful prescriptions for opioids and other controlled substances. Despite agreeing to the payout, the company does not admit wrongdoing.
President Donald Trump's administration said an executive order to implement Schedule F, to make it easier to fire federal works that don't align with its agenda of "draining the swamp," is forthcoming.
The 55-year-old patient woke up experiencing chest pain one morning and an ambulance was called. He was dead just a few hours later. His family's lawsuit argued that delays in care, communication errors and other issues were directly responsible for his death.
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.