From 80 hospitals suing HHS over disproportionate share hospital payments to Piedmont Healthcare defeating a data-sharing lawsuit, here are 11 lawsuits, settlements and legal developments that Becker's has reported since Sept. 4:
1. The Justice Department filed a complaint alleging Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Health System denied patients with disabilities the ability to be accompanied by a family member, personal aide or other support person when receiving care.
2. Eighty hospitals are seeking to have the Part C (Medicare Advantage) Days Final rule vacated, alleging that HHS unlawfully reduced disproportionate hospital share payments by an estimated $3 billion to $4 billion over a nine-year period.
3. Chapel Hill, N.C.-based UNC Health and the state department of health asked the North Carolina Supreme Court to hear a yearslong case involving UNC's plan to build a 40-bed hospital in the Durham, N.C., portion of Research Triangle Park
4. A former cancer research scientist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham was awarded $3.8 million for harassment and discrimination she said she experienced while employed at the university's medical school.
5. A judge dismissed a trademark infringement lawsuit against a St. Louis hospital, allowing the facility to keep its name. Homer G. Phillips Memorial Hospital, which was named for a late Missouri civil rights icon, opened in January. The Homer G. Phillips Nurses' Alumni Association, whose members attended a now-defunct nursing school named for Mr. Phillips, sued the hospital, claiming it infringed on the group's trademark.
6. Allentown, Pa.-based Lehigh Valley Health Network agreed to a proposed $65 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit related to a 2023 ransomware attack that exposed the medical records of 134,000 patients.
7. Duluth, Minn.-based Essentia Health will continue to operate a hospital in Fosston, Minn., after an arbitration panel ruled in the health system's favor in a dispute with the city.
8. Rushville, Ill.-based Sarah D. Culbertson Memorial Hospital is accused of sharing patients' information with third parties, including Google, Microsoft and Facebook.
9. Madera, Calif.-based Valley Children's Healthcare proposed a settlement that would give about $50 to each employee in a lawsuit alleging the hospital did not pay sufficient wages. However, one nurse said she is owed more than 500 times that amount and filed a motion to prevent her own lawsuit from being precluded.
10. Atlanta-based Piedmont Healthcare beat a lawsuit that alleged it shared patients' personally identifiable information and protected health information with Facebook.
11. Eighteen former patients, or families of patients who died, filed a $303 million medical malpractice and wrongful death lawsuit against Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center in Medford, Ore., over a drug diversion case that allegedly harmed dozens of patients.