Justices Seek US View On Pharma's Iraq Terror Liability

By Madeline Lyskawa

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday invited the U.S. solicitor general to opine on a lawsuit accusing pharmaceutical companies of aiding a Hezbollah-linked militia's terrorist activities in Iraq, after the D.C. Circuit held the plaintiffs adequately alleged that the companies' participation was conscious and voluntary.

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Pharmacy Tech's COVID Vax Bias Suit Falls Short At 7th Circ.

By Patrick Hoff

The Seventh Circuit refused to reopen a suit alleging an Illinois county hospital fired a pharmacy technician for requesting a religious exemption from the COVID-19 vaccine, saying it was bound by a recent ruling nixing a similar case.

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Texas Court Affirms Most Of $7.1M Nursing Home Injury Win

By Mike Curley

A Texas appeals court has affirmed the bulk of a $7.1 million injury verdict in favor of a nursing assistant over injuries she sustained while moving an obese patient from his bed to a wheelchair, finding that the evidence supports the negligence finding.

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HealthSpan's Surgery Partners Bid Now $6B Amid Rival Offer

By Nate Beck

HealthSpan Partners, an affiliate of nonprofit system Bon Secours Mercy Health, raised its offer to $6 billion Monday in a proposed acquisition of short-stay surgical facility owner and operator Surgery Partners, after a third party made an unsolicited bid.

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Compass Submits Psilocybin Depression Drug To FDA

By Sam Reisman

Pharmaceutical company Compass Pathways announced Monday that it had submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration a new drug application to treat treatment-resistant depression with psilocybin, the primary compound in psychoactive mushrooms.

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Brief

FDA Orders New GLP-1 Risk Warnings Over Vision Loss

By Emily Field

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday said it is requiring new warnings on GLP-1 medications, the group of blockbuster drugs prescribed for diabetes and weight loss, for a serious, rare condition that can cause sudden and possibly permanent vision loss in one eye.

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Brief

USTR Extends Vietnam Section 301 IP Investigation

By Dylan Moroses

The U.S. Trade Representative is extending its investigation into Vietnam's trading practices for three more months, according to a notice published Monday.

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Quest Pays $13M To End Giants Ticket Kickback Claims

By George Woolston

Quest Diagnostics Inc. has paid $13 million to settle allegations that it submitted false claims to Medicare and New York and New Jersey Medicaid programs, according to federal prosecutors.

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Hospital Can't Redo Nurses Union Row, NLRB Says

By Katherine Smith

An Oregon hospital cannot win remand of its case challenging a National Labor Relations Board order requiring the hospital to bargain with a nurses union, the board has told the D.C. Circuit, claiming the hospital can't relitigate issues over the union's certification it should have raised in an underlying case.

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Med Group Ordered To Return $750K Overpayment To Insurer

By Gianna Ferrarin

A pediatric specialty practice group must pay Equitable Financial Life Insurance Co. upwards of $750,000 it received as an overpayment after the group surrendered its policies, an Illinois federal judge ruled Monday, finding the provider breached its contract by failing to surrender the funds.

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Ohio AG Asks To Streamline Drug Pricing Suit

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

The attorney general of Ohio is seeking to amend its complaint accusing Express Scripts and several related entities of conspiring to raise prescription drug prices.

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National Science Foundation Sued Over Plan To Defund Unit

By Carolyn Muyskens

Researchers on Monday challenged the impending phase-out of an office of the National Science Foundation that funds 64% of U.S. research in the social sciences, calling the move to eliminate funding illegal and devastating for their fields.

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Justices Won't Review DOD, Subcontractor Software Feud

By Madeline Lyskawa

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a dispute over rights to healthcare software for a U.S. Army veterinary records system, after the Federal Circuit held a defense subcontractor failed to present a valid contract claim.

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Justices Decline Review In Real Estate Row Over Pot Biz

By Sam Reisman

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a real estate developer's case against the city of Pontiac, Michigan, alleging municipal officials violated constitutional rights by delaying approvals of a proposed cannabis operation until it was no longer viable.

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Supreme Court Weighs Ending Decades-Old Bivens Doctrine

By Marco Poggio

A staff nurse at the Federal Detention Center in Honolulu asked the Supreme Court on Monday to eliminate a 55-year-old legal doctrine allowing people to sue federal government officials for damages over constitutional injuries they suffer at their hands, arguing the doctrine violates the separation of powers and must be overruled.

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Health Plan Startup Sues CMS Over 2-Star Medicare Rating

By Gianna Ferrarin

A health insurance startup urged a D.C. federal court to set aside a low Medicare Advantage star rating it received from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for 2027, arguing CMS used improper criteria and is jeopardizing approximately $20 million in revenue.

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Yale Health Network Settles Workers' Time Rounding Suit

By Brian Steele

Yale New Haven Health Services Corp. and a putative class of workers have settled claims the healthcare network underpaid wages by systematically modifying and rounding time sheets, Connecticut federal court records show.

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Ex-Eli Lilly Rep Fights Firing After Flagging Mounjaro Abuse

By Spencer Brewer

A former pharmaceutical sales representative on Monday told a Texas federal court that Eli Lilly and Co. wrongfully fired her after she blew the whistle on the company's practice of offering its lucrative drug Mounjaro as a weight loss drug, saying Eli Lilly asked her to breach the law.

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Seattle Area Residents Aim To Relaunch Airport Pollution Suit

By Rachel Riley

Washington residents are seeking a federal judge's permission to revamp their proposed class action over alleged flight path pollution near the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, with the goal of bringing federal claims against the airport operator and major airlines after the Ninth Circuit ruled out their previous state law claims.

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DOJ's Civil Division Head Joins Agency Exits After Midterms

By Jack Karp

The leader of the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Division, Brett A. Shumate, on Monday became at least the fifth top DOJ official to step down following Republicans' defeat in last week's midterm elections.

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Ark. Senators Accused Of Blocking Trump's 8th Circ. Pick

By Courtney Bublé

With time waning for a Republican-controlled Senate, President Donald Trump might lose an opportunity to fill a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

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Simpson Thacher Hires Energy Regulatory Atty In DC

By Christine DeRosa

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP has grown its energy regulatory capabilities in the nation's capital with the addition of a longtime Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP attorney.

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Kirkland Hires Weil DC Leader For Antitrust Team

By Alison Knezevich

A Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP antitrust partner who has led the dissolving firm's Washington, D.C., office is headed to Kirkland LLP.

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How A Child Of Immigrants Defends Abrego Garcia

By Corey Rothauser

Hecker Fink attorney Jeffrey Then grew up translating English-language letters for customers at his Dominican immigrant family’s Bronx business. Decades later, he drew on that experience while defending Kilmar Abrego Garcia from federal human smuggling charges, becoming a lifeline for Abrego Garcia during his detention.

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Milbank Moves To Newly Redone Century City Office In LA

By Nate Beck

Milbank LLP has taken space in a newly renovated office in Los Angeles, remaining in Century City.

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Q&A

John Morgan On Why Luck Matters More Than Most Admit

By Y. Peter Kang

John Morgan, founder of personal injury giant Morgan & Morgan PA, built the largest personal injury firm in the U.S., with 1,110 attorneys in 140 locations. In his new memoir, "Life Is Luck," the attorney who Forbes estimates has a net worth of $1.5 billion argues that success is about more than talent, intelligence or determination. It is also about recognizing opportunities, taking risks and capitalizing on fortunate breaks when they appear.

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Wachtell To Probe Nvidia CEO's Affair With Alleged China Spy

By Anna Scott Farrell and Sue Reisinger

Nvidia has hired Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz to lead an investigation into allegations that its founder and CEO had an affair with a business executive who U.S. intelligence believes is a Chinese spy, the artificial intelligence chipmaker said Tuesday.

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Grassley Defends Rush To Confirm Trump Judicial Picks

By Courtney Bublé

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Tuesday defended how quickly the committee is moving to confirm President Donald Trump's judicial picks before Democrats control the Senate.

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Mass. Auditor Says Lawmakers Must Comply With Demands

By Julie Manganis

Massachusetts' state auditor asked a judge to force lawmakers to comply with demands for documents for her long-sought — and voter-endorsed — audit of the legislature.

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