Trump Taps White House Aide Overton To Lead FDA

By Dan McKay

President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced the nomination of White House aide Heidi Overton, an abortion opponent who has urged states to roll back vaccine requirements, to lead the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

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5th Circ. Backs Delay Of FDA's 11-Warning Cigarette Rule

By Danielle Ferguson

The Fifth Circuit on Tuesday upheld the delay of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration rule requiring the addition of graphic warning labels to cigarette packages, saying tobacco companies that challenged the rule showed the agency likely overstepped its narrow authority to adjust existing warnings by creating two new ones.

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Outcome Health Execs Owe $270M And Counting For Fraud

By Lauraann Wood

Former Outcome Health executives who were convicted of a $1 billion fraud against investors, lenders and customers must repay $270.8 million to certain victims, though that amount will climb higher with additional calculation, an Illinois federal judge said Wednesday.

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Mich. Judge Is Torn Over Data Tracking Suit

By Susan Smiley

A Michigan judge tasked with deciding whether to dismiss a proposed class action against state healthcare facilities alleging improper use of data tracking tools on Wednesday told attorneys that he could not remember a case in which supporting decisions were divided so evenly.

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Judge May Trim $88M Covidien Hernia Mesh Verdict

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts federal judge said Wednesday she is "likely" to reduce a jury's recent $88 million verdict in a bellwether hernia mesh lawsuit and encouraged lawyers for an Alabama couple and Covidien LP to consider a settlement.

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HHS, USDA Must Withdraw Dietary Guidelines, DC Court Told

By Gianna Ferrarin

A public health nonprofit on Wednesday urged a D.C. federal court to order the federal government to withdraw dietary guidelines it issued earlier this year, arguing that reviewers who advised on the guidelines had significant conflicts of interest and were selected without public oversight.

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Rising Star: McGuireWoods' Kayla McCann Marty

By Mark Payne

Kayla McCann Marty of McGuireWoods LLP helped guide United Urology Group through its undisclosed sale to OneOncology, and guided Novant Health through its acquisition of UCI Medical Affiliates from Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina, earning her a spot among healthcare law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

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Albertsons Says Wash. Failed To Prove Opioid Claims At Trial

By Ben Adlin

Albertsons Cos. Inc. urged a Seattle judge on Tuesday to throw out Washington state's lawsuit accusing the chain and its subsidiary Safeway Inc. of fueling Washington's opioid crisis, arguing that the state failed to prove wrongdoing by the companies after nearly five weeks of an ongoing bench trial.

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Colo. Sues GEO Group To Allow Tuberculosis Probe At ICE Camp

By Gina Kim

Colorado sued private prison operator GEO Group in state court Wednesday, accusing it of failing to comply with a public health order seeking compliance with a tuberculosis investigation in the only immigration detention camp in the state.

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6th Circ. Backs Blue Cross Over Reimbursement Rate Dispute

By Patrick Hoff

The Sixth Circuit on Wednesday upheld Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan's defeat of a lawsuit alleging it shortchanged several medical providers despite promising higher reimbursement rates before a La-Z-Boy employee received care, ruling the providers' claims were superseded by federal benefits law.

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Ga. Appeals Court Says Hospital Must Face Negligence Suit

By Kelcey Caulder

A Georgia hospital will have to face a woman's suit alleging her husband died because one of its employees dropped him during a bed transfer, the Georgia Court of Appeals said, faulting a trial court's ruling that she needed to file an expert affidavit.

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Medtronic, Former Exec Settle Whistleblower Retaliation Suit

By Rachel Konieczny

A Colorado state judge tossed a whistleblower lawsuit against Medtronic Inc., granting a dismissal bid from the company and a former executive after they reached an undisclosed settlement.

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FTC Asks Court To Keep Trans Health Suit In Texas

By Spencer Brewer

The Federal Trade Commission has asked a Texas federal court to keep its suit against the World Professional Association for Transgender Health in the Lone Star State, saying that the organization incorporated there in 1980.

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Nonprofits Urge Court To Block HHS From Sharing Aid Data

By Stewart Bishop

Counsel for a group of nonprofits on Wednesday asked a Brooklyn federal judge to block the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from sharing personal information, including immigration status, of recipients of financial assistance with the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies, saying the proposed disclosure has "no statutory authority whatsoever."

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1st Circ. Says Apellis Disclosures Weren't 'Half-Truths'

By Craig Clough

A First Circuit panel on Wednesday affirmed the dismissal of a securities fraud lawsuit accusing Apellis Pharmaceuticals and some of its top executives of misleading investors about the safety testing of the company's eye drug Syfovre, finding no actionable claim the company told "half-truths" about potential side effects of inflammation that can lead to blindness. 

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5th Circ. Tells FDA To 'Rethink' Rule Behind E-Cig Rejection

By Hailey Konnath

The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday agreed with vaping companies that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration overstepped its authority when it repeatedly blocked approval of flavored e-cigarettes without a notice-and-comment period, holding that the repeated denials constitute a rule that the agency must "rethink" or readopt properly.

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Bradley Arant Adds SCP Health In-House Vet In Atlanta

By Emily Johnson

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP has added the senior vice president and associate general counsel of healthcare company SCP Health to its Atlanta office, strengthening the firm's healthcare practice.

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Opinion

Correctional Healthcare Requires Clearer Legal Standards

As the correctional healthcare industry increasingly faces financial instability due to litigation, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons should develop clear standards for constitutionally adequate care for incarcerated patients, says Susanne Moore at Blackstone Trial Group.

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Mich. Ruling Gives Consumer Protection Law Its Teeth Back

The Michigan Supreme Court's recent decision in Attorney General v. Eli Lilly, overruling key holdings in two earlier cases, means that Michigan businesses can no longer defeat allegations of deceptive conduct under the state's consumer protection law simply by pointing to any governmental regulation of the business, say attorneys at DiCello Levitt.

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Series

Law School's Missed Lessons: Surviving A Long Trial

Most of law school trial advocacy is geared toward the sprint of trying a short case, but beyond managing a cross-examination or closing argument, effectively handling the marathon of a lengthy trial requires the ability to maintain composure, organization and credibility with the jury, says Mihir Elchuri at Hirschler.

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SCOTUSblog Founder Goldstein Seeks Release During Appeal

By Rachel Rippetoe

SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein on Tuesday asked to be released from federal custody while he appeals his 12 tax and mortgage fraud convictions and a six-year prison sentence, saying he is not a flight risk and it would be a "grave injustice" for him to begin a sentence he believes will eventually get axed.

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Davis Wright Vets Scolded: Don't Tell Foes 'How To Run Firm'

By Jeff Overley

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP veterans have failed to dodge six-figure sanctions in a prominent discovery donnybrook, and a California magistrate judge added invective to the financial injury, lambasting "troubling" omissions in case citations and heavy-handed "nitpicking" akin to commandeering an adversary's law firm.

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Atty, Son Charged In Probe Of Alleged Penn State Drug Ring

By Rose Krebs

An equity partner based in Meyer Darragh Buckler Bebenek & Eck PLLC's Pittsburgh office has been charged with tampering with evidence and obstructing an investigation in connection with an alleged cocaine ring at Penn State University that allegedly involved his son, according to news reports.

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Texas Judge Flags 'Alarming' Number Of Bogus Citations

By Emily Sawicki

A federal judge presiding over an Austin, Texas, immigration case is warning of possible future sanctions after an attorney included an "alarming" number of "hallucinated" case citations in support of a habeas corpus petition.  

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Jackson Walker Says US Trustee Can't Claw Back Legal Fees

By Clara Geoghegan

Jackson Walker said this week that the U.S. Department of Justice's bankruptcy watchdog is beyond the bounds of its authority in a yearslong effort to force the firm to return millions of dollars in legal fees over an undisclosed relationship between a former partner and a Texas bankruptcy judge.

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Over 120 Ex-Judges Demand Probe Of DHS GC's 'Worst' Posts

By Adrian Cruz

A pair of nonprofits along with a bipartisan group of 128 former state and federal judges have asked the Florida Bar to investigate the general counsel of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for a recent series of social media posts attacking sitting judges.

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Polsinelli Can't Rep Doctor In 'Bad Faith' IP Suits, Cos. Say

By Lauren Berg

Two medical device companies suing Polsinelli PC and its longtime client, a patent-holding doctor, for allegedly pursuing "bad faith" infringement claims asked federal courts in Tennessee and Mississippi to disqualify the firm from defending the doctor in the lawsuits, citing their "diverging interests and liabilities."

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Ex-US Attys Protest Trump's Swift Firing Of Rogoff In Seattle

By Rachel Riley

Thirty former U.S. attorneys backed Roger Rogoff's bid for reinstatement as Seattle's top federal prosecutor after President Donald Trump fired him on the heels of his court-ordered appointment, arguing Tuesday that Trump is trying to "sidestep the Senate's advice-and-consent role and sideline the judiciary" by letting unappointed individuals play such roles.

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DOJ Urges Court Not To Dismiss Suit Against DC Bar

By Alison Knezevich

The U.S. Department of Justice is urging a federal judge not to toss its lawsuit against Washington, D.C., attorney disciplinary authorities, saying the court "needs to halt defendants' flagrantly unconstitutional overreach into the president's executive power."

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Firms Cut From $101M Anthropic Atty Fees Appeal To 9th Circ.

By Lauren Berg

Two law firms involved in securing artificial intelligence company Anthropic's $1.5 billion copyright settlement with a class of authors and publishers are appealing to the Ninth Circuit an order excluding them from attorney fees awarded to court-appointed class counsel.

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USPTO Says Patent Atty's Suit Shouldn't Stop Discipline Case

By Theresa Schliep

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has said an Ohio federal court shouldn't pause professional discipline proceedings against an attorney while he sues the agency, saying he's likely to fail with his suit challenging the fact that a judge from another agency is overseeing his discipline case.

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Sinema Says Brief Signal Chat Can't Anchor NC Affair Suit

By Hayley Fowler

A single exchange on the encrypted messaging app Signal became the focal point of former Arizona U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's testimony on Wednesday as she sought to convince a North Carolina federal judge that she cannot be hauled into court in the Tar Heel state over an affair — which she declined to characterize as a "passionate" romance — she had with her married security guard.

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