Health

May 14, 2025
Integra Brass Face Investor Suit Over FDA Compliance Lapses

Executives and directors of medical device company Integra Lifesciences Inc. were hit with a derivative suit alleging they misled investors about the company's compliance with regulatory standards for over five years, causing share declines when information regarding Integra's violations emerged.
May 14, 2025
9th Circ. Doubts Wash. Anti-Vaxxers' Stance In Med Board Suit

A Ninth Circuit judge expressed skepticism on Wednesday that the federal appellate court could revive Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s suit against the Washington Medical Commission for initiating disciplinary proceedings against physicians who publicly aired anti-vaccination views, pointing out that federal courts generally "don't interfere" with ongoing state litigation.
May 14, 2025
Sage Therapeutics Brass Sued Over Drug Candidate Claims

The top brass of Sage Therapeutics Inc. have been hit with a shareholder derivative suit in New York federal court alleging they misled investors about the safety, efficacy, durability and commercial prospects of three of the company's drug candidates and overstated their likelihood to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
May 14, 2025
Colo. Justices Leery Of Speaker's Motive In Anti-SLAPP Test

The Colorado Supreme Court on Wednesday pressed a veterinary clinic on its position that courts should consider a speaker's motivations to determine if their comments involve issues of public interest, with some justices wondering if that would create too high a bar to trigger an anti-SLAPP law.
May 14, 2025
Aetna, Cigna Can't Nix Suit Over Late Emergency Benefit Bills

A Connecticut federal judge ruled Wednesday that Aetna and Cigna can't fully escape a suit from six air ambulance companies claiming the insurers owe $20 million in unpaid or late bills to cover emergency services, ruling they have the legal authority to seek the missing cash.
May 14, 2025
7th Circ. Partially Revives Pregnancy Bias Suit Against Ill. DHS

A Seventh Circuit panel on Wednesday partially reversed an Illinois federal court's decision giving the Illinois Department of Human Services a win on two former workers' claims of illegal pregnancy-related firings, saying that there are still open factual questions as to one worker.
May 14, 2025
Houston Midwife Says AG Has No Evidence To Close Clinics

A Houston-area midwife who was arrested earlier this year on a charge of providing an illegal abortion is arguing to a state appellate court that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton "came nowhere close to meeting the state's burden" in his bid to shut down her clinics.
May 14, 2025
Fla. High Court Asked If Parents Can Dispute Kids' Abortions

A Florida appellate court on Wednesday upheld a decision denying a 17-year-old to terminate her pregnancy without her father's consent, but certified a question of great public importance on whether parents have due process rights under the state's maturity and best-interest judicial waiver procedures.
May 14, 2025
Novo Nordisk, Septerna Ink Up To $2.2B Obesity Drug Deal

Denmark's Novo Nordisk said Wednesday it has signed a drug development deal worth up to $2.2 billion with U.S.-based Septerna, part of its continued push to expand treatments for obesity, Type 2 diabetes and related diseases.
May 14, 2025
Health Co. Founder Pleads Guilty In $5M Fraud Case

A Florida man who operated a health monitoring company geared toward keeping substance-addicted people from relapsing has admitted to bilking investors out of $5 million by misstating interest in the firm, the U.S. attorney's office in Philadelphia said.
May 14, 2025
Total Vision Reaches Deal Ending VSP Antitrust Case

Optometry practice owner Total Vision has reached an agreement to end its antitrust case accusing eye care insurance giant Vision Service Plan of requiring anticompetitive terms in its contracts before trying to force Total Vision to sell at a dramatically reduced price.
May 14, 2025
RFK Jr. Defends HHS Cuts, Pledges To 'Spend Smarter'

In his first appearance on Capitol Hill since his confirmation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday characterized a massive reorganization and reductions in workforce as practical moves to optimize the sprawling agency.
May 14, 2025
Monitor Says Okla. Pot Agency Fired Her For Blowing Whistle

A former contract monitor for the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority is suing the agency, alleging she was wrongly fired and had her file marked "no rehire," preventing her from finding other government work, in retaliation for reporting on a conflict of interest.
May 13, 2025
Asterisk Doesn't Save CVS In Sanitizer Row, 9th Circ. Told

An attorney for a man suing CVS Pharmacy urged the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday to revive his claims alleging the company misled consumers with a promise its hand sanitizer kills 99.99% of germs, arguing the asterisk on the front label does not clear the company of wrongdoing despite a recent ruling from the circuit that gives significance to that type of asterisk.
May 13, 2025
Health Co. Elevance Faces Suit Over Post-COVID Costs Claims

Health insurance provider Elevance Health Inc. and some of its executives face a proposed investor class action alleging the company hurt shareholders by mismanaging expectations about its Medicaid business's costs amid the post-pandemic eligibility redetermination process in certain markets it served.
May 13, 2025
Becton Dickinson Sues Baxter Over Infusion Pump Patents

Becton Dickinson has accused Baxter International of willfully infringing six of its patents for infusion pump technologies used to deliver medications to patients, telling a Delaware federal court that marketing materials for a Baxter infusion pump platform touted several Becton inventions.
May 13, 2025
Judge Won't Limit Foreign Aid Freeze Injunction

A D.C. federal judge on Tuesday declined to commit to lifting part of a preliminary injunction requiring President Donald Trump's administration to release funding for foreign aid work done before Feb. 13, saying a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision does not change the analysis of his ruling.
May 13, 2025
4 Firms Seek $5M In $6.75M Seattle Hospital Web Privacy Deal

An unnamed plaintiff is urging a Washington state judge to give final blessing to an up to $6.75 million settlement to end allegations that a Seattle hospital system deployed source code on its website that divulged patients' private health information to Google and Facebook, with class counsel requesting another $5 million in fees.
May 13, 2025
Planned Parenthood Wants Teen Program Fund Rule Blocked

Planned Parenthood on Monday urged a D.C. federal judge to vacate the U.S. government's "unlawful" requirements to "align" with President Donald Trump's executive orders lest risk losing Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program funding, arguing its facilities will suffer staff cuts and loss of medically accurate, age-appropriate education services absent an injunction.
May 13, 2025
Watchdog Demands Info In DC Court On Dead ICE Detainees

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is violating public records laws by refusing to turn over documents related to three people who died in ICE custody at two detention centers in Florida and Arizona, a government watchdog group alleged in a suit filed in D.C. federal court Monday.
May 13, 2025
UnitedHealth Says Lack Of Contract Sinks Coverage Suit

UnitedHealth entities urged a Michigan federal judge Monday to toss a lawsuit from a medical supply company that alleges the insurer issued a blanket block on its claims, saying the supplier has no written contract to support its breach of contract allegations.
May 13, 2025
NIH Letters Ending Grants Lack Factual Support, Judge Says

A Massachusetts federal judge said Tuesday that a "blast" of hundreds of virtually identical letters in March canceling National Institutes of Health-funded research projects appeared to offer no factual basis, only unsupported assertions that the projects were unscientific or discriminatory.
May 13, 2025
Latham-Led Physical Therapy Startup Primes $410M IPO

Venture capital-backed physical therapy startup Hinge Health Inc. on Tuesday unveiled a price range on an estimated $410 million initial public offering, represented by Latham & Watkins LLP and underwriters' counsel Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, hoping to capitalize on an IPO rebound.
May 13, 2025
Michigan Judge Strikes Down State's Abortion Restrictions

A Michigan judge struck down several of the state's abortion restrictions Tuesday, including a mandatory waiting period, required counseling materials and a rule that only doctors may perform abortions, finding the laws make it harder for people to access abortion and don't protect patients' health.
May 13, 2025
Split PTAB Cites SAS To Reject Samsung Petition

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board will not review whether a real-time interpretation patent for those hard of hearing is invalid after finding that only a quarter of Samsung's challenge could be successful, which isn't worth the full trial mandated by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Expert Analysis

The Most Important Schedule I Drug Regulatory Shifts Of 2024

In 2024, psychedelics and cannabis emerged as focal points in medical research, marking a pivotal year in their legal and regulatory journey, but these developments presented both opportunities and challenges within this evolving field, say Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell and Stephen Kim at Avicanna.
UPS Penalty Demonstrates Goodwill Impairment Red Flags

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent $45 million penalty against UPS for withholding reports of goodwill impairment should warn investors to watch for the telltale signs of companies inflating their worth by delaying tests that would reveal similar declines in the value of intangible assets, say attorneys at Labaton Keller.
Series

Coaching Little League Makes Me A Better Lawyer

While coaching poorly played Little League Baseball early in the morning doesn't sound like a good time, I love it — and the experience has taught me valuable lessons about imperfection, compassion and acceptance that have helped me grow as a person and as a lawyer, says Alex Barnett at DiCello Levitt.
Courts Must Stick To The Science On Digital Addiction Claims

A number of pending personal injury and product liability lawsuits allege that plaintiffs have developed behavioral addictions to the use of social media and video games — but this is not yet recognized by relevant authorities as an addiction, so courts must carefully scrutinize such claims, say attorneys at DLA Piper.
5 Litigation Funding Trends To Note In 2025

Lawyers and their clients must be prepared to navigate an evolving litigation funding market in 2025, made more complicated by a new administration and the increasing overall cost of litigation, says Jeffery Lula at GLS Capital.
FTC Privacy Enforcement Takeaways From 2024

In 2024, the Federal Trade Commission distinguished three prominent trends in its privacy-related enforcement actions: geolocation data protections, data minimization practices, and artificial intelligence use and marketing, say Cobun Zweifel-Keegan at IAPP and James Smith at Dechert.
Rethinking Litigation Risk And What It Really Means To Win

Attorneys have a tendency to overestimate litigation risk before summary judgment and underestimate risk after it, but an eight-stage litigation framework can clarify risk at different points and help litigators reassess what true success looks like in any particular case, says Joshua Libling at Arcadia Finance.
Issues To Watch In 2025's ERISA Litigation Landscape

Whether 2024’s uptick in new Employee Retirement Income Security Act cases will continue this year will likely depend on federal courts’ resolution of several issues, including those related to excessive fees, defined contribution plan forfeitures, and pleading standards for ERISA-prohibited transaction claims, say attorneys at Groom Law.
How DOGE's Bite Can Live Up To Its Bark

All signs suggest that the Department of Government Efficiency will be an important part of the new Trump administration, with ample tools at its disposal to effectuate change, particularly with an attentive Republican-controlled Congress, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
2024 Was A Significant Year For HIPAA Compliance

The Office of Civil Rights' high level of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act activity in 2024 and press releases about its specific focus on certain cybersecurity issues make it abundantly clear that the OCR is not going to tolerate widespread compliance complacency, says Nathan Kottkamp at Williams Mullen.
5 Notable Information Security Events In 2024

B. Stephanie Siegmann at Hinckley Allen discusses 2024's largest and most destructive data breaches seen yet, ranging from ransomware disrupting U.S. healthcare systems on a massive scale, to tensions increasing between the U.S. and China over cyberespionage and the control of U.S. data.
Series

Playing Rugby Makes Me A Better Lawyer

My experience playing rugby, including a near-fatal accident, has influenced my legal practice on a professional, organizational and personal level by showing me the importance of maintaining empathy, fostering team empowerment and embracing the art of preparation, says James Gillenwater at Greenberg Traurig.
How 2025 NDAA May Affect DOD Procurement Protests

A bid protest pilot program included in the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act shifts litigation costs onto unsuccessful bid protesters and raises claim-filing thresholds, which could increase risks to U.S. Department of Defense contractors who file protests, and reduce oversight of DOD procurement awards, say attorneys at Venable.
Looking Back At 2024's Noteworthy State AG Litigation

State attorneys general across the U.S. took bold steps in 2024 to address unlawful activities by corporations in several areas, including privacy and data security, financial transparency, children's internet safety, and other overall consumer protection claims, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
Opinion

No, Litigation Funders Are Not 'Fleeing' The District Of Del.

A recent study claimed that litigation funders have “fled” Delaware federal court due to a standing order requiring disclosure of third-party financing, but responsible funders have no problem litigating in this jurisdiction, and many other factors could explain the decline in filings, say Will Freeman and Sarah Tsou at Omni Bridgeway.