From the Department of Justice and North Carolina Attorney General filing an antitrust lawsuit against Charlotte, N.C.-based Carolinas HealthCare to an appeals court vacating a $30 million settlement in a suit against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, here are the latest healthcare industry lawsuits and settlements making headlines.
1. 81-year-old former pediatrician pleads guilty to fraud
An 81-year-old former pediatrician who opened a pain management practice in 2009 pleaded guilty to healthcare fraud.
2. Chicago hospital accused of illegally transferring pension obligations to an order of nuns
A group of former employees accused Holy Cross Hospital in Chicago of improperly classifying its pension as a "church plan" exempt from federal law.
3. Appeals court vacates $30M BCBS antitrust settlement
The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a $30 million settlement in a suit against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, holding that the fairness of the settlement cannot be determined due to court orders sealing most of the filings in the antitrust suit.
4. Feds: Carolinas HealthCare forced steering restrictions in top payer contracts
The Department of Justice and North Carolina Attorney General filed an antitrust lawsuit against Carolinas HealthCare, alleging the Charlotte, N.C.-based system drove up costs in the region by imposing steering restrictions in contracts with commercial health insurers.
5. NY physician gets prison time for taking bribes in $100M fraud scheme
A physician who admitted taking bribes as part of a long-running test referral scheme operated by Parsippany, N.J.-based Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services was sentenced to 37 months in prison.
6. BCBS of Oklahoma dismissed from hospital's lawsuit
U.S. District Judge Claire Eagan ruled that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma be dismissed from a lawsuit involving Bristow (Okla.) Endeavor Healthcare and network coverage.
7. Owner, CFO of Louisiana healthcare company get prison time for fraud
Barbara Sadler, the 63-year-old owner of Extraordinary Care Network, a Baton Rouge, La.-area attendant care services company, was sentenced to 44 months in prison for her role in a scheme to defraud the Louisiana Medicaid program of more than $1 million.
8. Cardiothoracic surgeon claims discrimination in lawsuit against Oregon hospital
A cardiothoracic surgeon filed suit against St. Charles Health System, accusing the Bend, Ore.-based system of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act when he was fired in November.
9. Physician charged with fraud accuses FBI, DOJ of routinely spying on defense strategy
Lawyers representing a physician accused of fraud filed court documents alleging that prosecutors secretly gained access to files assembled by the defense team.
10. Additional conspiracy charge tacked onto Martin Shkreli case
Martin Shkreli, the former CEO of Retrophin and Turing Pharmaceuticals, who was made famous by a 5,000 percent price hike on a cancer and AIDS drug, now faces an additional conspiracy charge.
11. Former Pacific Hospital CEO and son guilty in $600M fraud scheme
Michael R. Drobot, former CEO of Pacific Hospital in Long Beach, Calif., and his son are two of nine defendants that have admitted participating in a massive fraud scheme that involved physicians receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in kickbacks.
12. Pharma companies to pay $67M for misleading physicians about cancer drug
Pharmaceutical companies Farmingdale, N.Y.-based Genentech and South San Francisco, Calif.-based OSI Pharmaceuticals agreed to pay $67 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations.
13. Former MedStar security guards plead not guilty in patient death
Two ex-security guards from MedStar Washington Hospital Center pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of involuntary manslaughter before Superior Court judge in Washington, D.C.
14. Transgender nurse sues Dignity Health for refusing to cover gender reassignment costs
A transgender Dignity Health employee filed suit against the San Francisco-based hospital chain, alleging the system wrongfully denied him coverage for hormone therapy and sex-reassignment surgery.
15. MLK Hospital sues BCBS of Ga. for giving reimbursement money to patients
Los Angeles-based Martin Luther King Hospital filed suit against Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia, alleging the insurer sends reimbursement money for emergency room services directly to patients as a means of retaliation against out-of-network hospital prices.
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