While Tenet Healthcare has agreed to a raft of very expensive legal settlements, the issues apparently live on for one of its former execs. The U.S. Department of Justice is now suing the former top attorney for Tenet, arguing that she lied about the company's being in line with federal law during her tenure there.
In 2004, Tenet paid $22.5 million to settle with the government regarding North Ridge Medical Center's alleged violations of federal law. The feds say Christi Sulzbach, who resigned almost four years ago, signed off on a settlement regarding wrongdoing at the 391-bed facility while knowing violations still remained. Specifically, they say she knew that the hospital still had physician contracts in place which violated federal self-referral limits.
Sulzbach is also the target of an SEC lawsuit which alleges that the company misstated earnings, a suit that Tenet, for its part, settled for $10 million [1] this April.
To get more background on the suit:
- read this Modern Healthcare article [2]
Related Articles:
Tenet faces legal challenges. Report [3]
Tenet to pay $725 million in settlement. Report [4]
Tenet pays $21 million to settle Alvarado case. Report [5]
VHA: Stark issues more common than execs think. Report [6]
Links:
[1] http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/tenet-settles-sec-suit-for-10m/2007-04-03
[2] http://www.modernhealthcare.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070918/REG/309180019
[3] http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/tenet-faces-legal-challenges/2006-05-15
[4] http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/tenet-to-pay-725m-in-settlement/2006-06-29
[5] http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/tenet-pays-21m-to-settle-alvarado-case/2006-05-17
[6] http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/vha-stark-issues-more-common-than-execs-think/2007-05-22