A New Orleans federal judge has ruled that LCMC Health sought the correct state approvals for its $150 million acquisition of three Tulane University hospitals from Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare in January, according to nola.com.

California clinicians who provide abortion, contraception or gender-affirming care services to out-of-state patients will be offered legal protections under a new law that takes effect in 2024. 

A grand jury indicted a Michigan woman accused of posing as a registered nurse for the third time, The Detroit News reported Sept. 27.

From the Indiana attorney general accusing IU Health of failing to protect personal health information after physician spoke to the media about a 10-year-old patient's abortion, to fired MetroHealth CEO Akram Boutros, MD, seeking to have his successor sit for a disposition, here are 10 hospital lawsuits, settlements and legal developments Becker's reported since Sept. 15:  

A physician and two pharmacists in Texas were charged in connection to a six-year, $170 million healthcare fraud case, the Justice Department said Sept. 26. 

A Charlotte, N.C., physician was found guilty of making false statements in connection with a scheme that defrauded federal benefits programs of more than $5 million. 

A surgeon in Sebring, Fla., is facing complaints surrounding three patient deaths and a wrong organ removed over the course of nine months, the Miami Herald reported Sept. 26.

The Justice Department has obtained $372 million in judgments against Kentucky businessman Rajen Shah and his companies for a laboratory testing scheme that targeted Medicare. 

The Federal Trade Commission and 17 state attorneys general filed a lawsuit against Amazon alleging that the online commerce giant engages in unfair monopolistic practices.

A Kentucky physician and nurse were convicted by a federal jury of conspiracy to illicitly prescribe controlled substances and other related offenses to distributing controlled substances.

A medical equipment provider was ordered to pay $12 million in damages and penalties after being found liable in a Medicare fraud scheme. 

The Federal Trade Commission's noncompete ban, which was set to take effect Sept. 4, has been partially blocked while a federal court considers if the agency  has authority to issue the ban. The FTC also has proposed changes to premerger notifications, withdrew two antitrust policy statements related to enforcement in healthcare markets and made changes to healthcare breach reporting.  Here are four recent FTC moves and how they could affect hospitals and health systems:

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey is accusing a St. Louis-based healthcare provider of violating state consumer protection law by giving puberty blockers to minors without a comprehensive mental health assessment. 

A New York City physician agreed to pay $1.3 million to settle allegations he overbilled Medicare for services provided to nursing home residents. 

Akram Boutros, MD, former CEO of Cleveland-based MetroHealth, is seeking a court order to have his successor sit for a disposition, according to Cuyahoga County Court records. 

A Florida woman is seeking monetary damages and a class-action lawsuit after buying unapproved eye drops from Walgreens, according to court documents filed Sept. 20.

The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau on Sept. 21 outlined proposals aiming to end "coercive debt collection tactics, clean up inaccurate data, and improve credit score predictiveness." 

American Physician Partners' descent into bankruptcy was expedited in part by the "problematic" implementation of the No Surprises Act, its chief restructuring officer said in a Sept. 19 court filing. 

A jury has awarded John Alonge, DDS, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, a $3.2 million verdict after he slipped and fell in an operating room at Saint Vincent Hospital in Erie, Pa., the Erie Times-News reported Sept. 18.

Griffin Hospital in Derby, Conn., has settled a class action lawsuit nine years after they warned patients they could have a blood-borne disease as a result of hospital employees who reused insulin injection pens, CTPost reported Sept. 22.