68 results for 'cat:"Civil Rights" AND cat:"Health Care"'.
J. Montalvo dismisses, for lack of jurisdiction, a lawsuit brought by two customers against an estate sales company which they said wrongfully required them to wear masks during the Covid-19 pandemic despite their alleged medical exemption. Because the mask requirement is no longer in place, the people bringing this suit cannot establish a key element of their ADA claim and no controversy remains.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Montalvo, Filed On: May 7, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv96, NOS: Amer w/Disabilities - Other - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Ada / Rehabilitation Act, health Care
J. Reidinger dismisses an incarcerated man’s complaint that the wires holding his rib cage together following triple bypass surgery broke and are causing him pain. The surgery occurred before he was incarcerated, and the man brings the complaint against his surgeon under a federal legal code. However, the code can only be used against state or federal officials, which the surgeon is not. The man is allowed to amend his complaint within 30 days.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Reidinger, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: 1:24cv132, NOS: Mandamus & Other - Habeas Corpus, Categories: civil Rights, health Care, Prisoners' Rights
J. Eagles partially grants a medical doctor’s motion for summary judgment in her suit against the state for its strict regulatory laws regarding Mifeprex, an abortion-inducing drug. While the FDA eased restrictions on the drug in 2007, North Carolina kept the same restrictions and added more to its own legislation, which now conflict with federal law. However, federal law in this case trumps state law. Thus, the state provisions requiring physician-only prescribing; in-person prescribing, dispensing and administering; scheduling of an in-person follow-up appointment; and non-fatal adverse event reporting are unconstitutional.
Court: USDC Middle District of North Carolina, Judge: Eagles, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv77, NOS: Constitutionality of State Statutes - Other Suits, Categories: civil Rights, Constitution, health Care
J. Becerra grants summary judgment to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in a dispute with the State of Texas and a pharmacy over the Affordable Care Act. Those suing parties argued that federal anti-discrimination laws referenced in the Affordable Care Act, including those protecting pregnant people, could force the pharmacy to dispense abortion-inducing medication in violation of state law and the pharmacy's sincerely held religious beliefs — but “much to the court’s surprise,” HHS has repeatedly stressed this is not the case and has issued revised guidance clarifying that pharmacies do not have to fill prescriptions for abortion medications, and as such, there is no “legally cognizable interest” in the outcome of the case, so it is moot.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Becerra, Filed On: April 5, 2024, Case #: 7:23cv22, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: civil Rights, Government, health Care
J. Bordallo dismisses a former doctor’s claims against two attorneys who represented a North Carolina hospital that suspended his medical license suspension. The court does not have jurisdiction over the claims, in one part because the attorneys are not government representatives. The former doctor does not show there is diversity jurisdiction either, all parties reside in Guam and the former doctor does not prove he actually lives in Florida as he claims.
Court: USDC Guam, Judge: Bordallo, Filed On: April 4, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv17, NOS: Other Fraud - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: civil Rights, health Care, Jurisdiction
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J. Biggs grants a university health system’s motion for summary judgment following allegations of multiple civil rights violations brought by a radiation oncology resident. The resident, a Black woman, entered residency with the system despite misgivings on the part of some staff based on her previous academic performance, but it accepted her anyway. Throughout her residency, she required unprecedented support and consistently scored low in testing ranges, requiring an extension of her residency, which required more scrutiny by staff than other residents. However, she fails to produce sufficient evidence to her claims.
Court: USDC Middle District of North Carolina, Judge: Biggs, Filed On: March 27, 2024, Case #: 1:20cv281, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, health Care, Employment Discrimination
J. Hudson finds the lower court properly granted summary judgment to the health research foundation. Doctors exposed Guatemalan prisoners and sex workers to sexually transmitted diseases without their full consent in an effort to better understand diseases like gonorrhea and syphilis. Although the foundation provided general funding, the doctors who infected the prisoners were not acting as agents of the foundation. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Hudson, Filed On: March 20, 2024, Case #: 22-1678, Categories: civil Rights, health Care, Immunity
J. Corker dismisses the dog owners' amended complaint, in which they assert "various theories of liability" against the veterinary defendants following the death of their pet. The owners' claims against the state defendants are barred under the doctrine of sovereign immunity. The owners' due process claim also fails as the escalation in the dog's care was "voluntary," and they fail to state an equal protection claim, as they have not shown how they were treated "worse than similarly situated individuals."
Court: USDC Eastern District of Tennessee , Judge: Corker, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv414, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, health Care
J. Wood finds that the lower court improperly found for the employer in a suit accusing the hospital of violating an employee's rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act. The employer granted the employee an approved absence for 20% of full-time work, but insisted she still complete 100% of the workload, and fired her when she did not meet those expectations. A reasonable jury could find that the Act requires the employer to adjust its performance expectations to reflect the employee's reduced hours while she was on FMLA leave. Vacated.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Wood, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 23-1541, Categories: civil Rights, health Care, Employment Retaliation
J. Erickson finds a lower court properly dismissed a patient's wrongful confinement claims against a County health service. The patient argued that she was wrongfully civilly committed, misdiagnosed, and was forced to ingest neuroleptic medications without consent. However, the County health service sufficiently showed in court that she suffered from bipolar disorder, depression, generalized anxiety, and movement disorder, as well as suicidal ideation, which justified a civil commitment order for six months. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Erickson, Filed On: February 26, 2024, Case #: 23-1209, Categories: civil Rights, health Care, Commitment
J. Stewart denies a self-represented litigant’s motion to amend his civil rights complaint that seeks to reinstate more than 30 claims that the court had previously dismissed, plus add several new claims, finding the claims frivolous. The court furthermore trims his complaint down to only two claims for denial of prescription medication while incarcerated.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: Stewart, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv169, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, health Care, Prisoners' Rights
J. Russell denies the dismissal motions in this civil rights lawsuit alleging that a pretrial detainee was denied adequate medical care, after falling down a set of concrete stairs. The complaint contends that he was sent to the hospital "eight days after his fall" and that he ultimately died from his injuries. The allegations sufficiently state a claim for deliberate indifference against the medical staffing company, as the detainee was allegedly "turned away from the jail infirmary after he was carried there by a cellmate."
Court: USDC Western District of Oklahoma , Judge: Russell, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: 5:23cv1060, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, health Care
J. Cogburn denies an incarcerated transgender woman and the state’s department of corrections’ cross-motions for summary judgment after the woman requested gender-affirming surgery. Before both parties are allowed to resubmit their motions, an evidentiary hearing must take place in order to determine whether surgery is medically necessary for the woman and to prevent the state from misrepresenting its Evaluation and Management of Transgender Offenders policy as automatically rejecting the request.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Cogburn, Filed On: February 2, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv191, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, health Care, Lgbtq
J. Collier grants the City of Chattanooga's motion for summary judgment in this lawsuit brought by a hospital patient who alleges that he was struck in the head by a city police officer. Following an investigation, the interim police chief concluded that the officer had not violated department policy. The patient now asserts claims for failure to train, failure to supervise and a custom of tolerance to rights violations. His federal claims will be dismissed, however, as he fails to show that the city was "deliberately indifferent to a known history of abuse."
Court: USDC Eastern District of Tennessee , Judge: Collier, Filed On: February 1, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv11, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, health Care
J. Bryan grants Washington Gov. Jay Robert Inslee’s motion to dismiss the healthcare workers' complaint that they were mandated to receive the Covid-19 vaccine. Inslee had a rational basis for the proclamation because the Covid-19 vaccine mandate lessened the possibility that the healthcare workers would become infected with the virus and pass it on to their patients. The healthcare workers do not sufficiently plead that they were denied some government benefit because the mandate was in effect.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Bryan, Filed On: December 21, 2023, Case #: 3:23cv5741, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, health Care, Covid-19
Per curiam, the Texas Supreme Court grants the state's petition for mandamus relief, ordering the district court to vacate the temporary restraining order blocking the Texas Attorney General from prosecuting individuals involved in providing an abortion to a woman who claims she needs an abortion to prevent further risk to her life. Although the woman's doctor asserts that she has a "good faith belief" that the woman qualifies for an abortion under the medical-necessity exception of the law, she has not asserted that she exercised her "reasonable medical judgment" when coming to that conclusion, which is required for the exception to apply.
Court: Texas Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: December 11, 2023, Case #: 23-0994, Categories: civil Rights, health Care, Restraining Order
J. Kobes finds a lower court properly imposed a mental competency evaluation on a defendant who was indicted for being a felon in possession of a firearm. The defendant, who suffers from schizophrenia, argued that the government was not entitled to medicate him to restore his competency in order to stand trial. However, a chief of psychiatry, chief of psychology, and a physician presented sufficient evidence in court that a proposed treatment plan that included antipsychotic medicine would improve his quality of life. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Kobes, Filed On: December 5, 2023, Case #: 23-1164, Categories: civil Rights, health Care, Experts
J. Bunn grants the agency's writ seeking prohibition of the former nurse's Section 1983 claim against it and one of its investigator's moving forward after the lower court denied their motion to dismiss. The judge erred in determining the agency is vicariously liable for the acts or omissions of its employees. And while the agency and its investigator are not entitled to prosecutorial immunity, the judge failed to determine if the investigator was acting within the scope of his employment to determine if the agency is entitled to qualified immunity from vicarious liability on the nurse's malicious prosecution claim. Reversed in part.
Court: West Virginia Supreme Court Of Appeals, Judge: Bunn, Filed On: November 9, 2023, Case #: 22-779, Categories: civil Rights, Government, health Care
J. Dick orders judgment in favor of class-action litigants and against the state department of corrections, ending a yearslong litigation of medical treatment claims at Louisiana’s maximum-security prison in Angola. “The attitudes of those in medical leadership” at the corrections department and the sprawling 18,000-acre prison farm “easily demonstrate that injunctive relief is required in this case.”
Court: USDC Middle District of Louisiana, Judge: Dick, Filed On: November 6, 2023, Case #: 3:15cv318, NOS: Prison Condition - Habeas Corpus, Categories: civil Rights, Constitution, health Care
J. Popplewell finds a lower court properly dismissed a doctor's freedom expression claims against a medical council. The doctor, a qualified colorectal and breast surgeon in Pakistan, argued that he was entitled to create You Tube videos concerning the Covid-19 pandemic, which resulted in an imposition of a six months suspension from practicing medicine. However, the medical board sufficiently showed in court that the doctor is obligated to maintain and promote the well-being of the public and confidence in the field of medicine. Affirmed.
Court: Her Majesty's Court of Appeal, Judge: Popplewell, Filed On: November 2, 2023, Case #: CA-2023-811, Categories: civil Rights, health Care
J. Torres declares a 1990 law banning abortion in Guam invalid because it has been implicitly repealed by the Guam Legislature since its passing; it no longer has any force or effect. More recent statutes conflict with such a ban and have since allowed and regulated abortion procedures in the territory.
Court: Guam Supreme Court, Judge: Torres, Filed On: October 31, 2023, Case #: CRQ23-1, Categories: civil Rights, Constitution, health Care
J. Wood finds the county court improperly certified this class action arising upon the medical group’s alleged violation of the Patient Right-To-Know Act by its failure to provide the terminated doctor with a list of his patients, or to inform the patients of the doctor’s new location. The predominance prerequisite was not satisfied. Being that not all of the doctor’s patients were affected, the court would have had to have made individual inquiries to determine whether the group failed to respond to any one patient’s request or if it misled patients. This was not done. Reversed and remanded.
Court: Arkansas Supreme Court, Judge: Wood, Filed On: October 26, 2023, Case #: CV-23-42, Categories: civil Rights, health Care, Class Action
J. Barnes finds that the trial court properly granted the district attorney's motion to dismiss an action brought by the mother and daughter seeking an order declaring that Georgia's Living Infants Fairness and Equality Act is unconstitutional. The law prohibits abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected. The mother and daughter lacked standing to prospectively challenge the constitutionality of the Act because they failed to show that they have suffered an actual, particularized injury resulting from the statute. Neither the mother or the daughter was pregnant when the action was filed and any alleged harm to them as a result of the Act was hypothetical. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals, Judge: Barnes, Filed On: October 17, 2023, Case #: A23A1607, Categories: civil Rights, health Care
J. Heil denies the plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction in this lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state's Senate Bill 613, which prohibits healthcare providers from knowingly providing "gender transition procedures to any child." The court concludes that the plaintiffs, which include transgender youth and their parents, have not shown a likelihood of success on the merits of their equal protection and due process claims.
Court: USDC Northern District of Oklahoma , Judge: Heil, Filed On: October 5, 2023, Case #: 4:23cv177, NOS: Constitutionality of State Statutes - Other Suits, Categories: civil Rights, health Care, Lgbtq
J. Foote denies a request by a university hospital to dismiss an abuse of rights claim brought by a female physician arising from her sex discrimination and job retaliation complaint against the chancellor of the medical center, who also supervised her cleft and craniofacial fellowship. The doctor’s allegations are sufficient and include claims that the hospital’s predominant motive for denying her privileges at the facility was to retaliate against her for making a sex discrimination claim against its chancellor.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Foote, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: 5:22cv1607, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: civil Rights, Education, health Care