1. A St. Louis County jury ruled in favor of Midwest Anesthesia Providers in a medical malpractice lawsuit alleging wrongful death. The jury found the anesthesia group not liable in the $2.6 million suit brought by the deceased patient’s wife.
The plaintiff claimed that an anesthesiologist mistakenly placed an endotracheal tube into her husband’s esophagus during emergency surgery, leading to cardiorespiratory arrest and death. The defense argued that the true cause of death was a mucus plug obstruction, which was visible on a CT scan taken hours before the anesthesiologist treated the patient.
2. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of U.S. Anesthesia Partners’ (lawsuit against the Department of HHS and CMS, which contested aspects of the Merit-based Incentive Payment System. The lawsuit, filed by USAP’s Texas, Florida, and Colorado divisions, challenged the Total Per Capita Cost measure used in MIPS to evaluate clinicians’ performance and adjust Medicare reimbursement rates. The measure attributes patient costs to clinicians who have billed for qualifying primary care services.
3. Houston-based Northwest Anesthesiology and Pain Services agreed to pay $999,999 to settle allegations it violated the False Claims Act and Stark law. From Jan. 1, 2019, through Dec. 31, 2021, Northwest Anesthesiology and Pain Services was paid approximately $1.8 million in bonus payments due to a contractor’s misconduct, where Medicare reimbursed for services rendered by its independently contracted pain management practices.
4. U.S. Anesthesia Partners Holdings and a Texas affiliate secured a pretrial victory in a discrimination lawsuit filed by former employee David Axmann, MD.
Dr. Axmann, an anesthesiologist, became a stockholder of USAP Holdings and an employee of Dallas-based USAP-Texas in 2017 after USAP acquired his previous employer. He alleged age discrimination following his termination. However, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas found that while Dr. Axmann initially established a case for age bias, USAP provided a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for his dismissal, citing multiple complaints about his performance and his refusal to participate in coaching.
5. The Federal Trade Commission announced a settlement with Welsh, Carson, Anderson and Stowe, the private equity firm backing U.S. Anesthesia Partners. In its complaint, the FTC alleged WCAS, through its portfolio company USAP, participated in an anticompetitive scheme to consolidate anesthesiology practices in Texas and increase prices to patients for profit.
Under a proposed consent order, WCAS will be required to limit its involvement with USAP and notify the FTC of specified future acquisitions and investments in anesthesia and other hospital-based physician practices.
6. Anesthesiology Consultants Exchange, the exclusive anesthesia provider for Erlanger Health System in Chattanooga, Tenn., has alleged that its anesthesiologists repeatedly raised concerns about surgeons failing to comply with the hospital’s overlapping surgery policy.
In 2021, two former Erlanger orthopedic surgeons and the hospital’s former chief information officer filed a federal whistleblower lawsuit under the False Claims Act and the Tennessee Medicaid False Claims Act. The suit claims that Erlanger physicians illegally billed government insurance for overlapping operations in which residents and interns completed surgeries alone, without proper oversight or patient consent.
7. A woman has filed a $4 million lawsuit against Providence Health & Services and Oregon Anesthesiology Group, both based in the Portland area, after contracting hepatitis C.
In July, Renton, Wash.-based Providence alerted 2,200 patients of potential exposure to hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV due to suspected lapses in infection control by an anesthesiologist employed by Oregon Anesthesiology Group. The lawsuit alleges that the hospital failed to provide patients with timely and appropriate information about the exposure risk.
