From Centene's board beating a $1.3 billion Medicaid fraud lawsuit, to a Pennsylvania hospital accusing a bed maker of anticompetitive behavior, here are 10 healthcare industry lawsuits, settlements, and legal developments Becker's has reported since July 8:
1. Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha filed a motion in Providence County Superior Court to hold Los Angeles-based Prospect Medical Holdings in contempt for a refusal to comply with a court order to pay $17 million in unpaid bills to hospital vendors.
2. Current and former Centene board members, along with former senior executives, beat a pension fund derivative lawsuit alleging the company overbilled state Medicaid programs for pharmacy services.
3. The former CFO of Loretto Hospital in Chicago is among three individuals charged in an indictment alleging involvement in a $15 million embezzlement scheme.
4. Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago was hit with a federal class action lawsuit over a data breach that affected 792,000 patients. The lawsuit also alleges that the hospital waited almost five months to inform individuals their information had been compromised.
5. A trial is underway to determine if Florida failed to properly notify Medicaid beneficiaries it disenrolled during the unwinding process.
6. The Federal Trade Commission is preparing to sue UnitedHealth Group, CVS Health and the Cigna Group over their pharmaceutical benefit managers' business practices, according to The Wall Street Journal.
7. UnitedHealth Group and several of the company's leaders are facing a shareholder derivative lawsuit alleging they failed to disclose that the Justice Department opened an antitrust investigation into the company.
8. A Kansas law compels drugmakers to extend 340B program discounts to contract pharmacies. AstraZeneca and AbbVie filed lawsuits against the legislation.
9. A federal judge paused implementation of CMS regulations capping the amount Medicare Advantage companies can pay brokers that sell their plans
10. Reading Hospital in West Reading, Pa., filed a class action lawsuit against Hill-Rom, a hospital bed maker, alleging anticompetitive behavior.