Business Law Health Law Committee

Department of Health Care Services’ Medi-Cal overpayment formula may be void as an unlawful underground regulation. Read more

Kimberly Montoya filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against Dr. Aaron Fowler, alleging that he negligently failed to order a CT scan, despite observing signs of potential stroke, at a time when she might have been a candidate for treatment to reduce the long-term damage from her stroke. Read more

Non-licentiate directors of a private corporation lack statutory authority to perform medical peer review. Read more

Medical expert’s declaration that lacked factual details and a reasoned explanation for concluding that no surgical malpractice occurred failed to negate a triable issue of material fact. Read more

County violates no ministerial duty by sending 5150 patients with mental (but not physical) health disorders to an acute hospital’s emergency department. Read more

Separate MICRA caps are available for survivor and wrongful death claims stemming from the same medical malpractice. Read more

Charlie L. v. Kangavari (Jan. 2, 2025, B327714) __ Cal.App.5th __, 2025 WL 23756 Statute imposing stricter expert witness qualifications in hospital emergency care situations applies to physicians who remotely consult in treatment of ER patients. Charlie L. was brought to a hospital’s emergency department, where the attending physician issued “stat” orders for an X-ray and ultrasound of Charlie’s abdomen. Dr. Peyman Kangavari, an on-call radiologist working remotely, promptly reviewed the images and reported his conclusions to the attending physician,… Read more

Hospitals have no duty to disclose to patients emergency room fees other than those specified by statute. Taylor Capito filed a class action lawsuit against Regional Medical Center San Jose (Regional) after receiving emergency room services. She alleged that Regional violated the Unfair Competition Law (UCL) and the Consumer Legal Remedies Act by failing to give her sufficient notice of an Evaluation and Management Services (EMS) fee that it charged. The trial court sustained Regional’s demurrer without leave to amend.… Read more

Kaweah Delta Health Care District v. Becerra, __ F.4th __, Nos. 22-55157 & 23-55209, 2024 WL 5063933 (9th Cir. Dec. 11, 2024) HHS Secretary may not manipulate wage-index for hospital reimbursement rates to assist low-wage hospitals recruit and retain staff. A group of California hospitals sued the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) challenging a policy designed to increase Medicare reimbursements to hospitals operating in geographic areas (primarily rural) where wages are generally low (so-called “low-wage hospitals”). The Medicare… Read more

Nurse anesthetist not competent to provide expert opinion on neurosurgical treatment decisions. Read more