From health systems facing lawsuits over data breaches to a physician suing a Houston hospital for defamation, here are the latest hospital lawsuits and settlements making headlines.
1. Houston Methodist hit with 2nd lawsuit from physician accused of spreading COVID-19 misinformation
A Houston physician who resigned her provisional privileges at Houston Methodist Hospital after being suspended for using social media to spread what the hospital called "dangerous [COVID-19] misinformation," is suing the hospital for a second time.
2. UNC Health settles with patients who accused system of violating their civil rights
Chapel Hill, N.C.-based University of North Carolina Health will pay a $125,000 settlement to two blind patients who said the system did not provide billing or health information in Braille or any other accessible format.
3. PeaceHealth nursing assistant fired over complaints about staffing, lawsuit alleges
A certified nursing assistant who worked at PeaceHealth Cottage Grove (Ore.) Community Medical Center filed a lawsuit, claiming he was fired in retaliation for his complaints about what he described as unsafe staffing
4. Tenet Healthcare, Baptist Health face class-action lawsuit over April data breach
A class-action lawsuit was filed against Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare and its affiliate, San Antonio, Texas-based Baptist Health System, over an April data breach that affected 1.2 million patients.
5. Kern Medical workers accuse hospital of violating public disclosure laws
Members of the Service Employees International Union Local 521 are accusing Bakersfield-based Kern Medical of violating California open meeting and public disclosure laws and being misleading about the use of an outpatient facility, according to a lawsuit filed July 18. The lawsuit, filed in California Superior Court, contends that management of the safety-net hospital violated the Brown Act and the California Public Records Act.
6. Indiana hospital settles data breach lawsuit for $425K
Gary, Ind.-based Methodist Hospitals agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit for $425,000 following a June 2019 phishing attack that compromised the protected health information of patients.
7. West Virginia hospital agrees to $5.7M settlement in retiree benefit lawsuit
Huntington, W.Va.-based Cabell Huntington Hospital agreed to pay $5.7 million to settle allegations that the provider reneged on healthcare benefit promises it made to more than 200 nonunion retirees
8. BJC HealthCare to spend $2.7M to boost email security, settles breach suit
St. Louis-based BJC HealthCare agreed to a class action lawsuit settlement to resolve allegations that its poor cybersecurity led to a May 2020 phishing attack that compromised sensitive patient data. Affected patients of the data breach took legal action against BJC HealthCare, arguing the company could have prevented the data breach through reasonable cybersecurity measures.