2nd Circ. Questions Experts' Rejection In Tylenol Autism Suits

By Dan McKay

A Second Circuit panel on Monday appeared skeptical of a lower-court order that barred every expert witness set to testify for families who allege that patients taking Tylenol while pregnant can cause autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in their children.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

9th Circ. Strikes Down Trans Patients' Win In ACA Bias Case

By Kellie Mejdrich

The Ninth Circuit upended a win Monday for patients who challenged Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois' administration of their employer-provided health plans containing gender-affirming care exclusions, ordering a lower court to reexamine the case in light of intervening authority from the U.S. Supreme Court.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

2 Execs Found Guilty In $233M ACA Fraud Scheme

By Carolina Bolado

A Florida federal jury returned a guilty verdict on Monday against a marketing company CEO and insurance brokerage executive who were accused of submitting fraudulent enrollments to fully subsidized Affordable Care Act insurance plans to get millions in commission payments from insurers.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Medtronic Can't Nix FCA Claims Despite 1st Circ. Precedent

By Rae Ann Varona

A Massachusetts federal judge reconsidered reviving Medtronic's bid to defeat claims it violated the False Claims Act in light of new First Circuit precedent on a causation standard, but ruled that a whistleblower's evidence warranted keeping the claims alive for now.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Texas Court Says Hospital Sex Assault Isn't Medical Claim

By Mike Curley

A Texas appeals court has found that allegations that a hospital staffer sexually assaulted a minor patient do not constitute medical liability claims, saying the family of the patient do not need an expert report to continue the case under state law.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

MVP: Ropes & Gray's Adrianne Ortega

By Jack Rodgers

Ropes & Gray LLP's Adrianne Ortega represented Walgreens Boots Alliance in a take-private action valued at up to $23.7 billion, and her work this year leading several healthcare clients through transformative transactions and helping them understand related complex regulatory issues has earned her a spot among the 2025 Law360 Healthcare MVPs.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

B. Braun Unit Inks $38.5M Deal To End FCA Knee Implant Case

By Gianna Ferrarin

The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday announced a $38.5 million False Claims Act settlement with a subsidiary of German medical device giant B. Braun Melsungen AG resolving accusations it sold a knee replacement implant allegedly known to fail prematurely after surgery.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Mich. Doctor Gets 18 Months For $16M Drug Resale Scheme

By Danielle Ferguson

A Michigan doctor was sentenced Monday to spend a year and a half in prison for his role in a scheme to purchase $16 million worth of cancer drugs and resell them at a profit, with a federal judge saying white collar sentences can "deter more" than other criminal sentences.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Mass. Justices Say Panel Overstepped In Sepsis Death Suit

By Julie Manganis

Massachusetts' highest court on Monday reinstated medical malpractice claims against a nurse practitioner over a patient's sepsis death, saying a tribunal had stepped beyond its role in vetting an offer of proof by the man's widow.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

No High Court Review For FDA Fast-Track Denial

By Gianna Ferrarin

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday said it would not consider whether federal drug regulators went astray in denying fast-track review for a digestive disorder medication being developed by Vanda Pharmaceuticals.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NC Hospital Data Sharing Class Gets $2.45M Deal, $750K Fee

By Abigail Harrison

A North Carolina Business Court judge gave final approval Monday to a $2.45 million class action settlement for almost half a million patients who accused a health system of sharing sensitive information with Meta Platforms Inc., with class counsel securing $750,000 in attorney fees.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court and Delaware Supreme Court last week had a dense slate of fiduciary duty battles, merger-process challenges, post-bankruptcy fights and a series of cases probing the limits of fraud pleading, credible-basis inspections and board-level disclosure duties.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Roundup

Pa. Supreme Court Snapshot: Skill Games Top Nov. Lineup

By Matthew Santoni

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court's November session will tackle the legality of the "Pennsylvania Skill" games that have popped up in gas stations and convenience stores, answering the long-simmering question of whether they should be regulated like slot machines. Here are some of the cases the state supreme court will hear during its three-day session in Harrisburg.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Georgia Hospital System Says Judge DQ Bid Arrived Too Late

By Adrian Cruz

A Georgia healthcare provider said a Florida couple waited too late in moving to have a Georgia federal judge disqualify herself from presiding over their medical malpractice case, accusing them of "judge shopping."

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Telehealth Co. Hims Sued Over College Student's Suicide

By Emily Field

The family of a Washington State University student who died by suicide have sued telehealth company Hims & Hers Health Inc. in Washington state court, alleging their son was negligently prescribed an antidepressant known to carry a risk of suicide in adolescents despite his history of self-harm.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Corporate Pilot Fired For Flagging Safety Concerns, Suit Says

By Hayley Fowler

The former head of aviation for an oral surgery management services company in North Carolina says he was canned because of his age and hearing disability and for allegedly reporting flight scheduling practices that he said flouted federal safety laws.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Porzio Bromberg Wants Doctor's Malpractice Suit Tossed

By Adrian Cruz

Porzio Bromberg & Newman PC has asked the New Jersey federal court to dismiss a Louisiana doctor's lawsuit accusing the firm and one of its attorneys of legal malpractice, arguing the physician lacks standing to pursue individual claims on a bankruptcy-related matter.

Motion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Patients Net $2.55M Deal To End Plasma Co. Data Breach Case

By Hayley Fowler

A group of patients is seeking a final seal of approval from a North Carolina federal judge on their $2.55 million settlement with a plasma collection company accused of failing to safeguard their personal data from hackers in an April 2024 data breach.

Settlement attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DC Circ. Mulls If Gov't Can Say No To 340B Rebate Program

By Nadia Dreid

The D.C. Circuit is set to decide "who's the decision-maker" in a fight brought by drugmakers over the federal government's efforts to reshape the way they do drug rebates after spending more than an hour and a half Monday morning hearing out all sides.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Cravath, Goodwin Advise On J&J's $3B Cancer Drug Play

By Al Barbarino

Cravath-advised Johnson & Johnson said Monday it has agreed to pay $3.05 billion in cash for Goodwin-led Halda Therapeutics, a biotech developing a clinical-stage therapy for prostate cancer.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Willkie-Led Rockland Clinches 5th Fund With $1.2B In Tow

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP-advised private equity shop Rockland Capital announced Monday that it wrapped fundraising for its fifth fund after securing $1.2 billion in investor commitments.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

UConn Health Poised To Buy Hospital In $35M Ch. 11 Deal

By Aaron Keller

Bankrupt for-profit hospital operator Prospect Medical Holdings Inc. on Monday sought approval for the $35 million sale of Waterbury Hospital in Connecticut to two UConn Health units under a stalking horse bid package filed in early November.

8 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Akin Adds 'Luminary' False Claims Attorney From DOJ In DC

By Jack Rodgers

With a record number of whistleblower qui tam cases filed last year, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is the latest Washington, D.C., firm to boost its False Claims Act bench, hiring a former assistant director from the Commercial Litigation Branch of the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Division.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Dynamic Databases

Several recent federal court decisions illustrate how parties continue to grapple with the discovery of data in dynamic databases, so counsel involved in these disputes must consider how structured data should be produced consistent with the requirements of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, say attorneys at Sidley.

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Bonus Spotlight

Cravath Unveils Associate Bonuses, Multiple Firms Follow

By Aebra Coe

Multiple firms swiftly fell in line Tuesday evening just hours after Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP announced associate bonuses in line with those offered last year, continuing a long tradition of BigLaw firms following Cravath's lead on compensation.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Perkins Coie's Trump Fight Doesn't Scare Off UK Suitor

By Chris Villani

Perkins Coie LLP's ongoing fight with the Trump administration did not deter a proposed combination with British law firm Ashurst, signaling that the legal community is not worried about fallout from the president's suspension of the firm's security clearances.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Republican Senators Seek Judge Boasberg's Suspension

By Courtney Bublé

Six Republican senators, three of whom sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee, are asking that Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg of the District of Columbia be administratively suspended while Congress considers his impeachment.

Letter attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Sanctioned Atty Convinces Mo. Court Errors Not Caused By AI

By Emily Sawicki

A Missouri federal judge sanctioned former counsel for Liberty Mutual Personal Insurance Co. Monday for including citation errors in a motion this fall, finding that, although the attorney likely inserted the errors herself without the use of AI software, "such carelessness, exacerbated by a lack of internal guardrails, is entirely unacceptable."

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Conn. Atty Fined $500 For AI-Generated Errors In Wage Suit

By Emily Sawicki

In an order that noted an attorney's remorse, a Connecticut federal judge sanctioned a solo practitioner $500 this week for submitting a brief packed with false, AI-generated case citations, finding the fake authorities wasted court resources, risked misleading a pro se litigant and undermined trust in the judicial system.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Disbarred NC Atty Must Pay $5.2M For Escrow Fund Misuse

By Abigail Harrison

A disbarred attorney was ordered to pay $5.2 million in restitution and serve four years of probation during a Tuesday sentencing hearing in North Carolina federal court, after he pled guilty to a criminal wire fraud charge related to the misuse of escrow funds.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judge Upholds NY Law Blocking ICE Courthouse Arrests

By Andrea Keckley

New York beat back a federal lawsuit challenging the state's policy barring immigration officials from arresting people near its courthouses, after a federal judge rejected the U.S. Department of Justice's preemption claims.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NY AG James Blasts 'Outrageous Conduct' Behind Indictment

By Adrian Cruz

New York Attorney General Letitia A. James has told a Virginia federal court to dismiss the U.S. government's indictment of her, calling it "patently unconstitutional" and "outrageous conduct."

Motion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

McGuireWoods Is Delaying Defamation Case, NC Justices Told

By Hayley Fowler

The former CEO of a managed care organization who alleges McGuireWoods and one of its ex-partners defamed him during a press conference more than seven years ago has told North Carolina's top court not to take up the case, panning their petition as yet another stalling tactic.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Missouri Federal Judge To Take Senior Status

By Courtney Bublé

U.S. District Judge Douglas Harpool of the Western District of Missouri has given notice he will take senior status upon the confirmation of state Judge Megan Benton, whose nomination to the federal bench President Donald Trump announced Friday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

CFPB's Gradler Takes Deputy Post Amid Agency Uncertainty

By Jon Hill

Geof Gradler, a former industry lobbyist who recently joined the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's front office, said that he is taking over as the agency's deputy director, a job that positions him as a potential successor to acting director Russell Vought.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »