From a skilled nursing facility and two of its executives agreeing to pay $30 million to settle improper billing allegations to Pittsburgh-based UPMC suing a law firm and an actuary for miscalculating pension liability, here are the latest healthcare industry lawsuits and settlements making headlines.
1. Clinic owner faces up to 38 years in prison for healthcare fraud, filing false tax returns
A federal jury in Los Angeles convicted Michael Huynh, owner of M.T.P. Medical Clinic in Reseda, Calif., of one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and 11 counts of filing false tax returns.
2. States sue drugmaker Indivior over alleged anticompetitive practices
Thirty-five states and Washington, D.C., are accusing opioid drugmaker Indivior of trying to keep generic versions of Suboxone off the market.
3. ACLU sues Colo. Medicaid for denying thousands hep C treatment
The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado filed a federal class-action lawsuit against the state's Medicaid program for denying thousands of low-income Coloradoans access to a drug with a 90 percent cure rate for the hepatitis C virus.
4. Federal court refuses to delay Medicare appeals backlog case
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., denied HHS' request to delay proceedings in a lawsuit filed by hospitals across the country over the Medicare appeals backlog.
5. UPMC sues law firm, actuary over hospital pension liability
Pittsburgh-based UPMC filed a lawsuit against a Cleveland-based law firm and a former actuary at the firm, alleging both parties understated the pension liability of UPMC Altoona (Pa.).
6. Appeals court clarifies reach of False Claims Act retaliation liability
Only employers can be sued for retaliation under the False Claims Act, according to a recent decision from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed a lower court's dismissal of a retaliation claim against several individual defendants.
7. California SNF, executives will pay $30M over improper billing
Dana Point, Calif.-based North American Health Care and two of its executives will pay a total of $30 million to resolve allegations they violated the False Claims Act.
8. UConn Health to pay $185k to settle overbilling allegations
University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington agreed to pay the federal government $184,984 to resolve allegations it overbilled the Medicare program.
9. Florida teen accused of posing as physician back in custody in Virginia
A 19-year-old who was arrested earlier this year for practicing medicine without a license is in police custody in Virginia for using an elderly woman's credit cards without her permission.
10. Ex-nurse awarded $490k after NY hospital simulates robbery as part of safety drill
A jury awarded a former Harris, N.Y.-based Grover M. Hermann Catskill Regional Medical Center nurse $490,000 in a civil suit after she said the hospital failed to inform her of a fake robbery as part of a training drill.
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