Legal & Regulatory Issues

From risk management to precision medicine, data science is taking on a greater role in the healthcare industry.

McAlester, Okla.-based Heritage Hills Living & Rehabilitation Center entered into a voluntary resolution agreement with HHS' Office for Civil Rights to resolve allegations the facility discharged a seriously ill patient upon learning she was HIV positive.

Family Medicine Centers of South Carolina, with five operating practices throughout Columbia, settled a False Claims Act lawsuit for $1.6 million.

Numerous parents are seeking legal action against Children's Hospital of New Orleans after their children contracted rare surgical site infections after undergoing heart surgery at the hospital this summer, reports Fox 8.

A former patient of Spencer Cox Center for Health in New York City sued Spencer Cox Clinic, St. Luke's Hospital and Mount Sinai Health Network for $2.5 million, according to a lawsuit obtained by Becker's Hospital Review.

American Specialty Health based in San Diego is suing American Specialty Healthcare of Modesto, Calif., which operates Central Valley Specialty Hospital also in Modesto, for trademark infringement, according to ModBee.

Three female physicians filed a federal lawsuit Monday against Charlotte, N.C.-based Carolinas HealthCare System, alleging they were paid less than a male counterpart for equal work, according to The Charlotte Observer.

Rebecca Pargeon, the owner and operator of three medical debt collection businesses, was sentenced Sept. 7 to four years in federal prison for embezzling more than $800,000 from her clients, according to the Department of Justice.

Gov. John Bel Edwards, D-La., has sent "notice of breach" letters to Shreveport, La.-based BRF for allegedly mismanaging state-owned hospitals in Monroe and Shreveport, according to the Miami Herald.

Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson announced Monday her office will not file a lawsuit to intervene in Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic's consolidation of services between its hospitals in Austin and Albert Lea, Minn., according to the Post Bulletin.