From a health system settling kickback allegations to a for-profit hospital operator facing an antitrust lawsuit, here are the latest hospital lawsuits and settlements making headlines.
1. Steward to pay $4.7M to settle kickback allegations
Dallas-based Steward Health Care agreed to pay $4.7 million to resolve kickback allegations.
2. HCA hit with antitrust case, accused of driving up prices
HCA Healthcare, a for-profit hospital operator based in Nashville, Tenn., is facing another antitrust lawsuit. The city of Brevard, N.C., filed a lawsuit against HCA on June 3. The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, alleges that the hospital operator engaged in an "anticompetitive scheme involving the illegal maintenance and enhancement of monopoly power" in the acute care hospital and outpatient care markets in seven counties in North Carolina.
3. Orlando Health sues healthcare-sharing ministry
Orlando Health filed a federal lawsuit June 9 against Liberty HealthShare, accusing the healthcare-sharing ministry of trying to get free services it should have paid for and disputing claims without providing details.
4. Philadelphia hospital faces lawsuit after nursing assistant fatally shot by coworker
The family of a nursing assistant killed by a co-worker in October at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital filed a lawsuit against the hospital alleging wrongful death and negligence.
5. East Tennessee Children's Hospital faces lawsuit after data breach
Knoxville-based East Tennessee Children's Hospital is facing a lawsuit after a number of patients' personal health information was exposed in a March 2022 data breach.
6. Albany Medical Center fired worker over activism, lawsuit alleges
Albany (N.Y.) Medical Center is accused of violating state law by firing a new employee, along with two executives who helped hire her, over concerns about her political views and activism work.
7. Advocate Aurora used market power to suppress competition, lawsuit alleges
A proposed class-action lawsuit accuses Advocate Aurora Health of engaging in anticompetitive practices that have raised healthcare costs for Wisconsin employers. The lawsuit alleges Advocate Aurora, dually headquartered in Milwaukee and Downers Grove, Ill., has used anticompetitive methods, including forcing commercial health plans to include all of its "overpriced" facilities in network, even if the plans would rather only include some.
8. Georgia hospital accused of disability discrimination
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit accusing Atlanta-based Grady Memorial Hospital of failing to accommodate the disability of an employee and then firing her because of her disability.