From the co-founder of a physician-owned hospital in Dallas pleading guilty in a kickback case to a surgeon being sentenced to life in prison for maiming a patient, here are the latest healthcare industry lawsuits and settlements making headlines.
1. Owner of medical supply company gets 27 years for fraud
Daniel Thomason Smith, owner of DTS Medical Supply in Devine, Texas, was sentenced to 27 years in prison for his role in a $3.5 million healthcare fraud scheme.
2. Lawsuit claims DaVita steered patients to commercial plans to boost profits
The Peace Officers' Annuity and Benefit Fund of Georgia sued Denver-based DaVita for allegedly inflating its profits by steering Medicare and Medicaid patients to private insurers that paid DaVita 10 times more for dialysis treatments than the government health plans.
3. Bermuda's ex-premier denies taking bribes from Lahey
Bermuda's attorney general filed a lawsuit against Boston-based Lahey Hospital & Medical Center earlier this month accusing the hospital group of bribing the island's former premier Ewart F. Brown, MD, in exchange for preferential treatment in winning government healthcare contracts. In an interview with The Boston Globe last week, Dr. Brown defended his 20-year relationship with Lahey, claiming the lawsuit is racially and politically motivated.
4. Laundry provider responds in UPMC mold case: 9 things to know
After an internal report commissioned by Pittsburgh-based UPMC pointed to its outsourced laundry provider as the possible cause of a deadly mold outbreak that temporarily shut down UPMC's transplant program in 2015, the laundry provider has been roped into at least three lawsuits.
5. Co-founder of Forest Park Medical Center pleads guilty in kickback case
Richard Toussaint, MD, co-founder of physician-owned Forest Park Medical Center in Dallas, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to pay and receive healthcare kickbacks and one count of commercial bribery.
6. Surgeon sentenced to life in prison for maiming elderly patient
Former neurosurgeon Christopher Duntsch, MD, PhD, was sentenced Feb. 20 to life in prison for injury to an elderly person, which is a first-degree felony.
More articles on legal and regulatory issues:
HHS: Stark Law, Anti-Kickback Statute are barriers to innovative payment models
Bankrupt Louisiana hospital faces lawsuit over layoff notification
TeamHealth to pay $60M to resolve false claims case