A former hospice medical director’s breach of contract and retaliation suit is proceeding against an Illinois-based hospice care provider amid allegations she was retaliated against for refusing to certify ineligible patients for hospice.

Chief U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Kendall of the Northern District of Illinois denied Apex Hospice and Palliative Care’s motion to dismiss Dr. Janice Makela’s suit against her former employer for claims that she was wrongly terminated. Makela claimed she was terminated 43 days after starting the job because she refused to certify ineligible, prospective patients for hospice care under Medicare and Medicaid. She also claimed she wasn’t given the proper notice leading up to her termination. Apex moved to dismiss the suit, arguing her claims were insufficiently pleaded.