From the Washington Hospital Association suing the state over a charity care law, to Mayo Clinic and Lifepoint Health suing Bristol Myers Squibb for allegedly inflating the price of a cancer drug, here are 11 hospital lawsuits and settlements Becker's has reported since Oct. 3:
1. A former medical director of one of Seattle Children's clinics is suing the hospital, alleging racial discrimination.
2. The Washington Hospital Association sued the state's health department over a change in interpretation of a long-standing charity care law. According to the lawsuit, hospitals statewide are required to provide charity care for any service to any patient seeking it regardless of their ability to pay or an indigent person's residency.
3. Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic and Brentwood, Tenn.-based Lifepoint Health are suing Bristol Myers Squibb and its subsidiary, Celgene, alleging the companies inflated the price of the cancer drug Revlimid by paying other drugmakers to keep their generic versions off the market.
4. Rockville Centre, N.Y.-based Catholic Health of Long Island will not have to defend allegations it fraudulently diverted a nursing home's service payments to another facility while certifying compliance.
5. New Haven, Conn.-based Yale University is facing mounting lawsuits from former patients who claim they underwent fertility procedures without receiving painkillers under the assumption that they would.
6. A Cook County, Ill., jury awarded $55.5 million to Shamond Butler, 20, a man who suffered brain injuries during his birth at the University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago.
7. Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente reached a $200 million settlement with the California Department of Managed Health Care to resolve deficiencies in its delivery and management of behavioral healthcare.
8. Three physicians at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center filed suit against owner Los Angeles County, alleging that the misconduct of one orthopedic surgeon was overlooked by management for years.
9. Munster, Ind.-based Community Hospital and its operator, Munster Medical Research Foundation, will pay $158,000 to settle a lawsuit that accused the hospital of not accommodating a nurse after a work injury.
10. Another 301 patients have sued Robert Hadden, MD, and Columbia University, alleging the gynecologist sexually abused them during examinations.
11. Children's Hospital Colorado filed a legal challenge to the Defense Health Agency's planned reimbursement changes to Tricare that the Aurora-based system said would significantly lower the amount it is paid for outpatient services.