Articles and Blogs

On May 14, 2013, the Indiana Supreme Court issued a 5-0 opinion authored by Justice Mark Massa in State v. Doe, 2013 WL 1975865 (Ind.,2013) reversing the trial court’s denial of the Defendant’s motion to reduce a punitive award pursuant to the statutory cap.  The Court held:  the statutory cap on punitive damages that may…Read More

On Tuesday, May 21, 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) announced that it had reached a settlement with a State University (“University”) arising out of alleged violations of the Security Rule under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”). The settlement comes after an HHS Office for Civil Rights…Read More

A New Indiana Criminal Records Law Affects Employers A new Indiana law (House Enrolled Act No. 1482) that protects the rights of individuals whose arrests and convictions have been expunged by court order will take effect on July 1, 2013.  This new law will affect employers in Indiana because it prohibits employers from discriminating against…Read More

Your Leave Is Up – Sorry but You’re Fired Many employers have medical leave policies.  Most of those policies allow leave for a maximum duration often three to six months or even up to a year.  The FMLA, of course, guarantees job protection for 12 weeks.  But what is an employer to do if an…Read More

The Court of Appeals recently held that a medical malpractice complaint is not considered filed upon mailing when a third-party commercial carrier is used to deliver the complaint to the Indiana Department of Insurance. The Plaintiff in Moryl v. Ransone et al. was the surviving spouse of a patient that passed away while undergoing treatment…Read More

Executive Summary On April 26, 2013 CMS released proposed rules for implementing Section 3133 of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”).  Starting in 2014, these proposed rules will begin a series of substantial reductions in Disproportionate Share Hospital (“DSH”) payments to hospitals.  Most payments under the new DSH program will be from a set pool of…Read More

HHS Issues Rule on DSH Payments On May 13, CMS released a proposed rule on the health reform law’s reductions to Disproportionate Share Hospital (“DSH”) payments. The rule would temporarily shield states that have decided to expand Medicaid from deeper DSH cuts in fiscal years 2014 and 2015. The rule comes a month after the White House’s…Read More

On April 30, 2012, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals decided Brooten v. Hickok Rehabilitation Services, LLC, No. 2012AP1940, unpublished slip opinion, further limiting the enforceability of standard liability waivers used by local businesses.  The decision made clear that “negligence” or “negligent” are not “magic words rendering an exculpatory clause valid.” In Brooten, the plaintiff was…Read More

Three new FCA cases of interest were reported in the last few weeks. One was discussed previously on FCADefense.com in Toumey Loses Stark/FCA Case Again by Drew Howk. Another, Ulysses, Inc. v. United States is yet another example of the growing trend of failed FCA counter-claims by the Government in response to contract litigation. The Third, Fresenius Medical…Read More

Earlier this year, we told you about a recent case from Kentucky in which a federal court found that it was not reasonable for a plaintiff to expect his employer to accommodate his lifting restrictions by spreading essential lifting requirements among the plaintiff’s co-workers.