The Alliant Dermatology lawsuit is a February 2025 case the Villages-based practice filed against The Villages Health System, accusing the health system of defamation, tortious interference, and unfair and deceptive trade practices after allegedly redirecting Alliant’s patients to its own dermatology offices. The litigation was effectively halted in July 2025 when The Villages Health filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, triggering an automatic stay. A separate, unrelated employment discrimination case was filed against Alliant in 2026 by a former employee.
What Alliant Alleged
Alliant Dermatology PA filed suit against The Villages Health Systems LLC on February 11, 2025, in the Fifth Judicial Circuit of Florida.1Unicourt. Alliant Dermatology PA vs. The Villages Health Systems LL In a letter to patients, founder Dr. David Casper described the claims as unfair and deceptive trade practices, defamation, and tortious interference.2Talk of The Villages. Alliant Dermatology Practice Gives Excellent Care
Community members reported that The Villages Health had canceled patient appointments at Alliant without patients’ knowledge or consent, steered those patients to its own dermatology offices, and made statements intended to damage Alliant’s reputation.2Talk of The Villages. Alliant Dermatology Practice Gives Excellent Care Dr. Casper reportedly told patients he was “not going to take it sitting down.”
How The Villages Health Responded
The court denied The Villages Health’s amended motion to dismiss on May 9, 2025. The health system then filed counterclaims alleging that Alliant had violated the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and had been unjustly enriched, and it added a defamation counterclaim of its own. Alliant moved to dismiss those counterclaims and filed its answer and affirmative defenses to the defamation counterclaim on June 17, 2025.1Unicourt. Alliant Dermatology PA vs. The Villages Health Systems LL
Why the Case Stopped
Before the court could resolve the competing claims, The Villages Health System filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 3, 2025.3Stretto. The Villages Health System LLC Bankruptcy Pleadings A suggestion of pendency of bankruptcy proceeding was filed in the state case on July 7, 2025, and the case was closed the same day. The bankruptcy filing triggered an automatic stay, freezing the litigation.1Unicourt. Alliant Dermatology PA vs. The Villages Health Systems LL
Alliant did not file for bankruptcy itself. The practice was appointed to the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in The Villages Health bankruptcy, alongside Dr. Jennifer Peters and Customize It Right LLC. The committee formed on September 4, 2025, and retained Pack Law as counsel.3Stretto. The Villages Health System LLC Bankruptcy Pleadings
The Billing Scandal Behind the Bankruptcy
The Chapter 11 filing did not come out of nowhere. The Villages Health System, which serves roughly 55,000 patients across ten locations in The Villages retirement community, sought bankruptcy protection amid mounting allegations that it had systematically overbilled Medicare and private insurers.4WUSF. The Villages Health Gets Ready to Sell, but Insurance Companies Are Concerned
Court documents indicated the health system received approximately $350 million in overpayments by adding diagnostic codes to patient files after the fact. Florida Blue filed a bankruptcy objection alleging that The Villages Health added false diagnostic codes over a four-year period, resulting in more than $25 million in overpayments to that insurer alone.5Click Orlando. Florida Blue Accuses The Villages Health of Adding False Codes to Patient Files United Healthcare also objected, claiming it bore the majority of the overpayments and that the health system had distributed roughly $183 million to the Morse family, majority shareholders of The Villages, to pay down a line of credit between 2022 and 2024.4WUSF. The Villages Health Gets Ready to Sell, but Insurance Companies Are Concerned
The Villages Health owed more than $360 million to the U.S. government, and the Department of Justice and Office of Inspector General opened fraud investigations. In December 2024, the health system had acknowledged “a problem with some of our Medicare billing practices.”5Click Orlando. Florida Blue Accuses The Villages Health of Adding False Codes to Patient Files
A Separate Employment Case Against Alliant
A different lawsuit involving Alliant is sometimes confused with the Villages Health dispute. Celiani Lopez, a former employee, sued Alliant Dermatology on February 17, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida under the Americans with Disabilities Act, also naming individuals Charles Gleydurq and Corrine Jerberak as defendants.6PACER Monitor. Lopez v. Alliant Dermatology et al
The federal case was brief. Lopez herself moved to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction on March 23, 2026, and Judge Julie S. Sneed granted the dismissal without prejudice on March 27, 2026, with each side to bear its own costs and fees.6PACER Monitor. Lopez v. Alliant Dermatology et al On April 2, 2026, Lopez refiled disability discrimination and retaliation claims against Alliant Dermatology and Vein Center in the Circuit Court of the Fifth Judicial Circuit in Sumter County, Florida, seeking between $75,001 and $100,000 in damages through attorney Jason W. Imler.7Trellis Law. Celiani Lopez vs. Alliant Dermatology and Vein Center