Two recent multi-million dollar False Claims Act (“FCA”) settlements demonstrate the vigor with which the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) is investigating and prosecuting allegedly fraudulent health care billing practices....more
On October 17, 2022, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a $13 million settlement with health care services provider Sutter Health, which arose from alleged violations of the federal False Claims Act...more
On August 30, 2021, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced that Sutter Health and several of its affiliated entities (“Sutter”) agreed to pay a total of $90 million to settle allegations that Sutter violated the False...more
Study contends lifestyle, chronic ailments to drive 56% growth in value of global peritoneal dialysis market through 2027 - A report (available for purchase) from Canadian research firm Emergen Research suggests the...more
A recent case in the Northern District of California presents a reminder that hospital systems need to consider antitrust issues when negotiating multi-hospital contracts with health plans. Unfortunately, even when hospitals...more
Additional settlement details were recently released in the antitrust case brought against Sacramento-based Sutter Health, one of the nation’s largest hospital systems. In October 2019, Sutter settled People of the State of...more
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (AG Becerra) announced on Friday, December 20, 2019, the terms of a comprehensive settlement agreement reached with Sutter Health (Sutter), the largest hospital system in Northern...more
The terms of a settlement that resolved antitrust litigation between the State of California and Sutter Health, the largest health system in Northern California, have now become public, almost two months after the settlement...more
A significant antitrust case was tentatively settled on the eve of trial, immediately before opening statements were set to begin in San Francisco Superior Court. Sutter Health, a large health system with over 20 hospitals,...more
Over the past year, State Attorneys General have stepped into what they describe as a void of antitrust enforcement at the federal level. AGs have commenced investigations and brought antitrust actions across industry...more
Until recently, hospital-based medical groups frequently complied with a hospital’s request to remove a physician without any restrictions. In light of a recent California Appellate Court decision, however, hospitals and...more
On April 12, 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Sutter Health LLC—along with its affiliates Sutter East Bay Medical Foundation, Sutter Pacific Medical Foundation, Sutter Gould Medical Foundation, and Sutter...more
The California Attorney General recently filed a precedent-setting antitrust action against Sutter Health, the largest health system in Northern California (People of the State of California v. Sutter Health, Case No....more
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in San Francisco County Superior Court on March 29, 2018 (the “Complaint”), alleging that Sutter Health (“Sutter”), one of Northern California’s...more
In response to standard negative performance feedback from a supervisor, an employee takes a leave of absence due to stress and submits a medical note stating that the employee must be transferred to another department as an...more
Higgins-Williams v. Sutter Med. Found., 237 Cal. App. 4th 78 (2015) - Michaelin Higgins-Williams worked as a clinical assistant in Sutter’s Shared Services Department. Higgins-Williams reported to her treating physician that...more
Question: We have an employee who claims she has a mental disability involving stress and anxiety caused by working with her supervisor, and she has asked for a different supervisor as an accommodation. This doesn’t seem to...more
Hospitals and their medical staffs may consider it time to dust off their bylaws, in consideration of a recent legal development in a peer review proceeding. Last year, the California Supreme Court held that Mark T....more
Navigating an employee’s claim of stress-related disability continues to challenge employers. Recently, the California Court of Appeal provided helpful guidance for employers when an employee claimed to be unable to work...more
As instances of medical data breaches increase, U.S. courts are interpreting the scope of liability stemming from them. In California, the court in Sutter Health et al. v. The Superior Court of Sacramento County (Atkins) held...more
In a pair of recent cases, two California health care providers successfully warded off lawsuits arising from unauthorized data breaches of patient files. These cases illustrate that improper disclosure of electronically...more
California’s Confidentiality of Medical Information Act, Cal. Civ. Code § 56 et seq. (“CMIA”), provides that an individual may recover $1,000 nominal damages (plus actual damages if any) based on the negligent release of...more
In a case against Sutter Health involving records from a stolen office computer, the California Court of Appeal recently issued a decision limiting plaintiffs’ ability to state a claim and obtain statutory damages under the...more