Health

  • August 12, 2024

    Healthcare Co. To Pay Atty Fees In Suit Over Board Diversity

    A Maryland federal judge has awarded $850,000 in attorney fees to an Omega Healthcare shareholder who filed a derivative suit against the healthcare investment trust alleging it had a discriminatory policy aimed at keeping Black individuals from being appointed to its board of directors.

  • August 12, 2024

    The Biggest Georgia Rulings Of 2024 So Far

    From upholding a win for a transgender sheriff's deputy who challenged a county health plan's refusal to pay for gender-affirmation surgery, to ruling that a judicial emergency order issued during the pandemic can be used to toll the state's medical malpractice statute of repose, Georgia courts have been busy in the first half of 2024.

  • August 12, 2024

    Fusion Tech Co. Finds GC In Ex-MacAndrews & Forbes Exec

    Wisconsin-based SHINE Technologies has found its new top attorney in a veteran in-house leader who previously worked at billionaire investor Ronald O. Perelman's MacAndrews & Forbes Inc.

  • August 12, 2024

    Big Tobacco To Pay $600M In 'Historic' Mass. Deal

    Philip Morris Inc. and RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co. will pay nine-figure sums as part of a $600 million settlement between Massachusetts and major tobacco companies that resolves yearslong disputes about how much the cigarette makers owe, the state attorney general announced Monday.

  • August 09, 2024

    Takeda Should Face Certified Antitrust Classes, Judge Says

    A New York federal judge on Friday recommended certifying two classes of direct purchasers and end payors in consolidated antitrust actions accusing Takeda Pharmaceuticals Co. of unlawfully inflating the price of its diabetes treatment Actos by delaying entry of generic alternatives.

  • August 09, 2024

    Split 9th Circ. Affirms Ax Of Meta Anti-Vax Censorship Suit

    A split Ninth Circuit panel Friday affirmed the dismissal of Children's Health Defense's lawsuit challenging Meta's policy of censoring its anti-vaccine Facebook posts, with the majority concluding that the Robert F. Kennedy Jr.-founded nonprofit failed to show Meta was acting on the government's behalf to state viable constitutional claims.

  • August 09, 2024

    Delaware Jury Says Fecal Treatment Patents Are Worth $25M

    A Delaware federal jury decided Friday that a Swiss drugmaker owes a smaller drug rival at least $25 million in a patent case involving an experimental enema used to treat a particularly deadly form of diarrhea.

  • August 09, 2024

    Valeant's Legal Gripe A Total 'Nothingburger,' Justices Told

    A lawyer who assembled a whistleblower lawsuit against a major pharmaceutical company using publicly available patent board filings says the larger legal question of whether he can do that is way too niche for the U.S. Supreme Court to bother thinking about.

  • August 09, 2024

    Medicare Drug Price Suit Nixed Over 'Forum Shopping' In Ohio

    The Department of Health and Human Services has notched yet another win in litigation challenging the constitutionality of the Medicare drug price negotiation program, securing the dismissal of a suit brought by several chambers of commerce.

  • August 09, 2024

    DC Circ. Pans Suit Claiming HHS Caused Health Aid Shortage

    The D.C. Circuit said Friday that a judge properly dismissed a proposed class action blaming the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for a lack of home health aides willing to assist Medicare beneficiaries with chronic illnesses, saying the private providers aren't required to accept those patients.

  • August 09, 2024

    Conn. Hospital Must Give Data To Competitor, Judge Says

    Connecticut's Bristol Hospital must turn over a brand survey for use in Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center Inc.'s antitrust lawsuit against Hartford HealthCare Corp., but the data can be redacted and restricted to attorneys only, a federal magistrate judge ruled Friday.

  • August 09, 2024

    Biotech Firms Mull Acquisition Offers Amid Shaky IPO Climate

    Amid a shaky outlook for initial public offerings, more private biotechnology firms are exploring acquisition offers from larger pharmaceutical companies as a more certain exit strategy, according to experts who advise emerging drug developers.

  • August 09, 2024

    Wash. Hospital Patients Can't Certify 'Fail Safe' Classes

    A Washington federal judge on Friday rejected a certification attempt in a proposed class action accusing a hospital system of incentivizing two of its doctors to perform medically unnecessary surgeries, but said the plaintiffs would have the chance to address the litany of defects by amending their suit.

  • August 09, 2024

    FDA Rejects Latest Effort To Treat PTSD With MDMA

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has rejected a new drug application to treat post-traumatic stress disorder with the psychedelic drug MDMA, an entactogen also known as ecstasy or molly, the company that backed the effort announced Friday.

  • August 09, 2024

    DC Circ. Says Mining Cos. Can't Appeal Retiree Health Win

    Four former subsidiaries of the now-defunct coal company Consol Energy Inc. can't challenge an arbitration award that banned unilateral changes to union-represented retirees' health benefits plan, the D.C. Circuit held Friday, saying the ex-subsidiaries weren't parties to the award and aren't injured by it.

  • August 09, 2024

    Novartis Wants DC Judge To Quickly Block Entresto Generic

    Novartis Pharmaceuticals urged a D.C. federal judge Friday to temporarily restrain the U.S. Food and Drug Administration from officially approving a generic version of the company's blockbuster heart failure medication Entresto.

  • August 09, 2024

    The Long Road To Legalizing Pot In Florida And South Dakota

    Voters in Florida and South Dakota will have the opportunity this Election Day to legalize recreational marijuana for adults 21 and over, and while the two efforts vary in their particulars, they both follow years of work by legalizers to craft a proposal that could gain court approval.

  • August 09, 2024

    Pharmacy Escapes Recklessness Claim In Septic Shock Suit

    A Pennsylvania federal judge has dismissed a claim seeking punitive damages from a northern Pennsylvania pharmacist brought by a patient who alleges that her endocrinologist and the pharmacy overprescribed corticosteroids that opened holes in her intestines and subsequently made her go into septic shock and become suicidal.

  • August 09, 2024

    Aetna Illegally Axed Exec's Disability Benefits, Judge Says

    A California federal judge said Aetna was wrong to end an executive's disability benefits after it found he suffered from a mental illness instead of a physical disability, stating the insurer used flawed doctor opinions and may have been motivated by cutting costs.

  • August 09, 2024

    Wash. AG Says Kroger Refusing To Delay Merger For Ruling

    The Washington Attorney General's Office told a state court that Kroger will not agree to put off closing its planned merger with Albertsons until after a final ruling in the state's merger challenge, but the companies say they've already agreed not to finalize the deal until litigation plays out in another state.

  • August 09, 2024

    Jury's $1M Paralysis Verdict Against Insurer Overturned

    A Texas federal judge overturned a jury's verdict and decided an insurer didn't have to cover a $1 million settlement between a former high school gymnast who became quadriplegic after taking LSD and the owners of the home where he ingested the drugs.

  • August 09, 2024

    Merck To Buy Autoimmune Treatment Drug For Up To $1.3B

    Pharmaceutical giant Merck, advised by Hogan Lovells, said Friday it has agreed to buy a novel, investigational, clinical-stage, bispecific antibody used to treat B cell-associated diseases from Goodwin Procter LLP-led Curon Biopharmaceutical for up to $1.3 billion.

  • August 09, 2024

    Fannie Mae Seeks Memory Care Receiver After $28.3M Default

    Fannie Mae asked a federal judge to appoint a receiver for three North Carolina senior living facilities after arguing that borrower Affinity Living Communities defaulted on $28.3 million worth of loans from the government-backed lender by missing three months of payments.

  • August 09, 2024

    Off The Bench: NCAA Antitrust Woes, Ohio Trans Sports Ban

    In this week's Off The Bench, the NCAA still faces pushback from athletes after an NIL settlement, transgender youth athletes in Ohio lost their legislative battle, and the Seventh Circuit set an insurance broker straight on its actions in an NFL team's settlement with a former player.

  • August 09, 2024

    Trulieve Settles Fired Retail Worker's Race Bias Suit

    Florida-based cannabis company Trulieve has agreed to settle a mixed-race former employee's suit alleging he was fired after complaining that a manager repeatedly made racist comments, including calling him a slur, the worker told a Florida federal court.

Expert Analysis

  • Are Concessions In FDA's Lab-Developed Tests Rule Enough?

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    Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's new policy for laboratory-developed tests included major strategic concessions to help balance patient safety, access and diagnostic innovation, the new rule may well face significant legal challenges in court, say Dominick DiSabatino and Audrey Mercer at Sheppard Mullin.

  • 8 Questions To Ask Before Final CISA Breach Reporting Rule

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    The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s recently proposed cyber incident reporting requirements for critical infrastructure entities represent the overall approach CISA will take in its final rule, so companies should be asking key compliance questions now and preparing for a more complicated reporting regime, say Arianna Evers and Shannon Mercer at WilmerHale.

  • Series

    Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.

  • Mid-2024 FCA Enforcement And Litigation Trends To Watch

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    Reviewing notable False Claims Act trends and enforcement efforts in the last year and a half reveals that healthcare is a key enforcement priority for the U.S. Department of Justice, and the road ahead may bring clarification on Anti-Kickback Statute causation and willfulness standards, along with increased focus on private equity, cybersecurity and self-disclosure, say attorneys at Epstein Becker.

  • A Recipe For Growth Equity Investing In A Slow M&A Market

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    Carl Marcellino at Ropes & Gray discusses the factors bolstering appetite for growth equity fundraising in a depressed M&A market, and walks through the deal terms and other ingredients that set growth equity transactions apart from bread-and-butter venture capital investing.

  • What 100 Federal Cases Suggest About Changes To Chevron

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    With the U.S. Supreme Court poised to overturn or narrow its 40-year-old doctrine of Chevron deference, a review of 100 recent federal district court decisions confirm that changes to the Chevron framework will have broad ramifications — but the magnitude of the impact will depend on the details of the high court's ruling, say Kali Schellenberg and Jon Cochran at LeVan Stapleton.

  • Notable Q1 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

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    Mark Johnson and Mathew Drocton at BakerHostetler discuss notable insurance class action decisions from the first quarter of the year ranging from salvage vehicle titling to rate discrimination based on premium-setting software.

  • New Federal Bill Would Drastically Alter Privacy Landscape

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    While the recently introduced American Privacy Rights Act would eliminate the burdensome patchwork of state regulations, the proposed federal privacy law would also significantly expand compliance obligations and liability exposure for companies, especially those that rely on artificial intelligence or biometric technologies, says David Oberly at Baker Donelson.

  • The Fed. Circ. In April: Hurdles Remain For Generics

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    The Federal Circuit’s recent Salix v. Norwich ruling — where Salix's brand-name drug's patents were invalidated — is a reminder to patent practitioners that invalidating a competitor's patents may not guarantee abbreviated new drug application approval, say Sean Murray and Jeremiah Helm at Knobbe Martens.

  • Tylenol MDL Highlights Expert Admissibility Headaches

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    A New York federal court's decision to exclude all plaintiff experts in a multidistrict litigation concerning prenatal exposure to Tylenol highlights a number of expert testimony pitfalls that parties should avoid in product liability and mass tort matters, say Rand Brothers and Courtney Block at Winston & Strawn.

  • PE-Healthcare Mergers Should Prepare For Challenges

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    State and federal regulators are increasingly imposing new requirements on healthcare transactions involving private equity partners, with mergers that would have drawn little scrutiny a few years ago now requiring a multijurisdictional risk analysis during the deal formation process, say attorneys at Stinson.

  • Don't Use The Same Template For Every Client Alert

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    As the old marketing adage goes, consistency is key, but law firm style guides need consistency that contemplates variety when it comes to client alert formats, allowing attorneys to tailor alerts to best fit the audience and subject matter, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.

  • Online Portal Helps Fortify Feds' Unfair Health Practices Fight

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    The Federal Trade Commission, U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently launched an online portal where the public can report potentially unfair healthcare practices, effectively maximizing enforcers' abilities to police anti-competitive actions that can drive up healthcare costs and chill innovation, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • Series

    Walking With My Dog Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Thanks to my dog Birdie, I've learned that carving out an activity different from the practice of law — like daily outdoor walks that allow you to interact with new people — can contribute to professional success by boosting creativity and mental acuity, as well as expanding your social network, says Sarah Petrie at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Follow The Iron Rule Of Trial Logic

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    Many diligent and eager attorneys include every good fact, point and rule in their trial narratives — spurred by the gnawing fear they’ll be second-guessed for leaving something out — but this approach ignores a fundamental principle of successful trial lawyering, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

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