Legal News

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.

Cardiologist sues hospital after he was allegedly let go for sharing safety concerns
The veteran interventional cardiologist claims he was pushed out after repeatedly asking for more coverage from cardiothoracic surgeons in addition to other improvements. The hospital, meanwhile, described the lawsuit as a “collection of false allegations."
Alphabet-owned Verily accused by whistleblower of misusing data from 25K patients
A former executive at Verily is suing the company, alleging he was fired after reporting the incidents to management. The misuses of data, if true, would constitute HIPAA violations.
Nonprofit health system agrees to $18M settlement over use of ad trackers
Adena Health System was accused in a class-action lawsuit of deploying Meta Pixel tracking tools on its patient portal. As many as 89,000 patients could have had protected health information shared with advertisers.
Lantheus misled investors about blockbuster imaging agent, class action lawsuit claims
Plaintiff attorneys claim the Massachusetts-based company shattered the competitive position of Pylarify, a PET imaging agent for prostate cancer.
Florida man arrested on suspicion of being a fake nurse
Joseph Thomas Kinney, 55, was arrested this week for allegedly using fake credentials to obtain work as a registered nurse. His arrest is part of what appears to be a growing national trend.

Former NBA player sentenced to 40 months in prison for role in $5M healthcare fraud conspiracy

Glen “Big Baby” Davis was convicted in November of healthcare fraud and related wire fraud charges.

Former nurse sentenced to life for murdering patients with insulin injections

Heather Pressdee, 41, pleaded guilty to the charges, which included three counts of first-degree murder and 19 counts of attempt to commit murder.

Steward Health Care files for bankruptcy, citing rising labor costs and reduced reimbursement

The health system employs 40,000 people and cares for more than 12 million patients in eight states.

North Carolina cardiologist arrested for sex crimes

The 61-year-old physician is currently in jail. He was previously in the news for allegedly implanting stents that were not medically necessary, agreeing to pay a hefty sum to settle.

ACLU sues North Carolina over illegal detention of mental health patients

A lawsuit filed in federal court claims the state is detaining mentally ill and disabled patients without due process or proper access to treatment.

Psychiatric hospital sued for $150M over ‘encouraging’ fight between juveniles

A new lawsuit claims a 15-year-old girl was used as an enforcer of bad behavior at a psychiatric facility in Michigan, resulting in her severely beating a 10-year-old boy.

An Illinois appellate judge upheld a pervious trial victory that cleared and central Illinois cardiologist Amit Dande, MD, and Prairie Cardiovascular Consults LLP of alleged misdiagnosis of the severity of a patient's heart condition that led to his death prior to a schedule percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Cardiologist sues health system that called him an ‘immediate threat to the public’

The health system, meanwhile, said it stands by its decision to terminate the interventional cardiologist after working with him for several years.

Breached Change Healthcare server lacked multifactor authentication, UnitedHealth CEO admits

UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty told the Senate Finance Committee that systems have been rebuilt “from scratch” in light of the oversight.

Legal News

Cardiologist sues hospital after he was allegedly let go for sharing safety concerns

Alphabet-owned Verily accused by whistleblower of misusing data from 25K patients

Nonprofit health system agrees to $18M settlement over use of ad trackers

Lantheus misled investors about blockbuster imaging agent, class action lawsuit claims

Florida man arrested on suspicion of being a fake nurse