Medical Properties Trust is currently or recently tied up in several distinct legal matters: a securities fraud class action that was dismissed with prejudice, a defamation suit the company filed against short-seller Viceroy Research and later settled, a global bankruptcy settlement with its former largest tenant Steward Health Care, a resolved Chapter 11 involving tenant Prospect Medical Holdings, an active default dispute with replacement tenant Healthcare Systems of America, and Senate referrals asking the SEC and DOJ to investigate the company. The Medical Properties Trust lawsuit landscape below walks through each, in the order most searchers ask about them.
The Securities Fraud Class Action Was Dismissed
On April 12, 2023, shareholders sued Medical Properties Trust in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. The lead case was filed by Fiyyaz Pirani, Trustee of the Imperium Irrevocable Trust, as Case No. 2:23-cv-00486 before Judge Corey L. Maze.1Stanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse. Medical Properties Trust, Inc. Securities Litigation2Berger Montague PC. Berger Montague Announces Filing of Class Action Complaint Against Medical Properties Trust
The complaint focused on MPT’s relationship with tenant Prospect Medical Holdings. Investors alleged the company concealed that Prospect was under significant financial pressure affecting the profitability of its Pennsylvania hospitals, that Prospect faced serious risk of being unable to pay rent, and that MPT would likely need to record impairment charges. The suit also alleged that MPT masked the distressed state of its tenants through sale-leaseback arrangements functioning as circular transactions, moving hundreds of millions of dollars through inflated construction projects to let debt-laden tenants meet short-term obligations.1Stanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse. Medical Properties Trust, Inc. Securities Litigation3Rosen Legal. Medical Properties Trust, Inc. Class Action
Related cases were consolidated in February 2024. A lead plaintiff and counsel were appointed in July 2023, and an amended complaint followed that September. On September 26, 2024, Judge Maze granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss with prejudice and directed the clerk to close the case.1Stanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse. Medical Properties Trust, Inc. Securities Litigation
MPT’s Defamation Suit Against Viceroy Research Ended in a Confidential Settlement
Beginning in January 2023, short-seller Viceroy Research published reports accusing MPT of running what it called a “revenue round-robin scheme” involving billions of dollars of uncommercial transactions with tenants. Viceroy alleged rent was being recycled through the purchase of inflated assets, that the value of MPT’s portfolio was overstated, and that substantially all of MPT’s major tenants appeared financially distressed. Viceroy founder Fraser Perring labeled the business model a “fraud” and a “Ponzi scheme” on social media.4Viceroy Research. Medical Properties Distrust
A follow-up report in September 2023 targeted Infracore, a 70%-owned MPT entity, alleging roughly $850 million had been funneled to a Swiss tenant since 2019 and that 94% of that tenant’s rent had been recycled through cash pooling and loans.5Viceroy Research. MPW Infraudcore
MPT sued Viceroy and its members for defamation on March 30, 2023, in federal court, alleging Perring had deliberately misled markets to drive down the share price.6OCCRP. Former Landlord of Bankrupt Steward Health Care Drops US Defamation Case7StreetInsider. Medical Properties Trust Announces Settlement With Viceroy Research
The Steward Health Care Bankruptcy Produced a $7.5 Billion Settlement
Steward Health Care was, for years, MPT’s largest tenant. MPT bought Steward’s hospital buildings and leased them back, and by early 2019 Steward hospitals represented 38% of MPT’s total assets and 44% of its revenue.8The Boston Globe. Steward and MPT Investigation
Reporting by the Boston Globe found that MPT frequently paid prices far above independent valuations for Steward properties. In one instance, MPT paid $263 million for Carney Hospital, roughly 21 times what Steward had paid for it. Over six years, MPT moved more than $1.5 billion into Steward through loans, equity deals, and other transactions that helped Steward cover the rent owed back to MPT.8The Boston Globe. Steward and MPT Investigation
Steward filed for Chapter 11 on May 6, 2024, reporting $9.2 billion in liabilities.9Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP. Weil Secures Confirmation of Steward Health Care System’s Chapter 11 Plan10Healthcare Dive. Steward MPT Deal Keeps Hospitals Open, Slashes Debt11Medical Properties Trust Investor Relations. Medical Properties Trust Takes Control of Its Real Estate From Steward Health Care
The unsecured creditors committee objected to the deal, alleging that over $1 billion Steward owed to MPT involved “fraudulent or preferential transfers” and that MPT had engaged in “disguised financing.” U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez approved the settlement on an interim basis in September 2024, and the full Chapter 11 plan was confirmed on July 28, 2025, after a two-day trial and the resolution of more than 50 objections.10Healthcare Dive. Steward MPT Deal Keeps Hospitals Open, Slashes Debt9Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP. Weil Secures Confirmation of Steward Health Care System’s Chapter 11 Plan
Prospect Medical Holdings Bankruptcy Has Been Resolved
Prospect Medical Holdings, another major MPT operator, filed for Chapter 11 on January 11, 2025, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas.12Omni Agent Solutions. Prospect Medical Holdings Bankruptcy Information MPT provided a $105 million debtor-in-possession loan during the case. A settlement with Prospect and Yale New Haven Health System required Yale to pay $45 million to be released from a 2022 obligation to purchase three Connecticut hospitals, with the proceeds reducing the DIP loan balance.13Medical Properties Trust Investor Relations. Medical Properties Trust Provides Portfolio Update
Prospect’s Chapter 11 plan was confirmed on December 15, 2025, and became effective on March 6, 2026. In its first-quarter 2026 earnings report, MPT characterized the Prospect bankruptcy process as “largely behind us.”12Omni Agent Solutions. Prospect Medical Holdings Bankruptcy Information14Medical Properties Trust Investor Relations. Medical Properties Trust Quarterly Results
A New Dispute With Healthcare Systems of America
Healthcare Systems of America, one of the replacement operators brought in after Steward’s collapse, is now MPT’s third-largest tenant. Rival managers of HSA have filed competing lawsuits against each other, with both sides alleging financial mismanagement.15Bloomberg Law. Medical Properties Trust Exposed to Manager Feud at Key Tenant
In late February 2026, MPT issued a notice of default to HSA’s Florida units over millions in unpaid obligations and moved to oust HSA founder Mike Sarian from those properties. In a public statement on March 10, 2026, MPT said HSA was “fully current on rent owed” and that it did not expect the internal dispute to affect future collections, while acknowledging it had sent legal notices to HSA to “protect our legal interests.”15Bloomberg Law. Medical Properties Trust Exposed to Manager Feud at Key Tenant16Medical Properties Trust Investor Relations. Medical Properties Trust Issues Statement on Healthcare Systems of America
Senate Referrals to the SEC and DOJ
On May 6, 2025, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey sent letters to the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission asking for investigations into both Steward and MPT. The letter to the SEC asked the agency to investigate MPT for potentially misleading investors and violating federal securities laws, alleging MPT funneled money to Steward in “Ponzi-like transactions” to mask Steward’s financial distress. The senators cited internal awareness by MPT executives of Steward’s poor financial health even as executives publicly promoted the tenant’s performance.17Office of Senator Elizabeth Warren. Letters to DOJ and SEC Regarding Steward and MPT18Office of Senator Elizabeth Warren. Warren, Markey Push for Accountability for Ralph de la Torre and Other Steward, MPT Executives
A separate letter urged the DOJ to pursue criminal prosecution of Dr. Ralph de la Torre, Steward’s former CEO, who was held in contempt of Congress by a unanimous Senate vote on September 25, 2024, after defying a subpoena from the Senate HELP Committee. As of September 2025, the DOJ had taken no visible action on the referral; Deputy Assistant Attorney General Ted Schroeder confirmed only that the department was “aware of the referral.”19Office of Senator Ed Markey. Markey Pushes Justice Department to Act on Former Steward CEO Criminal Contempt Referral
A federal grand jury in Boston has separately been investigating Steward over allegations of fraud, bribery, and corruption. Former U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, a Steward board member, appeared at the Boston federal courthouse in November 2024 after receiving a subpoena.20HealthLeaders Media. Former House Speaker John Boehner Appears at Federal Courthouse Amid Grand Jury Probe of Steward The FBI also seized de la Torre’s mobile device, according to court filings from a related lawsuit.21Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy. De la Torre Amended Complaint As of mid-2026, no charges have been publicly announced against either de la Torre or MPT in connection with the grand jury probe.
Where MPT Stands Now
The tenant failures also hit the company’s credit. S&P Global Ratings downgraded MPT’s issuer credit rating from B+ to B- with a negative outlook on May 16, 2024, citing the company’s “historically limited transparency” about Steward’s financial health and its “inability to stave off sharp deterioration” in credit quality from distress at two large tenants. S&P flagged MPT’s continued financial support of Steward and Prospect as a governance concern, noting that bridge loans of $135 million and $75 million in debtor-in-possession financing to Steward in 2024 alone had contributed to liquidity constraints.22S&P Global Ratings. Medical Properties Trust Rating Action
For the first quarter of 2026, MPT reported net income of $33 million, or $0.05 per share, on a portfolio of 378 properties with roughly 38,000 licensed beds. Total assets stood at approximately $15 billion, and the company paid a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share in April 2026. Management said it expected annualized cash rent collections to exceed $1 billion by year-end 2026.14Medical Properties Trust Investor Relations. Medical Properties Trust Quarterly Results
MPT shares, which traded above $20 in early 2022, sat at roughly $4.98 in June 2026, a decline of more than 75%.23Medical Properties Trust Investor Relations. Medical Properties Trust Investor Overview The company identified its ability to refinance its 2026 credit facility, collect on Prospect’s remaining causes of action, and stabilize rent from the replacement operators as ongoing risk factors for the second half of the year.14Medical Properties Trust Investor Relations. Medical Properties Trust Quarterly Results