Azariah Bridgewater, Belmont Law, Class of 2024 Earlier this year, the United States Supreme Court (the Court) decided to overturn Roe v. Wade in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The Court’s Dobbs decision no longer recognized that a federal right existed for a woman to have an abortion prior to the viability of the unborn child. In …
OCR Sends Message of Compliance to Dental Practices in violation of Patient Right of Access Under HIPAA
Kendall Warden, Class of 2024, Belmont Law On September 20, 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) sent a public message to dental practices in violation of HIPAA Privacy Rule’s patient right of access provision. The OCR did this by publicizing the result of investigations into three dental …
Monkeypox Declared a Public Health Emergency
Shane Richards, Class of 2023, Belmont Law On August 4, 2022, the Biden administration declared Monkeypox a public health emergency, with over 8,900 cases being reported across the United States and many more cases being reported globally. The declaration came on the heels of the World Health Organization declaring Monkeypox a “public health emergency of …
New Precedent: Pharmacy Chains Held to Create a Public Nuisance in Opioid Crisis
Kendall Warden, Class of 2024, Belmont Law The United States District Court Northeastern District of Ohio, Eastern Division, in a giant MDL encompassing 11 bellwether trials, issued an abatement order on August 17 mandating three giant pharmacy chains to pay a combined $650 million dollars towards the opioid crisis. This specific track three bellwether …
THE FORESEEABLE END OF THE AVAILABILITY OF GOVERNMENT FUNDED COVID-19 VACCINES
Azariah Bridgewater, Class of 2024, Belmont Law From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic until now, federal funding has fronted the cost for all persons within the United States to receive vaccines and boosters without payment or proof of insurance. The widespread availability of free COVID-19 vaccines may, however, come to a halt in early …
Fifth Circuit: Christian Medical Groups Cannot Be Punished for Refusing Abortions and Gender Reassignment Surgery
Shane Richards, Class of 2023, Belmont Law On August 26, 2022, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals handed down a ruling holding that the United States Government cannot punish Christian medical providers for refusing to conduct abortions and gender reassignment surgery. The Court held that punishing a Christian hospital for not conducting such operations would …
How the FTCA Impacts Veterans Rights to Recover for Medical Negligence
Carissa Kohne, Class of 2022, Belmont Law In 1946, congress passed the Federal Torts Claim Act (FTCA). The purpose of the FTCA was to allow citizens to recover from the government when a government employee engaged in tortious activity.[1] Prior to the FTCA, sovereign immunity barred individuals from receiving compensation for the tortious acts of …
From Paper Restraints to Electronic Ransoms
Shane Richards, Class of 2023, Belmont Law Just shy of one year ago, the nation’s largest fuel pipeline was ground to a halt because of a criminal ransomware attack. In May 2021, Colonial Pipeline’s system transported 100 million gallons of gasoline per day, supplying gas for 50 million people in America’s southeast and meeting about …
Eight Individuals Defrauded Walter Reed of More Than $3 Million and Are Now Facing Federal Indictment
Sarah Powell, Class of 2023, Belmont Law. Eight individuals have been charged by a federal grand jury with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, wire fraud, and other related charges resulting from fake medical coding contracts with Walter Reed Military Medical Center and the Defense Health Agency (DHA). Those charged in the indictment are …
Dangerous Precedent: Criminal Mistake in the Nursing Industry
Will Brandt, Class of 2022, Belmont Law For an industry that is understaffed and overworked, should tragic medical errors of nurses result in jail time? As of March 25th, in the Davidson County Criminal Court, that answer appears to be yes. Former nurse, RaDonda Vaught, was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and abuse of …