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Health
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July 25, 2024
'AntiVaxMomma' Gets Jail Time, Despite Duress Claim
A Manhattan judge sentenced a woman to at least 1½ years in jail Thursday for selling fake COVID-19 immunization credentials under the Instagram handle "AntiVaxMomma," rejecting the defendant's claim that she didn't have enough time to weigh a plea offer before admitting her guilt.
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July 25, 2024
Wash. High Court Tosses Nurse's Religious Bias Lawsuit
A state-run residential care facility was allowed to fire a nurse who kept requesting religious leave after the facility had already given her nine days off to practice nondenominational Christianity — seven more religious days than its union contract required, Washington state's high court ruled Thursday.
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July 25, 2024
Loeb & Loeb Says Ex-GC's Sanctions Motion Is Bogus
Loeb & Loeb LLP urged a Colorado federal judge Wednesday to reject a former general counsel's allegations that it deliberately sent a thumb drive of documents that aren't text searchable, saying they are actually searchable and would have otherwise sent over 64,000 physical pages that weren't.
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July 25, 2024
4th Circ. Vacates FTC Loss After Novant Bows Out Of Merger
The Fourth Circuit has agreed to vacate a North Carolina federal judge's ruling allowing Novant Health's planned $320 million hospital merger to advance after the Federal Trade Commission secured an emergency injunction on appeal that effectively killed the deal.
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July 25, 2024
Deals Rumor Mill: Wiz-Google, Daily Telegraph, Medline IPO
Cybersecurity startup Wiz has rebuffed a buyout offer from Google, former British finance minister Nadhim Zahawi is preparing a $773 million bid for the Daily Telegraph, and medical supplies giant Medline is preparing an initial public offering for 2025. Here, Law360 breaks down these and other notable deal rumors from the past week.
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July 24, 2024
FTC Chair Wary AI Tools Can Be Used For Corporate Collusion
Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan weighed in on a host of topics during a discussion Wednesday at the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference, expressing concerns about the agency's high legal bills for expert witnesses and describing AI price-setting tools as a potential loophole for collusion.
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July 24, 2024
Native Hawaiian Midwives Gain Relief From Licensing Law
A Hawaii judge blocked parts of a state law regulating midwives Tuesday, ruling it violates the constitutional rights of Native Hawaiians by denying them a reasonable pathway to securing approval for traditional prenatal care.
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July 24, 2024
DC Circ. Nixes Medicare Hospital Inpatient Payment Rule
The D.C. Circuit has vacated a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services rule that inflated Medicare reimbursements for inpatient care at low-wage hospitals, saying the agency made an "unprecedented, expensive, broad, and possibly never-ending" change to a policy articulated by Congress.
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July 24, 2024
Lab Owner Gets 1 Year In Prison In Medicare Bribe Case
A Florida lab owner who accepted millions in kickbacks for referring Medicare beneficiaries for unneeded genetic tests has been sentenced to a year in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy.
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July 24, 2024
Rite Aid's Elixir Buyer Must Pay Additional $50M In Ch. 11 Sale
Prescription benefits group MedImpact owes an extra $50 million on top of $576 million it paid Rite Aid for its former benefits division Elixir, a New Jersey bankruptcy judge ruled Wednesday, saying his earlier ruling on $200 million in disputed liabilities from the sale didn't fundamentally disrupt a post-closing price adjustment.
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July 24, 2024
6th Circ. Judges Wary Of Dissecting Vaccine Objector's Views
A Sixth Circuit judge said Wednesday he was uncomfortable questioning the legitimacy of a person's religious beliefs, criticizing the American Red Cross' argument that a former worker dressed up her secular anti-vaccine views with religious language to get an exemption from the COVID-19 vaccine.
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July 24, 2024
Patent Cap In Drug Pricing Bill Seen As Having Muted Effect
The U.S. Senate recently passed a bill aiming to lower drug prices by limiting the number of patents that can be asserted in cases over biosimilars, but attorneys say the measure's numerous exceptions make it unlikely to have a major effect on litigation or consumer costs.
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July 24, 2024
GOP States Still Can't Intervene In Wash. Abortion Pill Suit
The Ninth Circuit rejected a bid by Idaho and other Republican-led states to intervene in Washington's lawsuit seeking to expand access to the abortion pill mifepristone, ruling Wednesday the states lacked standing and only speculated about how they were injured.
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July 24, 2024
5th Circ. Says Doctor's Corrective Plan Not A Valid Contract
The Fifth Circuit refused to reinstate a $6.6 million jury verdict in a former medical resident's suit alleging he was fired despite assurances he would have 60 days to rectify professional and interpersonal issues, ruling the residency program's director didn't have the power to offer a binding agreement.
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July 23, 2024
Meet The Lead Ozempic Lawyers
The recently deceased U.S. District Judge Gene E.K. Pratter this past spring appointed plaintiff leadership in litigation over Ozempic and similar drugs over allegations that the medications cause gastrointestinal issues. Here's who's who in the list of plaintiffs' leaders.
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July 23, 2024
Cannabis Industry Stakeholders Weigh In On Rescheduling
As the period for public comment on the Biden administration's proposal to reclassify marijuana came to a close Monday, anti-legalization activists, marijuana industry advocates and state cannabis regulators each submitted their thoughts on the potential policy shift.
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July 23, 2024
Families Seek Class Cert. In Premera Teen Trans Care Case
The families of transgender teens are seeking class certification in a case accusing Premera Blue Cross of age and sex discrimination after denying coverage for gender-affirming chest surgery because the teens are under 18, according to a motion filed in Washington federal court.
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July 23, 2024
Kickback Risk Remains For Gene Therapy Fertility Programs
Federal health officials this week declined to relieve two companies of potential liability under the Anti-Kickback Statute concerning their fertility support programs for patients receiving gene therapies.
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July 23, 2024
NC's $500K Med Mal Damages Cap Faces Fight
A patient who obtained a $7.5 million jury verdict in her case against a North Carolina doctor over the loss of her unborn baby is challenging the constitutionality of the Tar Heel State's cap on compensatory damages in medical negligence suits.
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July 23, 2024
Wash. AG Says 'Abortion Reversal' Clinic's Suit Still Deficient
Washington state's attorney general said Monday an anti-abortion clinic group being investigated for marketing an "abortion reversal pill" cannot blame his two-year-old document demands for a recent insurance rate hike, pushing a Tacoma federal judge to reject the group's legal effort to shield itself from future consumer protection enforcement.
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July 23, 2024
Optum Can Arbitrate Calif. Healthcare Provider's Antitrust Suit
A California federal judge Tuesday ordered certain Emanate Health entities who signed hospital services and physician agreements with Optum to arbitrate their antitrust suit accusing it of monopolizing a primary care physician market, finding the agreements encompass rules that say issues of arbitrability will be referred to an arbitrator.
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July 23, 2024
$680M Allergan FCA Suit Tossed After High Court Revival
A Maryland federal judge on Tuesday again tossed a False Claims Act suit accusing an Allergan unit of overcharging Medicaid, previously revived by the U.S. Supreme Court, saying a whistleblower still hadn't shown any deliberate wrongdoing by the company.
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July 23, 2024
Mother Urges Sanctions On Nonprofit Over Unpaid $13.4M Win
An 81-year old mother who won a $13.4 million judgment after her son died in a group home run by the Connecticut Institute for the Blind asked a state court judge Tuesday to order swift sanctions against the nonprofit for allegedly dodging depositions and stalling attempts to collect the award.
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July 23, 2024
Feds Urge 6th Circ. To Affirm Pharma Owner's Fraud Sentence
The Sixth Circuit should affirm a district court's fraud convictions, nearly five-year sentence and $7 million restitution order against an Ohio pharmaceutical salesman who underreported his income to reduce his tax liability in a multimillion-dollar scheme involving bogus insurance billings, the federal government said.
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July 23, 2024
6th Circ. Vows Careful Immunity Take In Prof's Retaliation Suit
The Sixth Circuit wrestled Tuesday with whether six University of Louisville officials were each rightly denied immunity from a former professor's suit alleging he was unconstitutionally pushed out because of his views on treating childhood gender dysphoria, with one judge promising meticulous assessments of each defendant.
Expert Analysis
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Employers Should Take Surgeon's Sex Bias Suit As A Warning
A Philadelphia federal jury's recent verdict in a sex bias suit over Thomas Jefferson University's inaction on a male plaintiff's sexual harassment complaint is a reminder to employers of all stripes about the importance of consistently applied protocols for handling complaints, say attorneys at Williams & Connolly.
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Litigation Inspiration: A Source Of Untapped Fulfillment
As increasing numbers of attorneys struggle with stress and mental health issues, business litigators can find protection against burnout by remembering their important role in society — because fulfillment in one’s work isn’t just reserved for public interest lawyers, say Bennett Rawicki and Peter Bigelow at Hilgers Graben.
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What FTC's 'Killer Acquisition' Theory Means For Pharma Cos.
The Federal Trade Commission's recent lawsuit to block Sanofi's acquisition of a pharmaceutical treatment developed by Maze Therapeutics builds on previous enforcement actions and could indicate the agency's growing willingness to use its so-called killer acquisition theory against perceived attempts to eliminate nascent competition, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Series
Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
A lifetime of skiing has helped me develop important professional skills, and taught me that embracing challenges with a spirit of adventure can allow lawyers to push boundaries, expand their capabilities and ultimately excel in their careers, says Andrea Przybysz at Tucker Ellis.
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The Road Ahead For Florida's Drug Importation Program
Though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Florida's drug importation program in January, a series of hurdles — including requisite buy-in from Canada — and potential legal challenges must be addressed before importation can begin, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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What Attorneys Need To Know About H-1B Lottery Changes
The newly revamped H-1B lottery process opened Wednesday and promises to bring more fairness to securing highly competitive slots, giving more companies a chance to access highly skilled workers, say Renée Mueller Steinle and Elizabeth Chatham at Stinson.
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Assessing CDC's Revised Guideline On Opioid Prescriptions
Kenneth Weinstein, Nicholas Van Niel and Kate Uthe at Analysis Group look at newly available data to evaluate the impact that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's revised opioid monitoring guideline have had on prescription trends in recent years, highlighting both specific and overall decreases.
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Bid Protest Spotlight: Conflict, Latent Ambiguity, Cost Realism
In this month's bid protest roundup, Markus Speidel at MoFo examines a trio of U.S. Government Accountability Office decisions with takeaways about the consequences of a teaming partner's organizational conflict of interest, a solicitation's latent ambiguity and an unreasonable agency cost adjustment.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Forget Everything You Know About IRAC
The mode of legal reasoning most students learn in law school, often called “Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion,” or IRAC, erroneously frames analysis as a separate, discrete step, resulting in disorganized briefs and untold obfuscation — but the fix is pretty simple, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Valeant Ruling May Pave Way For Patent-Based FCA Suits
The Ninth Circuit’s recent ruling in Silbersher v. Valeant marks a significant development in False Claims Act jurisprudence, opens new avenues for litigation and potentially raises the stakes for patent applicants who intend to do business with the government, say Joshua Robbins and Rick Taché at Buchalter.
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What's New In FDA's Updated Data Monitoring Guidance
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's new guidance on the use of data monitoring committees in clinical trials is set to replace the agency's 2006 guidance on the topic, with notable updates including stronger language indicating a more stringent stance against financial conflicts of interest and adaptation to recent changes in DMC structure, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.
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Opinion
Suits Against Insulin Pricing Are Driven By Rebate Addiction
A growing wave of lawsuits filed by states, cities and counties against insulin manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers improperly allocate the blame for rising insulin costs, when in actuality the plaintiffs are partially responsible, says Dan Leonard at Granite Capitol Consulting.
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Conn. Data Privacy Enforcement Takeaways For Cos.
In light of the Connecticut attorney general's recently released report on its enforcement of the Connecticut Data Privacy Act, which focuses on companies' privacy policies, protections of sensitive data and more, businesses can expect increased enforcement scrutiny — especially in areas that are the subject of consumer complaints, say Paul Pittman and Abdul Hafiz at White & Case.
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Lessons For D&O Policyholders From Pharma Co. Ruling
A California federal court's recent decision in AmTrust v. 180 Life Sciences, requiring insurers to advance defense costs for a potentially covered claim, provides a valuable road map for directors and officers insurance policyholders, rebutting the common presumption that a D&O insurer's duty to advance costs is more limited than under other policies, say attorneys at Pasich.
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How Firms Can Ensure Associate Gender Parity Lasts
Among associates, women now outnumber men for the first time, but progress toward gender equality at the top of the legal profession remains glacially slow, and firms must implement time-tested solutions to ensure associates’ gender parity lasts throughout their careers, say Kelly Culhane and Nicole Joseph at Culhane Meadows.