18 latest lawsuits involving hospitals

Ayla Ellison -

The following hospital lawsuits were reported in the past month, beginning with the most recent.

1. Sutter Health reaches surprise settlement in antitrust case
Sutter Health, a 24-hospital system based in Sacramento, Calif., reached a preliminary agreement in an antitrust case brought by employers and later joined by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra.

2. Federal court sends former Tenet physicians' retaliation claims to arbitration
A federal court 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.

3. UNC, Vidant settle dispute over hospital board shuffle
The University of North Carolina and Vidant Medical Center in Greenville, N.C., resolved a months-long lawsuit over who should serve on Vidant's board.

4. Former CFO sues Texas hospital for defamation
The former CFO of Huntsville (Texas) Memorial Hospital is suing the hospital for breach of contract and defamation.

5. Physician sues Kaiser Permanente over opioid-related patient satisfaction scores
An emergency medicine physician filed a lawsuit Sept. 18 against Kaiser Permanente over its patient satisfaction scoring methodology, which she alleges incentivized overprescribing of opioids and hurt her career at the Oakland, Calif.-based health system.

6. US appeals Mayo Clinic's $11.5M tax refund win
The U.S. government appealed a lower court ruling that sided with Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic in a dispute over an $11.5 million tax refund.

7. CHS to erase up to $50M in medical debt for former hospital patients
As part of a legal settlement, Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems agreed to forgive up to $50 million in medical debt for former patients at Deaconess and Valley hospitals in Washington state.

8. Kentucky hospital's ex-chief of staff can't stop $361M sale to Baptist Health
A three-judge panel from the Kentucky Court of Appeals tossed out a lawsuit filed in 2018 that sought to stop Louisville, Ky.-based Baptist Health from acquiring Elizabethtown, Ky.-based Hardin Memorial Hospital.

9. Rady Children's settles suit over use of incorrect pronouns for transgender patient
San Diego-based Rady Children's Hospital settled a civil suit in which the mother of a transgender boy alleged staff members violated federal discrimination laws by using female pronouns when referring to the patient, who killed himself six weeks later.

10. Mass General ordered to release report on concurrent surgeries
A judge ordered Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital to release a secret report that investigated instances of concurrent surgeries at the facility.

11. Alabama hospital, former executive settle false billing case
An Alabama hospital and one of its former executives are among a group of defendants who agreed to pay a combined $1.45 million to resolve false claims allegations.

12. Louisiana hospital owners, operators to pay $500K to resolve false claims allegations
The owners and operators of University Health Hospital in Shreveport, La., reached a half-million dollar settlement to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act and other laws.

13. Dignity Health agrees to $570K settlement in discrimination case
San Francisco-based Dignity Health will pay $570,000 to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by a former employee.

14. Hospitals win challenge to site-neutral pay cuts
A Washington, D.C., federal judge ruled Sept. 17 that CMS overstepped its authority last year when it expanded a site-neutral pay policy that cut Medicare payments for hospital outpatient visits by hundreds of millions of dollars.

15. BJC HealthCare wants $150M in damages for 'buckling' floors in $1B expansion
St. Louis-based BJC HealthCare filed a lawsuit over uneven floors in its new patient tower, a problem the health system said delayed construction by a year and cost "millions of dollars."

16. Health First's 'scorched earth turf war' at heart of physician privilege lawsuit, judge rules
A federal judge in Florida says a legal dispute between seven oncologists and Titusville, Fla.-based Parrish Medical Center was created by a third-party health system seeking market dominance: Rockledge, Fla.-based Health First.

17. Wisconsin hospital, Ciox Health to pay $35M for medical records overcharges
Milwaukee-based Aurora Health Care and Ciox Health, a medical records management company, agreed to pay $35.4 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that claimed the organizations overcharged for medical record requests.

18. Nurse sues Tennessee hospital over patient attack
A nurse practitioner filed a lawsuit against Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., alleging the hospital failed to protect her from a violent patient last year.

More articles on legal and regulatory issues:

HHS pitches sweeping revamp of anti-kickback rules: 5 things to know
New York BCBS plans allegedly overpaid hospitals by $85M
Physicians, medical group CEO pay $6.7M to settle billing fraud case in California

 

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