MedPage Legal Break: A weekly roundup of healthcare's encounters with the courts

Three Medicaid frauds made the list.

https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/features/120173

A weekly roundup of healthcare's encounters with the courts

Kristina Fiore    |    March 5, 2026

More than two dozen couples have accused California fertility doctor Brian Acacio, MD, of holding their embryos hostage. (CBS News Los Angeles)

Surgeon Thomas Steffens, DO, who was accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman, was wounded during a shootout with law enforcement in Florida when they tried to arrest him. (9 News)

Former state senator and emergency physician David Hartsuch, MD, is once again suing two state licensing boards over an investigation into his practices during the acute COVID pandemic. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)

An Italian ambulance driver is being investigated on suspicion of murdering five patients who may have been given harmful substances while riding in the vehicle. (The Guardian)

A surgeon and a hospital director in South Korea were convicted of murdering a baby and sentenced to 4 and 6 years in prison. The mother, who was also convicted of murder, reportedly wanted to terminate the pregnancy at 36 weeks, but prosecutors said the baby was born alive and later killed. (BBC)

Cardiologist Christopher David Adams, MD, who reportedly was fired after faking a cancer diagnosis and misrepresenting his medical training, has surrendered his licenses in Tennessee and Kentucky. (Courier Journal)

A Wisconsin nurse was sentenced to 18 months in prison after admitting to having sex with a patient and then falsely accusing that patient of sexual assault. (People)

The New York attorney general is investigating how Columbia University handled allegations against gynecologist Robert Hadden, MD, who was ultimately sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexual abuse. (New York Times)

An Atlanta gastroenterology practice will pay $4.75 million to settle allegations that it took kickbacks for patient referrals and also provided unnecessary medical services, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Six Texas doctors will pay $5 million to settle allegations that they billed federal insurers for services that weren't needed or never provided, including pulmonary function tests, federal prosecutors said.