The following hospital lawsuits were reported in the past month, beginning with the most recent.
1. Michigan hospital, 3 patient relatives must mediate Facebook post lawsuit
A court ordered Kalkaska (Mich.) Memorial Health Center and three relatives of a patient treated at the hospital to mediate their dispute over a critical Facebook post made by the relatives.
2. Illinois hospital provided $500K in unreimbursed care to inmate, according to lawsuit
Maywood, Ill.-based Loyola University Medical Center filed a lawsuit against Cook County, including the county's hospital system and sheriff's office, accusing the entities of refusing to retrieve an inmate from the medical center's care since April.
3. New York health system pays $15.6M to settle billing fraud case
LaGrangeville, N.Y.-based Health Quest Systems and certain of its subsidiaries agreed to pay more than $14.7 million to the federal government and an additional $895,427 to the state of New York to resolve False Claims Act allegations.
4. CFO: Montana hospital engaged in billing fraud, kickback scheme
Kalispell (Mont.) Regional Healthcare disclosed in June that it is under federal investigation, and a recently unsealed complaint filed by the CFO of the hospital's physician network provides more details about the allegations.
5. NYC Health + Hospitals accused of age discrimination in lawsuit
Jeffrey Wallach, a 67-year-old former employee of New York City-based NYC Health + Hospitals, filed a class-action lawsuit alleging the public health system targeted employees 40 and older when it cut approximately 400 management positions on June 2, 2017.
6. California hospital settlement reinstalls staff, bylaws, leadership from early 2016
A settlement between Tulare (Calif.) Regional Medical Center and its staff will turn back the clock, restoring the hospital's medical staff, leadership and bylaws from before Jan. 26, 2016.
7. Premier Health asks court to dismiss lawsuit over $17K, $9K out-of-network bills
Dayton, Ohio-based Premier Health and a contracted surgeon called on a court to dismiss a lawsuit accusing them of failing to notify patients getting treatment in the emergency department that their surgeon was not in-network with their health insurance plan.
8. Children's Mercy facing class-action lawsuit after data breach
Kansas City, Mo.-based Children's Mercy Hospital was served with a class-action lawsuit July 10 after staff members were tricked by an email phishing scam that potentially compromised 63,049 patients' and family members' protected health information.
9. 2 Arkansas hospitals accuse EMS provider of balance billing
Fort Smith, Ark.-based Sparks Regional Medical Center and Mercy Fort Smith (Ark.) filed a lawsuit against Fort Smith Emergency Medical Services that accused the EMS operator of balance billing.
10. Lawsuit: Texas hospital violated HIPAA, mischaracterized lab results to police
St. David's Round Rock (Texas) Medical Center faces allegations of violating HIPAA and misinterpreting lab tests used to support drunk driving charges against a patient.
11. Court clears the way for 277 hospitals to challenge Medicare reimbursements
The U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held June 29 that a 2013 regulation by HHS imposing a three-year limit on reconsidering Medicare reimbursement decisions does not apply to appeals.
12. Memorial Hermann hit with $1M retaliation suit by former employee
A former physician peer review coordinator for Houston-based Memorial Hermann Health System sued the health system for $1 million, claiming she was fired in retaliation after she refused to reveal confidential information.
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2 surgeons indicted in $950M kickback scheme in California