Monday, June 3, 2019

In a major victory for Moore Law Firm and our clients, the Texas Supreme Court has denied the hospitals’ motion to stay as well as denied their petition for writ of mandamus. The notice was sent on Friday, May 31; at the time of this writing, the Texas Supreme Court has not issued an opinion on either ruling.

This victory draws our firm even closer to bringing these first cases to trial and, ultimately, a verdict after nearly five years of pre-trial litigation.

On the legislative front, HB 2929, a bill that would create super-hospital liens and potentially expose tens of thousands of more Texas patients to rampant hospital billing fraud, has passed both the Texas House and Texas Senate and is expected to be soon signed into law by Governor Abbott effective immediately.

Passing HB 2929 was an abhorrent affront to all current and future Texas patients and an absolutely shameful display of our representatives voting with their pocketbook and not with their conscience, putting the interests of a multi-billion dollar industry over the people they were elected to represent.

As your lawyers, we want to assure you that we are working diligently to keep up the efforts against the hospitals on all possible fronts to give your case the best possible outcome and to help prevent future victims of hospital lien abuse.

We look forward to the challenges ahead and we will continue to keep all of our clients posted on our progress.

Friday, February 8, 2019

After Judge David Sanchez, who serves as the District Judge for 444th District Court and the presiding judge over the Fraudulent Hospital Lien MDL, denied their motion for summary judgment, attorneys representing the hospitals filed an appeal, a writ of mandamus, to the 13th District Court of Appeals.

As the appeal was to be argued, the opposing attorneys also filed a motion for stay in an effort to pause the court proceedings pending the outcome of the appeal. Judge Sanchez denied this order as well.

In, yet, another victory for Moore Law Firm, Judge Nelda Rodriguez of the appellate court wrote the opinion denying their appeal on procedural grounds.

On February 4th, in an anticipated move, the attorneys representing the hospitals filed another appeal, a writ of mandamus, to the Supreme Court of Texas.

Currently, Moore Law Firm is working on a response to file with the Texas Supreme Court.

Monday, June 11, 2018

Recently, Judge David Sanchez of the 444th district court, who was assigned to our MDL, denied the hospital’s motion for summary judgment which sought to have the case dismissed, which was a major victory for us. Further good news, , the Texas Supreme Court ruled that reimbursement rates and contracts between hospitals and health insurance carriers are discoverable (In Re North Cypress Medical Center), which may tremendously strengthen our cases against the hospitals. This evidence will allow us to prove that the hospitals are price gouging their patients and using the hospital liens to extort money and commit fraud.

We are currently executing multiple strategies in an effort to bring these matters closer to trial.

Thank you for your patience and confidence with our law firm as we look forward to continuing representing you in your matter.

Monday, March 3, 2018

At this time, we are awaiting Judge David Sanchez of the 444th District Court in Cameron County to rule on a motion for summary judgment, of which oral arguments were held on December 27th, 2017.

The issues pending on the motion for summary judgment are the definition of the word “admitted” and legal matters pertaining to what constitutes the “reasonable and regular rate.” Once the motion for summary judgment is ruled upon, it is likely that either side will appeal the ruling. Once the appellate process is completed and the rulings are in our favor, the MDL could potentially proceed to trial as early as this year.

We are also closely monitoring a case pending in the Texas Supreme Court (IN RE NORTH CYPRESS MEDICAL CENTER OPERATING CO., LTD.) where the issue at hand is whether a hospital may be compelled to answer discovery regarding reimbursement rates for medical services for private insurance companies.

Having listened to the oral arguments made by both sides, reading amicus briefs filed to the court in regards to the matter, as well as analyzed the questions posed by the justices of the Texas Supreme Court, we believe that the court will rule in favor of compelling the hospital to release this information via discovery and, in turn, greatly assist our MDL case.

We appreciate your patience as we await Judge David Sanchez’ ruling.

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Judge Israel Ramon of the 430^th Judicial District Court of Hidalgo County, Texas has recused himself as our pre-trial judge due to conflicts regarding Doctor’s Hospital at Renaissance.

Additionally, in August we filed a federal RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) class-action lawsuit against Universal Health Systems, which owns McAllen Medical Center and Edinburg Regional Medical Center,  in the Southern District of Texas Corpus Christi Division.

By filing this class-action, we have consolidated these claims to be litigated singularly in order to expedite the handling of all of our cases and all other fraudulent hospital lien cases throughout the State of Texas.

Opposing counsel for the federal RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) class-action suit filed a motion to transfer the litigation down to Hidalgo County, which was subsequently denied by Judge Hilda G. Tagle.

We will keep you posted on all matters regarding the development of your case throughout the stages of litigation.

Tuesday, August 17, 2016

Dear FHL Client:

As you are aware, The Moore Law Firm originally filed hundreds of lawsuits in Hidalgo County, Texas, to recover statutory damages for each of our clients who had hospital liens wrongfully filed against them by McAllen Hospitals, L.P.

The Moore Law Firm successfully sought the appointment of a Pre-Trial Judge from a Panel of Judges appointed by the Texas Supreme Court to handle all of the pretrial matters for all cases as a method of expediting the cases. On September 3, 2015, Judge Israel Ramon of the 430^th Judicial District Court of Hidalgo County, Texas was appointed as the Pre-Trial Judge.

Since that time J. Michael Moore was appointed Liaison Counsel to represent all other Plaintiffs, including you, in the Multi-District Litigation.

At the present time, Judge Ramon is considering Motions for Summary Judgement on the issue of whether or not the hospitals can file liens against accident victims such as yourself where you had only been seen in the hospitals’ emergency rooms and whether or not the hospitals can charge more than a reasonable and regular rate for the services provided – either as an emergency room patient or as a patient formally admitted into the hospital for treatment of the injuries received in an accident.  Once the Judge rules on these two issues – the cases will proceed to trial.

The Court has entered a scheduling Case Management Order # 2 on April 29^th, 2016, for these issues to be heard, and is currently conducting hearings on discovery requested by the Moore Law Firm. A copy of the Order is attached for your convenience. Also, you may visit the Hidalgo County District Clerk Website at:  https://tx-hidalgocounty.civicplus.com/index.aspx?NID=192 , Click on District Clerk’s Case Search, then click on Civil Cases, then enter the Case No. MDL-15-0360.  There you will be able to access all of the Pretrial Proceedings for the Fraudulent Hospital Lien Litigation and stay abreast of the progress of the case.

We would request that you use the website and this portal if you have any questions regarding the status of your case to reduce the call volume to our offices.  As you are aware, The Moore Law Firm has thousands of clients and we need our staff to be focused on prosecuting your case to a successful conclusion.

The Moore Law Firm is committed to addressing the fraudulent actions of hospitals who have victimized you in the past and putting an end to these practices of extortion by these healthcare providers.

We thank you for the confidence you have placed in us to handle this most important matter for you.

Sincerely,

THE MOORE LAW FIRM