36 results for 'cat:"Government" AND cat:"Health Care"'.
J. Bell grants a group of medical product makers’ partial motion to dismiss product liability allegations after a spinal surgery patient developed tuberculosis following her operation. The patient claims that the group’s sale of “FiberCel” to the hospital where she had her surgery done is not covered under the North Carolina Blood and Tissue Shield Statute. She incorrectly argues the group’s sale of FiberCel, as a processed-tissue product, is not covered under the statute because it is not specifically blood, a blood product or human tissue, but a “tissue-based product.” Although FiberCel was recalled two months after the patient’s surgery for also resulting in tuberculosis in other patients, the product is shielded by the statute because its language includes any person or institution involved in the “processing” of human tissue.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Bell, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: 5:21cv172, NOS: Personal Injury - Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: government, health Care, Product Liability
J. Milazzo grants a preliminary injunction to a 71-year-old widow with a medical condition and sole custody of her 6-year-old granddaughter. The Louisiana Department of Health is ordered to continue paying the woman’s Medicaid health premium while she challenges the state’s termination of her benefit based on its “size of the family” criteria that does not include children or grandchildren. Louisiana stopped paying the grandmother’s monthly Medicaid premium in early April 2024, based on its conclusion she lived in a one-person home, a finding that does not include the child, who is dependent upon her for financial support. Louisiana’s Medicaid manual limits the state’s family size criteria to a household of two - an applicant and an eligible spouse.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Milazzo, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: 2:24cv728, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: government, health Care, Medicaid
J. Hamilton finds that the lower court improperly dismissed the hospital's claim against the state because the private managed care organizations the state contracts with to pay Medicaid bills systematically delayed and reduced payments owed to the hospital for treating patients covered by Medicaid. The hospital has a viable right to have the state ensure timely payments from managed care organizations and this right is enforceable in this section 1983 actions against the state health agency's director. Reversed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Hamilton, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 21-2325, Categories: government, health Care, Medicaid
J. Volk grants the government's motion for summary judgment in 27 former Beckley Veterans Medical Center patients' suits claiming they contracted infectious diseases from the uncredentialed use of acupuncture by Dr. Jonathan Yates. The 27 patients' claims are barred by res judicata since they all previously filed suits against Yates for malpractice and, prior to the government filing responsive pleadings, signed releases from any claims arising from Yates' medical negligence including those "unknown" or "unsuspected."
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Volk, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: 5:23cv243, NOS: Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: government, health Care, Medical Malpractice
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J. Fischer finds the lower court properly denied the newspaper's public records requests. When combined in a single request, the names, addresses, and causes of death for deceased individuals constitute "protected health information" not subject to disclosure under the Ohio Public Records Act. Although another statute makes death certificates public information, the inclusion of a cause of death with a decedent's name and address allows a petitioner to discover the past health status of an individual - prohibited by the Public Records Act - and so petitioners cannot seek disclosure of the records "en masse." Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Supreme Court, Judge: Fischer, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-1399, Categories: government, health Care, Public Record
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
[Consolidated.] J. Lipman denies the laboratory company's summary judgment motion and partially grants the government defendant's competing motion in this lawsuit concerning the company's reimbursements "received on Medicare Part B claims" and an auditor's conclusions that the company was overpaid. The court concludes that the two counts regarding "a potential due process violation around the universe of claims and the failure to include zero-paid claims in the sampling" should be dismissed.
Court: USDC Western District of Tennessee , Judge: Lipman, Filed On: March 26, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv2770, NOS: Medicare Act - Contract, Categories: government, health Care
J. Melloy finds a lower court properly dismissed the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America's claims that federal law impliedly preempts Act 1103, which prohibits drug manufacturers from placing limits on covered entities' ability to contract with outside pharmacies. The PhRMA argued that Section 340B program and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act preempt Act 1103. However, the commissioner of the State's insurance department sufficiently showed in court that the Act is not an obstacle for drug makers, but rather a mechanism to fulfill the purpose of 340B. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Melloy, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: 22-3675, Categories: government, health Care, Insurance
J. Wilkinson finds the lower court properly found the free-choice-of-provider provision of the Medicaid Act creates enforceable individual rights. South Carolina argued a recent high court ruling compels the conclusion that individual Medicaid beneficiaries cannot enforce the free choice-of-provider provision, but the ruling did not change the law to an extent that would call previous determinations into question. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wilkinson , Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: 21-1043, Categories: government, health Care, Medicaid
J. Soto finds a lower court erred in denying Texas Tech’s plea to the jurisdiction and motion for summary judgment after it was sued by a former patient for health care liability claims. The patient filed suit after the statute of limitations had expired, and while he argues it should be extended or tolled due to the Covid pandemic, these limitations are a hard “jurisdictional deadline” when bringing cases against a governmental entity, and the patient has therefore “failed to satisfy a jurisdictional statutory prerequisite” to bringing a case. Reversed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: February 27, 2024, Case #: 08-23-00170-CV, Categories: government, health Care, Jurisdiction
J. Rodriguez denies several motions, including a motion for a new trial, brought by a healthcare provider after it was subject of a qui tam lawsuit involving fraudulent Medicare billing. While the healthcare company now disputes the methodology by which the number of false claims were counted, “it is simply too late” at this stage for the company to raise this issue, not least because it previously agreed on jury instructions.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Rodriguez, Filed On: January 30, 2024, Case #: 5:17cv317, NOS: False Claims Act - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: government, health Care, False Claims
J. Falvey finds the Board of Veterans Appeals properly denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for diabetes and bilateral lower extremity diabetic peripheral neuropathy. The VA provided the veteran with a medical exam to determine the severity of his diabetes, with the examiner confirming it is managed by diet and hypoglycemic agent. The record shows the board properly applied ratings schedule regulations that require it to consider specific medications. Affirmed.
Court: Court Of Appeals For Veterans Claims, Judge: Falvey , Filed On: December 27, 2023, Case #: 22-3042, Categories: government, health Care, Veterans
J. Lagesen finds the Oregon Health Authority properly adopted rules that imposed Covid-19 vaccination requirements on providers and staff in healthcare settings, and on teachers and staff in school settings, respectively. “Two statutes provided OHA with sufficient authority to adopt both rules.”
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Lagesen, Filed On: December 13, 2023, Case #: A176977, Categories: government, health Care
J. Groh grants the Secretary of Veterans Affairs' motion to dismiss the former nursing assistant's suit claiming her termination from the Martinsburg Veterans Affairs Medical Center was racially motivated. The allegations raised in the current suit - filed more than four years after receiving her "right-to-sue" letter from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission - are no different from the ones raised in her two prior complaints that were dismissed for her failure to allege sufficient facts to back-up her claims.
Court: USDC Northern District of West Virginia, Judge: Groh, Filed On: December 12, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv154, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: government, health Care, Employment Discrimination
J. Dever grants the federal government’s motion to dismiss counterclaims brought by a doctor accused of committing medical billing fraud. In previous litigation, the parties agreed to a consent judgment that stipulates the doctor will pay back $5.5 million from his fraudulent activities. Presently, the doctor countersues the governments, claiming that he and his wife have not failed to disclose assets or income and that the consent judgment should be stricken and nullified. The doctor’s argument that the federal government did not timely file its claims is incorrect, and the government is correct in its argument that the previous litigation is sound and final under res judicata.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Dever, Filed On: December 8, 2023, Case #: 5:22cv140, NOS: All Other Real Property - Real Property, Categories: Fraud, government, health Care
J. Larsen finds the lower court properly denied the states' motion for a preliminary injunction on a portion of their claim challenging a Title X rule. The federal government's interpretation of Title X to allow federal funding to family planning facilities that provide referrals to abortion clinics is a reasonable interpretation of the statute under the Chevron doctrine. Such facilities are required to give only neutral information, while funding is not supplied to the abortion clinics themselves. However, the 2021 rule's revocation of "strict physical and financial separation" between family planning facilities and abortion providers is not a reasonable interpretation of Title X, which prohibits funding to programs where abortion is a method of family planning. Ohio is entitled to an injunction to prevent enforcement of that portion of the rule, as it provided evidence its Title X funding dropped 20 percent after the implementation of the 2021 rule. Affirmed in part.
Court: 6th Circuit, Judge: Larsen, Filed On: November 30, 2023, Case #: 21-4235, Categories: government, health Care, Injunction
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. Wooton affirms the lower court's orders granting summary judgment to the state agency and Board of Osteopathy in the osteopath's suit seeking money damages. The osteopath alleged the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health breached its duty of confidentiality and defamed him by issuing a press release claiming his clinic used unsafe injection practices, while he alleged the West Virginia Board of Osteopathy failed to provide him a hearing within 15 days of its order suspending his license related to the Bureau's allegations. The osteopath's claims from his 2016 suit are barred by res judicata since they "could have been asserted and litigated" in a 2014 injunction he filed seeking a court order to halt the Board's suspension of his license. Affirmed.
Court: West Virginia Supreme Court Of Appeals, Judge: Wooton, Filed On: October 26, 2023, Case #: 21-0902, Categories: government, health Care, Due Process
J. Guidry finds that the trial court properly ruled in favor of the state government agencies in the pharmacy parties' suit challenging a contract entered into with CaremarkPCS Health. The agencies' exception of no cause of action was correctly granted since the disputed contract is a consulting services contract not subject to review by the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Guidry, Filed On: October 20, 2023, Case #: 2023CA0054, Categories: government, health Care, Contract
J. Pietsch finds the Board of Veterans Appeals improperly denied the veteran’s request for service connection for sleep apnea. Governing code provides that more than one request for administrative review may be filed within a year of an initial decision, provided that it is not pending with another request. The board erred when it construed the notice of disagreement as an appeal from the decision on his supplemental claim rather than from the timely agency of original jurisdiction decision concerning his higher-level review request. Reversed.
Court: Court Of Appeals For Veterans Claims, Judge: Pietsch, Filed On: October 20, 2023, Case #: 20-7251, Categories: government, health Care, Veterans
[Consolidated.] J. Sutton finds the lower courts improperly granted injunctions against enforcement of Kentucky and Tennessee's bans on certain gender-affirming care for transgender minors. Not only were the injunctions overly broad, but the bans are not unconstitutional violations of due process or equal protection rights. Although the treatments are not experimental, the long-term effects on children under the age of 18 are not entirely known, and state governments have a legitimate interest in reasonable regulations on health care. Therefore, the injunctions will be vacated and the bans will remain in effect. Reversed.
Court: 6th Circuit, Judge: Sutton, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: 23-5600, Categories: Constitution, government, health Care
J. Jones finds the district court improperly upheld the federal government’s novel theory of liability alleging that Mississippi's entire mental health care system violates the “integration mandate” of the Americans with Disability Act, which requires services to be administered "in the most integrated setting appropriate to the needs of... individuals with disabilities.” The district court ordered sweeping changes to Mississippi's system, indefinitely appointing a monitor who, along with the federal government and the court, would oversee the system. The scope of the injunction requires more than what is necessary to comply with regulations, and so is an abuse of discretion. Reversed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Jones, Filed On: September 20, 2023, Case #: 21-60772, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, government, health Care
J. Khalsa grants the government's motion to dismiss, ruling the employee of the Medicaid health care organization cannot bring suit under the False Claims Act. He was not the primary source of the allegations regarding the company's refusal to refund overpayments, which bars his suit under the public disclosure doctrine.
Court: USDC New Mexico, Judge: Khalsa, Filed On: August 28, 2023, Case #: 1:16cv1148, NOS: False Claims Act - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: government, health Care, False Claims
J. Greene finds that the lower court improperly granted a preliminary injunction stopping the state from enforcing criminal laws restricting abortion. "There is nothing in the record to suggest that the parties agreed to try the merits of the constitutionality issue at the hearing on the preliminary injunction." Reversed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Greene, Filed On: August 16, 2023, Case #: 2022CA1042, Categories: government, health Care, Injunction
J. Chin finds that the district court properly dismissed constitutional challenges to changes in Connecticut law that eliminated a religious exemption to school vaccination requirements. The state and school board defendants were immune from suit as government entities, and the two organizational plaintiffs lacked standing to sue. However, a Muslim parent's claim that the change violated her disabled son's right to a free, appropriate public education should be looked at more closely on remand. Affirmed in part.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Chin, Filed On: August 4, 2023, Case #: 22-249-cv, Categories: Education, government, health Care