Expanding on the peer review protections established in Bonni v. St. Joseph Health System, the California Court of Appeal in Dignity Health v. Mounts held that a wide array of medical staff communications regarding peer...more
On June 28, the US Supreme Court overturned the Chevron doctrine — the legal principle that the judiciary should defer to a federal agency’s reasonable interpretation of an ambiguous statute.
Chevron reflected the view...more
7/15/2024
/ Chevron Deference ,
Chevron v NRDC ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Healthcare ,
Hospitals ,
Judicial Review ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
National Marine Fisheries Service ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Reimbursements ,
Relentless Inc v US Department of Commerce ,
Rulemaking Process ,
SCOTUS
In response to multiple requests from California hospital industry members, the California Court of Appeal ordered publication of its decision in Bonni v. St. Joseph Health System et al. This important decision is a victory...more
9/23/2022
/ Anti-SLAPP ,
Appeals ,
CA Supreme Court ,
California ,
Defamation ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospitals ,
Peer Review ,
Retaliation ,
Reversal ,
Settlement Negotiations
In a newly filed lawsuit against the State of Idaho, the federal government argues that Idaho’s “near-total ban on abortion,” scheduled to take effect on August 25, 2022, overreaches by prohibiting abortion even where federal...more
According to guidance published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on July 11, 2022, EMTALA, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act of 1986, requires hospitals to provide abortion services when...more
7/28/2022
/ Abortion ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ,
EMTALA ,
First Amendment ,
New Guidance ,
Planned Parenthood ,
Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v Casey ,
Pregnancy ,
Religious Institutions ,
Roe v Wade ,
SCOTUS
Some commentators have misinterpreted the Bichai decision to mean that a medical staff and its affiliated hospital are entirely independent of each other. In reality, the two entities are practically and legally...more
On November 4, 2021, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued its Omnibus Staff Vaccination Rule, mandating that all Medicare and Medicaid-certified facilities regulated under Medicare health and safety...more
11/5/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Essential Workers ,
Health and Safety ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
In Natarajan v. Dignity Health, the Supreme Court rejected a physician’s challenge to a peer review hearing officer based on alleged financial bias. In doing so, the Court gave hospitals helpful and long-needed guidance...more
By September 30, all hospital workers—including physicians—must be vaccinated.
As COVID-19’s Delta variant surges across California, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) again took action to help curtail the...more
8/10/2021
/ California ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Deadlines ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Essential Workers ,
Exemptions ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
New Amendments ,
Physicians ,
Regulatory Mandates ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On July 29, 2021, the California Supreme Court issued a major anti-SLAPP decision in Bonni v. St. Joseph Health System et al. The decision is both encouraging and disappointing for California medical staffs and the hospitals...more
The National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) recently confirmed that the deadlines for reporting adverse actions against licensees have not been extended, despite the COVID-19 emergency.
In its May 2020 “NPDB Insights”...more
On April 17, 2020, the California Attorney General released Opinion No. 15-301, clarifying the deadlines for peer review bodies to file reports to certain licensing agencies pursuant to Business and Professions Code section...more
On Tuesday, February 11, 2020, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a complaint against Yale New Haven Hospital alleging that the hospital’s Late Career Practitioner Policy violates both the Age Discrimination in...more
Natarajan addressed an important question: When may physicians who are the subject of a peer review hearing challenge the hearing officer in their cases on the ground that the hearing officer is biased?
We have published a...more
The case, Natarajan v. Dignity Health, attracted keen interest as the physician’s arguments, if adopted, would likely have disqualified numerous experienced hearing officers from service in California medical staff peer...more
In the latest fallout from a wide-ranging scandal, former USC gynecologist George Tyndall, who faces criminal charges for allegedly sexually abusing hundreds of students, has surrendered his medical license to the Medical...more
Does Anti-SLAPP protection apply to retaliation and discrimination cases? The answer is yes....more