Cardiology practice Oregon Health Center has filed a lawsuit against Salem (Ore.) Health, accusing the health system of defamation and monopolizing the cardiology market, according to local reports.

A Chicago jury failed to reach a verdict Sept. 18 over claims that heartburn drug Zantac causes cancer, Reuters exclusively reported. 

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions voted Sept. 19 to forward two resolutions regarding contempt charges against Steward Health Care chairman and CEO Ralph de la Torre, MD, to the full Senate. 

A Louisiana physician has been indicted for his alleged role in a scheme to defraud Medicare of more than $32.7 million by submitting claims for medically unnecessary definitive urine drug testing services.

After a six-year legal battle, Beaufort (S.C.) Memorial Hospital has withdrawn its certificate of need for a planned hospital in Bluffton, S.C., the hospital confirmed in a statement shared with Becker's.

Ralph de la Torre, MD, chairman and CEO of Dallas-based Steward Health Care is invoking his Fifth Amendment right ahead of a Senate committee's contempt vote. 

A group of House lawmakers have introduced a bill aimed at strengthening the enforcement of the No Surprises Act. 

Dakota Dunes, S.D.-based Dunes Surgical Hospital, United Surgical Partners International and USP Siouxland agreed to pay $12.76 million to resolve allegations that the surgical center violated the False Claims Act through improper relationships with two physician groups. 

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has accused Children's Healthcare of Atlanta of violating federal law by rescinding a job offer after an applicant requested a disability-related accommodation.

From 80 hospitals suing HHS over disproportionate share hospital payments to Piedmont Healthcare defeating a data-sharing lawsuit, here are 11 lawsuits, settlements and legal developments that Becker's has reported since Sept. 4:

Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates is under investigation after allegations that it tried to pressure its personnel to retrieve organs from a hospital patient who was awake and later left the facility alive, The Wall Street Journal reported Sept. 11.

The Justice Department on Sept. 12 filed a complaint alleging Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Health System denied patients with disabilities the ability to be accompanied by a family member, personal aide or other support person when receiving care.

Eighty hospitals are seeking to have the Part C (Medicare Advantage) Days Final rule vacated, alleging that HHS unlawfully reduced disproportionate hospital share payments by an estimated $3 billion to $4 billion over a nine-year period.

Chapel Hill, N.C.-based UNC Health and the state department of health have asked the North Carolina Supreme Court to hear a yearslong case involving UNC's plan to build a 40-bed hospital in the Durham, N.C., portion of Research Triangle Park, according to The Carolina Journal. 

A former cancer research scientist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham has been awarded $3.8 million for harassment and discrimination she said she experienced while employed at the university's medical school, AL.com reported Sept. 10.

A Wilmington, Del.-based physician has agreed to pay more than $1 million to settle allegations he violated the False Claims Act by ordering medically unnecessary durable medical equipment for Medicare and Federal Employees Health Benefits Program patients. 

A chair with a name card for Ralph de la Torre, MD, chairman and CEO of Dallas-based Steward Health Care, sat empty Sept. 12 after he skipped the bipartisan Senate committee hearing he had been subpoenaed to attend. 

The Washington state Supreme Court ruled earlier this year to hold hospitals accountable for medical errors committed by independent contractors, a Seattle-based law firm said Sept. 10. 

While there are still issues to iron out, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Christopher Lopez authorized an interim settlement agreement for Dallas-based Steward Health Care to transition many of its remaining hospitals to its landlord, Medical Properties Trust, or applicable designated operators, effective Sept. 11. 

Duluth, Minn.-based Essentia Health will continue to operate a hospital in Fosston, Minn., after an arbitration panel ruled in the health system's favor in a dispute with the city.