More Healthcare Coverage
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November 05, 2024
Target Inks Individual Deals Over 'Non-Drowsy' Flu Medicine
Target Corp. has reached individual settlements with three consumers who launched a proposed class action alleging its over-the-counter cold and flu medicine is misleadingly labeled as "non-drowsy" despite containing an ingredient known to cause sleepiness, according to a Minnesota federal judge's order.
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November 04, 2024
DOD Trans Healthcare Denial Discriminates, Judge Rules
A Maine federal judge ruled Monday that the U.S. Department of Defense's denial of healthcare coverage for two transgender women's gender-confirmation surgeries violates the Fifth Amendment's equal protection clause, finding that the way the department applied a statutory exclusion discriminated based on sex and transgender status.
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November 04, 2024
VA Accused Of Choosing 'Pass-Through' Co. For $257M Deal
A veteran-owned small business has challenged a $256.8 million U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs telehealth program support contract, saying the VA wrongly chose a small business joint venture that effectively served as a pass-through for a larger company.
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November 04, 2024
Sandoz Wins $70M In Antitrust Suit Over Hypertension Drug
A New Jersey federal court awarded Sandoz Inc. just over $70 million in damages in a case accusing biopharmaceutical firm United Therapeutics Corp. of blocking the sale of a generic version of a hypertension medication, according to a Friday order.
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November 04, 2024
Hospital Can't Undo Widow's $5M Win Over Husband's Suicide
An Illinois state appeals court won't upend a $5 million verdict awarded to a widow against a Cook County hospital in a suit over her husband's death by suicide, finding that the widow's expert testimony was enough for a jury to conclude that the doctor's negligence led to the death.
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November 01, 2024
UChicago Must Face Student's Disability Discrimination Claim
A University of Chicago medical student who was dismissed for creating a fake email account to send an instructor evaluations can pursue his claim that the university illegally tied his multiple mental and physical disabilities to his dismissal, but he must drop his claim that the university failed to accommodate those disabilities, an Illinois federal judge said Thursday.
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November 01, 2024
SC Hospital Settles Ex-Worker's Wage, Retaliation Suit
A South Carolina hospital reached a $15,000 deal with a former employee alleging she was forced to work through unpaid meal breaks and then fired shortly after filing a lawsuit, according to a joint settlement motion filed in federal court.
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October 31, 2024
Ill. Judge Doubts Hillrom's Bid For Rival's Communications
An Illinois federal judge signaled hesitation Thursday over hospital-bed maker Hillrom's bid for a rival's communications it asserts will show that the rival lodged untimely antitrust claims, saying the company may be "skipping a step" by asserting their importance.
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October 31, 2024
The 2024 Law360 Pulse Leaderboard
Check out the Law360 Pulse Leaderboard to see which firms made the list of leaders in all-around excellence this year.
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October 31, 2024
Firms' Hiring Strategies Are Evolving In Fight For Top Spot
Competition for top talent among elite law firms shows no signs of slowing down, even amid economic uncertainty, with financially strong firms deploying aggressive strategies to attract and retain skilled professionals to solidify their market position.
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October 30, 2024
Ga. Health Commish 'Overstepped' In Hospital Turf War
The Georgia Court of Appeals has tossed a ruling from the state's Commissioner for the Department of Community Health that would have allowed a metro Atlanta hospital system to open a new radiology center, saying Tuesday that the commissioner overstepped his review powers.
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October 29, 2024
NY Judge Tosses $14B Decongestant MDL
A New York federal judge threw out a streamlined complaint in a multidistrict litigation accusing companies such as Target and Bayer of making and selling ineffective over-the-counter decongestants, finding Tuesday the state claims are expressly preempted, and the proposed class lacks standing on a federal racketeering claim as indirect purchasers.
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October 28, 2024
Gov't Says No Duty To Pay $69M In COVID Testing Claims
The Health Resources and Services Administration has urged the Court of Federal Claims to toss a lawsuit alleging the agency owes a laboratory $69 million in unpaid claims under a COVID-19 program for the uninsured, saying there was no contractual duty to pay.
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October 28, 2024
2nd Circ. Says Medical Fellow Can't Get New Harassment Trial
The Second Circuit said Monday that a former cancer center fellow can't get a new trial in her suit claiming her supervisor promised to advance her career if she gave in to his sexual advances, ruling the compensatory damages award she received on a battery claim was fair.
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October 28, 2024
Transgender Inmate's Suit Meets Skeptical 2nd Circ. Judge
A Second Circuit judge pressed counsel for a transgender inmate Monday to explain how prison officials in Connecticut were supposed to know that their failure to refer the inmate to specific gender dysphoria treatment would constitute cruel and unusual punishment, noting that relevant case law may not have put them on notice.
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October 25, 2024
DC Circ. Could Nix OK Of $8M Equatorial Guinea Award
The D.C. Circuit on Friday appeared willing to consider nixing enforcement of an $8 million arbitral award against Equatorial Guinea issued in a dispute over an ill-fated hospital operating contract, even as the panel spent much of a hearing focusing on the impact of a decade-old U.S. Supreme Court decision.
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October 25, 2024
NJ Ethics Board Faces Contempt Bid In Retaliation Fight
Counsel for a New Jersey health official who claimed his firing during the COVID-19 pandemic was retaliatory asked a court to hold the State Ethics Commission in contempt for stalling discovery under the guise that the state health regulator initiated the termination, despite "well documented" evidence that it was the commission and Gov. Phil Murphy.
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October 23, 2024
Court Denies Fees In 'Objectively Specious' Trade Secrets Suit
A Seattle federal judge has agreed that a dental health insurer litigated an "objectively specious" trade secrets lawsuit against two of its former company officials, but ruled that not enough showed it was pursuing the case "in bad faith."
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October 23, 2024
ICE, Nonprofits End FOIA Row Over Alleged Sterilization Docs
Three nonprofits dismissed their Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement seeking records related to unnecessary and "nonconsensual" gynecological procedures performed on immigrant detainees at an ICE detention center in Georgia, according to a notice filed Wednesday in D.C. federal court.
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October 23, 2024
NC Justices Scrutinize Scope Of Liability Shield In COVID Law
An attorney for a doctor accused of medical malpractice faced sharp questioning Wednesday as North Carolina justices pushed him to define how much protection from liability was granted by an emergency law enacted to safeguard the state's healthcare providers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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October 22, 2024
IQVIA, Veeva Blast Summary Judgment Bids In Secrets Suit
Life sciences data giant IQVIA Inc. and competitor Veeva Systems Inc. slammed each other's summary judgment bids made public Tuesday in a trade secrets lawsuit in New Jersey federal court, with Veeva arguing that IQVIA's purported trade secrets are hardly confidential and IQVIA saying Veeva's assertions are "a last-ditch effort to avoid liability."
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October 22, 2024
Patent Office Finds Public Engagement Leader
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has tapped a former U.S. Small Business Administration program specialist to head the patent office's recently created section meant to bolster its outreach and communication efforts.
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October 21, 2024
9th Circ. Judge Slams 'Reprehensible' Policy In Jail Death
A Ninth Circuit judge on Monday blasted a healthcare contractor's policy that denied hospital treatment for a woman in a Washington jail who died from a ruptured intestine, but nevertheless questioned if a $24 million punitive damage jury award was excessive.
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October 21, 2024
Weight Loss Clinic Denied Quick Relief In TM Suit
A North Carolina hospital and healthcare provider don't have to stop using the trademarks targeted in a weight loss clinic's infringement suit, a federal judge ruled Monday, finding that the clinic will not suffer significant consequences absent the immediate relief.
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October 18, 2024
Law360 MVP Awards Go To Top Attys From 74 Firms
The attorneys chosen as Law360's 2024 MVPs have distinguished themselves from their peers by securing hard-earned successes in high-stakes litigation, complex global matters and record-breaking deals.
Expert Analysis
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The Strategic Advantages Of Appointing A Law Firm CEO
The impact on law firms of the recent CrowdStrike outage underscores that the business of law is no longer merely about providing supplemental support for legal practice — and helps explain why some law firms are appointing dedicated, full-time CEOs to navigate the challenges of the modern legal landscape, says Jennifer Johnson at Calibrate Strategies.
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Webuild Ruling Complicates Arb. Award Enforcement In US
A Delaware federal court's recent decision in Sociedad Concesionaria Metropolitana de Salud v. Webuild, if read literally, could undercut the United States' image as a proarbitration jurisdiction by complicating creditors' efforts to enforce awards against property in this country, says Jeff Newton at Omni Bridgeway.
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Tobacco Surcharge Suits Spotlight Wellness Reg Compliance
A mounting wave of tobacco-user surcharge litigation against employee benefit plans highlights compliance challenges associated with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act wellness regulations, and reminds plan sponsors to ask existential questions about the utility of their wellness programs, say Finn Pressly and Lesley Wolf at Ballard Spahr.
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The Pop Culture Docket: Justice Lebovits On Gilbert And Sullivan
Characters in the 19th century comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan break the rules of good lawyering by shamelessly throwing responsible critical thought to the wind, providing hilarious lessons for lawyers and judges on how to avoid a surfeit of traps and tribulations, say acting New York Supreme Court Justice Gerald Lebovits and law student Tara Scown.
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State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape
Over the past year, several state bar associations, as well as the American Bar Association, have released guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, all of which share overarching themes and some nuanced differences, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law Group.
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8 Childhood Lessons That Can Help You Be A Better Attorney
A new school year is underway, marking a fitting time for attorneys to reflect on some fundamental life lessons from early childhood that offer a framework for problems that no legal textbook can solve, say Chris Gismondi and Chris Campbell at DLA Piper.
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This Election, We Need To Talk About Court Process
In recent decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has markedly transformed judicial processes — from summary judgment standards to notice pleadings — which has, in turn, affected individuals’ substantive rights, and we need to consider how the upcoming presidential election may continue this pattern, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Mental Health First Aid: A Brief Primer For Attorneys
Amid a growing body of research finding that attorneys face higher rates of mental illness than the general population, firms should consider setting up mental health first aid training programs to help lawyers assess mental health challenges in their colleagues and intervene with compassion, say psychologists Shawn Healy and Tracey Meyers.
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Litigation Inspiration: Honoring Your Learned Profession
About 30,000 people who took the bar exam in July will learn they passed this fall, marking a fitting time for all attorneys to remember that they are members in a specialty club of learned professionals — and the more they can keep this in mind, the more benefits they will see, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
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AI May Limit Key Learning Opportunities For Young Attorneys
The thing that’s so powerful about artificial intelligence is also what’s most scary about it — its ability to detect patterns may curtail young attorneys’ chance to practice the lower-level work of managing cases, preventing them from ever honing the pattern recognition skills that undergird creative lawyering, says Sarah Murray at Trialcraft.
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Why Now Is The Time For Law Firms To Hire Lateral Partners
Partner and associate mobility data from the second quarter of this year suggest that there's never been a better time in recent years for law firms to hire lateral candidates, particularly experienced partners — though this necessitates an understanding of potential red flags, say Julie Henson and Greg Hamman at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.
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Considering Possible PR Risks Of Certain Legal Tactics
Disney and American Airlines recently abandoned certain litigation tactics in two lawsuits after fierce public backlash, illustrating why corporate counsel should consider the reputational implications of any legal strategy and partner with their communications teams to preempt public relations concerns, says Chris Gidez at G7 Reputation Advisory.
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It's No Longer Enough For Firms To Be Trusted Advisers
Amid fierce competition for business, the transactional “trusted adviser” paradigm from which most firms operate is no longer sufficient — they should instead aim to become trusted partners with their most valuable clients, says Stuart Maister at Strategic Narrative.