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Health
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May 16, 2013
VA Wants DaVita's Dialysis Underpayment Suit Trimmed
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on Wednesday asked the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to trim thousands of payment claims from a DaVita Inc. suit accusing the agency of underpaying for dialysis services, arguing the claims were either time-barred or not allowed under law.
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May 16, 2013
Medical Supplier BestMed Dodges $3.5M Verdict In IP Row
Colorado-based medical equipment firm BestMed LLC convinced a New York federal judge to reverse a $3.5 million verdict for its adversary, Israel-based thermometer maker Medisim Ltd., over a thermometer patent that she found invalid Wednesday.
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May 16, 2013
NYC Hospital Operator Avoids FLSA Overtime Action For Now
A New York federal judge Wednesday tossed a putative class action accusing New York City Health and Hospitals Corp. of violating the Fair Labor Standards Act by depriving hourly employees of overtime pay, but left the plaintiff a chance to amend his complaint to add more detailed allegations.
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May 16, 2013
EEOC's 1st Genetic Bias Class Action Targets Nursing Home
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission launched its first class action under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act on Thursday, accusing a New York nursing home of wrongly requesting family medical histories as part of health exams before and after workers accept jobs.
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May 15, 2013
Malpractice Attys Score $10M Fees In Botched Delivery Case
A Pennsylvania judge has handed a win to attorneys who secured a $78.4 million medical malpractice verdict for a child disabled during delivery, saying they should receive nearly $10 million in fees based on the present value of the child's future medical costs, rather than the cost of an annuity.
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May 15, 2013
9th Circ. Remands Atty Fee Award In Davis Wright Fraud Case
Attorneys for investors on Wednesday won their bid for reconsideration of an award of $231,000 for their work on a class action against Davis Wright Tremaine LLP when the Ninth Circuit ruled a judge had not explained how he calculated the number.
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May 15, 2013
Panel Sends Drug-Tracking Bill To House Floor
The House Energy & Commerce Committee on Wednesday approved its version of a drug supply chain tracking system, known as track-and-trace, sending the bill to the House floor and moving the industry-supported legislation a step closer to enactment.
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May 15, 2013
Obama's 1st Term Rulemaking Rate Soars By Bush's Mark
President Barack Obama has pushed through a significantly higher number of major rules over the last four years than former President George W. Bush did during his own first term, according to a report by the research arm of Congress.
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May 15, 2013
CMS Sued Over Medicare Prosthetics Payment Rule
The American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association on Monday sued the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in Washington federal court, accusing the agency of implementing rules denying Medicare claims for prosthetic devices lacking supporting documentation from doctors without legal authority or a proper rulemaking process.
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May 15, 2013
Senate Overwhelmingly Confirms First CMS Chief Since 2006
The U.S. Senate on Wednesday voted resoundingly to make Marilyn Tavenner the first confirmed chief of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in seven years, a rare instance of bipartisan accord on health care that underscored the nominee’s apolitical style.
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May 15, 2013
GAO Orders Army To Rethink Health System Contract Bid
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has asked the U.S. Army to reconsider the exclusion of a staffing solutions contractor from a contract for registering nursing services for the San Antonio Military Health System, saying in a decision released Wednesday that the exclusion of the company was unreasonable.
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May 15, 2013
Rotech Bondholders Want Baker & McKenzie Fees Capped
Rotech Healthcare Inc.’s bondholders on Wednesday echoed the bankrupt medical equipment maker’s opposition to the retention of Baker & McKenzie LLP on an hourly basis as counsel for the official equity committee, saying the firm should only be compensated by a contingent fee.
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May 15, 2013
FTC Wins Restraining Order In $195M Phoebe Merger Fight
A Georgia federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked Phoebe Putney Health System Inc. from further integrating its operations with a nearby rival, a ruling that comes in the Federal Trade Commission's antitrust challenge of the now-consummated $195 million acquisition.
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May 15, 2013
Medicare Doesn't Trump State Workers' Comp Law: 5th Circ.
The Fifth Circuit ruled Tuesday that a Medicare statute cannot trump a Texas law that requires preauthorization for workers' compensation expenses because Medicare indicates that claimants should exhaust their state law remedies first.
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May 15, 2013
CMS Unveils $1B In ACA Grants For Innovative Care
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Wednesday announced availability of $1 billion in Affordable Care Act grants to test new health care delivery models certain to be watched closely as policymakers study whether innovation can deliver higher quality and lower costs.
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May 15, 2013
Medco Can't Trim Suit Over Recouped Pharmacy Payments
A New Jersey federal judge on Tuesday refused to dismiss several claims from a putative class action accusing pharmacy benefit manager Medco Health Solutions Inc. of improperly clawing back reimbursements from pharmacies, ruling the plaintiffs had made a reasonable claim that they were promised the payments.
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May 14, 2013
Rotech's $30M DIP Loan OK'd Over Shareholders' Objections
Struggling medical equipment maker Rotech Healthcare Inc. won final approval for its $30 million debtor-in-possession package Tuesday, as a Delaware bankruptcy judge agreed to sign off on it despite strenuous opposition from Rotech's shareholders committee.
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May 14, 2013
9th Circ. OKs Revoking Medicare Part D Insurer's Contract
Federal regulators acted properly when they revoked the Medicare Part D contract of a prescription drug insurance provider for delaying patient access to medications for cancer, HIV and AIDS, the Ninth Circuit ruled Tuesday in the first such case to reach a federal appeals court.
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May 14, 2013
Hospital's $350M Bond Issuance Suit Falls In 5th Circ.
A Louisiana hospital operator on Tuesday lost its suit over bond insurer National Public Finance Guarantee Corp.'s delay in deciding to approve its plan to issue $350 million in additional bonds, when the Fifth Circuit ruled their agreement allowed National Public to withhold approval.
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May 14, 2013
Texas Sens. Pass Bill Limiting Insurers' 3rd-Party Recovery
The Texas Senate on Tuesday passed a bill clamping down on health insurers’ practice of aggressively collecting damages from third parties that caused injuries to insured patients by making them share in attorneys' fees, sending the measure to Gov. Rick Perry for approval.
Expert Analysis
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EU Is Ahead Of The Curve On Telehealth
Not surprisingly, the expanded use of telehealth presents many of the same regulatory and reimbursement challenges abroad that it does here in the U.S. One region in particular that has taken steps to expand telehealth across borders is Europe, where in an effort to confront the legal issues raised by telehealth, the E.U. has removed and revisited existing regulations, say Dana Pirvu and Rachel Snyder of Epstein Becker & Green PC.
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How Lawyers Benefit From Early Neutral Evaluation
Early neutral evaluation usually asks a retired judge to consider one party’s case, as if preparing to rule on summary judgment or presiding over a bench trial. Effective evaluation can supply a reality check on a case — it gives the lawyer the gift of seeing the case as others see it, says James Rosenbaum, a panelist with JAMS and former U.S. district judge for the District of Minnesota.
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The Next Big Thing For Medical Device Clinical Studies
A proposed rule — pending comments by May 28, 2013 — from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration could place significant burdens on sponsors who conduct foreign clinical studies and applicants who plan to use data from such studies to support investigational device exemption applications and premarket submissions, say attorneys with King & Spalding LLP.
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What Life Settlement Industry Should Know About HIPAA Rule
While the updated Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act privacy and security regulations impose many new requirements on the health care industry, there is no direct and very little indirect impact on the life settlement industry, says Brian Casey of Locke Lord LLP.
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Breaking Down The Bartlett Oral Argument
Given Justice Elena Kagan’s remark that this case is within the four corners of Mensing and the discomfort demonstrated by the other justices with Bartlett’s position, it seems unlikely that the First Circuit decision in Mutual Pharmaceuticals v. Bartlett will stand, say attorneys with Morrison & Foerster LLP.
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Reading The Labels Of Par And Harkonen
Following the Second Circuit’s ruling in U.S. v. Caronia, two recent developments, the Par Pharmaceutical Companies Inc. settlement and the Ninth Circuit's affirmation of Scott Harkonen's conviction, demonstrate a shift in the battleground for First Amendment challenges to the prohibition on off-label promotion under the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, say attorneys with King & Spalding LLP.
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Litigation Support At A Crossroads
Despite recession-driven cost pressures that have resulted in the downsizing of nonlawyer personnel at law firms, many litigation support departments are growing. In a recent survey, half of respondents indicated that their function has grown in size in the past three years, and more than half of respondents indicated that current staffing levels are inadequate for the projected needs of the coming year, say experts at Epiq Systems and Georgetown University Law Center.
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A Cautionary Tale For Transactional Lawyers
The Eleventh Circuit ruling in St. Joseph Hospital v. Health Management Associates Inc. offers a warning for transactional lawyers to be careful how they describe a transaction in preclosing filings with government agencies, says Elizabeth Hodge of Akerman Senterfitt LLP.
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FCA Allows Treble Damages — 'But Treble What?'
The ability to seek treble damages is a key feature of the False Claims Act, yet few courts have asked a simple question: “Treble what?” In United States v. Anchor Mortgage Corporation, the Seventh Circuit resoundingly rejected the Justice Department’s long-standing approach to calculating damages in FCA cases. The implications for financial institutions and others facing FCA liability are significant, say attorneys with BuckleySandler LLP.
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How To Read FTC's Recent Letter To Okla. Hospital
Recently, the Federal Trade Commission has issued a letter to a physician-hospital organization in Norman, Okla., setting out its analysis of how the organization's business plan violated the federal antitrust laws. The letter identifies important issues for provider-controlled networks looking to implement a clinical integration program but also leaves several issues unaddressed, says Mark Botti of Squire Sanders LLP.