Doc Gets 22 Years; Robot Wrongful Death Suit; Body Parts Lawsuit Dismissed

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

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

Pennsylvania doctor Martin Evers, MD, was sentenced to for unlawfully prescribing pain medication, including to a woman who died of an overdose. (WNEP)

Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci robot allegedly a woman's small intestine during surgery for colon cancer, according to a wrongful death suit. (NBC News)

Former University of Pittsburgh Medical Center emergency physician Joseph Yanta, MD, by vehicle after allegedly killing his passenger -- another emergency physician -- in a 2022 crash. (CBS Pittsburgh)

After a 14-day trial, Massachusetts doctor Rahim Shafa, MD, was convicted for his role in a scheme to import naltrexone pellet implants -- which aren't approved in the U.S. -- from Hong Kong and sell them to patients struggling with addiction, .

A judge has against Harvard Medical School brought by families who claimed parts of their loved ones' bodies were stolen from its morgue by its manager. (AP)

Four New York nurses caught up in Operation Nightingale have after voluntarily surrendering them, and another 50 nurses refused to surrender their licenses and are working with an attorney. (Albany Times-Union)

Community advocates have filed a lawsuit claiming Mount Sinai Health System in New York from its Beth Israel facility and its New York Eye and Ear Infirmary in order to sell its assets and real estate. (Becker's Hospital Review)

A nurse was found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of a California inmate who collapsed in her cell, but jurors were deadlocked on charges against jail doctor Friederike Von Lintig, MD. (AP)

Novo Nordisk with a medical spa and a weight-loss clinic that it accused of making knock-off versions of semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus). The agreements bar the companies from using Novo's trademarks to promote compounded drugs. The two companies are the first of 12 defendants to settle. (Reuters)

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it won a against Simple Health Plans, after alleging the company duped customers into signing up for bogus health plans that left them uninsured and exposed to major medical expenses.

The FTC also in its case against U.S. Anesthesia Partners and private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, asking the judge to ignore the companies' pleas to have the case tossed. (STAT)

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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.