6th Circ. Blocks 100s Of Opioid MDL Cases Targeting PBMs

By Jeff Overley

The Sixth Circuit on Friday overturned a pivotal decision in multidistrict opioid litigation that had dramatically expanded claims against the nation's largest pharmacy benefit managers, saying the MDL's presiding judge "clearly abused" his authority by belatedly allowing hundreds of new cases in one fell swoop.

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Nurse Can't Get 9th Circ. To Reopen COVID-19 Vax Bias Suit

By Patrick Hoff

A split Ninth Circuit panel refused Friday to reinstate a lawsuit alleging an Oregon healthcare system violated the First Amendment when it refused to excuse a nurse from its COVID-19 vaccination mandate, concluding the hospital had demonstrated it would've been too difficult to let her skip the jab.

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Pa. Justices Reject Federal Limits On Agency Deference

By Matthew Santoni

Pennsylvania courts do not have to follow federal precedents that limit deference to a state agency's interpretation of unclear regulations, with a majority of the state's highest court finding Thursday that an agency interpretation can be one of multiple factors for analyzing an ambiguous regulation.

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Teva Ruling Creates Medicare Drug 'Chaos,' Full DC Circ. Told

By Dorothy Atkins

The federal government asked the full D.C. Circuit on Friday to reconsider a panel ruling allowing Teva to challenge Medicare's rules for deciding which drugs qualify for price negotiations, arguing the decision invites litigation that could create drug-pricing "chaos" and cause drug prices to quickly leap by more than 550%.

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Analysis

4 Argument Sessions Benefits Attys Should Watch In October

By Kellie Mejdrich

Former Intel workers' bid to convince the U.S. Supreme Court to revive their suit alleging shoddy retirement plan investments tops the list of oral arguments slated for October that benefits attorneys may want to keep an eye on. Here's a look at that case and three others teed up for argument this month.

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Roberts Wants Less Talk. Supreme Court Attorneys Disagree.

By Katie Buehler

Near the end of last term, Chief Justice John Roberts voiced his frustration with the U.S. Supreme Court's lengthening oral argument sessions and suggested the justices might tweak their format over the summer. But as the new term begins Monday, the court has yet to announce any changes, and advocates see little need for improvement.

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5 Supreme Court Cases To Watch This Fall

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court will convene Monday to begin its 2026 October term, which includes several cases that could determine the future of climate change tort litigation, expand religious freedoms and parental rights, and grant states authority to require proof of citizenship when individuals register for presidential elections using state forms. 

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Analysis

DOJ Envisions 'Full-Fledged Law Firm' To Combat Gov't Fraud

By Phillip Bantz

The National Fraud Enforcement Division was created less than six months ago, but it is rapidly reshaping the U.S. Department of Justice and spurring an uptick in internal corporate investigations, white collar experts say.

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Staffing Co. To Pay Colo. $2.86M Over False Travel Bills

By Zach Dupont

The Colorado Attorney General's Office announced a $2.86 million settlement with a health care staffing company that overcharged the Colorado Department of Corrections for travel time of health care providers, according to a news release Friday.

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States Seek OK Of $400M Sandoz Generic Price-Fixing Deal

By Brian Steele

A coalition of 43 states and territories is seeking court approval of a $400 million settlement that would resolve allegations Sandoz Inc. and its subsidiary Fougera Pharmaceuticals Inc. participated in a widespread price-fixing and market allocation conspiracy that raised the prices of generic drugs in the U.S.

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Class Cert. Denied In Planned Parenthood Tracking Tech Suit

By Gianna Ferrarin

A California federal judge declined to certify a proposed class of individuals alleging Planned Parenthood Federation of America allowed third parties to intercept their sensitive information via tracking technologies embedded on its website, finding their attempt to bring common evidence amounted to "speculation and conjecture."

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NY-Presbyterian Can't Nix Union Funds' Antitrust Suit

By Taylor Bowie

A New York federal judge ruled three union benefit funds can pursue an antitrust suit against New York Presbyterian Hospital without first proving it holds a large market share in the city, rejecting the hospital's motion to toss the suit on Friday.

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Nurse Says Emory Offered Laundry Work After Light Duty Bid

By David Aaro

A registered nurse hit Emory Healthcare with a disability bias suit in Georgia federal court, claiming the hospital operator eventually fired her after it tried to banish her to the laundry room following her accommodation request for light duty.

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Judge OKs Provider Not Telling Clients Of Deal End, For Now

By Rachel Konieczny

A Colorado state judge granted Friday a home personal care services company's bid to delay notifying clients of a state regulatory agency's decision to terminate its provider agreement amid an upcoming administrative appeal hearing, citing a potential care gap for the providers' clients — all of them insured by Medicaid.

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Pa. Hospital Workers Sue Over Biased Time Rounding

By MJ Koo

A patient registration worker sued the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in federal court Friday, alleging the hospital system's timekeeping software rounds time in the company's favor, while requiring patient services staff to work off the clock before and after their shifts and during meal breaks without compensation.

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Medivis Gets Some AR Device Patent Claims Cut In Remand

By Ryan Davis

After the Federal Circuit faulted the Patent Trial and Appeal Board for upholding a Novarad Corp. patent on augmented reality technology for surgeons, the board found on remand that Medivis Inc. had shown that some patent claims are invalid, but not others.

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Fla. Firm Knew It Had To Secure Lender Notes, 11th Circ. Told

By David Minsky

A Puerto Rican microcap lender asked the Eleventh Circuit on Friday to overturn a trial verdict in favor of a law firm that the lender accused of botching several financial transactions, arguing jurors should've found that the firm committed malpractice by failing to secure the company's assets in bankruptcy proceedings.

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Miller & Chevalier Adds Former DOJ Healthcare Fraud Leader

By Christine DeRosa

Miller & Chevalier Chtd. has grown its litigation offerings with a U.S. Department of Justice veteran who most recently served as deputy chief of the National Fraud Enforcement Division's Health Care Fraud Section.

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Greenberg Traurig Adds Food, Drug Law Atty In DC

By Emily Johnson

Greenberg Traurig LLP has added to its Washington, D.C., office a director from Hyman Phelps & McNamara PC who has more than three decades of experience in guiding clients in regulatory, compliance and transactional matters involving the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

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New DNA Screening Standard Has No Clear Playbook

Although the government has not yet released promised guidance intended to support its new standards for screening mail-order DNA, companies should not read this as a reprieve from the Oct. 13 compliance deadline because the delay shifts enforcement risk to statutes that need no new authority, including false statements, the False Claims Act and fraud, says Ashwin Ram at Buchalter.

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Analysis

Judge Clevenger's Intellect Defined His Time On Fed. Circ.

By Dani Kass

Newly retired Federal Circuit Judge Raymond Clevenger has an "exceptionally keen intellect" that allowed him to spot holes or new paths in cases that the parties or fellow panel members hadn't explored, his former colleagues told Law360.

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Sotomayor Warns Judges: Don't Scare Your Jurors

By Brandon Lowrey

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Monday criticized an Alabama trial court judge who frightened a pool of prospective jurors by ordering the arrest of a latecomer to jury selection, saying in a statement accompanying a denial of certiorari in the case that fear can undermine a defendant's right to an impartial jury.

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Quinn Emanuel Seeks $750K After Defeating Buzbee Suits

By Lynn LaRowe

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP is seeking nearly $750,000 in attorney fees after defeating claims in Texas state court that it conspired with rapper Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter to retaliate against prominent Houston plaintiffs attorney Tony Buzbee and two of his former clients.

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9th Circ. Pauses Rogoff's Return As Seattle US Atty

By Jack Karp

The Ninth Circuit has put on hold a Washington federal judge's decision to reinstate Roger Rogoff as Seattle's top federal prosecutor, a post Rogoff held for less than an hour before he was fired by President Donald Trump.

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Jackson Walker Deal Stalled By Standing Issue, Trustee Says

By Lauren Berg

The U.S. Trustee's Office told a Texas federal judge that its settlement with Jackson Walker LLP to disgorge fees from cases touched by scandal is on ice while a bankruptcy judge examines the watchdog's standing to seek such relief.

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Eckert Seamans Says Data Breach Harm Is Only Speculative

By James Boyle

Pittsburgh-based law firm Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott LLC told a Pennsylvania federal judge on Friday a pair of proposed class actions claiming damages from a data breach at the firm have not made specific complaints of actual harm caused by the breach and should be dismissed.

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