A debt collection agency hired by Renton, Wash.-based Providence has agreed to pay $1 million to resolve allegations the company unlawfully collected medical payments from about 166,000 Washington patients without providing them with disclosures about their rights when faced with medical debt. 

The University of Alabama at Birmingham health system and several clinics in Alabama paused in vitro fertilization treatments Feb. 21 after the state's supreme court ruled that frozen embryos are considered children, according to The New York Times.

The proposed sale of Provo-based Utah State Hospital will not be going through after Utah Rep. Tyler Clancy revised his proposal that would have allowed the hospital's sale to aid funding for new state hospitals and mental health services.

Doron Tavlin, a former executive at Mazor Robotics, has been convicted of insider trading related to the device company's $1.6 billion acquisition by Medtronic.

Police in Perkins, Ohio, charged a woman who was allegedly working as a nurse and physical therapist without proper credentials, ABC affiliate WTVG reported Feb. 20. 

A Lexington, Ky.-based lab has agreed to pay nearly $10.5 million to settle allegations it billed Medicare and Medicaid for medically unnecessary urine drug testing. 

From the National Association of Accountable Care Organizations covering an alleged scheme that could be costing Medicare $2 billion to a telemedicine company owner pleading guilty to a $110 million scheme, here are 10 healthcare billing fraud cases that Becker's reported since Feb. 5: 

UChicago Medicine and one of its cardiothoracic surgeons have been named in a lawsuit over the death of Ruth Colby, the former CEO of New Lenox, Ill.-based Silver Cross Hospital. 

Nurses at Ascension Saint Joseph-Joliet (Ill.), who are members of the Illinois Nurses Association, have filed a lawsuit on behalf of themselves and more than 90 of their co-workers who they say were not paid wages they earned for the extra shifts worked by them during the last two-week pay period of November 2023, according to court documents shared with Becker's.

An 85-year-old man fatally shot himself in a Wisconsin hospital's emergency room after allegedly shooting and killing his wife at their home, according to local authorities.

Twelve families have filed a joint lawsuit against Allentown, Pa.-based Lehigh Valley Health Network, alleging the health system and its affiliates falsely accused them of medical child abuse. 

The medical director of several hospice companies was convicted for his role in a $2.8 million Medicare fraud scheme. 

Over the last five years, Aurora, Colo.-based UCHealth has sued its patients 15,710 times for money that they owe to the health system, The Colorado Sun reported Feb. 19.

Oklahoma City-based OU Health paid $140,000 to settle allegations of violating recordkeeping laws in its pharmacy department, according to the Justice Department. 

Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic is set to go before a jury in July of 2025 for a lawsuit filed by a physician who alleges the health system "silenced" him, KTTC reported Feb. 15. 

Two hospitals, five researchers and 76 research papers were called out in the last few weeks for inaccurate data and copied images — shining light on a potentially broken system of scientific research.

Three separate Utah lawsuits are seeking a combined $40 million in damages from Dallas-based Steward Health Care after investors allege the health system took funding from five of its state hospitals to pay bills it had acquired across other states, The Salt Lake Tribune reported Feb. 19.

A newly proposed bill in Minnesota is hoping to decrease the impact of hospital cuts and closures for patients and employees. 

The owner of two telemedicine companies has been charged and has agreed to plead guilty in connection with a $110 million scheme involving medically unnecessary durable medical equipment.  

Fallout from Operation Nightingale — a coordinated scheme to sell more than 7,600 fake diplomas and transcripts to aspiring nurses — continues to unfold more than a year after 25 people were charged for their roles in running the scheme.