More Healthcare Coverage
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June 18, 2024
9th Circ. Nixes City's Win In Wash. Firefighter Vax Order Suit
The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday revived a lawsuit by a group of firefighters who claim the city of Spokane, Washington, violated their constitutional rights when it fired them for refusing to get COVID-19 vaccines and instead relied on first responders from nearby agencies who also hadn't gotten the shot, ruling they'd asserted a viable First Amendment claim.
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June 17, 2024
USC Allegedly Used 'Junk Science' On Black Kidney Patients
The University of Southern California secretly has been using a "junk science" scoring formula that hurts Black patients' eligibility to receive kidney transplants, according to a putative class action in California federal court.
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June 17, 2024
Ga. Panel OKs Instruction In $4.5M Spinal Device Injury Suit
The Georgia Court of Appeals has affirmed a trial court's decision to tell jurors not to consider the availability of insurance benefits when considering the issues of liability and damages in a case in which a woman whose doctor incorrectly implanted a spinal cord stimulator was awarded $4.5 million.
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June 17, 2024
Nursing Home Co. Owes Fees On Staffing Deal, Recruiter Says
An international recruiter has accused the owners of nursing homes and assisted living communities in several states of failing to fork over fees for placing nurses and nursing assistants in their facilities, saying they owe over $3.4 million in outstanding fees.
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June 14, 2024
Healthcare Worker's Solo PAGA Claim Heads To Arbitration
A California state appeals court ruled an employee's individual wage claims under the state's Private Attorneys General Act should be heard in arbitration, overturning a lower court's decision to keep the lawsuit in state court and finding the arbitration agreement encompassed the worker's claims.
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June 13, 2024
Ex-Duke Doc Wants Panel To Redo Disability Bias Ruling
A fired Duke University hospital doctor pressed a North Carolina state appeals court to reconsider not reviving the disability claims in his suit against the hospital, arguing that the case belongs before a jury.
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June 13, 2024
Health Data Co. Beats Ex-GC's Federal Age Bias Claim
A healthcare data analytics company has beaten back its former general counsel's claim that he was underpaid due to his age, with a New York federal judge saying the ex-employee offered some evidence to support his Age Discrimination in Employment Act claim, but not enough.
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June 13, 2024
Vero Biotech Tried To 'String Along' Safety Monitor, Suit Says
Georgia-based medical device maker Vero Biotech LLC reneged on a payment plan with a consulting firm hired to monitor its products, according to a lawsuit filed in Massachusetts state court on Wednesday.
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June 12, 2024
Lies At Heart Of Fraud Case Over COVID Test Kits, Jurors Told
The retrial of a securities fraud case over a COVID test kit deal that never materialized will center on lies, according to opening statements delivered in New Jersey federal court Wednesday.
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June 12, 2024
Conn. Justices Nix Health Dept. Worker's Whistleblower Claim
The Connecticut Supreme Court has trounced a public health official's claim that she was fired for blowing the whistle on appointees who lacked mandatory credentials, upholding her termination but also backing her simultaneous pursuit of a union grievance and an administrative complaint.
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June 11, 2024
Retrial Begins In NJ Fraud Case Over COVID Test Kit Deal
The painstaking process of jury selection got underway Tuesday in the retrial of a securities fraud case that ended with a dramatic mistrial after a juror announced in open court that he disagreed with the guilty verdict that had just been delivered by the jury forewoman.
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June 10, 2024
9th Circ. Says Choctaw's Dispute With CVS Must Be Arbitrated
A Ninth Circuit panel forced the Choctaw Nation to arbitrate a dispute over prescription drug reimbursement with CVS Health Corp. subsidiaries, affirming an Arizona federal judge's order in a published opinion Monday.
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June 10, 2024
'Four Tops' Singer Sues ER Staff Who Ordered Psych Test
The lead singer of Motown group The Four Tops has sued a hospital in Michigan federal court, claiming in a complaint filed Monday that hospital staff treated him as if he was mentally ill when he said he was a famous singer.
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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
Medical-Aesthetic Device Rivals Set For Sept. Poaching Trial
A Boston federal judge on Monday scheduled a post-Labor Day jury trial for medical-aesthetic device company Cynosure's $78 million poaching lawsuit against rival Reveal Lasers, urging the parties to streamline their exhibits and damages claims.
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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
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
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 06, 2024
White Collar Boutique Sued By Ex-Client Over Representation
White collar boutique Clark Smith Villazor LLP and one of its name partners is facing a lawsuit from a former client, a convicted securities fraud defendant who claims the firm caused him to be arrested by the FBI and face millions of dollars in fines.
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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.
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June 06, 2024
Insurer Off The Hook For $3.4M Nursing Home Death Verdict
A Berkshire Hathaway unit needn't cover a $3.4 million default judgment entered against its insured in a wrongful death suit, an Illinois federal judge determined, finding that the insured nursing home "did not meet its own reporting and cooperation obligations under the policy."
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June 06, 2024
8th Circ. Affirms Cigna Noncompete Applies To CVS Hire
The Eighth Circuit has backed a lower court finding that blocked a healthcare industry executive from making a move to CVS, handing a win to Cigna in a case over trade secrets.
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June 06, 2024
9th Circ. Tells Insurer To Cover Teen's Treatment Center Stay
The Ninth Circuit has upheld a Massachusetts mother's win in her fight to get her insurer to cover behavioral health treatment for her son, ruling Thursday that a Washington federal judge was correct to order the insurer to cover her son's 14-month stay in a residential treatment center.
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June 05, 2024
Medtronic Can't Pause FCA Claims For 1st Circ. Detour
A Massachusetts federal judge on Wednesday declined to pause a long-pending False Claims Act and whistleblower retaliation case against medical device maker Medtronic so it can appeal a recent ruling, saying the court and the parties need to "get it moving."
Expert Analysis
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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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USCIS Fee Increases May Have Unintended Consequences
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ new fee schedule, intended to provide the agency with needed funds while minimizing the impact of higher fees on individual immigrants and their families, shifts too much of the burden onto employers, say Juan Steevens and William Coffman at Mintz.
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How Facilities Can Address Legal Risk Of Wandering Patients
Wandering behavior in acute care facilities is a challenging healthcare issue rife with legal ramifications, so it's crucial for facilities to perform the correct risk assessments and appropriate interventions, says legal nurse consultant Marilyn McCullum.
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How Poor Governance, Weak Contracts Harm Cannabis Cos.
Decades into cannabis decriminalization and legalization, many companies in the industry still operate on a handshake basis or fail to keep even minimally required records, which can have devastating effects and lead to costly, business-killing litigation, says Griffen Thorne at Harris Bricken.
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Fed. Circ. In Jan.: One Word Can Affect Claim Construction
The Federal Circuit's recent Pacific Biosciences v. Personal Genomics decision highlights how even construction of a simple term can be dispositive, and thus disputed, in view of the specific context provided by the surrounding claim language, say Jeremiah Helm and Sean Murray at Knobbe.
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Expediting Psychedelics Approvals In The US And Canada
Accelerated regulatory pathways for psychedelics in the U.S. and Canada play a pivotal role in the progression of drugs, devices and novel therapies toward commercialization, say Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell, and Ana Dukic and Sabrina Ramkellawan at AxialBridge.
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How Merck Settlement Can Inform Cyberinsurance Approach
This month's settlement in Merck v. ACE spotlights how cyber exclusions have evolved since the significant decision in the case — allowing for insurance coverage despite the presence of a policy war exclusion — and where else corporate risk managers may look for coverage in case of a cyberattack, say attorneys at McGuireWoods.
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Employee Experience Strategy Can Boost Law Firm Success
Amid continuing business uncertainty, law firms should consider adopting a holistic employee experience strategy — prioritizing consistency, targeting signature moments and leveraging measurement tools — to maximize productivity and profitability, says Haley Revel at Calibrate Consulting.
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6 Practice Pointers For Pro Bono Immigration Practice
An attorney taking on their first pro bono immigration matter may find the law and procedures beguiling, but understanding key deadlines, the significance of individual immigration judges' rules and specialized aspects of the practice can help avoid common missteps, says Steven Malm at Haynes Boone.
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ESG Around The World: Canada
In Canada, multiple statutes, regulations, common law and industry guidance address environmental, social and governance considerations, with debate over ESG in the business realm potentially growing on the horizon, say attorneys at Blakes.
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5 Legal Considerations For Psychedelic Therapy Sector
With multiple developments signaling the rise of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, it is imperative that clinicians understand unique legal nuances ranging from corporate formation to specialized insurance coverage, say Kimberly Chew and Natasha Sumner at Husch Blackwell.
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How Lease Obligations Can Affect Subchapter V Debt Cap
Two recent bankruptcy rulings in the Eastern District of Virginia and the Southern District of New York take opposite positions on whether unmatured lease obligations are considered noncontingent debt for the purposes of calculating debtors' Subchapter V eligibility, say Joseph Orbach and Henry Thomas at Thompson Coburn.
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Exploring Menopause Benefits: A Guide For Employers
With 64% of women surveyed in 2023 wanting employer-sponsored menopause benefits, companies that wish to recruit and retain female employees should consider updating both their healthcare plans and corporate culture to help these often-marginalized workers feel and perform their best, say Diane Dygert and Maria Rossi at Seyfarth.