Legal & Regulatory Issues

Texas' Harris County Hospital District is facing allegations that it withheld services from indigent patients and charged co-payments for medical services and prescriptions before evaluating a patient's ability to pay, according to a Houston Chronicle report.

The trial of former Powell (Wyo.) Valley Healthcare CEO Paul D. Cardwell has been delayed until September 18, according to a Powell Tribune report.

New Brunswick, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay up to $2.2 billion to settle U.S. investigations and lawsuits regarding its marketing practices for Risperdal, an antipsychotic drug, and other pharmaceuticals, according to a Bloomberg report.

Officials at UnitedHealthcare, the largest health insurer in the country, said the company will maintain several provisions required by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act regardless of the Supreme Court's decision on the law.

An appeals court overturned a $1.13 million decision against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan yesterday, finding that the payor validly contracted with Calhoun County and did not hide fees in its contracts, according to a Crain's Detroit Business report.

A new CNN/ORC International poll released today shows that 51 percent of Americans oppose the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, while 43 percent are in favor of it. Six percent have no opinion on the matter.

Speaking at White House town hall meeting on women's health Thursday, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said an overturning of the entire Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act would have a "pretty cataclysmic impact" on the nation, according to a Nurse.com…

The U.S. House of Representatives voted by a 270 to 146 margin to strike down a 2.3 percent tax on medical devices, according to a Reuters report.

Dallas-based Orthofix, an orthopedic medical device manufacturer, has agreed to a $34 million settlement to resolve alleged False Claims Act violations.

St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne, Pa., announced the launch of a new model for emergency care to accommodate increasing emergency department volume.