From health system leaders indicted on criminal charges to a nurses union filing a lawsuit to block a hospital closure, here are the latest healthcare industry lawsuits and settlements making headlines.
1. DaVita pharmacy unit settles billing fraud case for $63.7M
Coppell, Texas-based DaVita Rx, a pharmacy services unit of Denver-based DaVita, will pay $63.7 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations.
2. Florida regulator receives nearly 5 year sentence for tipping off nursing home exec to state inspections
A former healthcare inspection supervisor at Florida's Agency for Healthcare Administration was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for accepting bribes in exchange for alerting a nursing home executive to state inspections and patient complaints.
3. California anesthesiologist charged with murder after physician dies while under his care
Stephen Kyosung Kim, MD, a 53-year-old anesthesiologist, was charged with murder after a patient under his care suffered a fatal overdose.
4. Appellate court revives $891M securities fraud lawsuit against CHS: 8 things to know
The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals revived a shareholder class-action lawsuit against Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems, alleging the for-profit hospital operator deceived shareholders by keeping secret that its profits were based on Medicare fraud.
5. Whistle-blower: Johns Hopkins prioritizes out-of-state patients to boost revenue
A former supervisor in the patient appointments department at Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Health System filed a lawsuit accusing the system of favoring out-of-state patients over Maryland residents to increase revenue.
6. Owner of home health company sentenced to 80 years in prison for Medicare fraud
The owner of a home health company in Houston was sentenced Dec. 8 to 80 years in prison for his role in a $13 million Medicare fraud scheme and for filing false tax returns.
7. 5 Broward Health leaders indicted on criminal charges: 7 things to know
The Broward County State Attorney's Office filed a criminal complaint against five officials from North Broward Health District, which runs Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Broward Health, for allegedly violating Florida's open-meetings laws to bring about the termination of the health system's former interim CEO.
8. Intermountain Healthcare settles drug diversion case for $1M
Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Healthcare agreed to pay the federal government $1 million to resolve allegations that lax controls allowed a former medical assistant to divert controlled substances for personal use.
9. Nurses union sues Care New England to halt hospital closure
United Nurses and Allied Professionals, the union that represents nurses at Memorial Hospital in Pawtucket, R.I., sued the hospital's parent company and the state to halt the closure of the facility.
10. Statistician: Government used faulty extrapolation in $100M Medicare fraud case
Federal prosecutors claim Salomon Melgen, MD, a Florida ophthalmologist who was convicted on 67 counts of healthcare fraud earlier this year, submitted more than $100 million in false claims to Medicare. However, an expert hired by defense counsel challenged the government's method for calculating the false claims at a recent sentencing hearing.
11. Lawsuit claims McKesson did not appropriately oversee opioid sales: 7 things to know
A shareholder lawsuit claims McKesson failed to audit controls for opioid-based painkillers.
12. US lab association challenges new Medicare reimbursement system: 7 things to know
The American Clinical Lab Association sued the federal government over a new payment system under the Protecting Access to Medicare Act.
13. Judge orders Wisconsin health system to settle dispute with Cerner outside of court
A Wisconsin district court judge dismissed Fond Du Lac, Wis.-based Agnesian Healthcare's lawsuit against Cerner, a Kansas City, Mo.-based health IT company.
14. PhRMA files lawsuit, claims California drug pricing transparency law is unconstitutional
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America is challenging the constitutionality of California's recently passed drug pricing transparency law.
More articles on legal and regulatory issues:
Prosecutors charge 4 physicians in $146M healthcare fraud scheme
Broward Health counter-sues former CEO: 5 things to know
Former head of IT accused of stealing $800k from California health clinics