California Gov. Gavin Newsom approved legislation directing the state's HHS to outline requirements for a federal wage application focused on universal healthcare coverage in partnership with the federal government, according to an Oct. 7 report from CBS Bay Area.

A California woman pleaded guilty to her role in a $359 million scheme to bill public and private insurers for unnecessary COVID-19 tests. 

A former rheumatologist at Boston-based Brigham and Women's Hospital has agreed to stop practicing medicine amid allegations that he performed inappropriate pelvic and breast exams on patients. The physician, Derrick Todd, MD, has not worked at Brigham since July, according to an Oct. 5 report from The Boston Globe. 

A Great Neck, N.Y., man pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud Medicare and Medicaid of more than $25 million.

Nurses from Philadelphia-based Temple University Hospital's outpatient clinics filed a class-action lawsuit alleging they were not paid for overtime, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Oct. 6.

Munster, Ind.-based Community Hospital and its operator, Munster Medical Research Foundation, will pay $158,000 to settle a lawsuit that accused the hospital of not accommodating a nurse after a work injury. 

Three states have filed civil complaints against a group of medical centers for allegedly performing unnecessary surgeries on Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, nj.com reported Oct. 4.

A Georgia lab owner convicted for his role in a $463 million fraud scheme was ordered to forfeit more than $187 million in fraud proceeds.

The uncertainty surrounding House leadership has created a "more challenging environment" for hospital priorities, America's Essential Hospitals' vice president of legislative affairs, Jason Pray, told Becker's on Oct. 4.

A Florida nurse accused of tampering with a consumer medication, injectable hydromorphone, pleaded guilty to the charges Oct. 3, and faces up to 10 years in federal prison.

Another 301 patients have sued Robert Hadden, MD, and Columbia University, alleging the gynecologist sexually abused them during examinations, The Wall Street Journal reported Oct. 3.

A former nurse charged with killing two nursing home patients is being accused of a third patient's death, Trib Live reported Oct. 3.

At least three hospitals have been accused of violating the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act this year in cases in which they allegedly did not provide appropriate care to pregnant patients experiencing medical emergencies. 

Children's Hospital Colorado has filed a legal challenge to the Defense Health Agency's planned reimbursement changes to Tricare that the Aurora-based system said would significantly lower the amount it is paid for outpatient services. 

A California law that allowed regulators to discipline physicians for spreading misinformation related to COVID-19 has been repealed, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Oct. 2. 

From a New York cardiologist agreeing to relinquish his practice as part of a settlement agreement, to a nurse practitioner convicted in a $200 million scheme, here are 10 healthcare billing fraud cases Becker's reported since Sept. 19: 

Biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has agreed to pay $425 million to settle product liability suits over two heartburn drugs, Prilosec and Nexium, according to an Oct. 3 news release.

A Rhode Island man who is accused of attacking a nurse was already facing an assault charge from a different incident at another medical center, CBS affiliate WPRI reported Oct. 2.

The Virginia State Health Commissioner shut down HCA Healthcare's proposal to build a $234 million hospital in Hanover County, Va., Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Oct. 3.

Newark, Del.-based ChristianaCare has reserved $47 million to settle a kickback lawsuit filed by a former member of its executive team, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Sept. 29.