Health Care

Butzel Long’s Health Care Practice has in-depth experience and a wide range of resources to help clients deal with ongoing business issues, critical regulatory and litigation-related matters, and complex transactions. That experience is more important now than ever, as the health care industry faces continual economic challenges and significant governmental action.

We understand the unique legal, operational, and economic issues and relationships inherent in the health care industry and have the expertise to counsel a broad spectrum of clients, including hospital and health systems, physicians, dentists, nurses and other professionals, ambulatory surgical centers, home care and physical therapy providers, long term care and hospice facilities, nursing homes, managed care providers, medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturers, and many others.

Our attorneys are at the forefront of changes in the health care industry, addressing issues in technology, entrepreneurship, and rapid regulatory changes. The issues we deal with include joint ventures, M&A and restructuring; hospital-provider relations; real estate; labor, employment, and benefits; health information technology, HIPAA compliance, and privacy issues; regulatory compliance; Stark/anti-kickback; medical staff/fair hearing, peer review, and professional licensure; taxation and exempt organization matters; RAC audits; research agreements; anti-trust; bond financing; certificates of need; criminal and civil false claims, including Qui Tam actions and other criminal defense matters; environmental and medical hazardous waste issues; and patent, trademark, and other intellectual property matters. We also serve on board and committees of various industry and professional organizations, are members of state and national bar health care law sections, have presented programs and lectured at various seminars relating to health care law, and have published articles in numerous health care law journals. We regularly publish client alerts on current health care topics, and offer a weekly health care news alert linking to major industry stories of interest.

Experience

Successful defense of a hospital against multiple complex medical malpractice claims.
Represented CFO of a non-profit hospital for securities fraud; case settled no jail or fine, SEC restitution
Represented pharmaceutical manufacturers in civil and criminal False Claim Act and qui tam matters.
Represented Eli Lilly in Wood v. Abbott Laboratories, an indirect purchaser name brand prescription antitrust class action.
Health Care Fraud Federal Criminal Trial: Individual Defense
Represented the President of a company that distributes pharmaceuticals to nursing homes in a case the Michigan Attorney General referred to as "the largest criminal Medicaid fraud case ever initiated in Michigan."
Represented services provider in establishing claims processing operations for hospitals and health care providers
Represents William Beaumont Hospital, a major hospital system, in a multi-billion dollar antitrust class action claim alleging a conspiracy by area hospital systems to suppress nurse compensation.
Represent health care institutions in the development of medical office buildings and ambulatory surgical centers including by example, funding, ground leases, certificates of need, leases and related matters
Obtained acquittal of pharmaceutical company executive in federal trial in Boston following 4 month jury trial
Represent national health care certifing board as General Counsel
Represented the nation's largest house-call physician group in a multi-state, multi-case Qui Tam action brought by the Department of Justice
Defense of major regional hospital system in an anti-trust case alleging conspiracy among hospital and physicians to exclude a cardiologist from the hospital staff
Represented payer in outsourcing of print and mail operations associated with policies
Represented both payers and pharmaceutical companies in outsourcing of information technology services
Represented pharmaceutical company in Qui Tam case in Boston.
Obtained a complete declination of all proceedings, criminal and civil health care fraud, against pharmaceutical client by the US Attorney's Office in Dallas
Obtained a summary dismissal of claims against a major hospital in a medical malpractice case.
Represented the primary certifier of podiatric surgeons in one of the leading Lanham Act false advertising cases in the Sixth Circuit.
Successfully represented officer of pharmaceutical company in largest health care fraud trial to date in U.S. District Court in Boston
Represented payer in shared services transaction for data centers
Represented payer in outsourcing of both information technology and business processes in connection with health care exchange under Affordable Care Act
Defended national health care certifing board in action alleging antitrust and false advertising violations; one of the leading 6th Circuit cases on false advertising law
Represented pharmaceutical company in outsourcing of application maintenance and development associated with critical research
Obtained dismissal of False Claims Act (“FCA”) lawsuit against healthcare provider and affirmance of dismissal in appeal (Chesbrough, et al. v. VPA, P.C. (6th Cir. August 23, 2011))
Represented pharmaceutical company in a false advertising lawsuit involving a product claiming to be the generic equivalent of a leading brand
Represented a full service non-profit community supported hospital as a debtor in possession in Chapter 11 proceedings
Defended website owner of a health-care related site for trademark litigation against a provider of cosmetic surgery