Split Decision in Hospitalist Dispute
A Texas appeals court affirmed a seven-figure judgment in favor of a local hospitalist group based on a jury verdict that a national group that contracted with them had breached their contract based in part on the jury’s finding that the national group had violated the Texas prohibition on the corporate practice of medicine. Other parts of the judgment were reduced by the appeals court or reversed. Quantum Plus, LLC et al. v. Hospital Internists of Austin, P.A
HCQIA Immunity Upheld
The Supreme Court of Montana upheld HCQIA immunity for a hospital in a dispute with a physician over a professional review action. The court’s opinion methodically reviewed compliance by the hospital with each of the elements of HCQIA immunity. Weiner v. St. Peter’s Health
Summary Judgment for Hospital on Physician’s Retaliation Claim Denied
A federal district court in New York denied the motion for summary judgment filed by an academic medical center on claims by a physician that she was retaliated against when she opposed the medical center’s efforts to compel her to violate the conditions of a federal grant, and when she complained about gender discrimination. The retaliation claims were brought under the False Claims Act and the New York State Human Rights Law. Mehta v. University of Rochester Medical Center
Court Declines to Dismiss Suit by Suspended Physician Who Signed Separation Agreement
A federal district court in Tennessee denied a hospital’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit by an employed physician whose clinical privileges were summarily suspended and who subsequently signed a separation agreement in lieu of exercising his hearing rights under the medical staff bylaws. The physician alleged that the hospital breached his employment agreement by making what he alleged were inaccurate reports to the National Practitioner Data Bank. The court ruled that the release contained in the physician’s separation agreement were not broad enough to bar these claims. Hoedt v. Vanderbilt University