A Massachusetts-based orthopedic surgeon was convicted by a federal jury for his role in an upcoding scheme. 

A judge told St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital it would not decide on a retrial for its lawsuit case that was brought to light in a Netflix documentary until after the holidays, Fox 13 News reported.  

During a learning session at Becker's 11th Annual CEO + CFO Roundtable, Ed Gaines, vice president of regulatory affairs and industry liaison for Zotec Partners, led a discussion with healthcare leaders on the current regulatory environment and how it's expected to affect the industry and revenue cycle management in 2024. 

A furloughed inmate who walked away from Erie, Pa.-based UPMC Hamot on Dec. 9 while receiving medical treatment at the facility is facing charges after police said he fled Erie in a car he stole from a hospital employee, the Erie Times-News reported Dec. 14.

North Carolina's attorney general is suing HCA Healthcare, alleging the for-profit hospital operator has cut emergency and cancer care at Asheville, N.C.-based Mission Health System and lapsed on its 2019 purchase agreement in doing so. 

From the former CEO of MetroHealth filing a motion to drop his lawsuit against the hospital's board, to Washington University in St. Louis accusing the Missouri attorney general of violating HIPAA, here are six hospital lawsuits, settlements and legal developments Becker's has reported since Dec. 6: 

A Connecticut man pleaded guilty to offenses related to a bomb threat he called in to Yale New Haven (Conn.) Hospital in May 2021.

Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, went into lockdown Dec. 12 after police responded to reports of a man with an assault-style weapon at the hospital. 

Three people have been charged for their alleged roles in a scheme to defraud Minnesota's Medicaid program out of nearly $11 million. 

Audu Ozigi, a former operator of home health agencies, was sentenced to 168 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release after he was found guilty of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, falsifying patient files and fraudulently billing Medicare and Medicaid.

 A furloughed prisoner escaped custody Dec. 9 while receiving medical treatment at Erie, Pa.-based UPMC Hamot, according to local reports. Now, police are investigating whether he stole a hospital employee's car to skip town. 

Keith Berman, former CEO and director of Decision Diagnostics Corp., pleaded guilty to securities fraud, wire fraud and obstruction of an official proceeding.

A former VCU Health employee found guilty of second-degree murder after shooting his coworker in a hospital stairwell has been sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. 

Valhalla, N.Y.-based Westchester Medical Center Health Network has been ordered by a jury to pay $120 million to a patient and his family following delayed stroke care that resulted in brain damage.

A former Colorado ICU nurse found guilty of filming himself sexually assaulting more than a dozen unconscious patients will spend 20 years in prison, Local12 reported Dec. 10.

The Supreme Court on Dec. 11 threw out three cases challenging the federal government's COVID-19 vaccine mandates for federal employees and military members, preventing lower court rulings from establishing a precedent for future mandates, The Hill reported. 

The former owner of the now-shuttered Palm Beach School of Nursing in Florida will be the prosecution's main witness in a federal trial of three defendants accused of recruiting students into a coordinated scheme to sell them fake diplomas and transcripts, according to the Miami Herald. 

Akram Boutros, MD, former CEO of Cleveland-based MetroHealth, filed a motion to withdraw his lawsuit against the hospital's board due to health issues, Signal Cleveland reported Dec. 8. 

Florida lawmakers are proposing a package of healthcare laws for the state's 2024 legislative session, including measures to redirect patients from hospital emergency departments. 

Four health systems in Oregon are seeking to resurrect a lawsuit in which they contend the  state's inadequate mental healthcare system is causing them to be overburdened with psychiatric patients whom they're ill-equipped to care for, The Lund Report shared Dec. 7.