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 Pennsylvania-based health system reported drug diversion incidents to authorities involving a pharmacy technician who used employee passwords to steal pills from one of its hospitals.
The pharmacy chain said it plans to appeal the ruling. The complaint was brought by a former employee turned whistleblower who alleged that Omnicare had billed the government for millions of unnecessary prescriptions.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the OIG and FBI are also involved in the DOJ's criminal probe into alleged incidents of upcoding by the Medicare Advantage insurer. UnitedHealth denied any wrongdoing.
Jawad Bhatti, MD, is facing a 26-count indictment from the U.S. Department of Justice after he allegedly advertised the use of ozone gas as a treatment for pain, then billed Medicare and Medicaid for the unapproved procedures.
In a 7-2 vote, the Supreme Court affirmed the formula used by the federal government to calculate Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payments is legal and consistent with the law passed by Congress.
The Department of Health and Human Services is refusing to allocate funds meant to support state and local healthcare initiatives, as the money stemmed from now-defunct COVID-19 control efforts. A coalition of municipalities is suing to lift the block.
Luigi Mangione has officially entered a plea in the indictment against him for the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The federal case is now expected to move forward before the overlapping state murder trial, as the Department of Justice is seeking the death penalty.
The Florida governor claims the money was not part of a settlement the state made with Centene, and that the insurer donated the cash as a “cherry on top.”
Nakita Cannady, 49, was also convicted of defrauding Cigna to the tune of $194,000, billing the insurer for patient care hours her providers never filled.
According to multiple reports, the majority of justices appeared to be leaning toward siding with the government, which argues that members of HHS's Preventive Services Task Force have the legal authority under the Constitution to determine which treatments are covered as 'preventive' under the Affordable Care Act.
A letter addressed to CHEST was made public, wherein a U.S. Attorney asked how it intends to "protect the public from misinformation" and ensure publication of "competing viewpoints."
SCOTUS on April 21 started hearing oral arguments in the high-profile case that could impact cost-free access to CT screening for lung and colorectal cancer.