Life Sciences

  • August 01, 2025

    OptumRx Moves To DQ Motley Rice In Utah Opioid Case

    Pharmacy benefit manager OptumRx has moved to disqualify Motley Rice LLC from representing the state of Utah in an opioid crisis lawsuit, claiming the firm clearly violated ethical rules by investigating OptumRx on behalf of government entities, then suing OptumRx in a private capacity.

  • August 01, 2025

    J&J Unit's Catheter Rival Scores Injunction After $442M Win

    A California federal judge will block Johnson & Johnson's Biosense Webster from refusing clinical support for its Carto cardio mapping systems from hospitals that use competitors' cardiac catheters, requiring the company to institute nondiscriminatory pricing for its services at hospitals regardless of which products they use.

  • July 31, 2025

    Hospitals Want To Duck Pharmacy Career Match Program Suit

    A professional pharmacy organization and a group of teaching hospitals teed up motions to dismiss Wednesday against proposed class action allegations that they conspired to restrict wages and benefits by funneling new pharmacists through a job-matching program, telling a Maryland federal judge that there's no sign of an agreement.

  • July 31, 2025

    Biotech Co. Beats Investor Suit Over Antifungal Drug Recall

    Biotechnology company Scynexis Inc. has won dismissal, for now, of a proposed investor class action alleging that it triggered a 34% share decline by knowingly misleading investors about manufacturing compliance issues that led to a drug recall, with the court finding the allegations the company should have known and disclosed issues only show "fraud by hindsight."

  • July 31, 2025

    Robotic Surgery Co.'s Antitrust Appeal Backed At 9th Circ.

    Surgical Instrument Service Co. Inc. has received backing at the Ninth Circuit from a trade association and others groups as it looks to revive its case accusing Intuitive Surgical Inc. of blocking third parties from refurbishing components for its popular da Vinci surgery robot.

  • July 31, 2025

    18 GOP Sens. Urge Trump To Fill IP Negotiator Post

    Eighteen Republican U.S. senators urged President Donald Trump to appoint someone to the vacant role of chief innovation and intellectual property negotiator of the U.S. Trade Representative in order to work to remove what they called "market-distorting price controls" in the pharmaceutical industry.

  • July 31, 2025

    HHS Plans To Test Rebates In 340B Drug Pricing Program

    The Trump administration on Thursday announced plans for a pilot project that would allow certain drugmakers to abandon upfront discounts in the 340B program and instead require hospitals to apply for rebates, testing an idea that would fundamentally reshape the long-running program.

  • July 31, 2025

    Honeywell Ex-GC Claims Age Bias Led To Firing At 55

    A Honeywell International Inc. former vice president and general counsel accused the Charlotte-based conglomerate of age discrimination, telling a North Carolina federal court that she was fired for turning 55.

  • July 31, 2025

    ITC Ends Dermatology Needle Import Ban After Settlement

    The International Trade Commission has lifted a ban on certain imports of skin treatment devices that infringed patents owned by a South Korean dermatologist's needle business after it settled with a rival.

  • July 31, 2025

    J&J Fired Sales Worker Who Reported Pay Issue, Suit Says

    Johnson & Johnson wrongly credited a former executive sales representative's sales to another worker, leading to lost earned commissions, and then fired him once he complained, the former employee said in a suit in Texas federal court.

  • July 30, 2025

    3rd Circ. Won't Upend Investors' Class Cert. In J&J Talc Suit

    A split Third Circuit on Wednesday upheld a New Jersey federal judge's class certification order in a Johnson & Johnson investor action alleging the company artificially inflated its stock price by failing to disclose cancer risks associated with its talcum powder products, finding the lower court did not err in concluding that common issues predominate in the suit.

  • July 30, 2025

    Flo Likely To Get Health Privacy Claim Tossed In Meta Case

    The California federal judge overseeing a trial on allegations that Flo Health and Meta Platforms Inc. violated the privacy of millions of women who used Flo's period tracker app said Wednesday he'd likely toss the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act claim, saying the lack of evidence is an "unsurmountable" problem.

  • July 30, 2025

    Illumina To Pay $9.8M To Resolve Cybersecurity Qui Tam Case

    Biotechnology company Illumina Inc. has agreed to pay $9.8 million in a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice to put to rest a first-of-its-kind False Claims Act suit alleging the company violated cybersecurity regulations for medical devices, according to an announcement Wednesday.

  • July 30, 2025

    No Philly Clause Is Valid In Med Mal Case, Pa. Panel Says

    A Pennsylvania appellate panel said Wednesday that a contract a patient signed before surgery mandating that any legal actions must be heard in Bucks County is valid and enforceable, affirming a trial court's transfer of the medical malpractice suit from plaintiff-friendly Philadelphia County.

  • July 30, 2025

    CVS Can't Arbitrate RICO Suit Over Alleged 'No Generic' Policy

    CVS effectively forfeited its arbitration rights in proposed class action litigation accusing it of conspiring to block Medicare beneficiaries from accessing generic versions of prescription drugs, a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled in denying the company's bid to enforce an arbitration agreement.

  • July 30, 2025

    FDA's Vaccine Chief Is Out After Loyalty To Trump Questioned

    Dr. Vinay Prasad's tenure as the top vaccine regulator at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ended abruptly this week following intense criticism from conservative activists who questioned his loyalty to President Donald Trump.

  • July 30, 2025

    Mich. PBM Opioid Suit Belongs In State Court, Judge Told

    Counsel for the State of Michigan argued Wednesday that a lawsuit accusing pharmacy benefit managers Express Scripts and OptumRx of fueling the opioid crisis is not subject to federal officer removal and should be sent back to state court.

  • July 30, 2025

    ImmunityBio Investors Nab Initial OK On Derivative Suit Deal

    A California federal judge has granted initial approval to a deal ending derivative claims that ImmunityBio executives failed to disclose manufacturing deficiencies that doomed the company's lead cancer drug application.

  • July 30, 2025

    GTCR Denied Rival's Old Sales Prospects Data In FTC Case

    An Illinois federal judge refused Tuesday to force a rival medical device coatings company to cough up old sales projections data so private equity firm GTCR BC Holdings can defend against a Federal Trade Commission challenge to its $627 million purchase of Surmodics.

  • July 30, 2025

    DHS Sinks Docs' Free Speech Suit Over COVID Policies

    A Texas federal judge on Wednesday dismissed free speech claims brought against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and three specialty medical boards by a doctor group claiming the government and boards punished them for disapproving of COVID-19 vaccines and mandates. 

  • July 30, 2025

    Fla. AG Allowed To Drop Sandoz Generics Price-Fixing Claims

    After several months of wrangling over the terms of a $10 million generic drug price-fixing settlement, a Connecticut federal judge on Wednesday granted Florida's request to permanently drop its claims against Sandoz, finding that it would be an abuse of discretion to hold up the resolution any longer.

  • July 30, 2025

    Pharma Tech Co. Diaceutics Hires Former Sandoz Atty As GC

    Pharmaceutical technology company Diaceutics PLC has hired a lawyer with in-house experience at Sandoz and Novartis as its general counsel.

  • July 30, 2025

    WilmerHale Taps Life Science Pro To Chair Transactions Dept.

    WilmerHale announced Wednesday that the former Latham & Watkins LLP attorney it hired last year to co-chair its life sciences practice is taking over as the chair of its transactional department.

  • July 29, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Backs Rejection Of Man's HPV Vaccine Claims

    A man who claimed vaccines he received as a teen, including one meant to guard against HPV, caused him to develop inflammatory bowel disease will receive no payments under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, the Federal Circuit ruled on Tuesday, affirming a determination that his theory that vaccines caused his illness is unsupported.

  • July 29, 2025

    Trump Says High Court Rulings Undermine Wash. Halt On EOs

    Recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court undermine a Washington federal judge's finding that portions of two executive orders concerning gender-affirming care and transgender identity likely violate the Constitution, the Trump administration argued in recent filings.

Expert Analysis

  • Move Beyond Surface-Level Edits To Master Legal Writing

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    Recent instances in which attorneys filed briefs containing artificial intelligence hallucinations offer a stark reminder that effective revision isn’t just about superficial details like grammar — it requires attorneys to critically engage with their writing and analyze their rhetorical choices, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.

  • Observations On 5 Years Of Non-Notified CFIUS Inquiries

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    Since 2020, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has identified and investigated covered cross-border transactions not formally notified to CFIUS, and a look at data from 50 non-notified matters during that time reveals the general dynamics of this enforcement function, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • 9th Circ. Has Muddied Waters Of Article III Pleading Standard

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    District courts in the Ninth Circuit continue to apply a defunct and especially forgiving pleading standard to questions of Article III standing, and the circuit court itself has only perpetuated this confusion — making it an attractive forum for disputes that have no rightful place in federal court, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • An Underused Tariff Exemption For Medical Product Importers

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    Medical device importers may be able to reduce tariff exposure by leveraging an often-overlooked Nairobi Protocol duty exemption for products specially designed to benefit those with qualifying medical conditions, says Samuel Finkelstein at LMD Trade Law.

  • Series

    Competing In Modern Pentathlon Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Opening myself up to new experiences through competing in modern Olympic pentathlon has shrunk the appearance of my daily work annoyances and helps me improve my patience, manage crises better and remember that acquiring new skills requires working through your early mistakes, says attorney Mary Zoldak.

  • Prepare For Increased FDA Inspections Of Foreign Facilities

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    In light of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's recently announced plans to expand use of unannounced inspections of foreign drug manufacturing factories, foreign firms should implement best practices in anticipation of an imminent increase in enforcement activity, say attorneys at McGuireWoods.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Teaching Yourself Legal Tech

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    New graduates often enter practice unfamiliar with even basic professional software, but budding lawyers can use on-the-job opportunities to both catch up on technological skills and explore the advanced legal and artificial intelligence tools that will open doors, says Alyssa Sones at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Navigating Potential Sources Of Tariff-Related Contract Risk

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    As the tariff landscape continues to shift, companies must anticipate potential friction points arising out of certain common contractual provisions, prepare to defend against breach claims, and respond to changing circumstances in contractual and treaty-based relationships, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • How AI May Reshape The Future Of Adjudication

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    As discussed at a recent panel at Texas A&M, artificial intelligence will not erase the human element of adjudication in the next 10 to 20 years, but it will drive efficiencies that spur private arbiters to experiment, lead public courts to evolve and force attorneys to adapt, says Christopher Seck at Squire Patton.

  • When Legal Advocacy Crosses The Line Into Incivility

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    As judges issue sanctions for courtroom incivility, and state bars advance formal discipline rules, trial lawyers must understand that the difference between zealous advocacy and unprofessionalism is not just a matter of tone; it's a marker of skill, credibility and potentially disciplinary exposure, says Nate Sabri at Perkins Coie.

  • Should Patent Disputes Be Filed In The ITC Or UPC?

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    When companies must choose between initiating patent litigation in the U.S. International Trade Commission or the European Union's Unified Patent Court, the ITC may offer a few distinct advantages, but ultimately the decision requires consideration of case-specific factors, say attorneys at White & Case.

  • Opinion

    NJ Should Align With Federal Rule On Expert Testimony

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    The time is right to amend Rule 702 of the New Jersey Rules of Evidence to align it with the recently amended Rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Evidence and clarify the standard for admissibility of expert testimony, says Timothy Freeman at Tanenbaum Keale.

  • 2 NY Rulings May Stem Foreign Co. Derivative Suits

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    In recent decades, shareholders have challenged the internal affairs doctrine by bringing a series of derivative actions in New York state court on behalf of foreign corporations, but the New York Court of Appeals' recent rulings in Ezrasons v. Rudd and Haussmann v. Baumann should slow that trend, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • Recent Reports Shed Light On Section 340B's Effectiveness

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    Recent analyses of the Section 340B program's effectiveness in helping patients afford drugs in Minnesota reinforce concerns about the program's lack of transparency and underscore the need for further evaluation of whether legislative reform should be enacted, say William A. Sarraille at the University of Maryland, and Andrée-Anne Fournier and Molly Frean at Analysis Group.

  • Opinion

    Congress Should Pass IP Reform, Starting With 3 Patent Bills

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    Congress is considering a trio of bipartisan bills to fix patent law problems that have cropped up over the past two decades, and it shouldn't stop there — addressing two other intellectual property issues is critical for America's economy, says retired Judge Kathleen O'Malley at the Council for Innovation Promotion.

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