More Healthcare Coverage
-
May 10, 2024
3 Cases Poised To Apply High Court's Arbitration Ruling
Cases that were in the judicial pipeline when the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a ruling on what workers qualify for a carveout from federal arbitration law are poised to be among the first that apply its holding. Here, Law360 discusses three cases that were frozen in anticipation of the high court's decision.
-
May 10, 2024
Pharvaris CLO Set To Step Down In June, CFO Will Fill In
The top lawyer for Swiss life sciences company Pharvaris will step down June 1 after two years in the role, with the company's chief financial officer set to take over her duties on an interim basis while the search begins for her replacement.
-
May 09, 2024
Wash. Justices Say HR Managers Can Accept Service For Co.
The Washington State Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that a human resources manager is classified under state law as someone who can receive service on a company's behalf, siding with a personal injury plaintiff in a lawsuit against an Evergreen State nursing home.
-
May 09, 2024
Doc Can't Escape Second Prednisone Overprescribing Suit
A Pennsylvania federal judge won't strike claims for punitive damages and references to "outrageous" conduct from a complaint alleging that a doctor wrongly overprescribed medications including prednisone, saying the complaint plausibly alleged that he knowingly had a patient on a medication plan that harmed her.
-
May 09, 2024
Ex-Official Says NJ, Ethics Board Are 'Stonewalling' Discovery
A former New Jersey health official has asked a state judge to order the state and its ethics commission to provide full discovery around his claims that he was fired in 2020 for raising concerns about the governor's chief of staff earmarking COVID-19 tests for relatives, accusing the Garden State of "stonewalling" his requests for documents and communications.
-
May 09, 2024
6th Circ. Panel Skeptical Of NLRB Hazard Pay Ruling
A Sixth Circuit panel questioned on Thursday a National Labor Relations Board decision finding a Michigan nursing home violated federal labor law with its handling of temporary hazard pay and staffing during the COVID-19 pandemic, with judges appearing skeptical the company had to bargain over the changes.
-
May 09, 2024
Philly Doctor Loses Bid To Restore $15M Bias Award
A Philadelphia federal judge on Thursday denied a former Thomas Jefferson University Hospital surgeon's request to reinstate a $15 million jury verdict against his onetime employer, reasoning that the judge would have reached the same conclusion as a previous judge who vacated the award before recusing himself from a new trial.
-
May 08, 2024
Duke Doctor Partially Resuscitates NC Firing Suit
The North Carolina state appeals court has partially revived a fired Duke University hospital resident's lawsuit alleging that health care system officials terminated him because of his depression after an inadequate firing-review process that violated an employment contract.
-
May 07, 2024
GOP Reps. Want IP Enforcers To Get Tougher On Infringers
Republican lawmakers complained at a Tuesday congressional hearing about the Biden administration's move to end the controversial Trump-era "China Initiative" aimed at curbing suspected economic espionage and questioned administration officials over how diligently they have pursued intellectual property cases on behalf of U.S. manufacturers, retailers, movie studios and vape companies.
-
May 07, 2024
US News' Suit Over SF Ranking Probe Premature, Judge Says
A California federal judge on Tuesday tossed without prejudice U.S. News & World Report's lawsuit challenging the San Francisco City Attorney's subpoenas seeking information about its methodology for ranking hospitals, saying the suit jumps the gun because U.S. News is not bringing a valid pre-enforcement claim.
-
May 07, 2024
Pharma Co. Falsely Touted Obesity Drug Results, Suit Claims
Biopharmaceutical company Altimmune Inc. and three of its executives were hit with a proposed class action alleging they overstated the clinical trial results and prospects of its obesity drug and its ability to compete with other weight loss medications like Ozempic.
-
May 07, 2024
Pear Therapeutics Ch. 11 Liquidation Plan Confirmed
A Delaware bankruptcy judge said at a hearing Tuesday that he would confirm the Chapter 11 liquidation plan for software-based medicine venture Pear Therapeutics after it sold most of its assets and reached a settlement with former employees.
-
May 07, 2024
Hospital Says Appellate Court Flubbed $1.9M Payout Review
A Connecticut hospital has asked the state's appellate court to hold a full court rehearing on its refusal to pause a $1.9 million prejudgment remedy the hospital was ordered to pay to a group of anesthesiologists pursuing billing claims against it, arguing the decision causes irreparable harm.
-
May 07, 2024
Swiss Co. Says $8M Equatorial Guinea Award Is Valid
A Swiss clinic operator ousted from a hospital contract in Equatorial Guinea has asked the D.C. Circuit to affirm the enforcement of an $8 million arbitral award against the country, rebutting its argument that the company was required to litigate in the local courts first.
-
May 06, 2024
Hospital Hits Back At Kowalskis' Bid For Sanctions
Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital urged a Florida court on Friday to reject a sanctions bid by the attorneys for Maya Kowalski — who won a $213 million verdict against the hospital and was the subject of the Netflix documentary "Take Care of Maya" — against the hospital's attorneys, arguing that the request for the court to refer them to the Florida Bar is improper.
-
May 06, 2024
Hooper Lundy Adds Government Relations Director
An attorney who worked in-house for healthcare industry trade and advocacy associations has joined healthcare boutique Hooper Lundy & Bookman PC as director of government relations and public policy.
-
May 03, 2024
How Big IP Judgment Winners Are Insuring 'Nuclear Verdicts'
Until a few years ago, intellectual property plaintiffs who scored large monetary awards — often referred to as "nuclear verdicts" — had to wait out a lengthy appellate process before knowing how much money they would end up with. But a relatively new type of insurance policy is allowing plaintiffs to insure part of their judgment in case it gets reduced or wiped out on appeal.
-
May 03, 2024
Colo. Justices' Med Mal Cap Ruling A Win For Patients
The Colorado Supreme Court's recent decision prohibiting trial courts from considering an injured patient's insurance liabilities before imposing the state's $1 million medical malpractice damages cap was the right call, experts say, and prevents an unfair windfall for negligent health care providers.
-
May 02, 2024
Calif. Hospitals Say BCBS Unit Left Them With $3.8M Bill
A pair of California health systems say that Pittsburgh-based Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield isn't honoring its obligations to pay them under a national Blue Cross insurance program, leaving their hospitals holding the bag for up to $3.8 million worth of treatment, according to two lawsuits filed in Pennsylvania state court.
-
May 01, 2024
Insulin Pump Maker Wins Toss of Investor Suit For Now
A California federal judge has sided with an insulin pump maker and tossed a suit alleging it misled investors about the potential growth of the company amid inflation and an uptick in competition, saying the suing investors have failed to plead any false or misleading statements or knowledge of wrongdoing by the defendants.
-
April 30, 2024
Judge Tosses LTL's Suit Over Article Linking Talc To Cancer
A New Jersey federal judge on Tuesday tossed a suit from the bankrupt talc unit of Johnson & Johnson accusing three doctors of damaging its business through a medical journal article it claimed was backed by "junk science," ruling that the doctors having served as expert witnesses in the Garden State is not enough to show that the court has jurisdiction over its claims.
-
April 30, 2024
Sorrels Law Adds Ex-BigLaw Litigator From Solo Shop
Texas personal injury firm Sorrels Law announced Tuesday that it has brought on a partner in Houston who has a BigLaw background and most recently operated a solo shop.
-
April 29, 2024
Sandoz Says Biopharma Biz Added 'Poison' To Market
More than $160 million separate generic-drug maker Sandoz Inc. and biopharmaceutical firm United Therapeutics Corp. in their estimates of damages suffered by Sandoz when the other company effectively blocked the sale of Sandoz's generic version of a hypertension medication, according to opening statements Monday during a bench trial in New Jersey federal court.
-
April 29, 2024
Ex-COO Of Mo. Charity Gets 3 Years For Bribing Officials
The former chief operating officer of a Missouri-based healthcare charity was sentenced to three years in prison Monday after admitting she and her husband, the charity's ex-chief financial officer, conspired to bribe elected officials in Arkansas, according to Missouri federal court documents.
-
April 29, 2024
4th Circ. OKs Sanctions Against Law Firm In Bestwall Ch. 11
A split Fourth Circuit panel on Monday refused to overturn more than $402,000 in sanctions against a law firm and its clients as part of bankruptcy proceedings for a Georgia-Pacific unit, saying the contempt and sanctions orders can't be appealed because they aren't final judgments.
Expert Analysis
-
A Look At DOJ's New Nationwide Investment Fraud Approach
Investment fraud charges are increasingly being brought in unlikely venues across the country, and the rationale behind the U.S. Department of Justice's approach could well be the heightened legal standards in connection with prosecuting investment fraud, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.
-
FDA's Off-Label Comms Guidance Is A Reluctant Step Forward
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's latest draft guidance expands its safe harbor for health care providers that communicate information about their products' off-label uses, but does not fully resolve the First Amendment disconnect between federal courts and the agency's regulatory goals, say Jeffrey Shapiro and Lisa Dwyer at King & Spalding.
-
How Biden's AI Order Stacks Up Against Calif. And G7 Activity
Evaluating the federal AI executive order alongside the California AI executive order and the G7's Hiroshima AI Code of Conduct can offer a more robust picture of key risks and concerns companies should proactively work to mitigate as they build or integrate artificial intelligence tools into their products and services, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.
-
ITC Ban On Apple Watch Could Still Be Reversed
The U.S. International Trade Commission's recent final decision that the Apple Watch infringed two patents owned by Masimo Corp. was a rare instance of a popular consumer product being hit with an absolute importation ban, but it's possible that President Joe Biden could assert his power to reverse the ITC decision, says Benjamin Horton at Marshall Gerstein.
-
Class Action Defense: Don't Give Up On Bristol-Myers Squibb
Federal appellate court decisions in the six years since the U.S. Supreme Court decided Bristol-Myers Squibb show that it's anyone's ballgame in class action jurisdictional arguments, so defendants are encouraged to consider carefully whether, where and when arguing lack of specific personal jurisdiction may be advantageous, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
-
State Regs Sow Discord Between Cannabis, Hemp Industries
Connecticut, Maryland and Washington are the latest states choosing to require intoxicating hemp products to comply with the states' recreational marijuana laws, resulting in a widening rift between cannabis and hemp as Congress works on crafting new hemp legislation within the upcoming 2023 Farm Bill, say attorneys at Wilson Elser.
-
Questions Linger After FDA's Lab-Developed Tests Proposal
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's recently proposed rule regarding its plan to regulate lab-developed tests is light on details, leaving many fundamental questions about the agency's authority and ability to execute its plans, say attorneys at Covington.
-
Lessons For Biosimilar And Biologic Antitrust Litigation
Aaron Marks at Cohen Milstein considers emerging ways in which biosimilar markets differ from traditional small-molecule drug markets, and recommends how pharmaceutical antitrust litigators can account for these market dynamics in biosimilar-delay cases.
-
Balancing Justice And Accountability In Opioid Bankruptcies
As Rite Aid joins other pharmaceutical companies in pursuing bankruptcy following the onslaught of state and federal litigation related to the opioid epidemic, courts and the country will have to reconcile the ideals of economic justice and accountability against the U.S. Constitution’s promise of a fresh start through bankruptcy, says Monique Hayes at DGIM Law.
-
Louisiana's Toxic Tort Barrier May Be Weakening
Louisiana's short prescriptive period to bring a survival action has long served as an important barrier against toxic tort claims, but the plaintiffs bar will likely rely on the recent Fifth Circuit decision in Jack v. Evonik to argue that anyone who arguably suffered injury based on exposure to some toxic substance may have a claim, say attorneys at Kirkland.
-
When And How Companies Should Build An AI Strategy
Once a company has decided to engage with artificial intelligence, there are myriad steps that need to be taken, beginning with the creation of an AI leadership team that has deep knowledge about the company's business risks and is highly respected by senior management, say Judith Rinearson and Corey Bieber at K&L Gates.
-
5th Circ. Ruling Shows Need For Proffer Terms Negotiation
The Fifth Circuit’s recent U.S. v. Shah decision, holding that a defendant breached his proffer agreement, illustrates why defense attorneys should insist on negotiating the terms of such agreements with prosecutors to protect their clients at trial, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.
-
Data Furnishers Should Watch CFPB Plans For Class Actions
Companies should follow the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s rulemaking process as it considers allowing class actions against data brokers that provide incorrect consumer information to credit reporting agencies, a move that could rewrite the legal risks of participating in the consumer reporting ecosystem, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.