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Father Sues After Late Son's OR Photos End Up on Instagram; $75M Stroke MedMal Award

— A weekly roundup of healthcare's encounters with the courts

MedpageToday
Legal Break over a blindfolded Lady Justice statue holding scales.

A father is suing HCA Florida Kendall Hospital after an employee of his late son while he was in the operating room following a motorcycle accident. Jose Lopez -- who is suing over medical privacy violations, negligence, and emotional distress -- said the employee posted the photo with emojis and tagged a co-worker in the post. (Miami New Times)

Jonathan Buckelew, a Georgia man who developed locked-in syndrome after an alleged delay in diagnosing his brain stem stroke, following a 3-week trial. The jury found the emergency physician 60% responsible for the malpractice, and the radiologist 40% responsible, according to a press release from the law firm.

A jury to the family of a 27-year-old man who was left in a vegetative state after a routine surgery to treat his broken leg. Carlos David Rojas suffered hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy during a procedure to repair his left tibia after he fell off a ladder while working a job hanging Christmas lights. (FOX4)

Five California doctors are suing Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and the Medical Board of California that aims to curb COVID-19 misinformation in patient care settings, according to a press release.

Alyssa Beth Steele of Anderson, South Carolina, is facing charges for at seven nursing and assisted living facilities. Steele allegedly worked as a registered nurse without the necessary certifications or training by using someone else's nursing license number. (WYFF4)

Froedtert Health Tim Michels for allegedly refusing to stop using its logo in campaign ads without its consent. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Chris Lambros, a former ICU nurse at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction, Colorado, was . A hospital employee reportedly discovered Lambros taking pictures of a patient's genitalia. (KKCO11)

The debate about a link between acetaminophen and autism is , with the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ordering 65 individual cases to be consolidated into mass tort litigation, trying a series of bellwether cases. The nine defendants are CVS, Costco, Family Dollar, Rite Aid, Safeway, Sam's Warehouse, Target, Walgreens, and Walmart. (UPI)

In the ongoing U.K. trial of former nurse Lucy Letby, prosecutors introduced allegedly written by Letby. "I killed them on purpose because I'm not good enough to care for them," read one. "Not good enough. I will never have children or marry. I will never know what it's like to have a family," read another. (People)

The electronic health record (EHR) company Modernizing Medicine (ModMed) will pay $45 million to settle claims that it offered improper incentives for referrals. The case revolves around three marketing programs, . In one, ModMed allegedly solicited and took kickbacks from Miraca Life Sciences to recommend its pathology lab services to EHR clients. In another, ModMed allegedly improperly donated its EHR in order to increase lab orders and to boost its customer base. Finally, the company allegedly paid kickbacks to its healthcare provider clients to refer additional customers.

CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart plan to pay to settle allegations about their respective roles in the U.S. opioid epidemic. (Reuters)

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    Kristina Fiore leads MedPage’s enterprise & investigative reporting team. She’s been a medical journalist for more than a decade and her work has been recognized by Barlett & Steele, AHCJ, SABEW, and others. Send story tips to k.fiore@medpagetoday.com.