A judge in Indiana has temporarily blocked the release of abortion records, ruling that the state health department cannot disclose records known as terminated pregnancy reports for at least 10 days, the The Indianapolis Star reported Feb. 20. 

A group of physicians in South Carolina claim that exceptions in the state's abortion ban are too vague and infringe on their religious beliefs in a federal lawsuit, the Arkansas Advocate reported Feb. 10. 

Doctors for America has filed a lawsuit against the Office of Personnel Management and other federal health agencies for removing webpages from healthcare websites. 

Physicians with GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ+ Equality, an LGBTQ+ physician association, has joined seven families with transgender or nonbinary children, the American Associate of Physicians for Human Rights and PFLAG, a national LGBTQ+ group, as plaintiffs in a lawsuit over President Donald Trump's executive order to stop federal support for gender-affirming healthcare for transgender people under age 19. 

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed a bill to protect the identities of physicians who prescribe abortion-inducing medications. 

A New York physician was indicted by a grand jury in Louisiana on Jan. 31 for allegedly prescribing an abortion pill via telehealth in the abortion-restricted state. 

Los Angeles-based Prospect Medical Holdings, a private equity-backed company that recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, intends to sell Crozer Health to a not-for-profit consortium of healthcare operators, according to a Jan. 31 news release.

Sylvia Trent-Adams, president of the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth, is stepping down following a corpse research scandal, according to a Jan. 21 report from NBC News.

TikTok recently was temporarily banned in the U.S. for 12 hours, and several physician content creators are opposing any further ban, MedPage Today reported Jan. 21.

Seven major Stark Law indictments contributed to a record-breaking year for whistleblower qui tam lawsuits in 2024, according to a Jan. 15 Justice Department report. 

More than 15,000 physicians have signed a letter pushing senators to vote against the confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump's nomination for secretary of HHS. 

Physician-assisted suicide has appeared in headlines in recent months as some states seek to expand access to the practice. 

A physician in Indianapolis is suing the Indiana Department of Health and members of the state medical licensing board in federal court over enforcement of a state law regarding reporting requirements for physicians that perform abortions, the Daily Journal reported Dec. 31. Her lawsuit alleges that the requirement conflicts with new federal health privacy requirements that prohibit such disclosures. 

Physicians faced numerous challenges in 2024, from increased legal pitfalls in some areas of care to deteriorating physician autonomy. 

Congress has signed a downsized funding bill to avoid a government shutdown, which did not include a bipartisan package that would have offset CMS' 2.85% cut to physician payments in 2025. 

2024 has become a more legally treacherous year for physicians and it's affecting the way they practice medicine. 

President Joe Biden recently commuted the prison sentence of Shelinder Aggarwal, who was allegedly the most prolific Medicare prescriber of opioids in the U.S., WAFF reported Dec. 17. 

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against a physician in New York for prescribing abortion medication to a Texas resident through telemedicine services. 

The most important thing for female physicians in the workplace is a commitment to work-life balance for physicians and staff, according to Medscape's 2024 "Fighting Glass Ceilings: Medscape Female Physician Career Tracks Report," published Dec. 11. 

CMS has issued updated guidance for surveyors and healthcare providers on addressing immediate jeopardy, the most severe type of noncompliance warning as the findings can place organizations at risk of losing federal funding.