http://www.law360.com/health Latest articles for: Health Copyright 2012 Portfolio Media, Inc. en-US Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:26:11 +0000 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/312080 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/312080 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. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:21:17 +0000 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/312208 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/312208 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. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:18:42 +0000 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/312109 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/312109 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. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:47:27 +0000 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/312058 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/312058 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. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:03:57 +0000 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/311995 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/311995 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. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:51:27 +0000 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/311967 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/311967 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. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:33:48 +0000 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/311722 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/311722 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. Tue, 21 Feb 2012 23:20:33 +0000 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/311889 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/311889 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. Tue, 21 Feb 2012 22:06:53 +0000 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/311780 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/311780 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. Tue, 21 Feb 2012 20:27:48 +0000 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/311756 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/311756 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. Tue, 21 Feb 2012 20:12:20 +0000 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/311744 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/311744 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. Tue, 21 Feb 2012 20:10:30 +0000 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/311740 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/311740 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. Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:30:08 +0000 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/311432 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/311432 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. Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:27:46 +0000 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/311721 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/311721 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. Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:23:40 +0000 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/311508 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/311508 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. Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:16:50 +0000 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/311551 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/311551 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. Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:43:19 +0000 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/311231 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/311231 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. Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:04:41 +0000 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/311331 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/311331 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. Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:41:59 +0000 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/311433 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/311433 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. Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:53:50 +0000 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/311389 http://www.law360.com/health/articles/311389 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.