From eight nurses at a Tenet hospital alleging they were wrongfully terminated to the University of Chicago Medical Center being found responsible in a wrongful death case, here are 10 lawsuits, settlements and legal developments Becker's has reported since March 1:
1. Eight nurses at Worcester, Mass.-based Saint Vincent Hospital filed a lawsuit against the facility and its owner, Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, alleging they were wrongfully terminated after raising concerns about staffing shortages and care quality.
2. A Washington judge ordered a debt collection agency hired by Renton, Wash.-based Providence to pay $827,000 for violating patients' medical debt collection rights more than 82,000 times.
3. Copley Hospital in Morristown, Vt., is facing a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by its former emergency department director, who is alleging the hospital retaliated against him after he raised safety concerns related to the switch to a new records system.
4. The University of Chicago Medical Center was ordered to pay $14 million after being found responsible in a wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of a boy who died at age 4.
5. Seattle Children's Hospital settled a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by a former nurse who claimed the hospital failed, repeatedly, to adequately address her concerns, allowing the incidents to continue.
6. NewYork-Presbyterian/Brooklyn Methodist Hospital agreed to pay $17.3 million to resolve allegations it paid kickbacks to physicians using its chemotherapy infusion center.
7. A Washington county court dismissed a lawsuit filed against UW Medicine that accused the Seattle-based system of losing a patient's tumor before it could be tested for cancer.
8. A nurse filed a lawsuit against her former employer, PeaceHealth, alleging the Vancouver, Wash.-based system failed to provide 30-minute meal breaks because of understaffing.
9. A federal judge dismissed a trademark lawsuit brought by New York City-based NYU Langone Health System and NYU Langone Hospitals against New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health regarding the use of the color purple and other elements in Northwell's marketing and advertisements.
10. The family of a man who died at Mercy Hospital Springfield (Mo.) filed a lawsuit against the hospital, claiming delayed care and negligence contributed to his death.