Tenet Healthcare Doctors Must Arbitrate Retaliation Claims

Three cardiologists allegedly fired from a Detroit specialty hospital for complaining about unsafe medical practices and fraudulent Medicare billings must arbitrate their claims, a federal court in Michigan said.

Mandatory arbitration agreements in contracts signed by physicians Theodore Schreiber, Amir Kaki, and Mahir Elder were enforceable in their False Claims Act retaliation cases because the disputes couldn’t be resolved without referencing the contracts, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan said in two separate opinions Oct. 9.

Tenet Healthcare Corp. could demand arbitration, even though its subsidiary VHS Harper-Hutzel Hospital signed the contracts, the court said in ...