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 veteran cardiologist had been worried that cerebral protection devices were only being used to treat TAVR patients with specific insurance plans. The lawsuit has now been resolved to the “mutual satisfaction” of both parties.
Early, nonpublic information about Medtronic's $1.6 billion acquisition of Mazer Robotics was used to make illegal trading profits, according to a federal jury.
A judge upheld a previous trial victory that cleared Prairie Cardiovascular Consults of alleged mishandling of a patient and not fully understanding the severity of the heart condition prior to their death.
The 67-year-old cardiologist was accused of inappropriately touching multiple female patients. All charges were cleared except a single assault charge for hugging one patient and kissing her on the cheek without consent.
A Washington woman was pulled over and arrested because a state trooper thought she was driving under the influence. It turned out that she was not drunk, but suffering from a frontal-lobe subdural hematoma. She has now filed a lawsuit against the county.
Florida resident Rick Nassenstein allegedly “played a central role” in a scheme that involved paying physicians “exorbitant” fees to refer patients for PET scans.