5th Circ. Pauses Mail-Order Access To Abortion Pills

By Dan McKay

The Fifth Circuit on Friday reinstated an in-person dispensing requirement for the abortion medication mifepristone, blocking mail-order access while a challenge to a Biden administration regulation brought by Louisiana officials moves forward.

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DOJ Asks 4th Circ. To Revive Children's Hospital Subpoena

By Jared Foretek

The U.S. Department of Justice is asking the Fourth Circuit to reverse a district court order quashing its subpoena of transgender minor records from Children's National Hospital in Maryland, arguing that the patients' families — who sued to block the subpoena — lacked standing to bring a HIPAA challenge.

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Pharma Aims Torpedo At FCA After Bombshell 9th Circ. Ruling

By Jeff Overley

A burgeoning campaign against the False Claims Act's whistleblower mechanism is suddenly center stage at the Ninth Circuit, where pharmaceutical companies say a momentous new ruling "illustrates perfectly" the constitutional concerns of U.S. Supreme Court justices regarding FCA enforcement.

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Texas High Court Revives Delta-8 THC Restrictions

By Jonathan Capriel

The Lone Star State's health commissioner has the power to ban manufactured delta-8 THC goods, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday, lifting a lower court's order that had allowed hemp companies to keep selling these products while they sued the state.

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Judge, Atty Get In Shouting Match At Fatal Overdose Trial

By P.J. D'Annunzio

Tensions boiled over in a Philadelphia courtroom Friday at the end of an emotionally fraught trial over a man's fatal opioid overdose, with a judge and lawyer shouting at each other about how to figure out an inconclusive verdict spurred by a seemingly confused juror.

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Analysis

Trump's Fixed-Price Contract Default Could Raise Gov't Costs

By Madeline Lyskawa

President Donald Trump's recent executive order making fixed-price contracts or contracts that tie profit to performance metrics the default for federal contracting could lead to costlier government procurement and less competition, in contrast to the administration's stated goals.

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Analysis

5 Argument Sessions Benefits Attys Should Watch In May

By Kellie Mejdrich

HP, Siemens and Honeywell will defend victories in 401(k) forfeiture suits at the Ninth and Third circuits, while union pensioners will battle over life insurance and early retirement benefits at the Tenth and Seventh circuits. Here, Law360 looks at five coming oral argument sessions that benefits attorneys may want to keep an eye on.

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Mylan Inks $11M Deal With NC Over EpiPen Pricing

By Abigail Harrison

North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson announced Thursday that the state has inked an $11 million settlement with EpiPen distributor Mylan Pharmaceuticals, resolving claims of anticompetitive conduct and funneling millions back into public healthcare programs.

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Diagnostic Imaging Co. Pays $8.3M To End FCA Case

By Gina Kim

An Orange County medical scan company will pay $8.3 million to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act by paying kickbacks to referring cardiologists to supervise positron emission tomography scans, California federal prosecutors said Friday. 

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NYDFS Fines Delta Dental $2.25M Over MOVEit Data Breach

By Allison Grande

Delta Dental has agreed to pay $2.25 million to resolve the New York financial regulator's claims that the insurer maintained inadequate cybersecurity and breach response measures that enabled hackers to obtain access to files sent through the MOVEit transfer tool containing its customers' personal information. 

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Brief

Ex-Budget Official's Sentencing Set Before 2nd Bribery Trial

By Aaron Keller

Former Connecticut budget official Konstantinos Diamantis will be sentenced in a school construction bribery case before being tried on bribery charges involving a healthcare audit, a federal judge has ruled.

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Humana Investor Suit Largely Survives Dismissal Bid

By Emilie Ruscoe

Health insurer Humana can't shed proposed class action claims it misled investors about the financial impact it would see from pent-up demand for healthcare deferred amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a Delaware federal judge has determined.

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Hospitals Say HHS Is Withholding Safety Net Reimbursements

By Brian Steele

For more than 20 years, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has failed to pay tens of millions in reimbursements to hospitals serving low-income populations by incorrectly factoring service days for patients enrolled in Medicare Part C, a coalition of 91 medical centers claimed in a D.C. federal lawsuit.

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Med Groups Say HHS Stalling Challenge To Vax Changes

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts federal judge on Friday rejected the government's request to pause discovery in a challenge by medical groups to the Trump administration's new childhood vaccination schedule while it appeals his March order blocking the changes.

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Medical Practice's Assets Targeted After $49M Verdict

By Brian Steele

The Westchester Medical Group PC has only disclosed $2 million worth of insurance against a $49 million malpractice verdict that could nearly double during an expected appeal, a Connecticut cancer patient and her husband said in seeking to secure the defendant's property and other assets now.

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Benefits Co. Inks $3M Deal To End Worker's Tobacco Fee Suit

By Kellie Mejdrich

A benefits and claims administration company will pay $3 million to end an employee's proposed class action alleging a tobacco fee on her health plan violated federal benefits law, according to the terms of the proposed deal filed in Tennessee federal court Friday.

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Roundup

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Laura Stewart Liberty

The past week in London has seen a Swiss energy trader bring a Financial List claim against shipping benchmarking company Baltic Exchange, law firm Slater and Gordon sued by a former client, Slack and Salesforce hit Microsoft with an antitrust claim, and Stephen Fry bring a personal injury claim after he broke bones falling off a stage. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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Calif. Sued Over Ballot Measure For Health Clinic Fund Use

By Gina Kim

Federally designated community health clinics that serve vulnerable populations sued the California secretary of state and a union to keep an initiative off the November 2026 ballot that would control their budgets and expenditures, warning it could lead to shutdowns, disrupt patients' access to services and have other devastating consequences.

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Sidley, Goodwin Lead $1.1B Take-Private Deal For Esperion

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Biopharmaceutical company Esperion Therapeutics, advised by Goodwin Procter LLP, on Friday announced plans to go private after being bought by Sidley Austin LLP-led healthcare-focused investment firm Archimed in a $1.1 billion deal.

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Nelson Mullins Hires Career Faegre Drinker Pharma Trial Atty

By Jack Rodgers

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP has expanded its bench of trial attorneys with a lawyer who represents pharmaceutical and medical device companies in product liability, consumer fraud and class action matters.

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Previewing FDA Preapproval Access In Psychedelics EO

The second of two pathways for psychedelic drug access outlined in President Donald Trump's recent executive order constitutes an unprecedented expansion of the Right to Try Act, which could fundamentally alter the psychedelic access landscape while presenting significant regulatory, operational and legal challenges, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

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Calif. Case Raises Questions For Medical Practice Investors

The California attorney general's amicus brief in Art Center v. WCE and the California Medical Association's response highlight how the California appeals court's ruling could significantly affect the structure and enforceability of succession arrangements in medical practice ownership, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

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Bondi Spurs Ethics Doubts By Using DOJ Official As Counsel

By Courtney Bublé

Harmeet Dhillon, an official with the U.S. Department of Justice, is representing former Attorney General Pam Bondi in proceedings before the House oversight committee, which Democrats on the panel say raises ethical quandaries.

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Attys Defend $85M Fee Bid Blasted By Judge In Google Deal

By Bonnie Eslinger

Consumers who pursued an antitrust class action against Google urged the California federal judge who criticized their 98,000 hours billed as "grotesquely bloated" to approve their $85 million fee request, emphasizing Friday that they filed suit a year before state attorneys general joined the case and maintained a leading role in the litigation.

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Military Atty Can Prosecute Minn. Civilian Despite Regulations

By Jack Karp

A Minnesota federal judge won't stop a military attorney from being appointed to prosecute a civilian accused of assaulting federal immigration officers, despite finding that the appointment violates binding U.S. Department of Defense regulations.

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DOJ Apology For Hidden Warrant Not Satisfying For Judge

By Tom Lotshaw

A Rhode Island federal judge, whom the U.S. Department of Homeland Security criticized for releasing a noncitizen with an alleged overseas warrant for homicide, was dissatisfied with an assistant U.S. attorney's apology for not disclosing the warrant to the court beforehand.

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Wash. Bar Task Force Spotlights Atty Mental Health Issues

By Rachel Riley

A Washington State Bar Association wellness survey of roughly 900 members found that nearly 10% said they experienced suicidal thoughts or self-harm in the past year, and about 20% expressed concerns about their alcohol consumption, a task force reported to bar leadership on Saturday.

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Lewis Brisbois Gets Ex-Paralegal's Claims Sent To Arbitration

By Adrian Cruz

A Florida state judge determined that a former Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP paralegal has to arbitrate her claims accusing the firm of defamation and costing her a job at another firm.

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Sinema Pans 'Gross Distortion' By Ex-Guard's Wife In Tryst Suit

By Abigail Harrison

Former Arizona U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema on Friday doubled down on her contention that a North Carolina federal court lacks jurisdiction over a lawsuit alleging she destroyed a marriage by sending lascivious texts to her ex-security guard.

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Analysis

DOJ's In-House Detention Legal Aid Plan Is MIA

By Courtney Bublé

A year ago, U.S. Department of Justice officials said the government would be taking over a program historically run by nonprofits to provide legal orientations and referrals for pro bono representation for adults in immigration detention facilities. But those involved in the program say the Trump administration hasn't taken any steps to run the program.

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2nd Circ. Raises Concern Over Challenge To NY US Atty's DQ

By Stewart Bishop

A Second Circuit panel on Monday voiced concern over the U.S. Department of Justice's argument that a now-former acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York was serving lawfully when he subpoenaed the New York Attorney General's office over a pair of cases disfavored by President Donald Trump.

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Maduro Gets June Court Date After US Relents On Atty Fees

By Pete Brush

A Manhattan federal judge on Monday directed former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to return to court in June, after he and his wife, Cilia Flores, reached an apparent agreement with the Trump administration to access Venezuela government funds for their legal fees.

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Mass. Justices Uneasy Over Judge's Handling Of ICE Incident

By Julie Manganis

Massachusetts' top court on Monday appeared concerned that a state district court judge in 2018 offered to detain a defendant sought by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, as the justices considered a public reprimand.

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Atty Seeks Docs To Back Ogletree DQ Bid In Bias Suit

By Adrian Cruz

A Georgia attorney on Monday asked a federal judge to allow discovery related to her bid to have Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC disqualified from defending ADT LLC against discrimination claims while concurrently defending Microsoft Corp. in the attorney's own pregnancy bias suit.

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Longtime South Fla. Federal Judge James King Dies At 98

By Carolina Bolado

U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King, a Nixon appointee who spent more than half a century on the federal bench and helped shape the Southern District of Florida, died Saturday at the age of 98.

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Calif. District OKs Civil Court Audio Feeds Including Musk Trial

By Dorothy Atkins

The Northern District of California modified local court rules late Friday to allow judges to stream audio for civil jury trials in the district, accompanying its announcement with a separate notice that the high-profile Elon Musk v. Sam Altman trial over OpenAI's for-profit conversion is available to access via audio stream.

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