Fla. Dept.'s Ex-GC Says Gov.'s Office Directed TV Ad Letters

By Carolina Bolado

The former general counsel for the Florida Department of Health said Monday that he was directed by Gov. Ron DeSantis' office to send out letters threatening television stations with criminal prosecution if they did not pull a campaign ad promoting an abortion rights ballot initiative.

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Biden Admin Proposes Expanded OTC Birth Control Coverage

By Kellie Mejdrich

The U.S. Department of Labor and two other agencies unveiled proposed regulations on Monday that for the first time would require private health insurers to cover the full cost of over-the-counter contraception, including male condoms and the morning-after pill.

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Apple Tells Del. Jury It Wants Smartwatch Infringing To Stop

By Jeff Montgomery

An Apple attorney told a federal jury in Delaware on Monday that the company is willing to accept only a token damage award from Masimo Corp. for the health tech company's infringement of Apple's smartwatch, but wants the alleged copying barred.

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NC Justices Revive Challenge To Hospital Competition Law

By Matthew Perlman

The North Carolina Supreme Court has ordered a trial court to reassess an optical surgeon's suit challenging the state's healthcare competition law over claims that the certificate of need statute violates the constitution by blocking him from using his own operating room.

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Catalent CEO Defends Novo Deal, Will Stay On After Buyout

By Al Barbarino

Catalent CEO Alessandro Maselli told the medical company's customers Monday that Catalent will continue to support them following its planned $16.5 billion sale to Novo Holdings, seeking to assure clientele after Sen. Elizabeth Warren and advocacy groups pressured the Federal Trade Commission to scrutinize and potentially block the deal.

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GOP Pols Want Probe Into FDA Laboratory Safety

By Emily Field

Three Republican lawmakers on Friday sought information from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about its oversight of its laboratory safety practices, following a long investigation over an incident about vials of smallpox virus and other hazards found on a National Institutes of Health campus.

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PBMs Keep Door Open To Constitutional Riposte Against FTC

By Bryan Koenig

Attorneys for Caremark Rx, Express Scripts and OptumRx kept the door open Monday to challenging the Federal Trade Commission's constitutionality as they face an in-house case accusing the country's three largest pharmacy benefit managers of artificially inflating insulin prices by relying on unfair rebate schemes.

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Brief

Feds Say Doctor Used Pandemic Funds For Cars, Real Estate

By Elliot Weld

A Washington state dermatologist used $1.5 million from a loan intended for small business COVID-19 relief on two luxury Porsches, a second home and a storage unit, prosecutors said Monday.

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Novartis Loses Challenge To Medicare Drug Price Talks

By George Woolston

A New Jersey federal judge on Friday tossed Novartis Pharmaceuticals' challenge to a Medicare drug price negotiation program, ruling the company is not required to participate, and that participating in the program does not violate its First Amendment rights.

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Blue Cross Escapes Mental Health Coverage Denial Suit

By Grace Elletson

A Pennsylvania federal judge tossed a patient's suit that claimed Independence Blue Cross violated federal benefits law when it declined to cover his stay at a residential facility, ruling the insurance company adequately backed up its decision that the treatment wasn't imperative to his health.

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Google, Meta Want Out Of GoodRx Health Data Sharing Suit

By Hailey Konnath

Google, Meta Platforms and Criteo have asked a California federal court to cut them loose from litigation alleging that GoodRx improperly shared patients' protected health information with the tech companies, saying the claims are "fundamentally flawed."

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Ontrak Jury Lacked Key Compliance Instruction, Judge Told

By Rachel Scharf

Counsel for convicted Ontrak founder Terren Peizer urged a California federal judge Monday to grant a new trial in the healthcare executive's novel insider trading case, saying jurors weren't properly instructed that they should acquit if Peizer's $20 million share sale was blessed by a compliance officer.

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9th Circ. Judge Slams 'Reprehensible' Policy In Jail Death

By Greg Lamm

A Ninth Circuit judge on Monday blasted a healthcare contractor's policy that denied hospital treatment for a woman in a Washington jail who died from a ruptured intestine, but nevertheless questioned if a $24 million punitive damage jury award was excessive.

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Weight Loss Clinic Denied Quick Relief In TM Suit

By Katherine Smith

A North Carolina hospital and healthcare provider don't have to stop using the trademarks targeted in a weight loss clinic's infringement suit, a federal judge ruled Monday, finding that the clinic will not suffer significant consequences absent the immediate relief.

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McGuireWoods Adds Healthcare Atty From Cooley In NY

By Christine DeRosa

McGuireWoods LLP has added a digital health expert from Cooley LLP, aiming to boost its offerings for clients in the space combining healthcare services with information and communications technology, the firm announced Monday.

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How Cos. Can Build A Strong In-House Pro Bono Program

During this year’s pro bono celebration week, companies should consider some key pointers to grow and maintain a vibrant in-house program for attorneys to provide free legal services for the public good, says Mary Benton at Alston & Bird.

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SEC, CFTC Chairs Talk Crypto, AI & Wall Street Texting Sweep

By Jessica Corso

The leaders of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission appeared before an audience of top financial professionals Monday to discuss the future of cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence regulations and to defend against accusations that ongoing probes of brokers' use of off-channel communications were too harsh.

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Paul Hastings Adds Baker McKenzie Employment Team In NY

By Tracey Read

Paul Hastings LLP said Monday that it has landed a top-tier, four-partner employment litigation team in New York from Baker McKenzie LLP to strengthen its East Coast practice.

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Mastercard's Legal Chief Departs For Tech Co. Coherent

By Rae Ann Varona

Rob Beard is leaving his post as Mastercard Inc.'s chief legal officer and global policy head to join Coherent Corp. as its CLO, the industrial laser technology company announced Monday.

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High Court Will Review Clean Air Act Jurisdiction Cases

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to review Tenth Circuit and Fifth Circuit rulings that reached different conclusions about whether legal challenges to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency air pollution rules belong in the D.C. Circuit.

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High Court Takes Case On Sentencing For Release Infractions

By Brian Dowling

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to address a circuit split over what factors judges can consider when sentencing a person for violating conditions of supervised release, an issue estimated to affect thousands of defendants each year.

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Judge Cites University Ties To Bow Out Of Aid-Fixing Suit

By Jared Foretek

An Illinois federal judge has recused herself from a proposed antitrust class action against 40 private colleges, reasoning that she has a relationship with one of the university defendants.

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9th Circ. Revives Atty's ADA Suit Against Calif. Bar

By Jack Karp

The State Bar of California may not have sovereign immunity that would allow it to duck an attorney's federal lawsuit claiming it failed to provide him with adequate disability accommodations during a bar exam amid the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ninth Circuit said Monday.

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Wade Says Trump Probe Plans Began Before Willis Took Office

By Kelcey Caulder

Former Fulton County special prosecutor Nathan Wade told Georgia House Judiciary Committee staff last week that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis planned to pursue charges against former president Donald Trump before she officially took the job and admitted to meeting with White House officials at least twice during the Georgia investigation.

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Central Park 5 Say Trump Defamed Them During Debate

By Nadia Dreid

The Central Park Five — New Yorkers who were wrongfully convicted as young teens of assaulting and raping a woman in Central Park — have hit former President Donald Trump with a defamation suit, saying he falsely claimed at a recent debate that they pled guilty, decades after calling for the boys to be executed.

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Interview

Ex-Morgan Lewis Atty Seeks Moderation In LA County DA Bid

By Rachel Scharf

Nathan Hochman, a former federal prosecutor and onetime partner at Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, is running on a "hard middle" platform as he looks to unseat progressive Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, the candidate told Law360 in an interview delving into his experience on both sides of the bar.

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Ex-Holland & Knight Atty Slams 'Incendiary' Client Info Suit

By Lauren Berg

A former Holland & Knight LLP partner asked a Pennsylvania federal judge Monday to toss a lawsuit alleging he unlawfully accessed a client's confidential documents in order to gain an upper hand in his contentious divorce, saying the "incendiary and defamatory" complaint is vague and fails to state viable claims.

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Firm Fired HR Manager Because Of Pregnancy, Fla. Jury Told

By David Minsky

The lawyer for a former human resources manager at a South Florida law firm told a federal jury Monday that she was fired for being pregnant, saying that her ex-employer made her come into work despite a doctor's note telling her to stay home after determining that she had a high-risk pregnancy.

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