Legal & Regulatory Issues

The Michigan Board of Nursing has revoked the license of a home health nurse facing murder charges in a 3-year-old patient's death, the Michigan Department of Attorney General said Feb. 17.

After staying away over the past several years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, physicians have returned to Washington, D.C., to lobby Congress, Kaiser Health News reported Feb. 17. 

Omaha, Neb.-based CHI Health agreed to pay $800,000 in a class-action lawsuit filed by its nurses over remote, on-call work they allegedly performed without proper compensation, Omaha World-Herald reported Feb. 16.

Moderna is not liable for patent infringement cases against its COVID-19 vaccine, but the U.S. should be, the Justice Department said in court documents filed Feb. 14. 

A Leominster, Mass.-based medical equipment company has agreed to pay $2.5 million to settle allegations it engaged in "unfair, deceptive and abusive debt collection practices" and improperly collected money from beneficiaries of the state's Medicaid program. 

Two medical equipment suppliers were convicted of healthcare fraud with a scheme worth $3.8 million, according to the Justice Department. 

Oncologist Anne Grand'Maison, MD, filed a lawsuit against Buffalo, N.Y.-based Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, alleging whistleblower retaliation and gender discrimination, Medscape reported Feb. 15.

California lawmakers closed a loophole that allowed hospitals to supersede family decisions if the patients did not complete an advance directive or designate power of attorney, California Healthline reported Feb. 16.

The Ohio Medical Board has suspended the license of Rudel Saunders, MD, a University of Cincinnati physician and clinical instructor in internal medicine, who allegedly conducted unlicensed genital examinations of patients in his apartment, Fox19 reported Feb. 15.

A district judge on Fed. 13 denied Hartford (Conn.) HealthCare's bid to dismiss an antitrust suit that claims the seven-hospital system aimed to "crush" a regional competitor by acquiring medical practices and bullying physicians into referral agreements, according to the…