Justices Extend Stay On 5th Circ. Mifepristone Decision

By Dan McKay

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday extended a stay that preserved, for now, telehealth access to the abortion medication mifepristone.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Plaintiffs' Attys Sanctioned In Tylenol MDL, Sparking Appeal

By Gianna Ferrarin

A New York federal court sanctioned a plaintiffs' firm and its co-founder in federal multidistrict litigation by families alleging that prenatal exposure to acetaminophen can cause autism, saying they improperly shared confidential information from the case in related state court actions.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Transgender Minor Patients Seek To Block DOJ Subpoenas

By Danielle Ferguson

A group of families asked a Maryland federal judge over the weekend to block the U.S. Department of Justice from obtaining private medical records of thousands of transgender minors across the country, saying subpoenas sent to medical providers violate their privacy.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

5th Circ. Wary To Flip IP Suit's 'Case-Terminating Sanctions'

By Spencer Brewer

A Fifth Circuit panel seemed skeptical of a bid to undo "case-terminating sanctions" that a lower court leveled against a servicing company accused of stealing Philips North America LLC's trade secrets, saying Monday that the company admitted to deleting some files to cover its tracks.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Agencies Pitch Employers Offering Voluntary Fertility Benefits

By Kellie Mejdrich

Federal agencies overseeing employer-provided health coverage proposed new rules aimed at expanding workers' access to coverage for infertility treatments and related health conditions by letting employers offer voluntary fertility health benefit policies for procedures such as in vitro fertilization.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Wash. Says Novartis Isn't Harmed By 340B Drug Pricing Law

By Nadia Dreid

Washington is objecting to Novartis' attempt to block a state law that expands the discounts the drugmaker must provide under the federal 340B Drug Pricing Program, telling a federal court that worry about losing money doesn't constitute irreparable harm.

Response attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Pa. Law Firm, Doctors Can't Shake Uber, FedEx RICO Suit

By Linda Chiem

A Pennsylvania federal judge said Monday that Uber and FedEx offered extensive and detailed allegations to press ahead with their racketeering lawsuit accusing a Philadelphia personal injury firm and local healthcare providers of scheming to fabricate medical records to inflate accident claims.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NYC Sanctioned For Sluggish Discovery In IVF Sex Bias Suit

By Patrick Hoff

A federal judge sanctioned New York City on Monday for its lethargic discovery responses in a proposed class action claiming a municipal health plan unlawfully blocked gay men from receiving in vitro fertilization coverage, ordering the city to reimburse the couple leading the suit for their efforts to obtain documents.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Fla. Panel Denies Arbitration In Nursing Home Death Suit

By David Minsky

A Florida state appellate court denied an arbitration bid in a wrongful death suit brought by the son of an elderly man who died in a nursing home, ruling Monday that the patient lacked the mental capacity to sign an agreement upon being admitted to the facility. 

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Johns Hopkins Keeps Trial Win In Fatal Heart Condition Suit

By Y. Peter Kang

A Maryland appellate court has affirmed a jury verdict clearing Johns Hopkins-affiliated healthcare providers and MedStar defendants of liability in a medical malpractice case alleging they failed to timely diagnose a man's heart condition, which proved fatal, saying expert testimony on an unapproved drug was rightly excluded.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

COVID Hazard Pay Counts Toward OT, 11th Circ. Rules

By Benjamin Morse

An Alabama retirement and assisted living facility unlawfully excluded pandemic-related hazard pay from employees' overtime calculations, the Eleventh Circuit ruled, finding that the pay must be included in workers' regular rate under federal wage law.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Mich. Providers Say Jury Must Weigh Allstate RICO Claims

By Danielle Ferguson

Medical providers accused of scheming to fraudulently bill for unnecessary or unrendered treatments under the Michigan No-Fault Act have asked a federal judge to reject Allstate's bid for a pretrial win, arguing a jury should decide whether the providers intended to defraud the insurer.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Beauty Tech Co. Execs Beat Investor Suit For Good

By Emily Lever

A California federal judge Monday tossed a proposed class action accusing beauty technology firm Cutera and its executives of misleading investors about its acne treatment launch and financial results, finding the legal claims against the company were abandoned and discharged under its Chapter 11 plan.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Pharma CEO's Role In Ex-Exec's Contract Permits Deposition

By Abigail Harrison

North Carolina's business court has refused to shield the CEO of biopharmaceutical firm United Therapeutics Corp. from being deposed in a trade secrets lawsuit against a former executive and his new employer, finding it reasonable to believe she was an "ultimate decision-maker."

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Verano Says Receipt Suit Should Be Arbitrated Or Dismissed

By Mike Curley

Cannabis giant Verano Holdings Corp. is urging an Illinois federal court to either dismiss or send to arbitration a proposed class action alleging that it leaks consumers' medical information through their receipts.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Swedish Health $86M Wage Deal Secures Initial OK

By Benjamin Morse

Seattle-area hospital system Swedish Health Services will pay $86 million to settle a proposed class action claiming its alleged meal break violations and rounding practices led to unpaid wages, according to a state judge's preliminary approval of the deal.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Prison Healthcare Co. YesCare Hits Ch. 11, Citing Lawsuits

By Emily Lever

Prison healthcare company YesCare has filed for Chapter 11 protection, citing "extraordinary financial and operational burden imposed by extensive litigation" from incarcerated tort claimants.

Declaration attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

What Justices Are Focusing On In 'Skinny Label' Patent Case

Though Hikma v. Amarin appears to be a patent dispute that could reshape inducement doctrine in the pharmaceutical context, oral argument suggests the U.S. Supreme Court may treat this as primarily a pleading-stage dispute, with important unresolved questions lurking beneath the surface, says Shashank Upadhye at Upadhye Tang.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Accelerated Psychedelic Therapy Pathways Require Caution

President Donald Trump's new executive order aiming to accelerate the approval of psychedelic drugs for the treatment of mental health disorders will likely bolster investigational psychedelic therapies, but parties within the psychedelic product supply chain will still need to prepare for potentially burdensome compliance requirements, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Heppner Ruling Left AI Privilege Risk For Lawyers Unresolved

While a New York federal judge’s recent ruling in U.S. v. Heppner resolved a privilege question surrounding client-side artificial intelligence use, it did not address how to mitigate the risks that can arise when confidential information enters the operative context of an AI system used by an attorney, says Jianfei Chen at Quarles & Brady​​​​​​​.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Trading Scheme Is A 'Wake-Up Call' For BigLaw Compliance

By Chris Villani

The breadth of a decade-long insider trading scheme prosecutors say was fueled by stolen BigLaw merger information should jolt firms to reexamine their practices to close gaps in internal security, experts told Law360, even if totally eliminating bad actors is nearly impossible.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Quinn Emanuel Founder Exiting Executive Chair Role

By Tracey Read

Four decades after high-stakes litigation firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan first opened in Los Angeles, founding partner John B. Quinn is stepping down as executive chairman of the firm effective immediately.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NY Ethics Panel Finds US Attorney Committed Misconduct

By Courtney Bublé

The New York Attorney Grievance Committee has found that President Donald Trump's pick leading the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York engaged in "professional misconduct" last summer, according to a letter released on Monday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Trump Taps 6 Judges, Including Picks Needing Blue Slips

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump announced six judicial nominees on Monday, including picks for the Eighth and Tenth Circuits and two district court picks that needed support from Democrats.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

ChatGPT Suit Points To Ups And Downs Of Pro Se AI Use

By Cara Bayles

A recent lawsuit against OpenAI highlights many of the hopes and anxieties about pro se litigants using generative artificial intelligence to churn out legal arguments. The technology raises concerns about confidentiality, hallucinations and ethical issues, but some access-to-justice advocates worry the lawsuit may hinder technology that might democratize legal services.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Senate Confirms 13 US Attorneys In En Bloc Vote

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate voted 46-45, along party lines, to confirm 13 U.S. attorneys on Monday as part of a larger nominations package.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court this past week handled a varied mix of settlement approvals, political office disputes, transaction fights, emergency injunction bids and questions over how far the court can go to preserve records for litigation outside Delaware.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »