Stories about physicians and other healthcare professionals involved in lawsuits—as either a plaintiff or a defendant—or accused of breaking the law. Various legal updates or unusual stories in the news may land here.
The lawsuit against Find a Black Doctor was filed by Travis Morrell, MD—a dermatologist based in Colorado—who alleges he was harmed by being excluded from the directory on the basis of race. His case has the backing of the conservative-aligned advocacy group Do No Harm.
It’s alleged in a lawsuit that the insurer manipulated patient diagnoses to receive higher risk-adjusted payments from MassHealth, the Medicaid program in Massachusetts. Patients with “depression” and “anxiety” were said to be labeled alongside those with more serious behavioral health issues to boost payments, in violation of the law. The insurer denies the allegations.
As a class-action lawsuit gets rolling in California over the use of ambient AI in healthcare, a national law firm is drawing takeaways for hospitals and other provider organizations. Makes sense: All AI-equipped providers are potential targets for similar litigation now.
Ahead of June 1 to 5—Medicare Fraud Prevention Week—here’s a timeline of fraud-related news, views and developments as captured in concise statements uttered or written in May.
The same day that Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a bill that would force pharmacy benefit managers to divest from retail pharmacies, CVS Health filed a lawsuit to block its implementation.
Training AI for use in healthcare requires feeding algorithms patient data, and lots of it. This opens data custodians—typically hospitals—to various points of potential legal exposure.
EMTs waited outside the man's house for 13 minutes before finally entering. The delay, it turns out, was due to an error in the dispatcher's computer system.
Elizabeth Hernandez signed thousands of orders for unnecessary genetic tests and orthotic braces for patients she had not even examined, according to the DOJ.
Brookline-based Bournewood Health Systems and First Psychiatric Planners are also accused of pushing patients to attend facilities known to be overcrowded and dangerous.
In addition to the hefty fine, the New York physician has agreed to relinquish ownership of his cardiology practice after exchanging kickbacks for PET and SPECT referrals for more than a decade.
