The following hospital lawsuits were reported in the past month, beginning with the most recent.
1. Ex-UPMC Health Plan executive pleads guilty in $846k embezzlement case
The former senior director of Pittsburgh-based UPMC Health Plan pleaded guilty to embezzling $846,000 from UPMC by putting ghost workers on the payroll.
2. Feds accuse Texas health system of engaging in $20M kickback scheme
The federal government intervened in a whistle-blower lawsuit alleging East Texas Medical Center Regional Healthcare System, an 11-hospital nonprofit system based in Tyler, participated in a kickback scheme.
3. Appeals court: UPMC was not negligent after 2014 data breach
Three Pennsylvania Superior Court judges upheld a former ruling that Pittsburgh-based UPMC wasn't negligent in a 2014 data breach.
4. Strong Memorial Hospital employee accused of stabbing hospital visitor
Police say a 22-year-old employee of Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, N.Y., stabbed a man who was visiting a patient at the hospital Jan. 21.
5. Norman Regional Health System in Oklahoma accused of billing fraud
A qui tam, or whistle-blower, complaint filed in 2014 and unsealed Jan. 17 alleges Norman (Okla.) Regional Health System, the system's former COO and six radiologists engaged in a fraudulent billing scheme.
6. Federal court refuses to dismiss false claims suit against Prime Healthcare
A California federal court denied three motions brought by Prime Healthcare Services in a lawsuit alleging the Ontario, Calif.-based hospital chain violated the False Claims Act.
7. WellSpan York Hospital faces suit over heater-cooler-related infection risks
Twelve patients filed a civil lawsuit against WellSpan York (Pa.) Hospital that alleges the hospital failed to protect them from exposure to nontuberculous mycobacterium during open-heart surgery.
8. Patient allegedly steals physician's white coat to escape Texas hospital after arrest
A 33-year-old woman was charged with a felony after police say she took a physician's white coat and used it to escape police custody at UMC Brackenridge Hospital in Austin, Texas.
9. Appeals court reduces judgment against HCA to $188M in breach of contract suit
The Missouri Court of Appeals reduced a judgment against Nashville, Tenn.-based Hospital Corporation of America by more than half in a breach of contract suit brought by the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City.
10. Penn Health System settles improper billing allegations for $845k
Philadelphia-based University of Pennsylvania Health System agreed to pay the federal government $845,000 to resolve False Claims Act allegations.
11. Abington Hospital pays $510k to settle drug diversion allegations
Abington (Pa.) Hospital-Jefferson Health will pay the United States $510,000 to resolve allegations that shortfalls in its internal controls allowed one of the hospital's pharmacists to divert more than 35,000 pills from Feb. 1, 2010, to Aug. 20, 2013.
12. Cedars-Sinai sues HealthCare Partners over unpaid bills
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles filed a lawsuit Jan. 3 against HealthCare Partners, alleging the El Segundo, Calif.-based medical group owes the hospital more than $6 million.
13. Aetna wins $41.4M suit against Texas hospital over billing scheme
A federal judge ruled Aetna may collect up to $41.4 million in restitution from Humble (Texas) Surgical Hospital, concluding the five-bed hospital violated federal anti-kickback laws.
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