Virginia Hospitals Sued Patients Over a Million Times for Medical Debt, Report Finds

A study found that some hospitals frequently sued patients for medical debt over a 15-year period, although some providers say billing practices have changed.

For many patients, medical debt is the beginning of a downward spiral. Above, nurses care for a patient in an intensive care unit. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

A small number of Virginia hospitals and law firms filed more than a million lawsuits for medical debt between 2010 and 2024, imposing financial hardship on hundreds of thousands of patients, according to a report released on March 26.

Researchers from Stanford University’s Clinical Excellence Research Center, George Washington University Law School, and Patient Rights Advocate examined 15 years’ worth of civil lawsuits and reported that a “medical debt ecosystem” in the commonwealth leaves unwary patients in a state of poverty and poor health.