More Healthcare Coverage

  • April 26, 2024

    Health Co. Not Liable For Cigna Underpayment, 3rd Circ. Says

    The Third Circuit on Friday backed a win for a healthcare cost management company in a suit over Cigna's alleged underpayment for plastic surgery, finding the contract between the company and a plastic surgery practice did not guarantee a set payment rate.

  • April 26, 2024

    Doctor Keeps Trial Win In Death Suit Over Patient's Blood Clot

    A Pennsylvania appeals panel has let a primary care physician keep his trial win in a suit over the death of one of his patients from a blood clot, rejecting arguments that the trial court wrongly excluded evidence and unfairly allowed separate attorneys to make opening and closing statements for the doctor and his practice group.

  • April 26, 2024

    Latham, Akin Beat NJ Suit Over Alleged IP Theft Scheme

    A New Jersey federal court on Friday tossed a lawsuit claiming attorneys from Latham & Watkins LLP and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP manipulated patent litigation to steal a former Cornell University graduate student's DNA sequencing intellectual property, calling that graduate student's claims "conspiracy theories."

  • April 26, 2024

    Hospital Staffing Firm Can't Back Out Of PAGA Settlement

    An emergency services provider must follow a deal settling physicians' claims under California's Private Attorneys General Act, a state appeals panel ruled, rejecting the company's argument that a U.S. Supreme Court ruling could have forced those claims into arbitration.

  • April 25, 2024

    Calif. Appellate Panel Revives Blood Tech's Wage Claims

    A phlebotomist supported well enough her claims that a Southern California hospital failed to pay her for all hours worked, a state appeals panel ruled, flipping a trial court's decision tossing her suit.

  • April 25, 2024

    3rd Circ. Lets Mallinckrodt Off Sanofi's Royalty Hook

    A Third Circuit panel said Thursday that Mallinckrodt PLC's Chapter 11 bankruptcy could sever its obligation to pay Sanofi-Aventis US LLC royalties on sales of an autoimmune disease drug, finding that Sanofi's contract to sell Mallinckrodt the rights to the drug created a claim ripe to be extinguished.

  • April 25, 2024

    Indictment Says 'Car Wreck Clyde' Skimmed From Client Deals

    A federal grand jury has indicted a Houston attorney and his former office manager over claims they defrauded clients by skimming nearly $2.4 million from settlement proceeds and using the funds for personal expenses, including private school and Ferraris.

  • April 24, 2024

    Pa. Court Revives Malpractice Suit Over Hip Implant Surgeries

    The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Pinnacle Hospitals, an orthopedic surgeon and a physician-owned clinic can't escape a malpractice suit over two hip replacements that left a woman with one leg shorter than the other, a Pennsylvania Superior Court panel has ruled, saying a jury must decide when the clock started on her claims.

  • April 24, 2024

    Wash. AG Wants RFK Jr., Ex-NBA Star's Anti-Vax Suit Tossed

    Washington's attorney general urged a federal judge Tuesday to toss a lawsuit brought by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on behalf of NBA legend John Stockton trying to shield doctors who make anti-vaccine statements, arguing a state medical board has the right to penalize medical providers for spreading COVID-19 misinformation.

  • April 24, 2024

    In-House Vet Named NantHealth's New Legal Chief

    Healthcare software company NantHealth announced that an experienced in-house attorney who has spent nearly 25 years working in the healthcare, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries was named its new chief legal officer.

  • April 23, 2024

    Calif. Fertility Clinic Implanted Dead Embryos, Couples Say

    An Orange County, California, fertility clinic accidentally destroyed embryos but still implanted them into patients in an attempt to cover up its mistakes, nine couples said in a suit filed Tuesday in Golden State court.

  • April 23, 2024

    Doctor Renews $20M Claim His Hospital Made Up 25 Murders

    An Ohio physician accused of 25 counts of murder and found guilty of none just renewed his $20 million malicious-prosecution suit against Trinity Health Corp., the parent company of his former employer, claiming that the company misled prosecutors to get him indicted as a distraction from the internal issues of the hospital where he worked.

  • April 23, 2024

    Expert Doc's License Probation Upends $6.5M Med Mal Verdict

    An Ohio state appeals panel has vacated a $6.5 million verdict in a medical malpractice trial by a son alleging a doctor and hospital are responsible for his mother contracting deadly pneumonia, saying the trial court should have allowed the defense to cross-examine the plaintiff's expert on a prior probation of his medical license.

  • April 23, 2024

    Feds Seek To Bar Fox Rothschild Atty From Fraud Retrial

    The government is seeking to bar a Fox Rothschild LLP partner from testifying as an expert witness for the defense in the retrial of a federal securities fraud case that ended in a dramatic mistrial after a lone juror told the judge that he disagreed with the guilty verdict the forewoman had delivered to the court.

  • April 22, 2024

    Colo. Justices Clarify Med Mal Damages Cap Calculation

    The Colorado Supreme Court held Monday that a trial court can't consider a victorious medical malpractice plaintiff's insurance liabilities to statutorily cap his award at $1 million, saying an exception to the state's "collateral source" statute bars application.

  • April 22, 2024

    Citing Cozen O'Connor Ties, Pa. Judge Leaves Bias Case

    Despite originally declining to recuse himself from a surgeon's gender discrimination case against Thomas Jefferson University Hospital when an attorney from his son-in-law's firm, Cozen O'Connor, became involved, U.S. District Judge Michael M. Baylson changed his mind now that the case is set for a retrial.

  • April 22, 2024

    Tyson & Mendes Adds Former Ericksen Arbuthnot Health Atty

    Insurance and civil litigation defense firm Tyson & Mendes LLP is expanding its California team, announcing Monday it is bringing in a veteran healthcare litigator most recently with Bradley Gmelich & Wellerstein LLP but previously with Ericksen Arbuthnot LLP as a partner in its Los Angeles office.

  • April 19, 2024

    Sentence For Pandemic Funds Theft Seems To Split 2nd Circ.

    A three-judge panel of Second Circuit jurists seemed split Friday over whether a Connecticut man's eight-year prison sentence for stealing COVID-19 funds from the city of West Haven was too harsh, with one judge expressing skepticism and two hinting it was likely appropriate.

  • April 19, 2024

    Hospital Can't Ax Ex-Worker's Disability Suit Over COVID Vax

    A New York hospital system must face an ex-worker's lawsuit alleging he was fired after refusing to get a coronavirus vaccine because of his atrial fibrillation, with a federal judge saying Friday he adequately showed the company refused to consider the bulk of medical exemption requests.

  • April 19, 2024

    Quest Punished Black Worker For Flagging Racism, Suit Says

    Quest Diagnostics has been sued in Pennsylvania federal court by a former phlebotomist who said she faced racial discrimination from patients and retaliation from management when she complained.

  • April 19, 2024

    IQVIA Strikes Deal To Exit Ex-Workers' 401(k) Suit

    Healthcare technology company IQVIA has reached a settlement to resolve allegations from a 9,000-member class that it picked inferior and expensive investments for its $1.13 billion 401(k) plan, according to a filing in North Carolina federal court.

  • April 18, 2024

    Conn. Marketing Co. Says Competitor Poached Top Exec

    Unlock Health Inc. hired away a senior executive at competing healthcare marketing firm Primacy LLC who arrived at his new job with trade secrets from his ex-employer and a plan to lure former clients and co-workers, according to a lawsuit in Connecticut federal court. 

  • April 18, 2024

    GAO Rejects Another Protest Over $1B Medicare IT Deal

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office has rejected another protest over an up to $1 billion Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services information technology deal, saying the agency fairly assessed Spatial Front Inc.'s proposal and didn't treat the company unequally.

  • April 17, 2024

    Damages Still Possible In Lease Tax Reimbursement Row

    A Court of Federal Claims judge has ruled that the General Services Administration could unilaterally adjust the real estate tax reimbursement methodology under a lease for the Defense Health Agency's headquarters building, but the building owner may still be owed damages.

  • April 17, 2024

    GAO Says Company Rightly Left Out Of $1B Medicare IT Deal

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office has denied a company's protest over its exclusion from a $1 billion Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services information technology deal, saying the protester proposed using types of workers not covered by an overarching contract.

Expert Analysis

  • Breaking Down EEOC's Final Rule To Implement The PWFA

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    Attorneys at Littler highlight some of the key provisions of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's final rule and interpretive guidance implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which is expected to be effective June 18, and departures from the proposed rule issued in August 2023.

  • 4 Ways To Refresh Your Law Firm's Marketing Strategy

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    With many BigLaw firms relying on an increasingly obsolete marketing approach that prioritizes stiff professionalism over authentic connection, adopting a few key communications strategies to better connect with today's clients and prospects can make all the difference, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law.

  • This Earth Day, Consider How Your Firm Can Go Greener

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    As Earth Day approaches, law firms and attorneys should consider adopting more sustainable practices to reduce their carbon footprint — from minimizing single-use plastics to purchasing carbon offsets for air travel — which ultimately can also reduce costs for clients, say M’Lynn Phillips and Lisa Walters at IMS Legal Strategies.

  • The Shifting Landscape Of Physician Disciplinary Proceedings

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    Though hospitals have historically been able to terminate doctors' medical staff privileges without fear of court interference, recent case law has demonstrated that the tides are turning, especially when there is evidence of unlawful motivations, say Dylan Newton and Michael Horn at Archer & Greiner.

  • How DEI Programs Are Being Challenged In Court And Beyond

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    In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's affirmative action decision last year declaring the consideration of race in university admissions unconstitutional, employers should keep abreast of recent litigation challenging diversity, equity and inclusion training programs, as well as legislation both supporting and opposing DEI initiatives in the workplace, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Practicing Law With Parkinson's Disease

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    This Parkinson’s Awareness Month, Adam Siegler at Greenberg Traurig discusses his experience working as a lawyer with Parkinson’s disease, sharing both lessons on how to cope with a diagnosis and advice for supporting colleagues who live with the disease.

  • For Lawyers, Pessimism Should Be A Job Skill, Not A Life Skill

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    A pessimistic mindset allows attorneys to be effective advocates for their clients, but it can come with serious costs for their personal well-being, so it’s crucial to exercise strategies that produce flexible optimism and connect lawyers with their core values, says Krista Larson at Stinson.

  • Requiring Leave To File Amicus Briefs Is A Bad Idea

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    A proposal to amend the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure that would require parties to get court permission before filing federal amicus briefs would eliminate the long-standing practice of consent filing and thereby make the process less open and democratic, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation and DRI Center.

  • 4 Ways To Motivate Junior Attorneys To Bring Their Best

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    As Gen Z and younger millennial attorneys increasingly express dissatisfaction with their work and head for the exits, the lawyers who manage them must understand and attend to their needs and priorities to boost engagement and increase retention, says Stacey Schwartz at Katten.

  • Bid Protest Spotlight: Nonprecedential, Unreasonable, Scope

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    James Tucker at MoFo examines three recent decisions showing that while the results of past competitions may inform bid strategy, they are not determinative; that an agency's award may be deemed unreasonable if it ignores available information; and that a protester may be right about an awardee's noncompliance but still lose.

  • Studying NY, NJ Case Law On Employee Social Media Rights

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    While a New Jersey state appeals court has twice determined that an employee's termination by a private employer for social media posts is not prohibited, New York has yet to take a stand on the issue — so employers' decisions on such matters still need to be assessed on a case-by-case basis, say Julie Levinson Werner and Jessica Kriegsfeld at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Pharmacies Need More Protection Against PBM Fee Practices

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    The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' recent reform regarding direct and indirect remuneration fees will mitigate the detrimental effects that pharmacy benefit manager policies have on struggling pharmacies, but more is needed to prevent PBMs from exploiting loopholes, says Bhavesh Desai at Mazina Law.

  • Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents

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    Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.