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Health
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June 10, 2024
Live Urgent Care In-House Atty Axed For Pregnancy, Suit Says
A former in-house attorney and compliance officer for Live Urgent Care LLC alleged in New Jersey state court on Friday that she was fired in retaliation for asking to take maternity leave and demanding a bonus she claims was never paid.
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June 10, 2024
Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court
Big players and big moves dominated much of the past week in Delaware's Court of Chancery, as Tesla in particular and big corporations in general showed their pique over rulings that went toward stockholders or against conventional expectations.
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June 10, 2024
Mass. Nursing Home To Pay Record $4M Over Neglect Claims
A Massachusetts nursing home operator has agreed to pay a total of $4 million and hire an independent monitor to settle allegations that understaffing at its 16 facilities led to substandard care and patients being harmed, the attorney general’s office announced Monday. Next Step Healthcare LLC has agreed pay $750,000 directly to the state and dedicate the remaining $3.25 million toward increasing staffing levels.
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June 10, 2024
High Court To Review HHS Hospital Pay Formula
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to review a D.C. Circuit decision siding with the Department of Health and Human Services over how the agency applies a formula for calculating disproportionate share hospital payments for Supplemental Security Income benefits.
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June 07, 2024
Motley Rice Allocated Biggest Share Of $2B Opioid Fees
A panel directed with allocating $2.13 billion in attorney fees stemming from opioid settlements has recommended awarding the largest shares of the pot to Motley Rice LLC, Simmons Hanly Conroy LLC and Napoli Shkolnik PLLC, according to a report filed Friday in Ohio federal court.
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June 07, 2024
Blank Rome Escapes 'Lamentable Saga' In 'Killer Nurse' Case
A Pennsylvania appellate panel, in what it dubbed "the final chapter in this lamentable saga," affirmed Friday a lower court's order dismissing an attorney's defamation claims against Blank Rome LLP and a hospital that once employed a now-infamous "killer nurse" who pleaded guilty to murdering his patients.
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June 07, 2024
Ontrak CEO Had Anxiety Over Souring Cigna Deal, Jury Told
A former Ontrak Inc. consultant testified Friday in the trial of its founder who's accused of trading on insider information about Ontrak's souring relationship with Cigna Healthcare in 2021, telling California federal jurors he frequently expressed anxiety, saying that Ontrak must "save Cigna" and describing the situation as a nightmare.
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June 07, 2024
Speech Pathologists Say BakerHostetler Bungled Biz Deal
A trio of Los Angeles-based speech pathologists have filed a malpractice suit against their former BakerHostetler counsel in California state court, accusing the firm and an Ohio-based partner of negligence in failing to properly advise them amid a business deal, allegedly resulting in the therapists losing their successful practice and more than $1 million.
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June 07, 2024
Ozempic MDL Gets New Judge After Judge Pratter's Death
The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation on Thursday reassigned sprawling litigation over Ozempic and similar drugs in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania following the sudden death of U.S. District Judge Gene E.K. Pratter, who'd been overseeing the MDL.
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June 07, 2024
Conn. Judge Pushes State For Proof In $11M Kickback Case
The Connecticut state judge presiding over an $11 million false claims and kickbacks case against a compounding pharmacy appeared unconvinced Friday that the defendants submitted false claims for payment, peppering the government's counsel with requests to support assertions with case law and evidence that was put on at trial.
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June 07, 2024
Chicago-Area Man Charged With $60M COVID Test Fraud
A suburban Chicago man is facing healthcare fraud and money laundering charges over more than $60 million in Medicare reimbursement claims for over-the-counter COVID-19 test kits that were allegedly never provided, including thousands of tests for dead people.
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June 07, 2024
DC Circ. Undoes Library Of Congress Win In Fair Use Fight
The D.C. Circuit on Friday reversed a lower court's decision that had rejected two industry groups' challenge to a final rule that categorized medical device diagnostic procedures and repairs as fair use exemptions to U.S. copyright law.
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June 07, 2024
SEC Fines Ex-AstraZeneca Insider $1.4M For Merger Trades
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has ordered a former AstraZeneca employee to pay $1.4 million to settle claims he used nonpublic information to trade CinCor Pharma shares ahead of the public announcement that the two companies would merge.
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June 07, 2024
'Why Are You Even Here?' Judge Prods Big Tobacco
A Washington state appellate panel on Friday criticized Philip Morris USA Inc. and other tobacco companies for attempting to pay the state less under a 1998 master settlement agreement, with one judge asking a Big Tobacco attorney why they were in court in the first place.
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June 07, 2024
7 Health Insurers Eye Rate Hikes In Connecticut
Seven health insurers have asked Connecticut state regulators to approve rate hikes of 7.4% to 12.5% for individual market plans and 5.1% to 13.6% for small groups, averaging out to a lesser increase than last year's, according to an announcement Friday.
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June 07, 2024
Hospital Dodges Hostile-Workplace Claim In Race Bias Suit
A federal court trimmed a state-level claim of hostile work environment and two allegations of racial bias from a Black former emergency room doctor at a hospital outside Philadelphia, but said there were enough questions of fact for other parts of her case to move ahead.
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June 07, 2024
Judge Doubts Ethnicity Questions Deserve Jury Bias Probe
A Washington appellate judge pushed back Friday against a Filipino family who claimed a hospital's questions about their ethnicity at trial required a bias inquiry, noting race is "something that can't be ignored" in any courtroom filled with people who look different from one another.
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June 07, 2024
Yale Hospital Sued For Seeking To Exit $435M Purchase Deal
California-based Prospect Medical Holdings Inc. has sued Yale New Haven Health for seeking to back out of a $435 million acquisition of three financially distressed Connecticut hospitals, accusing the state's largest hospital of breach of contract and wrongfully leaking a prior lawsuit to the press.
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June 07, 2024
Rite Aid Can Borrow Another $75M In Ch. 11 Plan Pursuit
Bankrupt retail drug-store chain Rite Aid Corp. received court approval on Friday in New Jersey for an amended debtor-in-possession financing package that provides $75 million in new-money financing as it moves toward confirmation of a Chapter 11 plan.
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June 07, 2024
Bank Says Alzheimer's Center Owes $17M On Defaulted Loan
An Alzheimer's care center owes Bank of Oklahoma nearly $17 million after it became the last of four memory care facilities to default on a $27.5 million loan that was used to refinance their mortgage debt, according to a complaint filed in Georgia federal court.
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June 07, 2024
Atty Comms Are Fair Game After NJ Guilty Plea, Feds Say
Prosecutors told a New Jersey federal court Friday that communications between convicted and later pardoned fraudster Eliyahu Weinstein and Shlomo Erez, his Israeli attorney, must be turned over in Weinstein's new fraud case as Erez pled guilty to involvement in the alleged scheme in late May.
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June 06, 2024
Health Co. CEO Sold Stock Amid Souring Cigna Deal, Jury Told
A stock analyst told California federal jurors Thursday he noticed in disclosure forms that the founder of healthcare company Ontrak Inc. was starting to sell company shares a few weeks before Cigna announced it was terminating its $90 million contract with the company.
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June 06, 2024
Chronic Care Co. To Pay $14.9M To End DOJ False Claims Suit
A provider of chronic disease management services across several states has reached a $14.9 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, resolving a False Claims Act suit alleging it defrauded Medicare and Medicaid by "upcoding" healthcare claims.
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June 06, 2024
Drugmakers Escape Cancer Drug Antitrust Claims For Now
A New Jersey federal judge granted drugmakers Celgene and Bristol-Myers Squibb an out from consolidated antitrust litigation accusing them of delaying generic competition to their blockbuster cancer treatments, saying the conduct alleged by a group of insurer plaintiffs fails to amount to anti-competitive conduct.
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June 06, 2024
Wash. Judge Suggests Insurer Dragged Out IP Dispute
A Washington federal judge appeared unconvinced Thursday by a dental health insurer's argument that it acted honestly in pushing forward with trade secret claims even after the accused ex-employee returned her company-issued laptop that purportedly held sensitive information.
Expert Analysis
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Lessons From Rare Post-Verdict Healthcare Fraud Acquittal
A Maryland federal court recently overturned a jury verdict that found a doctor guilty of healthcare fraud related to billing levels for COVID-19 tests, providing defense attorneys with potential strategies for obtaining acquittals in similar prosecutions, says attorney Andrew Feldman.
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ChristianaCare Settlement Reveals FCA Pitfalls For Hospitals
ChristianaCare's False Claims Act settlement in December is the first one based on a hospital allegedly providing private physicians with free services in the form of hospital-employed clinicians and provides important compliance lessons as the government ramps up scrutiny of compensation arrangements, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
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Texas Ruling Clarifies That Bankruptcy Shields LLC Rights
A Texas bankruptcy court’s recent ruling in In re: Envision makes it clear that the Bankruptcy Code preempts a section of Delaware state law that terminates a member’s interest in an LLC upon a bankruptcy filing, clarifying conflicting case law, say Larry Halperin and Joon Hong at Chapman and Cutler.
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Series
Coaching High School Wrestling Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Coaching my son’s high school wrestling team has been great fun, but it’s also demonstrated how a legal career can benefit from certain experiences, such as embracing the unknown, studying the rules and engaging with new people, says Richard Davis at Maynard Nexsen.
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SG's Office Is Case Study To Help Close Legal Gender Gap
As women continue to be underrepresented in the upper echelons of the legal profession, law firms could learn from the example set by the Office of the Solicitor General, where culture and workplace policies have helped foster greater gender equality, say attorneys at Ocean Tomo.
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The Latest Antitrust Areas For In-House Counsel To Watch
The U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission's increasingly aggressive approach to antitrust enforcement means in-house counsel should closely monitor five key compliance issues, say attorneys at Squire Patton.
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Despite Risks, AI Is A Worthy Tool For Healthcare Industry
Artificial intelligence appears to provide a productive path forward for the healthcare industry, improving economic and human health outcomes, though companies must continue to address certain technology and compliance pain points, says Sarah Abrams at Bowhead Specialty Underwriters.
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Navigating New Regulations In Healthcare And Other M&A
While notice requirements recently enacted in several states are focused on the healthcare industry for now, this trend could extend to other industries as these requirements are designed to allow regulators to be a step ahead and learn more about a transaction long before it occurs, say Kathleen Premo and Ashley Creech at Epstein Becker.
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New CMS Rule Will Change Nursing Facility Disclosures
A new rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services significantly expands disclosure requirements for nursing facilities backed by private equity companies or real estate investment trusts, likely foreshadowing increased oversight that could include more targeted audits, say Janice Davis and Christopher Ronne at Morgan Lewis.
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Skirting Anti-Kickback Causation Standard Amid Circuit Split
Amid the federal circuit court split over the causation standard applicable to False Claims Act cases involving Anti-Kickback Statute violations, which the First Circuit will soon consider in U.S. v. Regeneron, litigators aiming to circumvent the heightened standard should contemplate certain strategies, say Matthew Modafferi and Terence Park at Frier Levitt.
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What To Know About WDTX Standing Order For Patent Cases
Patent litigators should review and ensure compliance with the standing order recently issued by U.S. District Judge Alan Albright of the Western District of Texas — a popular patent litigation venue — which encompasses new deadlines, seeks to streamline discovery disputes, and further reflects the court's existing practices, says Archibald Cruz at Patterson + Sheridan.
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What New Calif. Strike Force Means For White Collar Crimes
The recently announced Central District of California strike force targeting complex corporate and securities fraud — following the Northern District of California's model — combines experienced prosecutorial leadership and partnerships with federal agencies like the IRS and FBI, and could result in an uptick in the number of cases and speed of proceedings, say attorneys at MoFo.
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Healthcare Collabs Can Alleviate Labor, Antitrust Challenges
Two major challenges facing hospitals and health systems include labor shortages and increased antitrust scrutiny at both federal and state levels, but collaborative efforts may help with addressing these difficulties, says Sumaya Noush at McDermott.
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Reimagining Law Firm Culture To Break The Cycle Of Burnout
While attorney burnout remains a perennial issue in the legal profession, shifting post-pandemic expectations mean that law firms must adapt their office cultures to retain talent, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.
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Expediting Psychedelics Approvals In The EU, UK, Australia
Accelerated pathways for regulatory approvals for psychedelic drugs in the European Union, U.K. and Australia is indispensable to facilitate a seamless advancement of treatments from the research environment to the consumer, say Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell, and Ana Dukic and Sabrina Ramkellawan at AxialBridge.