“Not-Profit” Toss

Ala. uninsured suit dismissed in first such ruling | Modern Healthcare Alerts | 10.22.04

A judge dismissed one of 48 class-action lawsuits on file against hospitals nationwide on behalf of uninsured patients, ruling that the charges had previously been tried in state court and that a foundation of the suit — the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act — did not apply. …

Plaintiffs had already lost in state court before the class-action suit was filed, and the federal court cannot rule again on the charges under the legal concept res judicata, the judge said. …

The plaintiffs, though, said the panel’s ruling indicates that the Alabama decision may not apply to other cases. “It would be inappropriate to speculate on whether (the judge’s interpretation of EMTALA) applies to other cases. The issues and facts are different,” said Robert Siegfried, a spokesman for the coalition of law firms. Meanwhile, Emerson Hopkins’ point about res judicata “was a technical decision,” Siegfried said.

Suit against Baptist hospitals dismissed | The Birmingham News | 10.23.04

A federal judge has dismissed the class-action lawsuit against Baptist Health System filed on behalf of uninsured patients who claimed they were overcharged and subjected to unfair collection tactics. …

“The dismissal doesn’t really change the egregious nature of the way these plaintiffs were treated,” Lamb said. “It has nothing to do with the merits of the case or whether what Baptist did is wrong or illegal.” …

See PointofLaw.com and Press Releases.

It’s nice to see class action litigators forget about res judicata. Solution? Just swap out the named claimants (subset of plaintiffs in the class) and the claim preclusion bar is removed.