Legal & Regulatory Issues

The Federal Trade Commission's involvement in state scope-of-practice laws for non-physicians is frustrating many physician leaders, who say the regulatory agency does not have the clinical expertise to influence such legislation, according to an American Medical News report.

California lawmakers are proposing a change that would strip the Medical Board of California of its power to investigate physician misconduct. Rather, those powers would fall on the state attorney general, according to a Los Angeles Times report.

In addition to requesting a continuation of the meaningful use hardship exemption for anesthesiologists, the American Society of Anesthesiologists has also urged the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology to provide exemptions for clinical summaries, electronic health…

In March, Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl announced the city was launching a formal challenge to University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's tax-exempt status. The city filed a lawsuit with the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County contesting UPMC's exemption from…

A Pittsburgh administrative judge has ruled that University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's email policy that barred the use of computer systems for union-organizing activities violated federal labor law, according to a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review report.

The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments in a discrimination case involving University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, and justices seem divided as to whether the court should affirm a physician's discrimination lawsuit against the hospital, according to…

HHS is proposing a rule that would boost rewards to as much as $9.9 million to people whose reports about suspected Medicare fraud lead to successful fund recoveries.

Charlotte, N.C.-based Carolinas HealthCare Systems and Tenet Healthcare's Piedmont Medical Center in Rock Hill, S.C., are in court this week to each make their case to build a hospital in Fort Mill, S.C., according to a Charlotte Observer report.

A bipartisan North Carolina Senate committee threw its support behind a bill that would require hospitals to make their bills more transparent and comprehensible to patients, according to a Charlotte Observer report.

Federal authorities have filed criminal charges against Tariq Mahmood, MD, the owner of the now-closed Renaissance Hospital Terrell (Texas), according to a Dallas Morning News report.