More Healthcare Coverage
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February 06, 2024
Seattle Hospital Must Pay Up For 'Huge' Negligence, Jury Told
Counsel for three families whose children had to undergo anti-fungal treatment after a Seattle hospital exposed them to mold urged a Washington state jury Tuesday to aim high on their damages award during closing arguments in a bellwether trial, citing lasting consequences that merit more than "a couple hundred thousand dollars."
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February 06, 2024
2nd Circ. Gives Physician's Disability Bias Suit New Life
The Second Circuit revived a fertility doctor's lawsuit alleging a Vermont hospital terminated her because she took medical leave for a cerebrospinal fluid leak, finding Tuesday a lower court erroneously overlooked that supervisors referenced her disability when explaining why she was let go.
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February 06, 2024
Judge Accepts DHA's Course-Correct For $65B Tricare Deal
The U.S. Court of Federal Claims explained Tuesday why it cleared an embattled deal for healthcare services for the U.S. Department of Defense, saying the department appropriately handled claims challenging the winning company's small business participation plan.
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February 06, 2024
Judge Won't Toss All Claims In COVID Test Securities Action
A New York federal judge trimmed a proposed class action against COVID-19 test-maker Co-Diagnostics and its executives, but said investors sufficiently alleged some statements made during the class period misrepresented that sales and demand for the tests were on the decline, and the defendants knew as such.
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February 06, 2024
Committees Send PBM, Preventive Health Bills To House
Two congressional committees sent separate legislation on Tuesday to the House after holding committee markup votes, moving forward bills that could allow Congress to examine if preventive healthcare might reduce Congressional spending and to address transparency for prescription benefit managers and potentially drive down the cost of prescription drugs.
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February 06, 2024
Appeals Court Upholds Insurers' COVID-19 Coverage Win
A Texas state appeals court upheld on Tuesday a decision that a pollution and contamination exclusion prevents coverage for Baylor College of Medicine's COVID-19-related losses.
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February 06, 2024
JPML Consolidates Suboxone Dental Decay Suits In Ohio
The Northern District of Ohio will host consolidated cases brought against Indivior, Reckitt Benckiser and others alleging the companies failed to warn users of opioid addiction treatment Suboxone that it causes dental decay, according to an order from the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation joining 15 suits.
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February 06, 2024
NC Virus Law Won't Free Surgeon From Med Mal Suit, Panel Says
North Carolina's COVID-19 emergency law cannot shield a doctor and hospital from a patient's lawsuit alleging she nearly died from a botched hysterectomy, a state appeals court ruled Tuesday, reasoning the medical providers didn't show how the virus affected the patient's treatment.
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February 05, 2024
States Ask Justices To End Feds' Alleged Online Censorship
The Biden administration is trying to "flip the First Amendment on its head" by arguing that the government has free speech rights that are being trampled by an order banning it from working with social media companies to combat disinformation, Louisiana and Missouri have told the U.S. Supreme Court.
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February 05, 2024
JCPenney Cardholder's Proposed $5M Insurance Suit Fails
A JCPenney credit card holder who bought health insurance through a promotion tied to the card lost her bid in Mississippi federal court Monday to continue her $5 million proposed class action over what she believed were intentional delays in paying for her hospital stay.
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February 05, 2024
Merck's Former CEO And GC Joins Harvard Board
Kenneth Frazier, who rose in the ranks at Merck & Co. to become general counsel and eventual CEO and chair, will soon join the Harvard Corporation governing board, according to an announcement Sunday, as the Ivy League university continues to look for a new president.
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February 02, 2024
Health Net Loses Bid To Stop $65B Contract Award
The U.S. Department of Defense prevailed over Health Net's challenge to a $65 billion contract award to TriWest Healthcare Alliance, as a U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge ruled Friday that TriWest's bid passed fair and square.
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February 02, 2024
McKinsey's $78M Opioid Deal With Health Plans Hits Snag
A California federal judge considering a $78 million deal between third-party payors and McKinsey & Co. in multidistrict litigation over the consulting firm's marketing advice to opioid makers held off on preliminarily approving the deal Friday, instead setting a new hearing date after some plaintiffs' attorneys raised issues with aspects of the deal.
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February 02, 2024
Med Biller Who Posed As NBA Star, NFL Atty Gets 12 Years
A Long Island medical biller was sentenced to 12 years in prison Friday after being convicted of bilking over $600 million from insurance companies through fraudulent billing submissions and impersonating NBA star Marcus Smart and the NFL's general counsel.
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February 02, 2024
Pa. Panel Ditches Med. Mal. Suit Over Tardy Expert Report
A medical negligence suit over an endoscopy performed on a woman who later died won't move forward because the plaintiff filed an expert report less than one month before trial with the intent to subsequently replace that expert before trial, a Pennsylvania appellate panel has ruled, finding the doctor's trial preparation was stifled.
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February 02, 2024
Drugmaker Endo Wants To Extend Opioid Suit Pause
Endo has asked a New York bankruptcy judge to pause the opioid litigation leveled against it for five more months, asserting that the pharmaceutical company made "wide-ranging progress" in its Chapter 11 case and expects to have a reorganization plan confirmed by March.
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February 02, 2024
Families New To Tylenol MDL Cite Expert To Avoid Dismissal
A dozen parents and children who allege that prenatal exposure to acetaminophen caused ADHD have urged a federal judge to keep their lawsuits alive, contending that they aren't bound by an earlier ruling that barred every expert witness set to testify for plaintiffs in similar cases.
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February 02, 2024
Ill. COVID Wrongful Death Claims Can't Be Arbitrated
An Illinois appeals panel has sent back to court a woman's wrongful death claims against a nursing home over her mother's death from COVID-19, saying Illinois Supreme Court precedent holds that the wrongful death claims can't be arbitrated.
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February 02, 2024
Pennsylvania AG's Clout In Opioid Deal Likely Has Wide Reach
A Pennsylvania court's ruling that the attorney general had the power to overrule local district attorneys' objections to a big opioid settlement could affect the prosecutors' power dynamic beyond the painkiller litigation, overshadowing other areas where they could share jurisdiction or clash over politically sensitive issues, attorneys told Law360.
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February 02, 2024
Conn. Eye Patient Drops Bausch & Lomb Implant Claims
A Connecticut woman who said she was injured by an in-eye lens implant and her husband have agreed to drop their claims against Bausch & Lomb in federal court, according to a stipulation filed by the parties following multiple appellate decisions in the couple's favor.
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February 02, 2024
McCarter & English To Face Revised Biotech Malpractice Suit
A New Jersey state judge on Friday permitted a biopharmaceutical company to amend its malpractice suit against McCarter & English LLP to add new claims and avenues to collect damages, finding the changes were "sufficiently pled" and would not be prejudicial to the firm.
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February 01, 2024
5 Mass. Rulings You Might Have Missed In January
Massachusetts justices in Suffolk County's Business Litigation Session weighed in on the impact of a major ruling involving Robinhood Financial, a proposed class action on overdraft fees charged by a credit union, and two pandemic-related cases. Here are five January decisions that might have flown under the radar.
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February 01, 2024
Healthcare Co. Owes Nearly $20M In HUD Loans, Suit Says
A healthcare financing firm has moved to foreclose on a series of nine senior living facilities scattered throughout Illinois and Missouri, claiming the owner hasn't paid nearly $20 million in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development loans.
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February 01, 2024
Ex-Nursing Head Drops Retaliation Suit Against Colo. Hospice
A former nursing director and the hospice care company she accused of firing her in retaliation for using Family and Medical Leave Act leave have ended their dispute, according to a stipulation of dismissal filed in Colorado federal court.
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February 01, 2024
Colo. Judge Trims Travel Nurses' 'Bait And Switch' Suit
A Colorado federal judge cut several claims from a group of travel nurses' proposed class action alleging two staffing companies did a "bait and switch" and slashed their wages after hiring them, ruling they could not bring breach of contract claims because they were at-will employees.
Expert Analysis
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NY Panel's COVID Nursing Home Case Order Spurs Questions
The New York Litigation Coordinating Panel's recent final order to coordinate the resolution of COVID-19 nursing home cases leaves critical parameters for the cases coming under the order undefined, such as time frame and injury, say Christopher Potenza and Elizabeth Adymy at Hurwitz Fine.
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3rd Circ. 'Loss' Definition Is A Win For White Collar Defendants
The Third Circuit's recent watershed decision in U.S. v. Banks — holding for the first time that the definition of "loss" in fraud cases does not include "intended" loss under the sentencing guidelines — may result in fewer white collar matters and smaller sentences, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
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The Fed. Circ. In November: The Presumption Of TM Validity
The Federal Circuit's recent decision confirming the strength of the presumption of validity of federal trademark registrations in SoClean v. Sunset Healthcare makes clear that the presumption applies with full force, even if the examiner allowed a trademark to issue in error, says Paul Stewart at Knobbe Martens.
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Pending High Court ICWA Decision Holds Broad Implications
Oral argument in Brackeen v. Haaland — a child welfare case currently before the U.S. Supreme Court — has called attention to complex interplay between the case and other tribal and racial issues, indicating that consequences will affect Congress' ability to fulfill its trust obligations to tribes, as well as diversity programs that include Native Americans, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.
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Cos. Can Bet On More Stringent Climate Regs At Every Level
The climate measures recently proposed at COP27, as well as emerging federal, state and local policies aimed at reaching aggressive carbon emissions reduction targets, make it clear that companies will have to adapt to the certainty of increased climate regulations at all levels of government, says John Watson at Spencer Fane.
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ADA Ruling Uses Low Bar For Rare Employer Meddling Claim
A Pennsylvania federal court's recent decision in U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Geisinger Health should prompt companies to examine whether their policies could violate the Americans With Disabilities Act's rarely invoked Title V prohibition against "meddling" with employees pursuing their ADA rights, say David Rowland and Sarah Bauman at Seyfarth.
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Exculpation Clause Ruling May Dissuade Some Ch. 11 Filings
Highland Capital’s recent bankruptcy ruling narrows the scope of exculpation provisions permissible in the Fifth and Tenth Circuits, which not only reveals another circuit split, but also may discourage large Chapter 11 filings in those circuits and lead to diminished creditor recoveries, say attorneys at Squire Patton.
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Bankruptcy Ruling Is A Warning For Cos. With Foreign Assets
The Seventh Circuit’s recent ruling in Sheehan v. Breccia is a reminder for domestic companies engaged in international business to consider the bankruptcy implications of entering into foreign financing, and highlights the importance of protection from forum selection and choice-of-law clauses, say attorneys at Michael Best.
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What New Data On FCA Enforcement Tells Us
Attorneys at Kramer Levin take a deep dive into False Claims Act litigation data beyond the U.S. Department of Justice’s annual statistics, revealing enforcement trends that emerged from the early days of the Trump administration through the first eight months of Biden's term.
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Jury Verdict For EEOC Highlights Employer ADA Lessons
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently convinced a Tennessee federal jury that a nursing home violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by terminating an employee who requested Family and Medical Act leave to address anxiety, highlighting several points about disability bias litigation and enforcement for health care employers, says John Bennett at Freeman Mathis.
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University Compliance Programs Need 3 Lines Of Defense
As illustrated by Michigan State University’s recent Title IX compliance failures, higher education institutions must incorporate three key strategies in building effective ethics and compliance programs, focusing especially on proactive and forward-looking practices, say Bradley Dizik and Robert Roach at Guidepost Solutions.
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California Case Offers New Take on Liquidated Damages
The California Court of Appeal's recent decision in Gormley v. Gonzalez appears to break from well-established precedent that liquidated damages provisions in settlement agreements are unenforceable penalties — and provides hints for practitioners on crafting more robust liquidated damages clauses going forward, say Alexander Safyan and Jon-Jamison Hill at Michelman & Robinson.
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Addressing Potential Perils In Algorithmic Health Tech
In light of recent legislative and executive enforcement activity in California targeting algorithmic technology in health care, health providers should address bias and other downstream impacts of this technology in order to avoid liability, say Gayland Hethcoat and Candace Sandoval at ArentFox Schiff.