Practice Areas
Health
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February 22, 2012
New Rules Let States Opt Out Of Health Care Reform Law
Two new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act rules were finalized Wednesday, one requiring states to open up Medicaid pilot programs to public review and another allowing states to opt out of the act if they propose a plan that would be equally effective at bringing down costs and expanding coverage.
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February 22, 2012
11th Circ. Revives $69M Fraud Suit Against Medco
The Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday revived a whistleblowers' False Claims Act suit alleging Medco Health Solutions Inc. subsidiaries hid $69 million in Medicare and Medicaid overpayments, finding the relators' complaint should have survived a motion to dismiss.
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February 22, 2012
Pfizer Unit Scores More Time In Ch. 11 For Asbestos Dealings
A New York bankruptcy judge on Wednesday allowed Pfizer Inc. subsidiary Quigley Co. to stay in Chapter 11 for up to six more months, as the insulation maker continues trying to hammer out a deal with asbestos claimants.
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February 22, 2012
Genetic Disorder Patients Take Aim At US Over Drug Shortages
More than two dozen people with a rare genetic disorder sued three federal agencies Friday in Washington federal court, saying the government didn't do enough to ensure that Genzyme Corp. maintained adequate drug supplies after a prolonged shortage in medicine used to treat the disease.
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February 22, 2012
J&J Backs Down To EU Over $21B Synthes Deal
Johnson & Johnson has offered unnamed concessions meant to ease the European Commission's antitrust concerns over the company's proposed $21.3 billion acquisition of leading orthopedic device maker Synthes Inc., the regulator said on Wednesday.
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February 22, 2012
Justices Remand Challenge To Calif.'s Medicaid Cuts
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to decide whether plaintiffs can use the U.S. Constitution's supremacy clause to challenge California's cuts to Medicaid, ordering the Ninth Circuit to rehear the case now that the federal government has approved the challenged cuts.
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February 22, 2012
Insurer Aims To Duck Coverage Of Omeros FCA Suit
Carolina Casualty Insurance Co. sued biopharmaceutical company Omeros Corp. on Tuesday, seeking to avoid covering claims from an underlying False Claims Act action brought by the company's former chief financial officer concerning allegedly fraudulent National Institute of Health grants.
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February 21, 2012
Fla. Catholic University Sues Over Contraception Rule
A Catholic university in Florida on Tuesday sued the Obama administration, claiming the new rule requiring employers to include free contraceptive care in their health plans is unconstitutional, the latest such suit challenging the provision.
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February 21, 2012
2nd Circ. Bars Trusts From $138M Biovail, Investors Deal
The Second Circuit on Tuesday upheld a decision to exclude four investment trusts from a $138 million settlement between Biovail Corp. and shareholders, saying the fact that the founder had a controlling interest in them was an appropriate reason for disqualification.
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February 21, 2012
8 States Probe Abbott's Marketing Of Anti-Seizure Drug
Abbott Laboratories Inc., already facing a U.S. Department of Justice investigation over Depakote, disclosed Tuesday that the attorneys general of eight states are investigating whether the company's promotion of improper off-label uses for the anti-seizure drug Depakote violated state laws.
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February 21, 2012
SNR Denton Defamation Claims Revived In Secrets Row
An Illinois appeals court last week revived SNR Denton’s defamation and tortious interference counterclaims in a consulting company’s trade secrets suit that claims a former executive violated her noncompete agreement by joining the law firm and helping it poach employees for the firm's health care group.
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February 21, 2012
US Issues $639M In Loans For Insurance CO-OPs
Seven nonprofits will get $639 million in loans from the federal government to launch new, not-for-profit health insurance plans known as CO-OPs, the first of $3.8 billion in loans the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services hopes to issue under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
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February 21, 2012
$1.7B Humira IP Verdict Won't Get Supreme Court Review
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to review a Federal Circuit ruling that negated a $1.67 billion patent verdict against Abbott Laboratories, refusing to consider a Johnson & Johnson unit's argument that the written description requirement used by the appeals court is too unpredictable.
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February 21, 2012
Dental Center Co. Seeks Sale To Root Out Fraud Claims
Dental center manager Church Street Health Management LLC told a Tennessee federal judge Tuesday that it would seek to sell its assets to a stalking horse bidder, one day after fallout from Medicaid fraud claims forced the company into bankruptcy.
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February 21, 2012
CMS Sunshine Rule Will Unfairly Burden Docs: AMA, Others
A proposed "sunshine" rule requiring drug and device companies to disclose payments to doctors would impose costly burdens on physicians and unfairly tarnish their reputations, the American Medical Association and others said in comments obtained Monday by Law360.
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February 21, 2012
Forest's COPD Drug May Have Added Heart Risks: FDA
A U.S. Food and Drug Administration staff report Tuesday noted the effectiveness of a proposed Forest Laboratories Inc. chronic obstructive pulmonary disease drug, but brought up concerns that the drug could raise the risk of heart problems.
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February 21, 2012
13 States Back Medicaid Expansion In High Court Brief
California's attorney general and 12 other states defended the constitutionality of the new health care reform law's Medicaid expansion, saying in an amicus brief filed in the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday that the provision retains the program's long-accepted cooperative structure.
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February 21, 2012
Allergan, Others Sought Pinkeye Treatment Monopoly: Suit
Generic pharmaceutical manufacturer Apotex Inc. launched a suit in Delaware Thursday accusing Allergan Inc. and two Japanese drug manufacturers of pinkeye medication Zymar of creating a monopoly over the medication and creating a new version of the treatment to eliminate generic competition.
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February 21, 2012
Rotech Sues VA Over Home Oxygen Contract
Home medical equipment supplier Rotech Healthcare Inc. on Friday protested the terms of a U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs home oxygen contract solicitation, alleging its parameters create an unfair contract award system.
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February 21, 2012
Cellectis Hit With New Genome Engineering IP Suits
Precision BioSciences Inc. wasted no time firing off the latest salvo in its legal battle with rival Cellectis SA, filing two suits in North Carolina accusing France-based Cellectis of infringing genome engineering technology patents issued on Tuesday.
Expert Analysis
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Stop The Madness (Before It Starts): UCL Abstention
When plaintiffs try to use California's Unfair Competition Law claims to enforce statutory schemes that are too complex or too undefined to support judicial enforcement, defendants may be able to invoke the doctrine of abstention. There are three themes that stand out as potentially winning defense strategies, say attorneys with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP.
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Increasing Access To Innovative Biomedical Technology
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's biomedical innovation report has set forth how the FDA is working to facilitate overall medical product innovation. However, to accelerate biomedical innovation fully, Congress should consider steps to further elevate the mission of the FDA for the challenges of today, says William Kitchens of Arnall Golden & Gregory LLP.
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In Promotional Labeling, Size Matters
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has published final guidance to clarify the requirements for the use of product names in promotional labeling and advertising for prescription drugs, which takes an important step in addressing issues specific to the dissemination of information via the Internet and social media, say attorneys with McDermott Will & Emery LLP.
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Law School, Meet Litigation PR ...
The single most important thing law schools can do to manage their reputations in the face of litigation is apply the lessons learned from Wall Street during the recent financial crisis and strive for transparency in all communications. One need only look to Goldman Sachs’ woes or the struggles of Jon Corzine’s MF Global as examples of the catastrophic results of a campaign based on anything but complete honesty, says Spencer Baretz of Hellerman Baretz Communications.
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Avoiding Union Ire With Consistent Policy Enforcement
The National Labor Relations Board has affirmed that consistent enforcement of clearly articulated uniform and off-duty access policies in a health care facility is paramount, particularly when possible union activity is involved. Unions trying to attack such policies will be aware of any exceptions and use them aggressively to challenge an otherwise lawful policy, say Eric Stevens and Jennifer Mora of Littler Mendelson PC.
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'Independent Practice,' Collective Enforcement
In North Texas Specialty Physicians v. Federal Trade Commission, the Fifth Circuit has affirmed the FTC's decision that collective rate negotiation within an independent practice association is illegal under an "inherently suspect" analysis, providing fertile ground for payers to receive meaningful relief from the FTC if they suspect collective negotiation, says Ryan Marth of Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi LLP.
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Waste Not, Risk Not
The disposal of nonmedical solid waste may expose a hospital or other health care facility to potential liability under the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act, which may be difficult and/or expensive to resolve. Health care facilities ought to review their practices in order to minimize any risk, says Sheila Woolson of Epstein Becker Green PC.
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A Green Light For Repetitive Class Action Litigation
Most employers assume that if they successfully defeat a plaintiff’s motion for class certification in a wage and hour class action, the same class claims cannot be raised again in another case. However, the California Court of Appeal has dashed that commonly held assumption in Bridgeford v. Pacific Health Corp., says Remy Kessler of Reed Smith LLP.
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Revised Removal Statutes — Possibilities, Pitfalls: Part 2
The Federal Courts Jurisdiction and Venue Clarification Act of 2011 has brought about substantial clarification in the federal removal, jurisdiction and venue statutes. But the act still leaves substantial ambiguity in place when it comes to the scope of these statutes, say Colin Wrabley and Douglas Allen of Reed Smith LLP.
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Case Study: Messner V. Northshore
Following Dukes, the Seventh Circuit decision in Messner v. Northshore University HealthSystem approves intensive examination of merits issues at the class certification stage, and highlights the critical role that reliable expert testimony plays by mandating Daubert review at the class certification stage when expert opinions are material to the decision, say attorneys with Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC.