1st Circ. Allows Transfer Of RI Youth Care Info To Texas Court

By Gianna Ferrarin

The First Circuit declined to halt a Texas federal court's order requiring a Rhode Island hospital to hand over records detailing its provision of gender-affirming care to minors, finding a Rhode Island agency failed to demonstrate that doing so would cause children in the state irreparable harm.

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Antivax Health Workers Fight Uphill At 9th Circ. Over Firings

By Rachel Riley

Two Ninth Circuit panelists cast doubt Wednesday on an attempt by a group of former University of Washington employees to revive claims that they were wrongfully fired after they refused COVID-19 vaccination on religious grounds, with one judge remarking that unvaccinated workers "make the risk worse" in a healthcare setting.

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FTC 'Close' To Final PBM Insulin Price Deal With OptumRx

By Bryan Koenig

Federal Trade Commission staffers have signaled that they're near a settlement with UnitedHealth Group Inc.'s OptumRx that would close out the agency's in-house case accusing pharmacy benefit managers of inflating insulin prices through rebate schemes.

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Analysis

DOJ's Embrace Of Data Sets Off Compliance 'Arms Race'

By Phillip Bantz

The U.S. Department of Justice's increased reliance on advanced data analytics and data-mining whistleblowers to detect fraud is shrinking the amount of time that companies have to find and report potential wrongdoing to the government in order to receive leniency for voluntary self-disclosure, experts say.

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DOJ, Drugmakers Spar After Justices Snub 6 Negotiation Suits

By Jeff Overley

The U.S. Department of Justice is trying to have it both ways in drug pricing litigation, telling the U.S. Supreme Court not to intervene before additional circuits decide pending challenges and then using this week's nonintervention as ammunition against those challenges, drugmakers are arguing at appeals courts.

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Brief

Pa. AG Aims To Revive Ban On Medicaid-Paid Abortions

By P.J. D'Annunzio

Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday plans to fight an appellate panel's ruling that Medicaid-funded abortions are a fundamental right to reproductive autonomy in the state.

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Eli Lilly Loses Bid To Limit Ex-FDA Chief's Take In GLP-1 MDL

By George Woolston

A Pennsylvania federal judge said Eli Lilly & Co. and plaintiffs in multidistrict litigation accusing it of downplaying side effects of weight loss drugs were talking past each other in a dispute over expert testimony, denying Eli Lilly's bid to limit the opinions of the plaintiffs' expert to those disclosed in his report.

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Lloyd's Can't Undo Remand Order In Hurricane Damage Fight

By Hope Patti

A Virgin Islands federal court on Wednesday refused to reconsider its decision to remand an ophthalmology clinic's suit over the handling of its Hurricane Maria property damage claim back to territorial court, saying there was no "clear error" or "manifest injustice" to correct.

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NY Hospital Strikes Deal In Suit Over Retirement Plan Lineup

By Patrick Hoff

A Long Island hospital agreed to settle a proposed class action alleging it cost workers millions of dollars in savings by loading its employee retirement plan with costly and underperforming investment options, according to a filing in New York federal court Wednesday.

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Anthem Affiliates Can't Duck Suit Over Colo. Claims

By Zach Dupont

A mental health and substance use disorder treatment provider told a Colorado judge that affiliates of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield can't get an early escape from its lawsuit accusing the affiliates of underpaying claims from some of its patients, according to a brief filed in federal court.

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Refusing Sandoz Parent Dismissal 'Clear Error,' Court Told

By Bryan Koenig

Sandoz's Swiss parent company wants a Pennsylvania federal judge to rethink her decision forcing it to face generic drug price-fixing claims from major employers like General Motors, arguing the court "conflates" Novartis AG with Sandoz AG, which was spun off in 2023.

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Eli Lilly Paying Up To $202M In Genetic Medicine Deal

By Al Barbarino

Eli Lilly and Co. has agreed to acquire privately held Engage Biologics Inc., which is developing a delivery technology for genetic medicines, in a deal worth up to $202 million, Cooley LLP-advised Engage announced Wednesday.

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Modivcare To Have Evidence Hearing On Firm's Contempt Bid

By Emlyn Cameron

A Texas bankruptcy judge said Wednesday he would call an evidentiary hearing on White & Case's motion to hold Modivcare in contempt connected to a Chapter 11 fee dispute, after the firm accused the reorganized medical transportation group of taking $3.5 million of what should have been escrowed funds out of an account.

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Tracking Tech Suit Is A Risk Management Reminder For Cos.

The Fifth Circuit recently heard oral argument in Rand v. Eyemart Express — an appeal that could reshape the legal landscape for businesses that deploy tracking tech on their websites — underscoring the importance of proactive risk management for companies across multiple industries, say attorneys at Blank Rome.

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Engaging With FDA's New Complete Response Letter Policy

A citizen petition filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last month puts renewed focus on the agency's practice of releasing complete response letters in near real time, materially altering the context in which life sciences companies communicate with investors regarding regulatory developments, say attorneys at Debevoise.

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Series

Law School's Missed Lesson: Diagnose Before Arguing

Law school often skips over explicitly teaching students how to determine what kind of problem a case presents before they commit to a particular doctrinal path, which risks building arguments that are internally coherent but externally misaligned, says Melanie Oxhorn at Kobre & Kim.

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OpenAI Says ChatGPT Misuse Is Users' Responsibility

By Emily Sawicki

OpenAI has asked a federal judge in Chicago to end an insurance company's suit alleging it practices law without a license, arguing the complaint should be directed toward individuals who misuse the company's ChatGPT bot to file faulty motions, and not the generative AI platform itself.

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2nd Circ. Pick Questioned At Hearing On Role As Trump Lawyer

By Courtney Bublé

Matthew Schwartz, a nominee for the Second Circuit, was questioned by Democratic senators Wednesday about whether his current job as the president's personal attorney while his nomination process is underway poses a conflict of interest.

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Bad AI Citation Sanction Slashed Amid 7th Circ. Guidance

By Hailey Konnath

An Indiana federal judge Wednesday rejected a magistrate judge's recommendation that an attorney be sanctioned $7,500 for including faulty, artificial intelligence-generated legal citations in a discovery brief, pointing to recent Seventh Circuit guidance and sanctioning him $2,000 instead.

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2 Fla. County Courts Requiring AI Disclosure In Court Filings

By Sarah Martinson

Two Florida circuit courts in Miami-Dade and Broward counties are requiring attorneys and self-represented litigants to disclose when they use generative text tools to prepare their court filings and to certify they checked the generated content for accuracy.

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Hagens Berman Says Apple Smear Job Can't Stop Withdrawal

By Bonnie Eslinger

Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP urged a California federal judge to allow one of its named plaintiffs to withdraw from an Apple iCloud antitrust case, saying Apple Inc.'s filed opposition is rife with "misdirection and ad hominem" attacks and not about the merits of the dispute but "smearing opposing counsel."

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Atty Withdrawals Not Limited To Fee Conflicts, ABA Says

By Emily Sawicki

Lawyers whose clients fail to hold up their end of valid engagement agreements are clear to cease their representation, so long as certain criteria are met, according to the American Bar Association's ethics committee's latest guidance, published Wednesday.

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Comey Wants Arraignment Pushed For Dismissal Bid

By Phillip Bantz

Former FBI Director James Comey asked a North Carolina federal court Wednesday to postpone his arraignment on charges alleging he threatened President Donald Trump, telling a judge that he is preparing to seek to have the case thrown out on constitutional grounds.

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Mich. Supreme Court Mulls Remote Court Access Rules

By Susan Smiley

The Michigan Supreme Court held administrative hearings on Wednesday concerning several proposed amendments to Michigan court rules, including adding more specific guidelines for remote hearings, making language services free for civil cases, and allowing law students and recent law graduates to appear on behalf of indigent people in all Michigan courts.

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