Feb 26, 2019 | Health Care
In 2018, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) settled ten cases and won summary judgment from an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), all of which resulted in recoveries totaling $28.7 million from HIPAA enforcement actions. The...
Feb 26, 2019 | Health Care
On February 7, 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a “first-of-its-kind” civil complaint against two Tennessee pharmacies because of their alleged illegal dispensing of opioids that have been linked to at least two deaths and numerous overdoses. The DOJ...
Jan 28, 2019 | Health Care
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights recently announced that Pagosa Springs Medical Center (“PSMC”) in Colorado has agreed to pay $111,400 to resolve allegations that it potentially violated HIPAA’s Privacy and Security Rules. OCR...
Jan 28, 2019 | Health Care
On January 23, 2019, a former director of a Florida hospital pled guilty to one count of conspiring to defraud federal healthcare programs by paying and receiving kickbacks as part of an alleged $1 billion healthcare fraud. The case, U.S. v. Esformes et al., is in the...
Dec 27, 2018 | Health Care
In a recent Cybersecurity Newsletter, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) published guidance on basic cybersecurity safeguards for healthcare organizations to implement in order to promote cyber resilience and mitigate the impact...
Nov 22, 2018 | Health Care
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently issued an opinion affirming a district court’s ruling that a civil whistleblower was not entitled to an award arising from criminal forfeiture proceedings where the government decided to criminally prosecute the...
