Health

  • June 07, 2024

    Blank Rome Escapes 'Lamentable Saga' In 'Killer Nurse' Case

    A Pennsylvania appellate panel, in what it dubbed "the final chapter in this lamentable saga," affirmed Friday a lower court's order dismissing an attorney's defamation claims against Blank Rome LLP and a hospital that once employed a now-infamous "killer nurse" who pleaded guilty to murdering his patients.

  • June 07, 2024

    Ontrak CEO Had Anxiety Over Souring Cigna Deal, Jury Told

    A former Ontrak Inc. consultant testified Friday in the trial of its founder who's accused of trading on insider information about Ontrak's souring relationship with Cigna Healthcare in 2021, telling California federal jurors he frequently expressed anxiety, saying that Ontrak must "save Cigna" and describing the situation as a nightmare.

  • June 07, 2024

    Speech Pathologists Say BakerHostetler Bungled Biz Deal

    A trio of Los Angeles-based speech pathologists have filed a malpractice suit against their former BakerHostetler counsel in California state court, accusing the firm and an Ohio-based partner of negligence in failing to properly advise them amid a business deal, allegedly resulting in the therapists losing their successful practice and more than $1 million.

  • June 07, 2024

    Ozempic MDL Gets New Judge After Judge Pratter's Death

    The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation on Thursday reassigned sprawling litigation over Ozempic and similar drugs in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania following the sudden death of U.S. District Judge Gene E.K. Pratter, who'd been overseeing the MDL.

  • June 07, 2024

    Conn. Judge Pushes State For Proof In $11M Kickback Case

    The Connecticut state judge presiding over an $11 million false claims and kickbacks case against a compounding pharmacy appeared unconvinced Friday that the defendants submitted false claims for payment, peppering the government's counsel with requests to support assertions with case law and evidence that was put on at trial.

  • June 07, 2024

    Chicago-Area Man Charged With $60M COVID Test Fraud

    A suburban Chicago man is facing healthcare fraud and money laundering charges over more than $60 million in Medicare reimbursement claims for over-the-counter COVID-19 test kits that were allegedly never provided, including thousands of tests for dead people.

  • June 07, 2024

    DC Circ. Undoes Library Of Congress Win In Fair Use Fight

    The D.C. Circuit on Friday reversed a lower court's decision that had rejected two industry groups' challenge to a final rule that categorized medical device diagnostic procedures and repairs as fair use exemptions to U.S. copyright law.

  • June 07, 2024

    SEC Fines Ex-AstraZeneca Insider $1.4M For Merger Trades

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has ordered a former AstraZeneca employee to pay $1.4 million to settle claims he used nonpublic information to trade CinCor Pharma shares ahead of the public announcement that the two companies would merge.

  • June 07, 2024

    'Why Are You Even Here?' Judge Prods Big Tobacco

    A Washington state appellate panel on Friday criticized Philip Morris USA Inc. and other tobacco companies for attempting to pay the state less under a 1998 master settlement agreement, with one judge asking a Big Tobacco attorney why they were in court in the first place.

  • June 07, 2024

    7 Health Insurers Eye Rate Hikes In Connecticut

    Seven health insurers have asked Connecticut state regulators to approve rate hikes of 7.4% to 12.5% for individual market plans and 5.1% to 13.6% for small groups, averaging out to a lesser increase than last year's, according to an announcement Friday.

  • June 07, 2024

    Hospital Dodges Hostile-Workplace Claim In Race Bias Suit

    A federal court trimmed a state-level claim of hostile work environment and two allegations of racial bias from a Black former emergency room doctor at a hospital outside Philadelphia, but said there were enough questions of fact for other parts of her case to move ahead.

  • June 07, 2024

    Judge Doubts Ethnicity Questions Deserve Jury Bias Probe

    A Washington appellate judge pushed back Friday against a Filipino family who claimed a hospital's questions about their ethnicity at trial required a bias inquiry, noting race is "something that can't be ignored" in any courtroom filled with people who look different from one another.

  • June 07, 2024

    Yale Hospital Sued For Seeking To Exit $435M Purchase Deal

    California-based Prospect Medical Holdings Inc. has sued Yale New Haven Health for seeking to back out of a $435 million acquisition of three financially distressed Connecticut hospitals, accusing the state's largest hospital of breach of contract and wrongfully leaking a prior lawsuit to the press.

  • June 07, 2024

    Rite Aid Can Borrow Another $75M In Ch. 11 Plan Pursuit

    Bankrupt retail drug-store chain Rite Aid Corp. received court approval on Friday in New Jersey for an amended debtor-in-possession financing package that provides $75 million in new-money financing as it moves toward confirmation of a Chapter 11 plan.

  • June 07, 2024

    Bank Says Alzheimer's Center Owes $17M On Defaulted Loan

    An Alzheimer's care center owes Bank of Oklahoma nearly $17 million after it became the last of four memory care facilities to default on a $27.5 million loan that was used to refinance their mortgage debt, according to a complaint filed in Georgia federal court.

  • June 07, 2024

    Atty Comms Are Fair Game After NJ Guilty Plea, Feds Say

    Prosecutors told a New Jersey federal court Friday that communications between convicted and later pardoned fraudster Eliyahu Weinstein and Shlomo Erez, his Israeli attorney, must be turned over in Weinstein's new fraud case as Erez pled guilty to involvement in the alleged scheme in late May.

  • June 06, 2024

    Health Co. CEO Sold Stock Amid Souring Cigna Deal, Jury Told

    A stock analyst told California federal jurors Thursday he noticed in disclosure forms that the founder of healthcare company Ontrak Inc. was starting to sell company shares a few weeks before Cigna announced it was terminating its $90 million contract with the company.

  • June 06, 2024

    Chronic Care Co. To Pay $14.9M To End DOJ False Claims Suit

    A provider of chronic disease management services across several states has reached a $14.9 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, resolving a False Claims Act suit alleging it defrauded Medicare and Medicaid by "upcoding" healthcare claims.

  • June 06, 2024

    Drugmakers Escape Cancer Drug Antitrust Claims For Now

    A New Jersey federal judge granted drugmakers Celgene and Bristol-Myers Squibb an out from consolidated antitrust litigation accusing them of delaying generic competition to their blockbuster cancer treatments, saying the conduct alleged by a group of insurer plaintiffs fails to amount to anti-competitive conduct.

  • June 06, 2024

    Wash. Judge Suggests Insurer Dragged Out IP Dispute

    A Washington federal judge appeared unconvinced Thursday by a dental health insurer's argument that it acted honestly in pushing forward with trade secret claims even after the accused ex-employee returned her company-issued laptop that purportedly held sensitive information.

  • June 06, 2024

    Insurer Off The Hook For $3.4M Nursing Home Death Verdict

    A Berkshire Hathaway unit needn't cover a $3.4 million default judgment entered against its insured in a wrongful death suit, an Illinois federal judge determined, finding that the insured nursing home "did not meet its own reporting and cooperation obligations under the policy."

  • June 06, 2024

    8th Circ. Affirms Cigna Noncompete Applies To CVS Hire

    The Eighth Circuit has backed a lower court finding that blocked a healthcare industry executive from making a move to CVS, handing a win to Cigna in a case over trade secrets.

  • June 06, 2024

    Simpson Thacher, Latham Guide Waystar's $968M IPO

    Private equity-backed hospital billing firm Waystar Holding Corp. priced a $967.5 million initial public offering within its range on Thursday, represented by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and underwriters' counsel Latham & Watkins LLP, marking the largest IPO since April.

  • June 06, 2024

    Psychiatrist Gets 99 Months For $19M Billing Fraud Scheme

    A psychiatrist who was convicted for a $19 million insurance fraud scheme was sentenced Thursday to 99 months in prison by a Boston federal judge, who found that there was "overwhelming evidence" of the doctor's guilt.

  • June 06, 2024

    'Brussels Effect' Of EU's AI Act Is Uncertain, Legal Pros Say

    BigLaw attorneys advising international clients on the European Union's AI Act tell Law360 there are significant uncertainties over vague terms in the 458-page statute, how its steep eight-figure fines will be enforced, and whether it will set a new standard globally as part of the "Brussels effect."

Expert Analysis

  • 8 Questions To Ask Before Final CISA Breach Reporting Rule

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    The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s recently proposed cyber incident reporting requirements for critical infrastructure entities represent the overall approach CISA will take in its final rule, so companies should be asking key compliance questions now and preparing for a more complicated reporting regime, say Arianna Evers and Shannon Mercer at WilmerHale.

  • Series

    Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.

  • Mid-2024 FCA Enforcement And Litigation Trends To Watch

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    Reviewing notable False Claims Act trends and enforcement efforts in the last year and a half reveals that healthcare is a key enforcement priority for the U.S. Department of Justice, and the road ahead may bring clarification on Anti-Kickback Statute causation and willfulness standards, along with increased focus on private equity, cybersecurity and self-disclosure, say attorneys at Epstein Becker.

  • A Recipe For Growth Equity Investing In A Slow M&A Market

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    Carl Marcellino at Ropes & Gray discusses the factors bolstering appetite for growth equity fundraising in a depressed M&A market, and walks through the deal terms and other ingredients that set growth equity transactions apart from bread-and-butter venture capital investing.

  • What 100 Federal Cases Suggest About Changes To Chevron

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    With the U.S. Supreme Court poised to overturn or narrow its 40-year-old doctrine of Chevron deference, a review of 100 recent federal district court decisions confirm that changes to the Chevron framework will have broad ramifications — but the magnitude of the impact will depend on the details of the high court's ruling, say Kali Schellenberg and Jon Cochran at LeVan Stapleton.

  • Notable Q1 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

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    Mark Johnson and Mathew Drocton at BakerHostetler discuss notable insurance class action decisions from the first quarter of the year ranging from salvage vehicle titling to rate discrimination based on premium-setting software.

  • New Federal Bill Would Drastically Alter Privacy Landscape

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    While the recently introduced American Privacy Rights Act would eliminate the burdensome patchwork of state regulations, the proposed federal privacy law would also significantly expand compliance obligations and liability exposure for companies, especially those that rely on artificial intelligence or biometric technologies, says David Oberly at Baker Donelson.

  • The Fed. Circ. In April: Hurdles Remain For Generics

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    The Federal Circuit’s recent Salix v. Norwich ruling — where Salix's brand-name drug's patents were invalidated — is a reminder to patent practitioners that invalidating a competitor's patents may not guarantee abbreviated new drug application approval, say Sean Murray and Jeremiah Helm at Knobbe Martens.

  • Tylenol MDL Highlights Expert Admissibility Headaches

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    A New York federal court's decision to exclude all plaintiff experts in a multidistrict litigation concerning prenatal exposure to Tylenol highlights a number of expert testimony pitfalls that parties should avoid in product liability and mass tort matters, say Rand Brothers and Courtney Block at Winston & Strawn.

  • PE-Healthcare Mergers Should Prepare For Challenges

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    State and federal regulators are increasingly imposing new requirements on healthcare transactions involving private equity partners, with mergers that would have drawn little scrutiny a few years ago now requiring a multijurisdictional risk analysis during the deal formation process, say attorneys at Stinson.

  • Don't Use The Same Template For Every Client Alert

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    As the old marketing adage goes, consistency is key, but law firm style guides need consistency that contemplates variety when it comes to client alert formats, allowing attorneys to tailor alerts to best fit the audience and subject matter, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.

  • Online Portal Helps Fortify Feds' Unfair Health Practices Fight

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    The Federal Trade Commission, U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently launched an online portal where the public can report potentially unfair healthcare practices, effectively maximizing enforcers' abilities to police anti-competitive actions that can drive up healthcare costs and chill innovation, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • Series

    Walking With My Dog Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Thanks to my dog Birdie, I've learned that carving out an activity different from the practice of law — like daily outdoor walks that allow you to interact with new people — can contribute to professional success by boosting creativity and mental acuity, as well as expanding your social network, says Sarah Petrie at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Follow The Iron Rule Of Trial Logic

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    Many diligent and eager attorneys include every good fact, point and rule in their trial narratives — spurred by the gnawing fear they’ll be second-guessed for leaving something out — but this approach ignores a fundamental principle of successful trial lawyering, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • The Art Of Asking: Leveraging Your Contacts For Referrals

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    Though attorneys may hesitate to ask for referral recommendations to generate new business, research shows that people want to help others they know, like and trust, so consider who in your network you should approach and how to make the ask, says Rebecca Hnatowski at Edwards Advisory.

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