Legal News Articles & Interviews

Kansas City, KS Tony woke up late Saturday night with a nosebleed and not knowing what to do, his son drove him to emergency room at St. Lukes South Hospital. When Tony got the bill in the mail he almost had a stroke--a doctor had simply inserted into his nose a cotton ball sprayed with decongestant, which took a few minutes, but he was billed $1,200. There had to be an error.

San Francisco, CA  On November 15, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that Amazon had agreed to pay the State of California $500,000 and amend its Covid-19 notification practices to comply with California’s new “right-to-know” law. AB 685, enacted in December 2020, amended the California Labor Code to require employers to notify workers about potential workplace exposure in ways designed to actually provide them with meaningful information, on the basis of which they might make informed healthcare choices.

Philadelphia, PA The largest Philadelphia child welfare agency, which returned three girls to their sexually abusive father who continued to assault them, has settled with the girls for $6 million. This tragic incident isn’t the first involving “Turning Points for Children”. In fact Turning Points has been named in at least three negligence complaints. Perhaps it should be named Turning Points NOT for Children.

San Diego, CA “Not only are these inflated ER overcharges unethical – I don’t understand how medical professionals can charge exorbitant fees for such little work,” says Michael Cutler MD, an urgent care physician. “People were ordering tests before the doctor even came in the door.”

Peterborough, NH Being Philips’ Scapegoat has resulted in SoClean filing a lawsuit against the CPAP sleep machine manufacturer alleging unfair and deceptive practices and “causing it to suffer at least $200 million in damages”. Philips suggested that SoClean was to blame for its 15 million faulty CPAP and BiPAP machines.

Chicago, IL On October 19, Maria Guadalupe Amador filed a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) collective action lawsuit against Kemper Corp., alleging that the insurance giant cheated her and other call center workers out of wages due under federal and Illinois law. Recent lawsuit news coverage has often focused on whether very small (de minimus) amounts of time must be counted in wage calculations under federal law. Ms. Amador’s off the clock work claims are not small, however. Further, the tasks to be accomplished during the unpaid time seem to have been essential to the workers’ performance of other tasks.

Oakland, CA Rollins v. Dignity Health, a nearly nine-year old ERISA lawsuit that has been moving through the federal court system since 2013, may be one step closer to settling. The Northern District of California has preliminarily approved a deal with the addition of an additional sub-class of plaintiffs. The same court rejected proposed settlement agreements twice before on a variety of grounds. This is further toward resolution than the parties have gotten before.

Silver Spring, MD The FDA reviewed Boston Scientific’s latest studies of the pros and cons of using transvaginal mesh to treat pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and doubled down on its earlier conclusion that the risks outweighed the benefits. In 2019, after a spate of surgical mesh lawsuits, the FDA ordered Boston Scientific to immediately pull its transvaginal mesh products off the market.

San Diego, CA Two Ninth Circuit judges have asked former Hewlett Packard employee Bryant Fonseca to show more evidence in his allegation that HP and 3D Systems Inc., had cut a “no-poach” deal that resulted in diminished wages. The judges questioned why this third amended complaint should be revived – plaintiff’s attorney answered that Fonseca’s California labor lawsuit identifies which executives were allegedly involved in the deal when it went into effect and the actions each company took to maintain the anti-competitive agreement.

Atlanta, GA After waiting in the Emory Decatur Hospital ER for seven hours to treat a head injury, Taylor Davis couldn’t wait any longer and went home. She later received an emergency room bill for $688.35. Are you familiar with the old English proverb that “Children should be seen and not heard”? Here’s a new American phrase: “Patients are charged for not being seen.”