More Healthcare Coverage
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April 23, 2024
Doctor Renews $20M Claim His Hospital Made Up 25 Murders
An Ohio physician accused of 25 counts of murder and found guilty of none just renewed his $20 million malicious-prosecution suit against Trinity Health Corp., the parent company of his former employer, claiming that the company misled prosecutors to get him indicted as a distraction from the internal issues of the hospital where he worked.
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April 23, 2024
Expert Doc's License Probation Upends $6.5M Med Mal Verdict
An Ohio state appeals panel has vacated a $6.5 million verdict in a medical malpractice trial by a son alleging a doctor and hospital are responsible for his mother contracting deadly pneumonia, saying the trial court should have allowed the defense to cross-examine the plaintiff's expert on a prior probation of his medical license.
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April 23, 2024
Feds Seek To Bar Fox Rothschild Atty From Fraud Retrial
The government is seeking to bar a Fox Rothschild LLP partner from testifying as an expert witness for the defense in the retrial of a federal securities fraud case that ended in a dramatic mistrial after a lone juror told the judge that he disagreed with the guilty verdict the forewoman had delivered to the court.
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April 22, 2024
Colo. Justices Clarify Med Mal Damages Cap Calculation
The Colorado Supreme Court held Monday that a trial court can't consider a victorious medical malpractice plaintiff's insurance liabilities to statutorily cap his award at $1 million, saying an exception to the state's "collateral source" statute bars application.
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April 22, 2024
Citing Cozen O'Connor Ties, Pa. Judge Leaves Bias Case
Despite originally declining to recuse himself from a surgeon's gender discrimination case against Thomas Jefferson University Hospital when an attorney from his son-in-law's firm, Cozen O'Connor, became involved, U.S. District Judge Michael M. Baylson changed his mind now that the case is set for a retrial.
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April 22, 2024
Tyson & Mendes Adds Former Ericksen Arbuthnot Health Atty
Insurance and civil litigation defense firm Tyson & Mendes LLP is expanding its California team, announcing Monday it is bringing in a veteran healthcare litigator most recently with Bradley Gmelich & Wellerstein LLP but previously with Ericksen Arbuthnot LLP as a partner in its Los Angeles office.
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April 19, 2024
Sentence For Pandemic Funds Theft Seems To Split 2nd Circ.
A three-judge panel of Second Circuit jurists seemed split Friday over whether a Connecticut man's eight-year prison sentence for stealing COVID-19 funds from the city of West Haven was too harsh, with one judge expressing skepticism and two hinting it was likely appropriate.
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April 19, 2024
Hospital Can't Ax Ex-Worker's Disability Suit Over COVID Vax
A New York hospital system must face an ex-worker's lawsuit alleging he was fired after refusing to get a coronavirus vaccine because of his atrial fibrillation, with a federal judge saying Friday he adequately showed the company refused to consider the bulk of medical exemption requests.
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April 19, 2024
Quest Punished Black Worker For Flagging Racism, Suit Says
Quest Diagnostics has been sued in Pennsylvania federal court by a former phlebotomist who said she faced racial discrimination from patients and retaliation from management when she complained.
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April 19, 2024
IQVIA Strikes Deal To Exit Ex-Workers' 401(k) Suit
Healthcare technology company IQVIA has reached a settlement to resolve allegations from a 9,000-member class that it picked inferior and expensive investments for its $1.13 billion 401(k) plan, according to a filing in North Carolina federal court.
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April 18, 2024
Conn. Marketing Co. Says Competitor Poached Top Exec
Unlock Health Inc. hired away a senior executive at competing healthcare marketing firm Primacy LLC who arrived at his new job with trade secrets from his ex-employer and a plan to lure former clients and co-workers, according to a lawsuit in Connecticut federal court.
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April 18, 2024
GAO Rejects Another Protest Over $1B Medicare IT Deal
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has rejected another protest over an up to $1 billion Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services information technology deal, saying the agency fairly assessed Spatial Front Inc.'s proposal and didn't treat the company unequally.
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April 17, 2024
Damages Still Possible In Lease Tax Reimbursement Row
A Court of Federal Claims judge has ruled that the General Services Administration could unilaterally adjust the real estate tax reimbursement methodology under a lease for the Defense Health Agency's headquarters building, but the building owner may still be owed damages.
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April 17, 2024
GAO Says Company Rightly Left Out Of $1B Medicare IT Deal
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has denied a company's protest over its exclusion from a $1 billion Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services information technology deal, saying the protester proposed using types of workers not covered by an overarching contract.
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April 17, 2024
NC Justices Fear UNC Doc Wants 'Dramatic' Immunity Expansion
The North Carolina Supreme Court expressed concern Wednesday over a "dramatic" broadening of public official immunity if they accepted the arguments of a University of North Carolina doctor looking to escape a defamation lawsuit alleging he made up accusations to incite a vindictive investigation into a going away party for a subordinate.
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April 17, 2024
Compass Group Gets New Damages Trial In $8M Death Suit
A California state appeals court has rejected cross-appeals from food service giant Compass Group USA Inc. and a mother suing it for negligence in a wrongful death suit that ended in an $8 million verdict, sending the case back for a new trial on damages.
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April 17, 2024
BCBS Association Names Sidecar Health Atty As CLO
The general counsel for insurance company Sidecar Health has joined the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association as its chief legal officer and general counsel, the company said Tuesday.
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April 17, 2024
Ga. Justices To Examine 'Actual Malice' In Atty's Libel Case
The Supreme Court of Georgia has agreed to take up a contentious defamation case, pitting an orthopedic surgeon against a defense attorney known for criticizing "litigation networks" of plaintiffs attorneys and doctors, that could determine how difficult it is to sue attorneys accused of bad-mouthing third parties to other attorneys.
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April 16, 2024
Amazon Beats Suit After Injured Drivers Bury Medical Details
Amazon can't be held liable in a personal injury lawsuit accusing an affiliate semitruck driver of rear-ending a family's vehicle, Michigan appeals court has ruled, saying it's not the court's responsibility to dig through a "huge stack of medical records" to find information favorable to the plaintiff.
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April 16, 2024
NJ Hospital GC Emails Doom $24M Verdict For Surgeons
The New Jersey Supreme Court on Tuesday vacated a $24.3 million award to a group of neurosurgeons on their claim that a hospital didn't operate in good faith, finding the trial court's admission of emails from the hospital's general counsel and remarks made during closing arguments deprived the hospital of a fair trial.
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April 16, 2024
Meltzer Lippe Absorbs Leading NYC Elder Law Firm
Mid-Law firm Meltzer Lippe Goldstein & Breitstone LLP has acquired an elder law boutique in New York City, the firm said Monday.
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April 15, 2024
NJ Appeals Court Tosses Suit Over Painful Dental Implants
A New Jersey appeals court on Monday tossed a suit accusing an oral surgeon of botching a woman's dental implant surgery, saying that because the treatment took place in Pennsylvania and the surgeon's clinic had few contacts with New Jersey, the Garden State doesn't have jurisdiction.
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April 15, 2024
Whistleblower Says Lab Co. Ran COVID-Testing Scheme
A California-based diagnostics firm and its CEO have been hit with a whistleblower suit in Washington federal court by an ex-lab director who claims an affiliated company flouted regulatory standards and fraudulently billed government healthcare programs for COVID-19 tests on patients with private insurance.
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April 15, 2024
Geico Must Arbitrate Fraud Claims Against Chiropractors
The Third Circuit held in a precedential opinion Monday that Geico must arbitrate three lawsuits accusing chiropractic practices of providing unnecessary services totaling $10 million, pointing to documentation indicating that disputes connected to personal injury protection benefits must be resolved out of court.
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April 15, 2024
Doc's NDAs Illegally Silenced Negative Reviews, Judge Says
A Washington state plastic surgery practice illegally required patients to sign pretreatment nondisclosure agreements that threatened to punish them for posting negative online reviews, a Washington federal judge has determined.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Justices Could Use Purdue To Resolve Related Circuit Split
The U.S. Supreme Court will soon hear Harrington v. Purdue Pharma to determine the validity of nonconsensual third-party releases in bankruptcy, but justices should also take the opportunity to resolve a related circuit split over the constitutional authority of bankruptcy judges to issue final rulings on such releases, says Benjamin Feder at Kelley Drye.
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2nd Circ. OT Ruling Guides On Pay For Off-The-Clock Work
While the Second Circuit’s recent holding in Perry v. City of New York reiterated that the Fair Labor Standards Act obligates employers to pay overtime for off-the-clock work, it recognized circumstances, such as an employee’s failure to report, that allow an employer to disclaim the knowledge element that triggers this obligation, say Robert Whitman and Kyle Winnick at Seyfarth.
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Tips For Student Visa Applicants Mired In Processing Delays
Notwithstanding procedural changes at the U.S. Department of State that provided hope for more timely and predictable visa processing outcomes, international student applications continue to risk becoming bogged down in administrative processing, but certain steps may improve the situation, say Carl Risch and Lauren Epstein at Mayer Brown.
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Bracing For Regulatory Delays As Shutdown Looms
As a government shutdown looms, stakeholders should plan for regulatory delays and note that more regulations could become vulnerable to congressional disapproval under the Congressional Review Act, say Matthew Shapanka and Holly Fechner at Covington.