More Healthcare Coverage
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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April 29, 2024
DOL Wants Quick Win In Pa. Care Co. Wage Suit
The U.S. Department of Labor urged a Pennsylvania federal judge on Monday to grant it a pretrial win in its case accusing a private healthcare agency of failing to pay in-home caregivers overtime and minimum wages, saying the workers are protected by federal wage law.
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April 29, 2024
Conn. Health Co., Competitor Eye Deal In Trade Secrets Suit
Connecticut-based healthcare marketing firm Primacy LLC and a direct competitor accused of poaching top executive Matt Cyr are looking to settle a trade secrets lawsuit by pausing a preliminary injunction hearing and engaging a new magistrate judge to help them work out their differences.
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April 29, 2024
Anthem Seeks Early Win, Decertification In OT Suit
Insurance company Anthem asked a Georgia federal judge to grant it a quick win in an unpaid overtime suit and to decertify a class of nurses, saying it had properly classified the nurses as overtime-exempt and that they fit multiple exemptions to federal overtime laws.
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April 29, 2024
High Court To Decide Jurisdiction In Dog Food Label Suit
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to take up an appeal from Royal Canin USA Inc. and Nestle Purina PetCare Co. in a dispute over whether a suit alleging they falsely represent their products as prescriptions belongs in state or federal court.
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April 26, 2024
Health Co. Not Liable For Cigna Underpayment, 3rd Circ. Says
The Third Circuit on Friday backed a win for a healthcare cost management company in a suit over Cigna's alleged underpayment for plastic surgery, finding the contract between the company and a plastic surgery practice did not guarantee a set payment rate.
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April 26, 2024
Doctor Keeps Trial Win In Death Suit Over Patient's Blood Clot
A Pennsylvania appeals panel has let a primary care physician keep his trial win in a suit over the death of one of his patients from a blood clot, rejecting arguments that the trial court wrongly excluded evidence and unfairly allowed separate attorneys to make opening and closing statements for the doctor and his practice group.
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April 26, 2024
Latham, Akin Beat NJ Suit Over Alleged IP Theft Scheme
A New Jersey federal court on Friday tossed a lawsuit claiming attorneys from Latham & Watkins LLP and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP manipulated patent litigation to steal a former Cornell University graduate student's DNA sequencing intellectual property, calling that graduate student's claims "conspiracy theories."
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April 26, 2024
Hospital Staffing Firm Can't Back Out Of PAGA Settlement
An emergency services provider must follow a deal settling physicians' claims under California's Private Attorneys General Act, a state appeals panel ruled, rejecting the company's argument that a U.S. Supreme Court ruling could have forced those claims into arbitration.
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April 25, 2024
Calif. Appellate Panel Revives Blood Tech's Wage Claims
A phlebotomist supported well enough her claims that a Southern California hospital failed to pay her for all hours worked, a state appeals panel ruled, flipping a trial court's decision tossing her suit.
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April 25, 2024
3rd Circ. Lets Mallinckrodt Off Sanofi's Royalty Hook
A Third Circuit panel said Thursday that Mallinckrodt PLC's Chapter 11 bankruptcy could sever its obligation to pay Sanofi-Aventis US LLC royalties on sales of an autoimmune disease drug, finding that Sanofi's contract to sell Mallinckrodt the rights to the drug created a claim ripe to be extinguished.
Expert Analysis
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Wash. Health Privacy Bill May Affect Cos. Across Industries
Washington’s recently enacted My Health My Data Act — a comprehensive privacy framework for companies that handle consumer health — will likely apply to companies outside the state and the health care industry, and may result in more privacy litigation than we have seen under any other state privacy statute to date, says Jenny Colgate at Rothwell Figg.
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Case Law Is Mixed On D&O Coverage For Gov't Investigations
As the Fourth Circuit’s recent decision in Brown Goldstein v. Federal Insurance Co. demonstrates, federal appeals courts take different approaches to determine whether government investigations are covered by directors and officers liability insurance, so companies and individuals must review their policy language, say Chloe Law, Jan Larson and Caroline Meneau at Jenner & Block.
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ALI's Medical-Monitoring Proposal May Encourage Claims
If the American Law Institute's Third Restatement of Torts is updated to embrace a minority view regarding claims for medical monitoring in the absence of present bodily harm, it would raise a number of troubling issues and accelerate the already rising rate of such claims, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
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Preparing For FDA's Surprise Foreign Drug Inspection Regime
Foreign drug manufacturers face an increased likelihood of unannounced inspections under a recently expanded U.S. Food and Drug Administration pilot program, so they should take several steps to prepare — or face the risk of an import alert blocking their product from the U.S. market, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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SuperValu's Lesson: Always Be Building An FCA Defense
The recent U.S. v. SuperValu decision confirming that scienter is an essential element of False Claims Act liability should motivate government contractors to prepare for allegations of material misrepresentation by building a record of their honorable efforts toward regulatory compliance, say David Resnicoff and Andrew Patton at Riley Safer.
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Next Steps For Ill. Tort Defendants After Cotton V. Coccaro
While an Illinois appeals court's ruling in Cotton v. Coccaro recently upheld the constitutionality of the state's law imposing prejudgment interest in personal injury and wrongful death actions, defendants can still raise constitutional challenges to the law pending Illinois Supreme Court review, says Melissa Murphy-Petros at Wilson Elser.
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NBA Players Must Avoid Legal Fouls In CBD Deals
The NBA’s recently ratified collective bargaining agreement allows athletes to promote CBD brands and products, but athletes and the companies they promote must be cautious of a complex patchwork of applicable state laws and federal regulators’ approach to advertising claims, says Airina Rodrigues at Brownstein Hyatt.
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What Purdue Ch. 11 Means For Future Of Third-Party Releases
The Second Circuit’s highly anticipated ruling approving Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy plan establishes stringent factors that lower courts must consider before approving nonconsensual third-party releases, but the circuit split on the matter means the issue is far from resolved, say Gregory Hesse and Kollin Bender at Hunton.
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Preparing For Md. Adult-Use Cannabis: Operations And More
As a new regulatory body takes the reins before Maryland’s adult-use cannabis market launches on July 1, industry stakeholders should understand key provisions related to management agreements, secured creditors and receiverships, dispensary operations, and hemp, say Seth Gitner and Jonathan Havens at Saul Ewing.
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Takeaways From Tribes' High Court Adoption Case Victory
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Haaland v. Brackeen, upholding the Indian Child Welfare Act, leaves the door open for individuals to bring equal protection claims, but generally bodes well for future tribal issues that reach the court, says Sarah Murray at Brownstein Hyatt.
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High Court Underscores DOJ's Role In Policing FCA Litigation
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Polansky v. Executive Health Resources reaffirms that the government has final say in False Claims Act cases, allowing for meaningful guardrails that deter private litigators from seeking to regulate industries that Congress has delegated to expert administrative agencies, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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What The Data Says About FDA Responses To FOIA Requests
A statistical evaluation of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's response times to Freedom of Information Act requests in the last decade shows that the FDA handles the majority of requests within a reasonable time frame, but its slowest response times are somewhat concerning, says Bradley Thompson at Epstein Becker.
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Despite Its Plan Objections, UST Also Won In Purdue Ch. 11
The Second Circuit’s recent decision approving Purdue Pharma’s reorganization plan is a win even for the dissenting Office of the U.S. Trustee because the decision sets extremely stringent guidelines for future use of nonconsensual third-party releases, say Edward Neiger and Jennifer Christian at Ask.