Harvard To Pay $53M Over Medical School Morgue Thefts

By Julie Manganis

Harvard University has agreed to pay $53 million to settle more than a dozen consolidated lawsuits over the theft of body parts from its medical school morgue by a former manager, lawyers for the plaintiffs said Tuesday.

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Infant Formula MDL Judge Laments Ongoing 'Trial-By-Video'

By Celeste Bott

The Illinois federal judge handling multidistrict litigation claiming Mead Johnson or Abbott Laboratories infant formula led to a severe gut illness in premature babies deemed it "disappointing" that testimony in an ongoing bellwether trial largely consists of video depositions, warning she won't conduct another unless most witnesses will take the stand in Chicago.

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At DC Circ., Pharma's Latest Pricing Loss Has Silver Linings

By Jeff Overley

The pharmaceutical industry's far-flung crusade against Medicare's new negotiation powers suffered a fresh setback Tuesday as the D.C. Circuit joined sister circuits in upholding the landmark pricing program, but the defeat contained consolation prizes that will fuel further litigation.

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Bot Errors Doom Expert's Credibility In Tainted-Supplement Suit

By Rachel Riley

A Washington federal judge Tuesday disposed of a U.S. Army nurse's lawsuit claiming supplement maker Thesis Nootropics sold products tainted with amphetamines, concluding that a key expert destroyed his credibility by submitting a report containing bot-generated false citations — much like errors for which the plaintiffs' counsel was recently sanctioned.

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DC Circ. Revives Part Of Fight Over Braille-Free Drug Label

By Bonnie Eslinger

The D.C. Circuit on Tuesday partially vacated a lower court judgment that had upheld the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval of a label without braille for Teva Pharmaceuticals' generic version of a drug often prescribed to blind people.

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​​​​​​​Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court last week tackled disputes involving multibillion-dollar mergers, corporate oversight, founder control, SPAC litigation, commercial contracts and attorney fees.

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Rising Star: Covington's Krysten Rosen Moller

By Danielle Ferguson

Covington & Burling LLP partner Krysten Rosen Moller's successes include helping secure a favorable resolution for a healthcare provider facing allegations of sprawling False Claim Act violations, and helping defeat a multibillion-dollar FCA whistleblower suit against a UnitedHealth subsidiary in front of the U.S. Supreme Court — earning her a spot among healthcare law practitioners under 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

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DEA Blasts Marijuana Foes' Objections To Rescheduling

By Sam Reisman

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration on Monday told an administrative law judge that federal restrictions should be loosened on marijuana and that opponents of cannabis reform brought a meritless challenge to health regulators' assessment of the drug's medical use.

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NC Doc Gets Prison For Opioid Recovery Prescription Scheme

By Hayley Fowler

A federal judge has sentenced a North Carolina doctor to half a year in prison for letting administrative staff at a nonprofit where he worked as medical director use his credentials to prescribe the opioid use disorder medication buprenorphine to thousands of patients.

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11th Circ. Affirms Kickback Convictions For Pain Doc, Salesman

By Danielle Ferguson

The Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday affirmed the conviction and sentences of a Florida pain doctor and a salesman found guilty of participating in a kickback conspiracy for prescribing a fentanyl spray, ruling prosecutors had "overwhelming" evidence the men knowingly participated in "sham" drug promotion events.

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Mich. Panel Revives $900K Hyperbaric Chamber Coverage Suit

By Susan Smiley

A Michigan appellate court panel on Monday revived Corewell Health's suit seeking recovery of nearly $900,000 from State Farm Insurance for hyperbaric oxygen therapy that was provided to a child who suffered a traumatic brain injury after he was struck by a vehicle while riding his bike.

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LA Pot Partnership Deal Void, Calif. Appeals Court Says

By Sam Reisman

A California state appeals court has affirmed a lower court's determination that a partnership agreement tied to a group of medical marijuana dispensaries could not be enforced because it called for operations that violated a Los Angeles city ordinance.

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Ex-NFL Player Sues Disability Benefits Plan Over Denial

By Kia Fatahi

A former National Football League player who reportedly suffered brain injuries from nearly two decades of playing the sport hit the league's disability benefit plan with a lawsuit Tuesday, telling a Maryland federal judge that the plan wrongfully denied his application for total and permanent disability benefits despite his own doctor's diagnosis.

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AAMC Gouges Med Residency Applicants, Antitrust Suit Says

By Rae Ann Varona

The Association of American Medical Colleges unlawfully monopolizes the market for medical residency and fellowship application platforms, charging aspiring doctors supracompetitive electronic application fees while "wildly" enriching the nonprofit's executives, a doctor alleged Tuesday in a proposed antitrust class action filed in D.C. federal court.

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Marriott Gets Trim Of Worker's Tobacco Health Fee Suit

By Kellie Mejdrich

A Maryland federal judge on Tuesday refused to completely toss a Marriott worker's proposed class action alleging the hotel giant's $15 weekly health fee on employees who use tobacco violated federal benefits law, but trimmed the dispute of some claims as insufficiently backed up. 

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Aetna Says It Doesn't Use Repricing Tools In Antitrust Case

By Matthew Perlman

Aetna Inc. urged a Massachusetts federal court to toss it from an antitrust case accusing insurance companies of using repricing tools to reduce reimbursements paid to healthcare providers, arguing that a subsidiary, not Aetna, used the tools at issue.

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Medical Device Exec Cashed In On Bad Quarter, Feds Charge

By Pete Brush

A former Treace Medical Concepts executive was arrested on insider trading charges Tuesday, after New York federal prosecutors said he exploited secret warnings about the Florida medical device company's sales and turned a $37,000 profit betting its stock would fall.

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Mich. Fights Atty Fee Demand in Newborn Blood Spot Lawsuit

By Susan Smiley

The state of Michigan told a federal judge on Tuesday that the $372,400 in legal fees requested by plaintiffs in a newborn blood spot lawsuit is "excessive" and that an award should be either delayed or significantly lowered.

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Ambulance Co. Says Insurers Failed To Settle Crash Claims

By Danielle Ferguson

A Pennsylvania ambulance service alleged in state court that its insurers refused to consider a settlement offer within its policy limits to resolve claims stemming from a fatal crash, exposing the company to a higher judgment after the crash victim's estate added punitive damages to the underlying case.

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Troutman Sidelined Associate After Heart Attack, Suit Says

By Patrick Hoff

Troutman Pepper Locke LLP derailed an associate's career because he took medical leave to recover from a heart attack and spoke up about senior attorneys' fraudulent billing practices, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in New Jersey federal court.

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BioMarin Buying Alesta Therapeutics For Up To $490M

By Al Barbarino

Jones Day-advised BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. said Tuesday it has agreed to acquire Alesta Therapeutics for $275 million upfront and up to another $215 million tied to the development and regulatory progress of Alesta's lead drug candidate.

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Orrick, Kirkland Steer Weave's $650M Take-Private

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Patient engagement platform and payment services company Weave Communications Inc., led by Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, on Tuesday revealed it will become a private company after it was acquired by Kirkland & Ellis LLP-advised private equity shop Francisco Partners in a $650 million deal.

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Barnes & Thornburg Picks Up 12 K&L Gates Healthcare Attys

By Tracey Read

Barnes & Thornburg LLP announced Tuesday that it has brought on a 12-lawyer healthcare team from K&L Gates, including that firm's two former practice group leaders.

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DLA Piper Taps Weil Partner As New York PE Co-Lead

By Andrea Keckley

DLA Piper has announced it hired a Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP partner to co-lead its private equity practice in New York.

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AI Chatbot's Medical Claims Highlight Enforcement Risks

The Pennsylvania State Board of Medicine's recent lawsuit against Character Technologies, arguing that an artificial intelligence chatbot engaged in the unlicensed practice of medicine, may provide other state licensing boards with a road map for going after AI platforms, and counsel should advise clients to calibrate compliance accordingly, say attorneys at Cooley.

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How Does In-House Pay Compare? Take The Law360 Survey

How do in-house salaries vary across industries, roles, and organizational revenue? What compensation tools are companies using to lure top talent? Help Law360 Pulse answer these questions and more in this year's In-House Compensation Survey.

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White House Aims To Shield Advisers Behind Law Firm EOs

By Emily Sawicki

The Trump administration and Justice Department "strongly object" to an Aug. 3 discovery order requiring them to name individuals involved in drafting and approving executive orders targeting law firms, amid their repeated refusal to hand over certain communications in a suit brought by the American Bar Association.

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Ex-DOJ Atty Says Trump's University Probes Were Political

By Hailey Konnath

Trump administration officials forged ahead with investigations into Harvard, Columbia and other universities despite its own lawyers raising legal concerns and, in some cases, finding "little to no factual predicate justifying opening them," according to a whistleblower disclosure from a former U.S. Department of Justice lawyer made public Tuesday.

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Trump Names 9 Judicial Picks Across 6 States

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump announced nine nominees Tuesday for judicial spots in Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Alaska. 

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Big Tech, PTAB Attys Urge Justices To Fix USPTO Power Grab

By Dani Kass

The Federal Circuit's refusal to curb the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director's power over instituting Patent Trial and Appeal Board challenges has allowed leaders to "wreak havoc" without accountability, top tech companies have warned the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Quill & Arrow Says Ford Can't Rehash Lemon Law Fee Fights

By Linda Chiem

Quill & Arrow LLP has asked a California federal judge to dump a "retaliatory" lawsuit alleging the personal injury firm saddled Ford Motor Co. with high-priced legal bills for work purportedly handled by virtual assistants overseas or nonlawyers, saying the automaker is trying to chill product liability litigation.

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