More Healthcare Coverage

  • June 26, 2024

    Ex-Seattle Cancer Center Worker Settles Suit Over 'Woke' DEI

    A former clinical social worker for Seattle's Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center has agreed to drop her lawsuit accusing management of firing her for protesting diversity programming as laden with "woke" identity politics, according to a recent stipulation filed in Washington federal court.

  • June 26, 2024

    Zevra Brings On New CLO, People Executive

    Rare disease therapeutics company Zevra Therapeutics Inc. has named a former chief legal officer at Lyell Immunopharma its new CLO and a former chief people officer at Scipher Medicine to a similar job at Zevra, turning to experienced leaders to lead the Celebration, Florida-based company.

  • June 26, 2024

    Nurses Say Mich. Hospitals Owe OT For Meal Break Work

    Two locations of a Michigan healthcare system unlawfully require employees to work through their meal breaks without pay in violation of federal wage law, according to two separate proposed collective actions filed in federal court.

  • June 25, 2024

    Medical Marijuana Bill Sent To NC House After Senate Sign-Off

    The North Carolina Senate has approved a bill that would legalize medical marijuana statewide as part of larger legislation boosting hemp regulations and outlawing the use of three other drugs in the Tar Heel state.

  • June 25, 2024

    United Strikes Deal To Exit Bias Suit Over Mask Policy

    United Airlines told a California federal court it reached a deal with a baggage handler to end his lawsuit after the Ninth Circuit determined a jury should hear his claims that the company unlawfully refused to let him wear a face shield in lieu of a mask during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • June 25, 2024

    GAO Won't Hear Protest Over Canceled DOD Sole-Source Deal

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office has rejected a protest over the Defense Health Agency canceling a company's contract to instead seek competitive bids, saying the company ultimately sought the award of a sole-source deal, a position the watchdog won't support.

  • June 24, 2024

    Justices Undo Terror Victims' Win, Citing Twitter Decision

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday swept aside a D.C. Circuit ruling that threatened to expose major pharmaceutical companies to liability for terrorist attacks that injured or killed hundreds of U.S. soldiers and civilians in Iraq.

  • June 24, 2024

    Harvard Fertility Doctor Settles Secret-Impregnation Claim

    A fertility doctor and longtime Harvard Medical School professor has settled claims that he secretly used his own sperm to impregnate a patient in 1980, according to a Monday court filing.

  • June 21, 2024

    GAO Says CMS Didn't Address Contractor Conflict Of Interest

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office has backed a protest over a $30.65 million Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services analytics task order, saying CMS failed to properly account for a conflict of interest involving a proposed subcontractor for the awardee.

  • June 21, 2024

    Mount Sinai's Doctor Pacts Violate Labor Law, NLRB GC Says

    New York's Mount Sinai Health System has illegally required part-time physicians to sign employment agreements with provisions that infringe on workers' rights, National Labor Relations Board prosecutors alleged, and the agency is seeking financial damages for affected employees.

  • June 20, 2024

    11th Circ. Upholds $2.5M Pelvic Mesh Verdict, Rules Suit Timely

    The Eleventh Circuit on Thursday refused to throw out a woman's $2.5 million victory against Coloplast Corp. in a suit alleging she was implanted with defective pelvic mesh, saying the evidence does not support a conclusion that her claim was filed too late.

  • June 20, 2024

    No Access To Ethics Docs For Ex-NJ Official Yet, Judge Rules

    A New Jersey judge has rejected a bid by a former Garden State health official asking the court to compel the state and its ethics commission to produce documents related to claims he was fired in 2020 for raising concerns over the earmarking of COVID-19 tests for relatives of a state administration official, according to Wednesday orders.

  • June 20, 2024

    11th Circ. Backs Stryker's Defeat Of Fired Worker's Leave Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit refused Thursday to revive a suit claiming medical technology company Stryker illegally fired a worker on leave awaiting the birth of his child, ruling that because the leave didn't formally kick in until the child was born, his termination was fair game.

  • June 18, 2024

    Insurer Countersues In Penile Implant Coverage Dispute

    An insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify a urologist, his medical device company or his practice in a proposed class action over a penile enlargement implant and procedure, the company told a California federal court, saying the underlying suit doesn't seek bodily injury damages that would trigger coverage.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

Expert Analysis

  • Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent

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    As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.

  • New OSHA Memo Helps Clarify Recordkeeping Compliance

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    Based on recent Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidance on whether musculoskeletal disorders are recordable injuries under the agency's recordkeeping regulation, it appears that OSHA may target active release techniques and stretching programs during its inspections, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence

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    The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.

  • To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef

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    To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?

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    Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: May Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses four notable circuit court decisions on topics from automobile insurance to securities — and provides key takeaways for counsel on issues including circuit-specific ascertainability requirements and how to conduct a Daubert analysis prior to class certification.

  • Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys

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    As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.

  • How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case

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    The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.

  • Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content

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    From “The Giving Tree” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” most children’s books are easy to remember because they use simple words and numbers to tell stories with a human impact — a formula law firms should emulate in their marketing content to stay front of mind for potential clients, says Seema Desai Maglio at The Found Word.

  • Being An EMT Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    While some of my experiences as an emergency medical technician have been unusually painful and searing, the skills I’ve learned — such as triage, empathy and preparedness — are just as useful in my work as a restructuring lawyer, says Marshall Huebner at Davis Polk.

  • Lessons On Challenging Class Plaintiffs' Expert Testimony

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    In class actions seeking damages, plaintiffs are increasingly using expert opinions to establish predominance, but several recent rulings from California federal courts shed light on how defendants can respond, say Jennifer Romano and Raija Horstman at Crowell & Moring.

  • Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance

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    A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.

  • Cell Therapy Cos. Must Beware Limits Of Patent Safe Harbors

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    Though developers of gene and cell therapy products commonly assume that a legal safe harbor protects them from patent infringement suits, recent case law shows that not all preapproval uses of patented technology are necessarily protected, say Natasha Daughtrey and Joshua Weinger at Goodwin.

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