From a judge denying the FTC's attempt to block a two-hospital deal in North Carolina to two former high-ranking employees filing a False Claims Act complaint against Erlanger Health System, here are 12 lawsuits, settlements and legal developments Becker's has reported since May 28.
1. Los Angeles-based Prospect Medical Holdings is countersuing Yale New Haven Health, demanding that the Connecticut health system honor its contractual obligations to acquire Eastern Connecticut Health Network and Waterbury Hospital.
2. SCAN Health Plan won its lawsuit against CMS that claimed the agency improperly calculated the payer's 2024 Medicare Advantage star rating.
3. A majority panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a 2022 jury verdict in favor of Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health in a class action alleging the health system used its market power to charge supracompetitive rates to major insurers, which resulted in higher premiums for members.
4. A federal judge rejected the Federal Trade Commission's request for a preliminary injunction to bar Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Novant Health from its $320 million acquisition of two North Carolina hospitals from Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems.
5. A federal appeals court ruled that a lower court did not abuse its broad discretion by granting Cigna a request for a preliminary injunction barring a former executive from taking a job at CVS Health while a lawsuit over her noncompete clause moves forward.
6. Portland, Ore.-based Legacy Health will pay an undisclosed amount to settle a lawsuit with parents of a burn victim from an apartment fire.
7. The manufacturer of Ozempic and Wegovy filed nine additional lawsuits against businesses in six states that allegedly sold unapproved compounded versions of the popular drugs.
8. St. Louis-based Mercy agreed to pay $1.8 million to settle a lawsuit over a 2020 data breach.
9. A national trade group representing laboratories filed a lawsuit against the FDA arguing the agency's recent final rule to treat laboratory-developed tests as medical devices exceeds its statutory authority.
10. DuBois, Pa.-based Penn Highlands Healthcare agreed to pay the federal government $735,000 to resolve a whistleblower suit alleging Physician Self-Referral Law violations from claims submitted to Medicare and Medicaid.
11. Two former high-ranking employees filed a False Claims Act complaint against Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Erlanger Health System.
12. The American Health Care Association, Texas Health Care Association and multiple long-term nursing home facilities in Texas filed a lawsuit against CMS over its recently finalized staffing rules.