More Healthcare Coverage
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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.
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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.
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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."
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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Defense Counsel Sentencing Lessons From Holmes Case
The recent imprisonment of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes highlights fundamental but sometimes overlooked sentencing practice points for white collar defense attorneys, from instilling a sense of narrative urgency in court submissions to researching potential prison facilities, says Jack Sharman at Lightfoot Franklin.
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Wash. Health Privacy Bill May Affect Cos. Across Industries
Washington’s recently enacted My Health My Data Act — a comprehensive privacy framework for companies that handle consumer health — will likely apply to companies outside the state and the health care industry, and may result in more privacy litigation than we have seen under any other state privacy statute to date, says Jenny Colgate at Rothwell Figg.
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Case Law Is Mixed On D&O Coverage For Gov't Investigations
As the Fourth Circuit’s recent decision in Brown Goldstein v. Federal Insurance Co. demonstrates, federal appeals courts take different approaches to determine whether government investigations are covered by directors and officers liability insurance, so companies and individuals must review their policy language, say Chloe Law, Jan Larson and Caroline Meneau at Jenner & Block.
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ALI's Medical-Monitoring Proposal May Encourage Claims
If the American Law Institute's Third Restatement of Torts is updated to embrace a minority view regarding claims for medical monitoring in the absence of present bodily harm, it would raise a number of troubling issues and accelerate the already rising rate of such claims, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
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Preparing For FDA's Surprise Foreign Drug Inspection Regime
Foreign drug manufacturers face an increased likelihood of unannounced inspections under a recently expanded U.S. Food and Drug Administration pilot program, so they should take several steps to prepare — or face the risk of an import alert blocking their product from the U.S. market, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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SuperValu's Lesson: Always Be Building An FCA Defense
The recent U.S. v. SuperValu decision confirming that scienter is an essential element of False Claims Act liability should motivate government contractors to prepare for allegations of material misrepresentation by building a record of their honorable efforts toward regulatory compliance, say David Resnicoff and Andrew Patton at Riley Safer.
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Next Steps For Ill. Tort Defendants After Cotton V. Coccaro
While an Illinois appeals court's ruling in Cotton v. Coccaro recently upheld the constitutionality of the state's law imposing prejudgment interest in personal injury and wrongful death actions, defendants can still raise constitutional challenges to the law pending Illinois Supreme Court review, says Melissa Murphy-Petros at Wilson Elser.
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NBA Players Must Avoid Legal Fouls In CBD Deals
The NBA’s recently ratified collective bargaining agreement allows athletes to promote CBD brands and products, but athletes and the companies they promote must be cautious of a complex patchwork of applicable state laws and federal regulators’ approach to advertising claims, says Airina Rodrigues at Brownstein Hyatt.
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What Purdue Ch. 11 Means For Future Of Third-Party Releases
The Second Circuit’s highly anticipated ruling approving Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy plan establishes stringent factors that lower courts must consider before approving nonconsensual third-party releases, but the circuit split on the matter means the issue is far from resolved, say Gregory Hesse and Kollin Bender at Hunton.
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Preparing For Md. Adult-Use Cannabis: Operations And More
As a new regulatory body takes the reins before Maryland’s adult-use cannabis market launches on July 1, industry stakeholders should understand key provisions related to management agreements, secured creditors and receiverships, dispensary operations, and hemp, say Seth Gitner and Jonathan Havens at Saul Ewing.
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Takeaways From Tribes' High Court Adoption Case Victory
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Haaland v. Brackeen, upholding the Indian Child Welfare Act, leaves the door open for individuals to bring equal protection claims, but generally bodes well for future tribal issues that reach the court, says Sarah Murray at Brownstein Hyatt.
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High Court Underscores DOJ's Role In Policing FCA Litigation
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Polansky v. Executive Health Resources reaffirms that the government has final say in False Claims Act cases, allowing for meaningful guardrails that deter private litigators from seeking to regulate industries that Congress has delegated to expert administrative agencies, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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What The Data Says About FDA Responses To FOIA Requests
A statistical evaluation of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's response times to Freedom of Information Act requests in the last decade shows that the FDA handles the majority of requests within a reasonable time frame, but its slowest response times are somewhat concerning, says Bradley Thompson at Epstein Becker.