More Healthcare Coverage
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May 22, 2025
Sutter Health's $228.5M Antitrust Deal Gets Initial OK
A California federal judge on Thursday preliminarily approved Sutter Health's $228.5 million deal settling a 13-year case over claims the hospital chain boosted costs by pushing all-or-nothing networks on insurers, saying that after a trial and a Ninth Circuit reversal, "it's nice that we didn't have to try this case twice."
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May 22, 2025
Mich. Judge Says Red Cross Can Depose Ex-Nurse's Husband
A Michigan federal judge on Thursday clarified that he intended to allow the American Red Cross to depose the husband of a nurse who alleges she was wrongfully denied a religious exemption from the organization's COVID-19 vaccine mandate, putting to rest a bout between the parties about the order's interpretation.Â
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May 22, 2025
Calif. County Gets Vax Exemption Bias Class Disbanded
A California federal judge dissolved a class of county workers who alleged their requests for religious exemptions from a COVID-19 vaccine mandate were handled differently from other employees' medical exemption bids, finding the group was not as similar as she had previously believed.
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May 21, 2025
Court Won't Revive Mental Health Class Suit Against Fla. Blue
A Florida appeals court Wednesday declined to revive a proposed class suit by state employees enrolled in a Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida healthcare plan alleging the insurer designed a claims process to obstruct approval and payment of claims for mental health care.
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May 20, 2025
Health Clinics Say Fake Trash Fee Scheme Cost Them Millions
Republic Services Inc. got hit with a proposed class action by health clinics in Michigan and Ohio that claim the waste disposal company breached its contracts with them by charging "tens of millions" in excess fees without any legal justification.
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May 20, 2025
Red Cross Seeks Clarity On Deposition Order In Vax Bias Case
The American Red Cross asked a Michigan federal judge on Monday to clarify that an April ruling allows the organization to depose the husband of a Christian nurse alleging she was fired for not getting the COVID-19 vaccine, saying the worker's attorneys refused to make him available.
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May 20, 2025
Doctor's Disability Bias Claim Too Late, Mass. Court Says
A former Brigham and Women's Hospital anesthesiologist and Harvard Medical School faculty member is time-barred from pursuing disability bias claims for actions by the hospital that he was aware of as early as 2006, an intermediate Massachusetts appellate court has concluded.
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May 19, 2025
Bluebird Beats Patent Case Over Blood Disease Therapies
A Delaware federal judge has tossed a lawsuit against Bluebird Bio alleging two of its multimillion-dollar gene therapy treatments for blood disorders infringed patents held by San Rocco Therapeutics LLC, after the dispute had been narrowed by a previous claim construction ruling.
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May 19, 2025
Twins' Doc Not Liable For Ball Player's Death, Fla. Court Told
A Minnesota Twins physician told a Florida state court Monday that he can't be sued for negligence over the death of a minor league player he treated during spring training, arguing that Minnesota employment law shields him from liability even when treating players outside the state.
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May 19, 2025
9th Circ. Backs Family's Win In Suit Over Denied Benefits
The Ninth Circuit declined to upend a guild member's win in his lawsuit challenging his healthcare plan's decision to deny coverage for his son's mental health treatments, but said a lower court was wrong to award the family additional damages on their breach of fiduciary duty claim.
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May 19, 2025
Doc Loses 4th Circ. Fight Over $5.5M Order After FCA Deal
A North Carolina district court was right to reject a doctor and his wife's request to overturn or modify a $5.5 million judgment against them for allegedly hiding assets after settling a previous False Claims Act case with the government, the Fourth Circuit ruled Monday.
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May 15, 2025
'Our Father' Fertility Doc Must Face Bio Daughter's Suit
An Indiana appellate panel on Thursday revived a suit accusing the rogue fertility doctor featured in the "Our Father" Netflix documentary of causing his biological daughter's emotional distress, saying a dispute over whether the suit was filed too late is for a jury to decide.
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May 15, 2025
Spinal Implant Co. CEO Pleads Guilty Ahead Of Kickback Trial
The head of a Massachusetts medical device company pled guilty Thursday to a false statements charge days before he was set to face a jury over claims that he and another executive bribed surgeons with sham consulting deals to get them to use the company's spinal implants.
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May 15, 2025
Hillrom Says Missing Attachment Could End Antitrust Case
Hill-Rom Holdings Inc. told an Illinois federal court Thursday that a missing attachment from an email turned over by Linet Americas Inc. should show the rival hospital-bed maker waited too long to file its antitrust case.
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May 15, 2025
Geisinger Recruits Envision Healthcare Atty To Be CLO
Pennsylvania-based Geisinger Health has brought on Envision Healthcare's former general counsel to serve as the company's top in-house attorney and lead the legal department.
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May 14, 2025
Actinium Faces Derivative Suit Over FDA Application Claims
Officers and directors of biopharmaceutical company Actinium Pharmaceuticals Inc. face a shareholder derivative action accusing them of breaching their fiduciary duties after the company's lead product candidate failed to secure a certain approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
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May 14, 2025
Tonix Pharmaceuticals Recruits Seasoned Industry Atty As GC
Tonix Pharmaceuticals has found as its new general counsel a former Celgene Corp. lawyer involved in that company's integration with Bristol Myers Squibb.
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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.Â
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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.
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May 13, 2025
FTC To Keep Focus On Key Sectors, Address Personal Liberty
The head of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Competition said Tuesday the agency will remain focused on healthcare, technology and labor issues as enforcers also work to ensure corporate power does not infringe on personal liberties.
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May 13, 2025
Ga. Justices Revives Claim Over Med Student's Negligence
The Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday revived a woman's claim seeking to hold two doctors vicariously liable for a medical student's alleged negligence during a hysterectomy, saying there are questions about whether the student was acting as their servant at the time.
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May 12, 2025
No One Can Challenge Rehab Permit Deal, Conn. Tells Court
No one is aggrieved by a Connecticut agency settlement that granted a conditional approval to the operator of a substance abuse treatment facility, so no one can challenge it in court, the state attorney general's office argued Monday before the Connecticut Supreme Court.
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May 12, 2025
Will Justices Finally Rein In Universal Injunctions?
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to address for the first time Thursday the propriety of universal injunctions, a tool federal judges have increasingly used to broadly halt presidential orders and policy initiatives, and whose validity has haunted the high court's merits and emergency dockets for more than a decade.
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May 12, 2025
Texas Justices Say Nursing Home Can Appeal $7.1M Verdict
The Texas Supreme Court has revived a nursing home's appeal of a $7.1 million injury verdict in favor of one of its employees, saying the nursing home has shown that it did not have actual notice of the judgment and is entitled to an extension to the filing deadline.
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May 08, 2025
Fed. Circ. Weighs If Expert's Testimony Justifies Spine IP Loss
A Federal Circuit panel on Thursday considered how much an expert strayed from a lower court's claim construction in an inventor's patent infringement suit against DePuy Synthes, with one judge questioning if it was merely effective cross-examination that tripped the expert up, and not much more.
Expert Analysis
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Takeaways From DOJ's Latest FCA Customs Fraud Intervention
The U.S. Department of Justice's recent intervention in a case alleging customs-related reverse False Claims Act fraud underlines the government’s increased scrutiny of, and importers’ corresponding exposure from, information related to product classification, country of origin and pricing, say attorneys at Bass Berry.
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Crisis Management Lessons From The Parenting Playbook
The parenting skills we use to help our kids through challenges — like rehearsing for stressful situations, modeling confidence and taking time to reset our emotions — can also teach us the fundamentals of leading clients through a corporate crisis, say Deborah Solmor at the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and Cara Peterman at Alston & Bird.
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Adapting To Private Practice: From NY Fed To BigÂé¶¹´«Ã½
While the move to private practice brings a learning curve, it also brings chances to learn new skills and grow your network, requiring a clear understanding of how your skills can complement and contribute to a firm's existing practice, and where you can add new value, says Meghann Donahue at Covington.
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Top 3 Litigation Finance Deal-Killers, And How To Avoid Them
Like all transactions, litigation finance deals can sometimes collapse, but understanding the most common reasons for failure, including a lack of trust or a misunderstanding of deal terms, can help both parties avoid problems, say Rebecca Berrebi at Avenue 33 and Boris Ziser at Schulte Roth.
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Compliance Lessons From Warby Parker's HIPAA Fine
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' civil money penalty against Warby Parker highlights the emerging challenges that consumer-facing brands encounter when expanding into healthcare-adjacent sectors, with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act compliance being a potential focus of regulatory attention, say attorneys at Saul Ewing.
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How Attys Can Use A Therapy Model To Help Triggered Clients
Attorneys can lean on key principles from a psychotherapeutic paradigm known as the "Internal Family Systems" model to help manage triggered clients and get settlement negotiations back on track, says Jennifer Gibbs at Zelle.
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J&J's Failed 3rd Try Casts Doubt On Use Of 'Texas Two-Step'
A Texas bankruptcy court recently rejected Johnson & Johnson's third attempt to use Chapter 11 to resolve liabilities from allegations of injuries from using talcum powder, suggesting that the U.S. Supreme Court's limitations on nondebtor releases, from 2024's Purdue Pharma ruling, may prove difficult to evade, say attorneys at Cadwalader.
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Adapting To Private Practice: From DOJ Enviro To Mid-Âé¶¹´«Ã½
Practitioners leaving a longtime government role for private practice — as when I departed the U.S. Department of Justice’s environmental enforcement division — should prioritize finding a firm that shares their principles, values their experience and will invest in their transition, says John Cruden at Beveridge & Diamond.
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Legal Ethics Considerations For Âé¶¹´«Ã½ Firm Pro Bono Deals
If a law firm enters into a pro bono deal with the Trump administration in exchange for avoiding or removing an executive order, it has an ethical obligation to create a written settlement agreement with specific terms, which would mitigate some potential conflict of interest problems, says Andrew Altschul at Buchanan Angeli.
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10 Arbitrations And A 5th Circ. Ruling Flag Arb. Clause Risks
The ongoing arbitral saga of Sullivan v. Feldman, which has engendered proceedings before 10 different arbitrators in Texas and Louisiana along with last month's Fifth Circuit opinion, showcases both the risks and limitations of arbitration clauses in retainer agreements for resolving attorney-client disputes, says Christopher Blazejewski at Sherin and Lodgen.
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Notable Q1 Updates In Insurance Class Actions
The first quarter of 2025 was filled with the refinement of old theories in the property and casualty space, including in vehicle valuation, time to seek appraisal and materials depreciation, says Mathew Drocton at BakerHostetler.
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Power To The Paralegals: The Value Of Unified State Licensing
Texas' proposal to become the latest state to license paraprofessional providers of limited legal services could help firms expand their reach and improve access to justice, but consumers, attorneys and allied legal professionals would benefit even more if similar programs across the country become more uniform, says Michael Houlberg at the University of Denver.
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GC Nominee Likely Has Employer-Friendly NLRB Priorities
President Donald Trump’s nomination of Crystal Carey as general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board indicates the administration's intent to revive precedents favorable to employers, including expansion of permissible employer speech and reinstatement of procedural steps needed for employees to achieve unionization, say attorneys at Vorys.