More Healthcare Coverage

  • June 26, 2024

    Ex-Seattle Cancer Center Worker Settles Suit Over 'Woke' DEI

    A former clinical social worker for Seattle's Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center has agreed to drop her lawsuit accusing management of firing her for protesting diversity programming as laden with "woke" identity politics, according to a recent stipulation filed in Washington federal court.

  • June 26, 2024

    Zevra Brings On New CLO, People Executive

    Rare disease therapeutics company Zevra Therapeutics Inc. has named a former chief legal officer at Lyell Immunopharma its new CLO and a former chief people officer at Scipher Medicine to a similar job at Zevra, turning to experienced leaders to lead the Celebration, Florida-based company.

  • June 26, 2024

    Nurses Say Mich. Hospitals Owe OT For Meal Break Work

    Two locations of a Michigan healthcare system unlawfully require employees to work through their meal breaks without pay in violation of federal wage law, according to two separate proposed collective actions filed in federal court.

  • June 25, 2024

    Medical Marijuana Bill Sent To NC House After Senate Sign-Off

    The North Carolina Senate has approved a bill that would legalize medical marijuana statewide as part of larger legislation boosting hemp regulations and outlawing the use of three other drugs in the Tar Heel state.

  • June 25, 2024

    United Strikes Deal To Exit Bias Suit Over Mask Policy

    United Airlines told a California federal court it reached a deal with a baggage handler to end his lawsuit after the Ninth Circuit determined a jury should hear his claims that the company unlawfully refused to let him wear a face shield in lieu of a mask during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • June 25, 2024

    GAO Won't Hear Protest Over Canceled DOD Sole-Source Deal

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office has rejected a protest over the Defense Health Agency canceling a company's contract to instead seek competitive bids, saying the company ultimately sought the award of a sole-source deal, a position the watchdog won't support.

  • June 24, 2024

    Justices Undo Terror Victims' Win, Citing Twitter Decision

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday swept aside a D.C. Circuit ruling that threatened to expose major pharmaceutical companies to liability for terrorist attacks that injured or killed hundreds of U.S. soldiers and civilians in Iraq.

  • June 24, 2024

    Harvard Fertility Doctor Settles Secret-Impregnation Claim

    A fertility doctor and longtime Harvard Medical School professor has settled claims that he secretly used his own sperm to impregnate a patient in 1980, according to a Monday court filing.

  • June 21, 2024

    GAO Says CMS Didn't Address Contractor Conflict Of Interest

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office has backed a protest over a $30.65 million Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services analytics task order, saying CMS failed to properly account for a conflict of interest involving a proposed subcontractor for the awardee.

  • June 21, 2024

    Mount Sinai's Doctor Pacts Violate Labor Law, NLRB GC Says

    New York's Mount Sinai Health System has illegally required part-time physicians to sign employment agreements with provisions that infringe on workers' rights, National Labor Relations Board prosecutors alleged, and the agency is seeking financial damages for affected employees.

  • June 20, 2024

    11th Circ. Upholds $2.5M Pelvic Mesh Verdict, Rules Suit Timely

    The Eleventh Circuit on Thursday refused to throw out a woman's $2.5 million victory against Coloplast Corp. in a suit alleging she was implanted with defective pelvic mesh, saying the evidence does not support a conclusion that her claim was filed too late.

  • June 20, 2024

    No Access To Ethics Docs For Ex-NJ Official Yet, Judge Rules

    A New Jersey judge has rejected a bid by a former Garden State health official asking the court to compel the state and its ethics commission to produce documents related to claims he was fired in 2020 for raising concerns over the earmarking of COVID-19 tests for relatives of a state administration official, according to Wednesday orders.

  • June 20, 2024

    11th Circ. Backs Stryker's Defeat Of Fired Worker's Leave Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit refused Thursday to revive a suit claiming medical technology company Stryker illegally fired a worker on leave awaiting the birth of his child, ruling that because the leave didn't formally kick in until the child was born, his termination was fair game.

  • June 18, 2024

    Insurer Countersues In Penile Implant Coverage Dispute

    An insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify a urologist, his medical device company or his practice in a proposed class action over a penile enlargement implant and procedure, the company told a California federal court, saying the underlying suit doesn't seek bodily injury damages that would trigger coverage.

  • June 18, 2024

    9th Circ. Nixes City's Win In Wash. Firefighter Vax Order Suit

    The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday revived a lawsuit by a group of firefighters who claim the city of Spokane, Washington, violated their constitutional rights when it fired them for refusing to get COVID-19 vaccines and instead relied on first responders from nearby agencies who also hadn't gotten the shot, ruling they'd asserted a viable First Amendment claim.

  • June 17, 2024

    USC Allegedly Used 'Junk Science' On Black Kidney Patients

    The University of Southern California secretly has been using a "junk science" scoring formula that hurts Black patients' eligibility to receive kidney transplants, according to a putative class action in California federal court.

  • June 17, 2024

    Ga. Panel OKs Instruction In $4.5M Spinal Device Injury Suit

    The Georgia Court of Appeals has affirmed a trial court's decision to tell jurors not to consider the availability of insurance benefits when considering the issues of liability and damages in a case in which a woman whose doctor incorrectly implanted a spinal cord stimulator was awarded $4.5 million.

  • June 17, 2024

    Nursing Home Co. Owes Fees On Staffing Deal, Recruiter Says

    An international recruiter has accused the owners of nursing homes and assisted living communities in several states of failing to fork over fees for placing nurses and nursing assistants in their facilities, saying they owe over $3.4 million in outstanding fees.

  • June 14, 2024

    Healthcare Worker's Solo PAGA Claim Heads To Arbitration

    A California state appeals court ruled an employee's individual wage claims under the state's Private Attorneys General Act should be heard in arbitration, overturning a lower court's decision to keep the lawsuit in state court and finding the arbitration agreement encompassed the worker's claims.

  • June 13, 2024

    Ex-Duke Doc Wants Panel To Redo Disability Bias Ruling

    A fired Duke University hospital doctor pressed a North Carolina state appeals court to reconsider not reviving the disability claims in his suit against the hospital, arguing that the case belongs before a jury.

  • June 13, 2024

    Health Data Co. Beats Ex-GC's Federal Age Bias Claim

    A healthcare data analytics company has beaten back its former general counsel's claim that he was underpaid due to his age, with a New York federal judge saying the ex-employee offered some evidence to support his Age Discrimination in Employment Act claim, but not enough.

  • June 13, 2024

    Vero Biotech Tried To 'String Along' Safety Monitor, Suit Says

    Georgia-based medical device maker Vero Biotech LLC reneged on a payment plan with a consulting firm hired to monitor its products, according to a lawsuit filed in Massachusetts state court on Wednesday.

  • June 12, 2024

    Lies At Heart Of Fraud Case Over COVID Test Kits, Jurors Told

    The retrial of a securities fraud case over a COVID test kit deal that never materialized will center on lies, according to opening statements delivered in New Jersey federal court Wednesday.

  • June 12, 2024

    Conn. Justices Nix Health Dept. Worker's Whistleblower Claim

    The Connecticut Supreme Court has trounced a public health official's claim that she was fired for blowing the whistle on appointees who lacked mandatory credentials, upholding her termination but also backing her simultaneous pursuit of a union grievance and an administrative complaint.

  • June 11, 2024

    Retrial Begins In NJ Fraud Case Over COVID Test Kit Deal  

    The painstaking process of jury selection got underway Tuesday in the retrial of a securities fraud case that ended with a dramatic mistrial after a juror announced in open court that he disagreed with the guilty verdict that had just been delivered by the jury forewoman.

Expert Analysis

  • AI Executive Order's Life Science, Healthcare Industry Effects

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    The recent White House executive order to manage risks associated with artificial intelligence includes provisions specific to healthcare and life sciences that merit special attention, including transparency, human oversight of AI output, and real world performance monitoring, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • NY Wrongful Death Law Revamp Retains Original's Drawbacks

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    If approved by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, the Grieving Families Act will transform the landscape of wrongful death law in New York by increasing the potential for damages, raising insurance premiums, burdening hospitals and courts, stifling the economy and subjecting parties to the unsettling effects of retroactive legislation, say attorneys at Shaub Ahmuty.

  • 9th Circ. Scienter Ruling May Strengthen FDA's Leverage

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    A recent Ninth Circuit decision in U.S. v. Marschall — regarding scienter and violations of the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act — appears to give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration another arrow in its quiver to lob in the direction of any repeat offender, with potentially very broad applications, say Elena Quattrone and Zachary Taylor at Epstein Becker.

  • Lessons Learned From 2023's Top ADA Decisions

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    This year saw the courts delving into the complexities of employee accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act in the post-pandemic workplace, going beyond bright-line rules with fact-intensive inquiries that are likely to create uncertainty for employers, says Linda Dwoskin at Dechert.

  • New Pharma Guidelines Bring Pitfalls For Compounders

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    New guidelines from U.S. Pharmacopeia, which went into effect last month, require some extensive and potentially expensive compliance efforts from hospitals and compounding pharmacies, and smaller compounders could particularly struggle, says Natalia Mazina at Mazina Law.

  • What Happens If High Court Rejects Releases In Purdue Ch. 11

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    Reading the tea leaves following the U.S. Supreme Court's recent arguments in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma, it appears likely that the justices will decide that bankruptcy courts lack the power to release third-party claims against nondebtors, which would result in one of three scenarios, says Gregory Germain at Syracuse University.

  • How AI Executive Order Aims To Compete For Foreign Talent

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    Immigration provisions within the Biden administration's executive order on artificial intelligence take a strategic approach to promoting the U.S. as a destination for AI and STEM talent by streamlining visa processing, enhancing educational and exchange programs, and improving current visa programs and pathways to permanent residency, says Eric Bord at Morgan Lewis.

  • Reading The Fine Print On FDA's Prescription Drug Ad Rule

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    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's new final rule regarding the disclosure of risks and side effects in ads for prescription drugs includes some broad and potentially subjective language, and some missed opportunities to address how traditional media formats have changed in recent years, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Insurance Considerations For Cos. Assessing New AI Risks

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    Because no two businesses will have the same artificial intelligence risk profile, they should consider four broad risk categories as a baseline for taking a proactive approach to guarding against AI-related exposures, say attorneys at Hunton.

  • Why Criminal No-Poach Cases Can Be Deceptively Complex

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    Mark Rosman at Wilson Sonsini discusses the reasons many criminal no-poach cases that appear simple are actually more complicated than they seem, following several jury trial acquittals and two dismissed cases.

  • Kochava Ruling May Hint At Next Privacy Class Action Wave

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    The Southern District of California's recent ruling in Greenley v. Kochava and increasing complaints alleging that a consumer website is an illegal “pen register” due to the use of third-party marketing software tools foreshadow a new theory of liability for plaintiffs in privacy litigation, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • FDA And Companies Must Move Quickly On Drug Recalls

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    When a drug doesn't work as promised — whether it causes harm, like eyedrops recalled last month by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or is merely useless, like a widely used decongestant ingredient recently acknowledged by the agency to be ineffective — the public must be notified in a timely manner, says Vineet Dubey at Custodio & Dubey.

  • Ohio Voters Legalize Cannabis — What Comes Next?

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    This month, voters approved a citizen-initiated statute that legalizes marijuana for recreational use in Ohio, but the legalization timeline could undergo significant changes at the behest of the state's lawmakers, say Daniel Shortt and David Waxman at McGlinchey Stafford.

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