From a West Virginia hospital facing a federal kickback lawsuit to an ambulance company settling a false billing investigation, here are the latest healthcare industry lawsuits and settlements making headlines:
1. CHS, Steward battle in court over unpaid bills in 8-hospital deal
Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems filed a lawsuit Nov. 2 alleging Dallas-based Steward Health Care failed to pay over $10 million in costs related to the acquisition of eight CHS hospitals.
2. Lawsuit claims Arkansas Medicaid work requirements stripped coverage from 17,000
Nearly 17,000 Arkansas residents have lost Medicaid coverage due to new work requirements, according to a court filing.
3. Ambulance company pays $300K to resolve false billing probe
Providence, R.I.-based Professional Ambulance agreed to pay $300,000 to settle allegations it billed Medicare and Medicaid for medically unnecessary ambulance runs between 2012 and 2015.
4. Flowers Hospital settles lawsuit 5 years after data breach
A lawsuit filed against Dothan, Ala.-based Flowers Hospital involving a 2014 data breach was dismissed in a settlement.
5. West Virginia hospital, CEO hit with federal kickback suit
The Department of Justice partially intervened in a whistle-blower lawsuit against Wheeling (W.Va.) Hospital, the hospital's CEO and business consulting group R & V Associates.
6. Owner of medical equipment company sentenced to 3 years for billing fraud
The owner and operator of a durable medical equipment company was sentenced to three years in prison for submitting fraudulent claims to the Texas Medicaid program.
7. Illinois nurses receive $7.9M settlement after hostage incident
A nurse at Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital in Geneva, Ill., collected $7.2 million from a lawsuit settlement with Kane County, Ill., after she was held hostage and sexually assaulted by a hospitalized inmate.
8. Minnesota home health nurses left patient's body in bed for 2 days, lawsuit says
The family of a stroke patient who died in early 2017 is suing nurses at Minneapolis-based Alliance Home Healthcare, claiming the providers failed to take life-saving actions.
9. Kaiser settles allegations it called for mental health patients to drop insurance
Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente's health plan settled a case alleging the healthcare giant urged mental health patients to cancel coverage.
10. Massachusetts psychiatric hospital lost info of over 1,500 people, lawsuit charges
A lawsuit filed by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey's office alleges Belmont, Mass.-based McLean Hospital lost personal and health information of over 1,500 patients, employees and brain donors.
More articles on legal and regulatory issues:
Healthcare accounted for bigger portion of 2018 DOJ false claims recoveries
Former Cleveland Clinic executive gets prison time in $2.7M fraud scheme
Pharmacy owner gets prison time for role in $8.4M billing fraud scheme