Brockovich calls it quits on lawsuit appeals
About 18 months ago, media personality Erin Brockovich drew front-page headlines in Fresno when she filed a lawsuit alleging that Community Medical Centers mistreated patients at then-University Medical Center and misused federal reimbursements.
Community vigorously contested the allegations, which a California Hospital Association spokesman termed a publicity stunt. In March 2007, the suit against Community was rejected as meritless by the U.S. District Court in Fresno, an action that drew little media attention.
Brockovich, a legal assistant whose activism was popularized in a movie starring Julia Roberts, had filed similar lawsuits against more than 30 hospitals, claiming violation of the Medicare Secondary Payer Act. Those suits were rejected by various courts, and her lawyers consolidated them into a single appeal.
This past March, outside the media spotlight, Brockovich’s attorneys ended their entire legal offensive by dropping all their appeals.
This story was reported by Mary Lisa Russell and John Taylor. They can be reached at mrussell@communitymedical.org or jtaylor@communitymedical.org.