Litigation
February 6, 2020 | Eric D. Fader | Electronic Health Records | Employer/Employee | Hospitals | Litigation
On January 31, a federal court in Massachusetts dismissed a lawsuit brought by the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) against Epic Systems Inc., that claimed that Epic’s electronic health records (EHR) software discriminates against blind hospital employees. The NFB had sued Epic on behalf of NFB members who allegedly suffered adverse employment actions because
Read MoreJanuary 17, 2020 | Eric D. Fader | False Claims Act | Fraud and Abuse | Litigation | Medical Devices and Wearables | Medicare and Medicaid
The U. S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on January 15 that ResMed Corp., a San Diego-based manufacturer of durable medical equipment, will pay $37.5 million to the federal government to settle five qui tam (whistleblower) cases under the False Claims Act (FCA) alleging that ResMed paid kickbacks to DME suppliers, sleep labs and other
Read MoreJanuary 14, 2020 | Eric D. Fader | False Claims Act | Fraud and Abuse | Hospitals | Litigation | Medical Devices and Wearables | Medicare and Medicaid | Pharmaceuticals
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced last week that in the fiscal year ended September 30, 2019, it obtained more than $3 billion in total recoveries from civil cases brought under the False Claims Act (FCA). The total, a slight increase from the $2.9 billion recovered in the prior fiscal year, included both settlements
Read MoreJanuary 6, 2020 | Margarita Christoforou | Cybersecurity | Electronic Health Records | HIPAA | Hospitals | Litigation
Alabama’s DCH Health System is facing a federal lawsuit filed by some former patients who allege it was negligent in discovering and responding to a ransomware attack on its computer system. In addition to negligence, the complaint accuses DCH of invasion of privacy, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty, among other things. The
Read MoreJanuary 3, 2020 | Rivkin Rounds Staff | False Claims Act | Fraud and Abuse | Litigation | Medical Devices and Wearables | Medicare and Medicaid | Pharmaceuticals | Telehealth
Rivkin Radler’s Evan Krinick authored an article for the New York Law Journal, “The Broad Reach of the Medicare Fraud Strike Forces.” The article discusses recent strike force actions in New York and New Jersey that targeted a variety of healthcare fraud schemes.
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December 23, 2019 | Eric D. Fader | Antitrust | Hospitals | Litigation | Private Insurers
Sutter Health, a northern California health system, will pay $575 million to settle allegations that it violated federal antitrust laws. The settlement comes on the heels of Sutter’s recent $45 million settlement of alleged Stark Law violations, as discussed here.
Under the preliminary settlement, which is pending court approval, Sutter will be required to reform
Read MoreDecember 19, 2019 | Eric D. Fader | Electronic Health Records | HIPAA | Hospitals | Litigation
A Florida primary care and pain management practice that calls itself Korunda Medical Institute has paid the federal government $85,000 to settle a violation of HIPAA’s right of access provisions. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the settlement on December 12.
A Korunda patient filed a complaint with HHS’s Office for
Read MoreDecember 11, 2019 | Eric D. Fader | Fraud and Abuse | Litigation | Medicare and Medicaid | Telehealth
The U.S. Department of Justice’s campaign against genetic testing scams continues and the latest accused lab owner is set to plead guilty. Ravitej Reddy, the owner of Personalized Genetics in Pittsburgh and Med Health Services Management in nearby Monroeville, was charged in November with paying kickbacks in a conspiracy to induce referrals for $127 million
Read MoreDecember 10, 2019 | Eric D. Fader | HIPAA | Home Health | Hospitals | Litigation
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced on November 27 that Sentara Healthcare agreed to pay $2.175 million to settle allegations that it failed to properly report a breach of protected health information. Sentara operates 12 acute care hospitals and provides other types of care at more than
Read MoreDecember 4, 2019 | Rivkin Rounds Staff | Cybersecurity | Electronic Health Records | HIPAA | Hospitals | Legislation and Public Policy | Litigation
Eric Fader contributed to Healthcare Risk Management’s HIPAA Regulatory Alert, which appeared in the publication’s December 2019 issue. The Alert outlines the best practices that will help avoid common HIPAA violations. Eric discusses the events that might trigger a regulatory action and the kinds of violations that may affect the severity of the penalties and fines.
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