Category: Legal & Regulatory Issues

Ex-CEO charged in 'dummy' chronic pain device scheme

Federal investigators indicted the former CEO of a medical device company on March 9 in connection to a scheme that involved creating and selling a “non-functioning dummy” device that was implanted in patients with chronic pain, according to the Justic…

Former CEO sues Missouri hospital for slander

Randall Tobler, MD, the former CEO of Memphis, Mo.-based Scotland County Hospital, sued the hospital over slander and defamation allegations, according to a March 9 report from KTVO News.

Pennsylvania lawmakers want 6 months' notice before a hospital closes

A pair of Pennsylvania state representatives have drafted legislation designed to prevent abrupt hospital closures by doubling the time in which a health system must notify state and local agencies of a planned closure. 

Florida hospital self-reports fraud, will pay $2.4M

Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola (Fla.) has agreed to pay $2.4 million after it self-reported alleged violations of the Civil Monetary Penalties Law.

NAACP files federal complaints following Wellstar's closure of Atlanta hospitals

The civil rights organization NAACP, along with Georgia Democrats and other lawmakers, has filed two federal complaints against Marietta, Ga.-based Wellstar Health System following its closure of two Atlanta hospitals in primarily Black areas. 

Tennessee physician, wife sentenced to 20 years for prescription fraud

A Tennessee physician and his wife were sentenced to 20 years in prison each for conspiracy to unlawfully distribute controlled substances and conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud.

Ohio nurse claims hospital failed to pay overtime in class-action suit

A registered nurse in Ohio has filed a complaint in federal court against a Kettering Health hospital, alleging the hospital failed to pay overtime wages to nurses who worked through unpaid meal breaks. 

Nurse degree scheme raises legal questions for hospitals

As nursing boards and state authorities work to root out the several thousand nurses practicing with fake degrees nationwide, questions are emerging about hospitals’ legal obligations to do their own investigations. 

Physician sues hospital for allegedly 'squeezing him out of the pain market'

A pain management physician is suing New Martinsville, W.Va.-based Wetzel County Hospital for “squeezing him out of the market,” the West Virginia Record reported Feb. 20.

Former Ohio nurse sentenced in connection to patient's death

A former nurse at an Ohio nursing home has been sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to surrender her nursing license in connection to a patient’s death last May, the office of Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said Feb. 28.