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

  • How Home Infusion Providers Can Adapt To Enrollment Pause

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    Recent Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services moratoria on new enrollments of home health agencies, medical equipment companies and hospices make home infusion providers' compliance obligations more complex and ambiguous, requiring new careful consideration of specific enrollment requirements and limitations, say attorneys at Quarles & Brady.

  • USPTO Practitioner Roster Reflects A More Veteran Workforce

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    An analysis of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Office of Enrollment and Discipline practitioner roster reveals a widening demographic imbalance between new practitioners and those with more experience, but despite this trend, an expected falloff in practitioner numbers has yet to arrive, says Ian Schick at Paximal.

  • How 'Markedly Different' Test Shapes Patent Eligibility Debate

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    Following last month's U.S. Senate hearing on the proposed Patent Eligibility Restoration Act, it is important to examine how courts and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office have applied the 46-year-old "markedly different characteristics" framework to determine eligibility of composition-of-matter claims, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • Opinion

    2nd Circ. Tylenol Ruling Misapplies Daubert Gatekeeping

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    The Second Circuit's recent ruling in Rutledge v. Walgreen Co., holding that a lower court should not have excluded experts alleging links between prenatal acetaminophen use and autism, threatens to swallow the Daubert standard by limiting courts' consideration of scientific consensus in assessing reliability of expert testimony, say attorneys at Benesch.

  • 5 Antitrust Lessons On Bundled Discounts After Medtronic

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    The recent California federal court decision upholding a $381.7 million verdict against Medtronic offers practitioners a clearer road map for navigating bundled discount claims under Section 2 of the Sherman Act, and the practical implications are substantial, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

  • Opinion

    After Monsanto, Defense Bar Must Build Case Against Lohr

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Monsanto v. Durnell has helped to demolish the foundation for its problematic 1996 ruling in Medtronic v. Lohr — so now defense counsel should lay the groundwork for the high court to overturn Lohr, say attorneys at Blank Rome.

  • A New Era Of Scrutiny For China-Linked Pharma Deals

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    As Congress considers bipartisan legislation that would heighten regulatory scrutiny for life sciences deals involving Chinese biotech entities, companies should reassess the risks and due diligence requirements that will come with using heavily China-dependent pipelines, says Jen Maki at Ankura.

  • Series

    Being A Sommelier Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Being a sommelier has quietly shaped how I practice law by changing the way I think, communicate and connect with people, and offers a constant reminder that expertise is about making your knowledge useful and accessible to others, says Kara Du at Sheppard.

  • Calif. Drug Ruling Affirms Defect-Centric Liability Framework

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    The California Supreme Court's decision in Gilead Tenofovir Cases this week rejects a novel duty-to-innovate theory of negligence that could have reshaped product liability exposure well beyond the pharmaceutical industry, instead signaling that negligence claims premised on nondefective products are unlikely to succeed, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • Navigating Court Divergence On Method Claims And Venue

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court's recent Hikma v. Amarin decision putting a spotlight on the pleading standard for inducement, patent litigants must adapt to courts' differing approaches to how separate method steps affect the determination of patent venue validity, say attorneys at Weil.

  • NJ Supreme Court Ruling Exposes D&O Gaps For PE Boards

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    The New Jersey Supreme Court's recent decision in Mist Pharmaceuticals v. Berkley Insurance, barring directors and officers coverage, serves as a cautionary tale for private equity executives serving in overlapping roles at sponsor and portfolio companies, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

  • Fed. Circ. In June: When Courts Can't Correct Patent Errors

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Enanta v. Pfizer explores and clarifies the limits of what can be corrected in a patent application, even if the error is obvious, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

  • Patent Eligibility Bulletin: New USPTO Guidance And AI Risks

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    In the second quarter of 2026, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office updated its subject matter eligibility declarations in line with its increasingly permissive patent eligibility stance, while the Federal Circuit rigorously applied the Alice framework in a decision that highlighted risks facing patent claims that utilize artificial intelligence and machine learning, say attorneys at Banner Witcoff.

  • A Shift In How Policymakers Are Approaching PBM Regulation

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    Recent federal and state legislative and regulatory activity involving pharmacy benefit managers represent a change in focus from transparency to PBM compensation structures, vertical integration and competitive effects, say attorneys at Barclay Damon.

  • 11th Circ. Opioid Appeal May Shift Public Nuisance Coverage

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    The Eleventh Circuit's recent ruling certifying to the Florida and Georgia Supreme Courts the question of whether insurers must provide coverage against suits claiming policyholders improperly distributed opioids may ultimately result in a counterbalance to the Delaware line of cases denying coverage for government opioid suits, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

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