New York's highest court of appeals has held that no-fault insurers cannot deny no-fault benefits where they unilaterally determine that a provider has committed misconduct based upon alleged fraudulent conduct. The Court held that this authority belongs solely to state regulators, specifically New York's Board of Regents, which oversees professional licensing and discipline. This follows a similar recent ruling in Florida reported in this publication.
CBS Pulls Out of Suit Against DC
On April 3, 2003, Chiropractic Benefit Services (CBS) filed a lawsuit accusing Dynamic Chiropractic of publishing an article that contained misinformation. In addition to the lawsuit, CBS also filed for a temporary restraining order to prevent DC from publishing any articles regarding CBS.
When the court heard the motion for the restraining order, the judge specifically asked CBS for legal precedence that would allow him to restrain a national newspaper from publishing news about CBS. When the CBS lawyers failed to provide even one case, the judge made it clear he had no intention of granting the restraining order.
Having lost the first round, CBS quickly decided not to pursue further action. Before DC could even respond, CBS filed to dismiss the lawsuit on May 7, just 34 days after it was filed.