Business Law Health Law Committee

Privacy rights mostly foreclose litigation discovery of non-party health care professionals’ administrative records and other non-public records maintained by State agencies. Read more

Saint Francis Memorial Hospital was fined $50,000 by the California Department of Public Health. The Department served Saint Francis with the final decision on December 16, 2015, which stated that it “shall be effective immediately.” Read more

MICRA statute of limitations runs from when a patient reasonably should notice that an undiagnosed condition has developed into a more serious condition. Read more

Provider, who falsely billed for a speech pathologist who provided no services, was properly convicted of identity theft. Read more

Medical group’s proprietary “Relative Value Unit” assessment of physician performance and productivity may be protected as a trade secret. Read more

Inferences based on hospital staff’s custom and practice are insufficient to prove that a patient authorized relatives to execute arbitration agreements on his behalf. Read more

Group health plan does not violate the Medicare as Secondary Payer (MSP) provisions when it reimburses dialysis services at the same rate, regardless of underlying diagnosis or Medicare eligibility. Read more

Payment by Medicare is not a prerequisite for suing to enforce the Medicare as Secondary Payer (MPS) provisions. Read more

The Dental Board of California filed an accusation against orthodontist Mohammadrez Yazdi, charging that he had failed to comply with its subpoenas seeking dental records of numerous patients and that he had failed to pay administrative fines. Read more

Suzanne Stone had a health care plan governed by ERISA. Stone’s daughter received in-state treatment for an eating disorder that was approved by the plan administrator, but was discharged with a referral to a facility in Colorado offering a higher level of care. Read more