From a Pennsylvania hospital facing a class-action lawsuit over improperly cleaned equipment to a cardiologist sentenced to prison for healthcare fraud, here are the latest healthcare industry lawsuits and settlements making headlines.
1. UPMC hospital to face class-action suit over improperly cleaned equipment
New Castle, Pa.-based UPMC Jameson Hospital will face a class-action lawsuit over improperly cleaned ultrasound probes that put more than 200 patients at risk of infection.
2. Feds claim Kansas physician involved in $30M billing fraud scheme
A Kansas physician and Hutchinson (Kan.) Clinic are defendants in a False Claims Act case the federal government recently intervened in.
3. Missouri behavioral health center faces $10M suit over patient-on-patient violence
A Missouri man filed a $10 million lawsuit against the Center for Behavioral Medicine in Kansas City, claiming the facility failed to protect him from another patient's violent behavior.
4. Physician charged for alleged role in Medicaid billing scheme
A New York physician was arrested and charged for allegedly taking part in a billing scheme to defraud the state's Medicaid program.
5. Cardiologist sentenced to prison for implanting unnecessary pacemakers, healthcare fraud
A Kentucky physician was sentenced to more than three years in federal prison for implanting medically unnecessary pacemakers in his patients to defraud government and commercial insurers.
6. UnitedHealth, CVS, Express Scripts, Prime must face lawsuit over EpiPen prices
Four pharmacy benefit managers — UnitedHealth's OptumRx, CVS Caremark, Express Scripts and Prime Therapeutics — must face a lawsuit over their roles in the skyrocketing price of EpiPen, a federal judge ruled Oct. 26.
7. Abbott, AbbVie pay $25M to resolve long-standing kickback case
Abbott Laboratories and AbbVie will pay a total of $25 million to resolve allegations that Abbott paid kickbacks to physicians and employed unlawful marketing tactics to bolster prescriptions of its cholesterol drug TriCor.
More articles on legal and regulatory issues:
Judge halts Maine hospital merger
Iowa hospital sues Medicaid insurers over ED reimbursement
Aetna's $50M overbilling case against medical group moves forward