As Patients Struggle With Bills, Hospital Sues Thousands

Misti Price, a nurse in Carlsbad, N.M., was sued five times by Carlsbad Medical Center for bills totaling $17,000. Her car was repossessed and her wages garnished. Credit: Cassidy Araiza for The New York Times

New York Times, September 2019

An examination of court records by The New York Times found almost 3,000 lawsuits filed by Carlsbad Medical Center against patients over medical debt since 2015, more than 500 of them through August of this year alone. Few hospitals sue so many patients so often.