Life Sciences

  • August 12, 2026

    Full 5th Circ. Rejects Planned Parenthood's Immunity Appeal

    The full Fifth Circuit Wednesday tossed an appeal over whether Planned Parenthood is entitled to attorney immunity in a whistleblower suit accusing the organization of improper Medicaid billing, reversing a panel's decision that went in favor of Planned Parenthood.

  • August 12, 2026

    Albertsons Judge Hears Testimony On Rx Opioid, Abuse Link

    An "undeniable" causal link exists between excess prescription opioids and problem use of drugs such as heroin and fentanyl, an expert witness testified during a bench trial Wednesday in Washington's lawsuit accusing Albertsons of fueling the state's overdose crisis by irresponsibly dispensing opioids.

  • August 12, 2026

    Compliance Officer's Partner Traded On Deal Info, SEC Says

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has accused a Texas man of trading on inside information about an Asahi Kasei acquisition that he allegedly learned from a now-former romantic partner who at the time was a compliance director at an Asahi subsidiary. 

  • August 12, 2026

    Del. Judge Slashes Fee Bid For 'Underwhelming' Settlement

    The Delaware Court of Chancery has significantly cut attorney fees requested in a derivative lawsuit settlement with The Beauty Health Co., finding the deal "releases weak claims in exchange for minor enhancements."

  • August 12, 2026

    'Core' Generics Leader Must Face Most AG Price-Fix Claims

    A Connecticut federal judge ruled Wednesday that G&W Laboratories Inc. must face most price-fixing claims from dozens of state attorneys general targeting generic-drug makers, teeing the shuttered company up for trial as one of four companies deemed the "core group of leaders most responsible" for the conspiracy.

  • August 12, 2026

    Hogan Lovells Adds Senior FDA Official In DC

    Hogan Lovells Cadwalader said Wednesday its pharmaceuticals and biotechnology practice brought on a longtime U.S. Food and Drug Administration official who oversaw a key compliance office.

  • August 12, 2026

    9th Circ. Says Aetna Must Face Benefit Misrepresentation Suit

    The Ninth Circuit revived allegations that Aetna misrepresented how much it would pay toward a patient's $150,000 surgery, finding that federal benefits law didn't preempt a claim brought under state law because the dispute centered on the payment commitments rather than the health plan itself.

  • August 12, 2026

    CMS Ends Medicaid Funds For Youth Transgender Care

    Medicaid will no longer cover the cost of some gender-affirming care for minors, including gender reassignment surgery and hormone treatments, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced after issuing a final rule set to take effect this year. 

  • August 11, 2026

    Abbott, Mead Must Face Baby Formula Retrial, Mo. Panel Says

    A Missouri appeals court on Tuesday affirmed a new trial order in a suit accusing Abbott Laboratories and Mead Johnson of selling baby formula that causes a serious condition in preterm infants, agreeing with the trial court that the verdict was not supported by the evidence.

  • August 11, 2026

    USPTO Simplifies Entry To Patent Bar For Biomedical Grads

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published guidance Tuesday that elevates biomedical science degrees to a list of degrees that earn a person eligibility to take the patent bar exam, saying the move will help with "expanding the admission criteria of the patent bar."

  • August 11, 2026

    Full Fed. Circ. Declines To Revisit Design Patent Test

    The full Federal Circuit on Tuesday refused to review the test for proving design patent infringement, rejecting a massage device maker's argument that the court has strayed from U.S. Supreme Court precedent but drawing a dissent arguing the court has "messed up" the law.

  • August 11, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Revives Man's Vax Injury Case, Citing Mail Delay

    The Federal Circuit reversed a U.S. Court of Federal Claims decision that rejected a man's case seeking vaccine injury compensation, concluding that the court wrongly faulted him for the late arrival of his petition.

  • August 11, 2026

    Judge Probes 7th Circ. Fallout Of Ending Gender Care Fight

    An Illinois federal judge questioned Tuesday what would become of a pending appeal before the full Seventh Circuit if he allows the American Academy of Pediatrics to voluntarily dismiss, without prejudice, its challenge to a Florida racketeering probe over the medical group's gender-affirming care guidelines, an issue one attorney predicted would be "hotly contested."

  • August 11, 2026

    Neogen Beats Investor Suit Over 3M Integration Claims

    A suit alleging food safety company Neogen hid postmerger financial difficulties following its combination with a division of manufacturing giant 3M was tossed by a Michigan federal judge, who found the suit's challenged statements were either inactionable or that the defendants did not intentionally mislead the public.

  • August 11, 2026

    DOJ Drops 3rd Circ. Bid For Pa. Hospital Trans Patient Info

    The U.S. Department of Justice has dropped its request for the Third Circuit to review a district court's order quashing its demand for records on patients who received gender-affirming care at a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center children's hospital, effectively ending its subpoena fight in the district.

  • August 10, 2026

    Pharma Co. To Pay $46M Over Transplant Drug Kickbacks

    Veloxis Pharmaceuticals Inc. will enter a deferred prosecution agreement and pay more than $46 million to resolve criminal and civil allegations that the North Carolina-based drug manufacturer paid kickbacks to spur prescriptions and purchases of its kidney transplant immunosuppression drug Envarsus XR, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday.

  • August 10, 2026

    Drugmakers Lose 2nd Bid To Appeal Ex-Prosecutor DQ Rebuff

    A former Connecticut prosecutor and his current firm Lowey Dannenberg PC can keep representing insurers Humana Inc. and Molina Healthcare Inc. in an antitrust lawsuit against generic-drug makers, after the judge overseeing the multidistrict litigation rejected a second attempt to appeal her denial of disqualification.

  • August 10, 2026

    Trump Revives Push To Reduce Kids' Vaccine Schedule

    Responding to a legal setback, President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday recommending fewer vaccines for most children and calling on parents and doctors to space out the vaccines they do give.

  • August 10, 2026

    AbbVie, Novartis Seek To Block Ill. 340B Drug Discount Law

    AbbVie Inc. and Novartis Pharmaceuticals are urging an Illinois federal court to block a state law that took effect Friday barring pharmaceutical manufacturers from trying to impose restrictions on 340B contract pharmacy arrangements, arguing in a pair of suits that the law is unconstitutional.

  • August 10, 2026

    Opioid Victims Say Firm Kept Too Much Of Purdue Payouts

    A Baltimore woman is accusing a California-based attorney and her firm of illegally withholding thousands of dollars from opioid victims' Purdue Pharma settlement payments in a new class action filed Sunday in Maryland federal court.

  • August 10, 2026

    Welch Allyn, IRhythm Reach Deal To End Patent Dispute

    Welch Allyn Inc. has entered a deal to bring a close to a lawsuit in Delaware federal court accusing iRhythm Technologies Inc. of infringing a series of heart monitor patents after iRhythm had its attempts to challenge some of those patents shot down.

  • August 10, 2026

    Lack Of Fiduciary Duty Frees Chemours From NC PFAS Suit

    Chemours Inc., its affiliates and DuPont Industrial Biosciences USA LLC on Monday got the dismissal of a proposed class action by a North Carolina resident over contamination of Brunswick County's water.

  • August 10, 2026

    Alto Neuroscience Escapes Investor Drug Trial Suit, For Now

    Alto Neuroscience has escaped a shareholder suit alleging the psychiatric biotech company and its top brass overstated the efficacy of their lead drug candidate for treating major depressive disorder, with a California federal judge ruling that the suit's "vague and conclusory" pleadings should be remedied.

  • August 10, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Reverses PTAB On Prior Art Issue Over Dental IP

    The Federal Circuit on Monday reversed a Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision that invalidated a group of claims in a Dental Monitoring SAS dental imaging patent, finding that a previous provisional patent application was missing a written description and thus can't be used as prior art.

  • August 10, 2026

    Judge Blocks DOD Military Label For Chinese Biotech Co.

    A D.C. federal judge temporarily blocked the U.S. Department of Defense from enforcing a decision to designate WuXi AppTec Co. Ltd. as a Chinese military company, ruling the department's justifications appeared to lack a grounding in the evidence they cited.

Expert Analysis

  • DTSA Data Shows Hidden Value Of Ex Parte Seizure Filings

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    Ten years of Defend Trade Secrets Act data indicate that although there is a low success rate for civil seizure applications, intellectual property litigators should continue filing them anyway in order to better their odds of obtaining other provisional relief, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

  • Becoming The Biz-Savvy GC That Portfolio Companies Need

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    Candidates for general counsel roles at private equity-backed portfolio companies should prioritize proving their sector-specific experience, commercial judgment and ease with uncertainty — and attorneys hoping to be candidates in five to 10 years should start working on those skills now, says Dimitri Mastrocola at Major Lindsey.

  • AI Regulatory Gaps May Fuel FCA Enforcement Action

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    The intersection of artificial intelligence and False Claims Act enforcement presents legal risk for government contractors across several industries, particularly in the absence of a federal regulatory framework explicitly governing its development and use, say attorneys at O’Melveny.

  • Series

    Judges On AI: How Courts Can Survive The Tech Revolution

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    Colorado Supreme Court Justice Maria Berkenkotter and Colorado Court of Appeals Judge Lino Lipinsky de Orlov discuss how artificial intelligence has already fundamentally altered the legal system and offer tips for courts navigating deepfakes, hallucinations and a gap in access to AI tools.

  • 'Skinny Label' Arguments Spotlight Induced Infringement Risk

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    Recent oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in Hikma Pharmaceuticals v. Amarin Pharma highlight the uncertain boundary between lawful generic competition through so-called skinny labels and induced patent infringement, with potential implications for patent holders’ communication, enforcement and causation strategies across industries, says Anton Hopen at Trenam.

  • Startup Founder Disputes Increasingly Turn On Governance

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    Recent Delaware developments suggest that as courts place increasing emphasis on board process, independence and oversight in founder-led startups, the growing intersection of governance, technology risk and investor oversight is accelerating both the emergence and escalation of founder disputes, says mediator Frank Burke.

  • 3 AI Adoption Mistakes GCs Should Avoid

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    The pressure in-house legal teams face to quickly adopt artificial intelligence tools, combined with budget constraints and the need to evaluate a crowded market of options, sets the stage for implementation mistakes that are often difficult to undo, says former 23andMe general counsel Guy Chayoun.

  • Series

    Playing Basketball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My grandfather used to say "I wear your jersey" as shorthand for wholly committing to support someone with loyalty and integrity — ideals that have shaped my life on the basketball court and in legal practice, says Tracy Schimelfenig at Schimelfenig Legal.

  • EPA Listing Signals New Scrutiny Of Drugs In Drinking Water

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    The recent publication of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's latest draft drinking water contaminant list highlights pharmaceuticals as a category of concern, marking the start of a process that could shape future research priorities, monitoring requirements, and federal and state actions, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • How Del. Courts Will Likely Evaluate AI Oversight Claims

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    While no Delaware court has thus far adjudicated a claim based on alleged board failures to oversee artificial intelligence risk, recent Court of Chancery decisions suggest that familiar Caremark principles will be applied in predictable but consequential ways, particularly when AI touches mission‑critical operations, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • Opinion

    5th Circ.'s Abortion Pill Order Is Shaky On Multiple Grounds

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    The Fifth Circuit's recent order in Louisiana v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, reinstating an in-person dispensing requirement for the abortion medication mifepristone, seems to turn federalism upside-down, and is also questionable for several other reasons, says Gregory Curtner at Curtner Law.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Georgia Court Has Business On Its Mind

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    Thanks to recent legislation, the Georgia State-wide Business Court will soon offer business litigants greater access to the court than ever before, further enhancing the court's emphasis on efficiency, predictability and accessibility for sophisticated commercial disputes, says former GSBC judge Walt Davis at Jones Day.

  • Opinion

    USPTO Must Address The Right Question In Sanofi Case

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    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Appeals Review Panel's questions in Ex parte Baurin indicate recognition of broader doctrinal issues, but rather than approaching from separate angles, the panel should concentrate on a single fundamental question about obviousness-type double patenting, says Jeremy Lowe at Spencer Fane.

  • 4 Emerging Approaches To AI Protective Order Language

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    Over the last year, at least five federal district courts have issued or analyzed specific protective order provisions restricting the use of generative artificial intelligence platforms with protected materials, establishing that proactive AI-specific provisions are now standard practice and demonstrating that no single model works for every case, says Joel Bush at Kilpatrick.

  • What Justices Are Focusing On In 'Skinny Label' Patent Case

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    Though Hikma v. Amarin appears to be a patent dispute that could reshape inducement doctrine in the pharmaceutical context, oral argument suggests the U.S. Supreme Court may treat this as primarily a pleading-stage dispute, with important unresolved questions lurking beneath the surface, says Shashank Upadhye at Upadhye Tang.

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