Category: Legal & Regulatory Issues

After weeks of internal disagreements at the Federal Trade Commission about pharmacy benefit managers, the agency said Sept. 20 that it is suing CVS Caremark, Optum Rx and Express Scripts over allegedly inflating insulin prices. 

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging that Northwest Medical Center-Bentonville (Ark.) refused to allow an employee to perform his surgical technician job duties because of his sex.

From Walgreens agreeing to pay more than $100 million to settle false claims allegations, to a physician indicted in an alleged $32.7 million Medicare scheme, here are 10 healthcare billing fraud cases Becker’s has reported since Sept. 10: 

A liver transplant surgeon at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center frequently altered patients’ records in a national database, potentially preventing them from receiving transplants, according to CMS documents obtained by the Houston Chronicle. 

Cardiology practice Oregon Health Center has filed a lawsuit against Salem (Ore.) Health, accusing the health system of defamation and monopolizing the cardiology market, according to local reports.

A Chicago jury failed to reach a verdict Sept. 18 over claims that heartburn drug Zantac causes cancer, Reuters exclusively reported. 

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions voted Sept. 19 to forward two resolutions regarding contempt charges against Steward Health Care chairman and CEO Ralph de la Torre, MD, to the full Senate. 

After a six-year legal battle, Beaufort (S.C.) Memorial Hospital has withdrawn its certificate of need for a planned hospital in Bluffton, S.C., the hospital confirmed in a statement shared with Becker’s.

Ralph de la Torre, MD, chairman and CEO of Dallas-based Steward Health Care is invoking his Fifth Amendment right ahead of a Senate committee’s contempt vote. 

A group of House lawmakers have introduced a bill aimed at strengthening the enforcement of the No Surprises Act.