From Merck suing the federal government to stop Medicare drug price negotiations, to a judge ordering a preliminary injunction preventing a former Cigna executive from working for CVS Health, here are 12 healthcare industry lawsuits and settlements Becker's has reported since June 6.
1. The Supreme Court ruled to protect the right of Medicaid nursing home residents to sue when officials do not meet a certain quality of care.
2. At least four lawsuits have been filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts against Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and parent company Point32Health from the fallout of an April ransomware attack.
3. Lake Charles (La.) Memorial Health System reached agreement with bond issuers over disputed claims arising from Hurricane Laura in August 2020.
4. Friday Health Plans, which is going out of business, is being sued by its co-founder and former COO David Pinkert for allegedly refusing to pay his severance package after he was terminated earlier this year.
5. A former physician at a hospital owned by Philadelphia-based Jefferson Health is suing because of alleged discriminatory pay rates as well as frequent sexist behavior by a superior.
6. A federal judge in North Carolina certified class-action status in a lawsuit alleging Aetna and OptumHealth Care Solutions conspired to use "dummy code" to make administrative fees appear to be billable medical charges.
7. NewYork-Presbyterian was named in a civil suit that alleges a patient was drugged and sexually assaulted by Zhi Alan Cheng, MD, a gastroenterologist who previously practiced at its Flushing, N.Y., location.
8. Maimonides Medical Center in New York City is facing a $500 million class-action lawsuit alleging hospital leaders and trustees diverted resources from the hospital to benefit themselves.
9. A federal judge in St. Louis issued a preliminary injunction barring former Cigna executive Amy Bricker from working for CVS Health while a lawsuit over her noncompete clause moves forward.
10. The temporary administrator of Riverside General Hospital, a now-shuttered facility in Houston, was found liable for $173,630 in hospital payroll taxes that were not turned over to the federal government during her tenure.
11. Merck filed a lawsuit against the federal government seeking an injunction of the drug price negotiation program in the Inflation Reduction Act, arguing it violates the First and Fifth Amendments.
12. A federal judge in Florida blocked the enforcement of a statewide ban on gender-affirming care for transgender adolescents, such as puberty blockers, hormone therapy or surgeries.