From the Supreme Court ruling against hospitals in a DSH pay formula case to five Florida hospitals suing Leapfrog over safety rankings, here are 10 recent healthcare industry lawsuits, settlements and legal developments that Becker’s has reported since April 22:
1. Gilead Sciences agreed to pay $202 million to resolve allegations that it violated the Anti-Kickback Statute by using speaker programs to incentivize physicians to prescribe HIV medications.
2. Five hospitals that are part of Palm Beach (Fla.) Health Network filed a lawsuit against The Leapfrog Group, alleging the patient safety organization’s rankings are based on flawed methodology.
3. The Supreme Court ruled in HHS’ favor April 29 in a case challenging how the department calculates disproportionate share hospital payments for Supplemental Security Income benefits.
4. A federal court in Texas bolstered Novo Nordisk’s efforts to limit the production and sale of compounded versions of its GLP-1 drugs, Wegovy and Ozempic.
5. Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health agreed to pay $228.5 million to settle a long-running class action lawsuit alleging that the health system used its market power to charge supracompetitive rates to major insurers, which resulted in higher premiums for members.
6. A whistleblower lawsuit that claimed Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Erlanger Health System routinely billed for concurrent surgeries where residents completed procedures without proper supervision has come to an end after a district judge signed off on the case’s dismissal following an undisclosed settlement.
7. Navvis and St. Louis-based SSM Health agreed to a $6.5 million settlement to resolve allegations related to a 2023 data breach.
8. The American Hospital Association filed briefs in three federal cases supporting Louisiana’s 340B contract pharmacy law. The briefs oppose legal challenges from PhRMA, AbbVie and AstraZeneca, which argue that the federal 340B statute overrides state law.
9. A Florida judge ruled in favor of a deceased patient’s family in a medical malpractice lawsuit brought against Orlando Health.
10. Frederick (Md.) Health is facing four lawsuits alleging the health system failed to protect patients’ sensitive data after a ransomware attack disrupted its IT systems in January.
