As Johnson & Johnson faces thousands of lawsuits over its now obsolete talc-based baby powder, an appeals court rejected the company's plan to use bankruptcy code Chapter 11 — which allows its unit to take the claims into bankruptcy — according to court documents and The Wall Street Journal. 

A district judge in Texas has dismissed a physician's $25 million defamation case against Houston Methodist Hospital and ordered her to pay attorney fees, according to a hospital statement shared with Becker's. 

A nurse filed suit against Ballad Health, accusing the Johnson City, Tenn.-based system of requiring employees to work through unpaid meal breaks, court documents show. 

Fired MetroHealth President and CEO Akram Boutros, MD, acted beyond his authority by awarding himself $1.98 million in bonuses, the Cleveland-based system said in a court filing, cleveland.com reported Jan. 30. 

A Florida-based marketer pleaded guilty to buying and selling more than 2.6 million Medicare beneficiary identification numbers and other personal identifying information. 

Two New Mexico legislators are co-sponsoring a bill that aims to define and legally enforce nurse-to-patient ratios to help nurses, an overworked and understaffed group, Source New Mexico reported Jan. 30. 

Anita Jackson, MD, 59, an otolaryngologist who practiced in Raleigh, N.C., faces prison time after being convicted of 20 counts, including adulterating medical devices and fabricating health records.

Four large Oregon health systems are squaring up with the Oregon Health Authority over their federal lawsuit they say protects the civil rights of patients with mental illness, KTVZ reported Jan. 26.

Montana's state legislature is steadily moving along a bill that aims to allow pharmacists more prescribing authority. 

A lawsuit was filed Jan. 10 accusing Cincinnati-based Christ Hospital of sending patient information to Meta and other third parties using code on their website, ABC affiliate WCPO reported.

State officials have filed a notice of appeal in a case involving New York's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers.

A federal court has blocked California from enforcing a state law that allows regulators to punish physicians for spreading misinformation or disinformation related to COVID-19, according to Bloomberg Law and the San Francisco Chronicle.

From an HCA hospital suing to halt a rival hospital's expansion to Mass General Brigham being hit with a patent infringement suit, here are seven recent lawsuits and settlements involving hospitals that Becker's has reported since Jan. 13:  

Logan Health Medical Center in Kalispell, Mont., has reached a $4.3 million settlement with patients and employees whose personal and protected health information was likely accessed during a cyberattack, SC Media reported Jan. 25.

Mission Hospital in Asheville, N.C., filed a lawsuit Jan. 10 to stop Hendersonville, N.C.-based Pardee Hospital from expanding its cardiac catheterization services, according to a Jan. 24 report in the Asheville Citizen Times.

A Utah plastic surgeon and three others allegedly threw away at least $28,000 worth of COVID-19 vaccines, injected minors with saline shots and distributed hundreds of fake vaccination cards, according to the Justice Department. 

Twenty-five people have been charged for their alleged participation in a coordinated scheme to sell aspiring nurses thousands of fake nursing degree documents, the Justice Department said Jan. 25.

Syracuse, N.Y.-based St. Joseph's Hospital Health Center and Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health System dodged a class action lawsuit alleging they failed to properly pay employees for overtime hours, according to court documents.

Robert Hadden, former New York City gynecologist, was convicted of four counts of enticing his former patients into the state to engage in illegal sexual activity, The New York Times reported Jan. 24.

Two medical equipment company and pharmacy owners were indicted as part of a $14.5 million Medicare fraud scheme.