From hospital groups suing HHS over Medicare payment policies to Cigna filing a lawsuit against health clinics in Texas, here are the latest healthcare industry lawsuits and settlements making headlines.
1. Aggressive creditor forced hospital chain into bankruptcy, CEO says
Americore Health and its affiliated hospitals were forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late December after a lender hijacked the company's bank accounts, Americore Founder and CEO Grant White alleges in court documents.
2. Texas physician guilty in $325M fraud case involving false diagnoses
A Texas physician was found guilty Jan. 15 for his role in a $325 million healthcare fraud scheme that involved falsely diagnosing patients with various degenerative diseases and then administering chemotherapy and other toxic drugs to patients based on the false diagnoses.
3. Feds allege Theranos caused patient harm via false HIV, pregnancy test results
After Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes filed a motion last month to get patient-related felony charges dismissed in her indictment, federal prosecutors filed a response detailing allegations of inaccurate test results and the harm they caused those patients.
4. Cigna sues Texas clinics for $2M in claims
A Cigna subsidiary in Texas filed a lawsuit that alleges three dissolved clinics, their owner, a manager and managing physicians defrauded the health insurer through a billing scheme.
5. Nurses lose bid to keep Washington hospital open
A bankruptcy judge on Jan. 14 denied a request from the Washington State Nurses Association to reconsider an order allowing Astria Regional Medical Center in Yakima, Wash., to close.
6. Tennessee physician charged in $7M healthcare fraud conspiracy
A Tennessee physician was charged for his alleged role in a $7 million fraud scheme involving false Medicare claims.
7. Trump administration brings 'public charge' rule battle to Supreme Court
The Justice Department called on the Supreme Court Jan. 13 to lift a nationwide block on the "public charge" rule, which would allow the administration to begin denying immigrants green cards if they have used public benefits like Medicaid.
8. Hospital groups sue HHS, seek to block site-neutral pay cuts
Two organizations representing hospitals and health systems across the nation and several individual hospitals sued HHS Jan. 13 over site-neutral payment cuts for 2020.
9. Physicians association sues US congressman, cites 'reputational injury,' after website visits drop
The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons is suing U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff for asking social media platforms to remove inaccurate vaccine information, saying his request amounts to censorship of free speech.
10. South Carolina hospital escapes suit over physician's lack of adequate insurance
An appeals court affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit seeking unpaid medical malpractice awards from a South Carolina hospital.
11. ResMed to pay US $37.5M to settle kickback allegations
ResMed, a medical devicemaker based in San Diego, agreed to pay the U.S. $37.5 million to resolve claims that it provided free goods and services to companies to sell more of its equipment.
12. Ballad antitrust lawsuit heads to federal appeals court
Tennessee residents suing Johnson City, Tenn.-based Ballad Health for an anticompetitive board structure appealed a judge's decision to dismiss the case.
13. Dignity Health isn't owed millions from Medicaid insurer, appellate court rules
Upholding a lower court decision, a California appellate court rejected San Francisco-based Dignity Health's lawsuit claiming that L.A. Care Health Plan owes it hundreds of millions of dollars in out-of-network payments for inpatient stabilization post-emergency.
14. Endo settles Oklahoma opioid case for $8.8M
Endo Pharmaceuticals agreed to pay $8.8 million to Oklahoma to settle claims its marketing played a role in fueling the opioid crisis.
15. Physician, salesperson charged in $12M fraud scheme against insurer
Federal prosecutors accused an Arkansas physician and a medical sales representative of participating in a scheme to defraud Tricare, the U.S. military health insurer.
16. Court dismisses Beaumont's lawsuit over denied hospital application
A Court of Claims dismissed a lawsuit filed by Southfield, Mich.-based Beaumont Health that claimed Michigan regulators wrongly rejected its application to build a hospital.
17. Oklahoma sues McKesson, Cardinal, AmerisourceBergen over the opioid crisis
Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter filed a lawsuit Jan. 13 against Cardinal Health, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen, three of the country's largest drug distributors, alleging they helped fuel the opioid crisis by funnelling "unreasonable" amounts of opioids into the state.
18. Roche pulled a $1.5B fast one on US, whistleblower physician alleges
Roche allegedly misled the U.S. government about the effectiveness of its drug, Tamiflu, at combating a flu pandemic, causing the government to unnecessarily spend $1.5 billion to stockpile the drug.
19. New York hospital seeks dismissal of lawsuit alleging human trafficking law violations
Albany (N.Y.) Medical Center seeks to dismiss a union lawsuit accusing the hospital of federal human trafficking law violations linked to its program to recruit nurses from the Philippines to work in the hospital.
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