Hospital Grading Group Fails to Shake Deceptive Practices Suit

A coalition of Florida hospitals can proceed with a lawsuit alleging a group that grades hospital safety engages in false and deceptive practices that seriously harm them and consumers, a federal trial court said.

The group led by Good Samaritan Medical Center Inc. pleaded sufficient facts to raise an inference that The Leapfrog Group violated Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act by arbitrarily assigning poor ratings and misleading consumers about how it calculated them, the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida said Tuesday. Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks denied Leapfrog’s motion to dismiss the complaint.

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