Legal News

Stories about physicians and other healthcare professionals involved in lawsuits—as either a plaintiff or a defendantor accused of breaking the law. Various legal updates or unusual stories in the news may land here.

heart surgery surgeons

Baylor, others paying $15M over DOJ allegations they ‘gambled’ with heart patient health

According to a whistleblower, multiple Texas healthcare providers put complex heart surgeries in the hands of unqualified trainees without proper supervision. The $15M being recovered is the largest amount ever for a case of this kind. 

pain pills opioids

Optum settles improper opioid prescription accusations for $20M

The UnitedHealth Group subsidiary has not admitted any wrongdoing but said it has improved protocols for monitoring controlled substances.

Former Microsoft employee arrested for stealing 1.2M patient records

A former employee at Nuance Communications, a Microsoft subsidiary, stands accused of taking patient data from Geisinger Health system shortly after their termination.

Steward Health Care deployed spy outfits to thwart critics

The failing health system allegedly hired intelligence firms that put a tracking device on a car, accessed a personal smartphone to find lurid information on an executive and attempted to frame a politician for bribery.

Department of Justice DOJ

DOJ arrests 193 during nationwide crackdown on $2.75B in healthcare scams

The arrests include doctors, nurses and other licensed medical professionals accused of various schemes to defraud patients, insurers and Medicare.

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Federal judge strikes down HHS ban on tracking cookies

Providers argued the HHS overstepped its regulatory authority. A federal court in Texas agreed.

Hospital staffer awarded $10M in discrimination, defamation lawsuit

The lawsuit claimed Stanford Health Care had a systemic pattern of racism, including a staffer dressing as a member of the Ku Klux Klan.

cleveland clinic settles for failing to disclose research funding

Adventist Health settles with DoJ over sharing patient data with police

Staff at the health system shared protected medical information with law enforcement, resulting in the arrest of two women.

Around the web

Compensation for heart specialists continues to climb. What does this say about cardiology as a whole? Could private equity's rising influence bring about change? We spoke to MedAxiom CEO Jerry Blackwell, MD, MBA, a veteran cardiologist himself, to learn more.

The American College of Cardiology has shared its perspective on new CMS payment policies, highlighting revenue concerns while providing key details for cardiologists and other cardiology professionals. 

As debate simmers over how best to regulate AI, experts continue to offer guidance on where to start, how to proceed and what to emphasize. A new resource models its recommendations on what its authors call the “SETO Loop.”