Becker's has reported on four physicians who have filed suits against their former employers or competitors since June 10:
1. An appellate court revived an antitrust lawsuit against IU Health filed by a former employee that alleges the Indianapolis-based health system engaged in anticompetitive behavior that decreased standards of care in the region.
IU Health won a motion to dismiss the suit in November after a federal judge found the geographic markets outlined by Ricardo Vazquez, MD, the surgeon-plaintiff in the lawsuit, did not reflect the commercial realities of the industry.
Dr. Vazquez, an independent vascular surgeon in Bloomington, Ill., alleges IU Health restricted referral patterns to specialists within its network after acquiring almost all the primary care physicians in Southern Indiana.
2. A federal judge rejected the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's bid to dismiss a whistleblower lawsuit against UPMC, its physicians group and its chair of cardiothoracic surgery. The defendants are accused of submitting hundreds of false claims to Medicare, Medicaid and other government health programs over a six-year period.
The U.S. Justice Department alleges UPMC and James Luketich, MD, chair of cardiothoracic surgery at the medical center, "regularly sacrificed patient health in order to increase surgical volume" and "maximize profit," according to a report from NBC affiliate WPXI.
The case was originally filed by Jonathan D'Cunha, MD, PhD, under the False Claims...
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