Business Law Health Law Committee

Aurora Vista Del Mar, LLC, a psychiatric hospital, employed unlicensed mental health workers to monitor and assist patients. One worker, Juan Valencia, sexually abused two Aurora patients. Read more

Ricardo Saldana died from COVID-19 while living at a Glenhaven nursing home. His relatives sued Glenhaven in superior court for elder abuse, willful misconduct, negligence, and wrongful death. Glenhaven removed the case to federal district court, which remanded for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Read more

Two physician assistants (PAs) failed to timely diagnose a malignant melanoma on an infant who later died. Marisol Lopez, the infant’s mother, sued the PAs and their supervising physicians for medical malpractice and wrongful death. Read more

Providing wound care (but not basic needs) to an elder does not establish the custodial relationship required for Elder Abuse Act liability.Oroville Hospital nurses provided Eyvon Ambrose with in-home care for her pressure injury. Ambrose’s granddaughter provided for her basic needs, such as dressing, eating, taking medications, and using the restroom. When her pressure wound worsened and she sustained additional wounds, Ambrose was admitted to the hospital where she ultimately died. Ambrose’s heirs sued Oroville Hospital for neglect, recklessness, and… Read more

Providers may potentially compel patients without health insurance to assign their auto insurance medical payment benefits (but not underinsured motorist benefits). Read more

Before authorizing electroconvulsive therapy for an inmate who lacks capacity to consent, courts must consider treatment preferences the inmate expressed while still competent. Read more

Caps on the costs of copying medical records in Evidence Code section 1158 do not limit the amount an attorney’s photocopying agent may charge. Read more

Sole successor-in-interest assignee of healthcare provider has derivative standing to sue insurer under ERISA. Read more

CMS may enforce interim final rule imposing COVID-19 vaccine mandate on Medicare and Medicaid facilities. Read more

Regulations authorizing family members to admit elderly relatives to residential care facilities do not authorize them to enter arbitration agreements. Read more