A federal judge in Texas overturned a 2016 regulation protecting transgender patients from discrimination Oct. 15, according to AHA News.

Sutter Health, a 24-hospital system based in Sacramento, Calif., has reached a preliminary agreement in an antitrust case brought by employers and later joined by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The owner of a Tennessee-based pain clinic chain and three employees have been charged with conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and several counts of healthcare fraud for allegedly submitting $38 million in fraudulent claims government payers, according to the Department of Justice.

The average loss incurred from professional liability claims continues to increase due to a rising frequency of large medical malpractice verdicts, according to a new report published by Aon Plc. and the American Society for Health Care Risk Management.

New proposed rules were issued on October 9th, 2019 to provide more flexibility to healthcare providers entering into value-based payment arrangements.

Three workers at an assisted living facility in North Carolina were arrested and charged with assault on an individual with a disability for allegedly encouraging dementia patients in their care to fight each other, according to The Washington Post.

A New Orleans genetics laboratory reached a settlement with the federal government to resolve kickback allegations, according to the Department of Justice.

Three judges have blocked the Trump administration's public charge rule, which could deny permanent residency to immigrants who use public benefits such as Medicaid, according to The New York Times. 

A decision on the constitutionality of the ACA "could come as soon as this month," NPR reports. 

  The opening arguments in the antitrust case against Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health were delayed a week due to the lack of jurors, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. 

A federal court has ruled that three cardiologists who claim they were fired for reporting safety issues and fraudulent billing at a Detroit hospital owned by Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare must arbitrate their retaliation claims, according to Bloomberg Law.

From a former CFO suing a Texas hospital for defamation to physicians and a medical group CEO paying $6.7 million to settle billing fraud allegations, here are the latest healthcare industry lawsuits and settlements making headlines.

As more hospitals employ and contract with physicians, lawsuits holding hospitals liable for medical negligence have become more prevalent.

The University of North Carolina and Vidant Medical Center in Greenville, N.C., have resolved a months-long lawsuit over who should serve on Vidant's board, according to The News & Observer.

The former CFO of Huntsville (Texas) Memorial Hospital is suing the hospital for breach of contract and defamation, according to the SE Texas Record.

Drug Enforcement Administration officials on Oct. 8 arrested a physician and nurse practitioner in Alaska for allegedly misprescribing opioids, according to local NBC affiliate KTUU. 

Fresenius Medical Care will pay $5.2 million to resolve whistleblower allegations that it ran Hepatitis B tests on dialysis patients more frequently than medically necessary and overbilled Medicare, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

The federal government filed a complaint alleging a Texas hospital, a healthcare company in Tennessee and three executives improperly obtained and misused a federal loan, according to the Department of Justice.

Proposed rules issued Oct. 9 by HHS' Office of Inspector General and CMS aim to limit the reach of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark Law. The rules include proposals for various value-based care arrangements to qualify for exceptions to Stark Law and the Anti-Kickback Statute.

A whistleblower lawsuit filed by a former employee of HealthNow New York, the parent company of BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York and BlueShield of Northeastern New York, accuses the company of making "significant overpayments" to healthcare facilities across the state, according to Buffalo Business First.