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July 25, 2024
Mich. Justices Roll Back Expert Limits For Med Mal Plaintiffs
A split Michigan Supreme Court on Thursday partly overturned a nearly 20-year-old standard that made it harder for medical malpractice plaintiffs to introduce expert testimony, as dissenting justices warned the change could unleash a cascade of new appeals.
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July 25, 2024
Mich. Jury Awards $8.5M For Missed Cancer Diagnosis
A Michigan federal jury awarded more than $8.5 million in damages Wednesday to a man who died of kidney cancer, finding that a doctor at a cancer clinic missed an opportunity to diagnose the cancer before it spread to his brain.
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July 25, 2024
Radiologist Leans On Muldrow At 1st Circ. Bias Arguments
A newly minted First Circuit judge dove enthusiastically into his first oral argument session Thursday, lobbing questions at a Boston medical center and a radiologist who said her discrimination and whistleblower case should be revived in part because of an April U.S. Supreme Court decision.
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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.
Expert Analysis
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This Earth Day, Consider How Your Firm Can Go Greener
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.
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The Shifting Landscape Of Physician Disciplinary Proceedings
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.
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Benzene Contamination Concerns: Drugmakers' Next Steps
After a citizen petition to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and a flurry of class actions over benzene contamination in benzoyl peroxide acne products, affected manufacturers should consider a thoughtful approach that includes assembling internal data and possibly contacting the FDA for product-specific discussions, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Policy Misrepresentations Carry Insurance Rescission Risks
The Second Circuit's recent decision in Medical Mutual v. Gnik, finding that material misrepresentation in a clinic's insurance applications warranted policy rescission, is a clear example of the far-reaching effects that misrepresentations can have and provides a reminder that policyholders should employ relatively straightforward steps to decrease risks, say attorneys at Hunton.
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How DEI Programs Are Being Challenged In Court And Beyond
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.
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The Pros And Cons Of NIST's Proposed March-In Framework
Recent comments for and against the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s proposed guidance on march-in rights — which permit the government to seize federally funded patents — highlight how the framework may promote competition, but could also pose a risk to contractors and universities, say Nick Lee and Paul Ragusa at Baker Botts.
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Opinion
Federal MDL Rule Benefits From Public Comments
The new Federal Rule of Civil Procedure concerning multidistrict litigation that was approved this week by the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules incorporates ideas from public comments that will aid both plaintiffs and defense attorneys — and if ultimately adopted, the rule should promote efficient, merits-driven MDL case management, say Robert Johnston and Gary Feldon at Hollingsworth.
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What Bankruptcy Deadline Appeal May Mean For Claimants
If the Third Circuit reverses a recent appeal made in In re: Promise Healthcare, litigation claimants within the circuit will not be able to rely on the proof of claim process to preserve the claim — but if the court affirms, the U.S. Supreme Court may need to step in to resolve the circuit split on this issue, say attorneys at DLA Piper.
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Practicing Law With Parkinson's Disease
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.
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When Trade Secret Protection And Nat'l Security Converge
The Trump administration's anti-espionage program focused on China is over, but federal enforcement efforts to protect trade secrets and U.S. national security continue, and companies doing business in high-risk jurisdictions need to maintain their compliance programs to avoid the risk of being caught in the crosshairs of an investigation, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.
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The Merger Cases That Will Matter At ABA Antitrust Meeting
While the American Bar Association's Antitrust Spring Meeting this week will cover all types of competition law issues in the U.S. and abroad, expect the federal agencies' recent track record in merger enforcement to be a key area of focus on the official panels and in cocktail party chatter, say attorneys at Freshfields.
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Cos. Should Prepare For Foreign Data Transfer Regulations
A new regulatory regime designed to protect U.S. sensitive data from countries of concern may complicate an already intricate geopolitical landscape and affect even companies beyond the data industry, but with careful preparation, such companies can endeavor to minimize the effect on their business operations and ensure compliance, say David Plotinsky and Jiazhen Guo at Morgan Lewis.
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Series
Playing Hockey Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Nearly a lifetime of playing hockey taught me the importance of avoiding burnout in all aspects of life, and the game ultimately ended up providing me with the balance I needed to maintain success in my legal career, says John Riccione at Taft.
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For Lawyers, Pessimism Should Be A Job Skill, Not A Life Skill
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.
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HHS Opioid Rule Generally Benefits Providers And Patients
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' newly effective rule, the first substantial change to opioid treatment programs and delivery standards in over 20 years, significantly expands access and reduces stigma around certain medications, though the rule is narrow in scope and does have some limitations, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.