Audiologists Sue RFK Jr. Over Medicare Opt-Out Exclusion

By Gina Kim

Audiologists have sued U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in Texas federal court over a Medicare rule categorically barring them from accepting out-of-pocket payment for treatment services, arguing that violates the due process and equal protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution.

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OptumHealth Can't Get Out Of PBM Cases In Opioid MDL

By Gianna Ferrarin

The healthcare delivery arm of UnitedHealth Group's Optum division can't escape bellwether cases alleging pharmacy benefit managers contributed to the opioid epidemic, an Ohio federal judge ruled Thursday, finding a recent Sixth Circuit decision didn't alter the court's jurisdiction over related state-law claims.

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PhRMA Again Seeks To Join 340B Rebate Pilot Fight

By Danielle Ferguson

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America on Thursday asked a Maine federal court to let it join a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's proposed rebate system in the 340B drug discount program, arguing the litigation could directly affect its members' approved plans and financial interests.

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Trump Admin Urges High Court To Curb APA Rule Vacatur

By Jared Foretek

The Trump administration is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether the Administrative Procedure Act allows federal judges to universally vacate agency rules in what could be a major test of the judiciary's authority to check executive agency power.

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Texas Appeals Court Says Perot VC Suit Belongs In Biz Court

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas appellate court on Thursday found that a multimillion-dollar suit brought by a Dallas businessman against billionaire Ross Perot Jr. belongs in the Texas Business Court, saying the businessman's claims arose from the sale of a healthcare company.

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Ex-NFL Player Seeks $300M Over Career-Ending Hip Surgery

By Dorothy Atkins

Former Cleveland Browns wide receiver David Bell sued more than a dozen entities in a $300 million medical malpractice lawsuit filed in Pennsylvania state court Thursday, alleging he was duped into having an unnecessary hip surgery that nearly killed him and ended his promising NFL career.

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Medical AI Platforms Report Settlement Amid Discovery Battle

By Julie Manganis

Medical artificial intelligence startup OpenEvidence and competitors Doximity Inc. and Pathway Medical Inc. told a Massachusetts federal judge on Thursday that they have reached a settlement in principle to resolve a contentious lawsuit and counterclaim.

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Calif. Pot Shop Escapes Suit Over Alleged Gummy Reaction

By Mike Curley

A California appeals court threw out a man's fraud and unfair competition claims against a cannabis dispensary that sold him a gummy he said induced a panic attack, saying his complaint fails to indicate the dispensary or its employee knowingly misled him.

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Medical Practice Says Coverys Owes Defense In Abuse Suits

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts medical practice that employed a rheumatologist now accused of sexually abusing hundreds of patients is asking a judge to find that insurer Coverys is obligated to defend and indemnify it and several employees for related negligence claims.

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Optum Sued Over 'Junk Fees' For Online COBRA Payments

By Gina Kim

Optum Financial on Wednesday was hit with a proposed class action in California federal court alleging it tacks on sham, unavoidable $20 "junk fees" when customers pay online for healthcare benefits administered through COBRA, which they don't know about until checkout. 

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OrbiMed Closes 2 Latest Funds With Combined $3B In Tow

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Healthcare-focused investment firm OrbiMed on Thursday revealed that it has secured $3 billion of investor commitments across its two latest private equity funds.

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Feds Seek To Undo Colo. Payment To Defunct Health Insurer

By Zach Dupont

The federal government Wednesday asked a Colorado federal judge to reverse the approved distribution of nearly $2 million in assets from a defunct insurer to its creditors, claiming that a nearly $24 million claim from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services supersedes the general creditors' claims.

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What CMS Audit Rule Means For Medicare Advantage Plans

Despite ongoing legal challenges, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is moving forward with implementation of its risk adjustment data validation audits, raising statistical concerns around overpayments indicated by variance in unbalanced samples, say Stephen Fink, Brad Rice and Igor Karagodsky at Analysis Group.

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Parsing The Latest Signals On FTC Section 5 Enforcement

Federal Trade Commission cases brought over the last several years and Commissioner Mark Meador’s recent call for stand-alone Section 5 enforcement suggest businesses should prepare for continued scrutiny of conduct beyond traditional antitrust violations, particularly in essential goods, technology and labor markets, say attorneys at Axinn.

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Importer Risk Rises As AI Enters Trade Fraud Enforcement

The Trump administration's new data-driven and artificial intelligence-enabled push against tariff evasion raises the stakes for companies with global supply chains, making it crucial that they consider strengthening response protocols, documentation and internal reporting mechanisms, say attorneys at Cooley.

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Cyber Incident Halts Bankruptcy Court Noticing Nationwide

By Hilary Russ

The nationwide system for providing notice to creditors in bankruptcy cases has been disrupted by a cybersecurity incident, and it is not currently known when the outage will end.

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Analysis

Missouri AG Alumni Make Their Mark In Trump 2.0

By Courtney Bublé

Missouri is hundreds of miles from Washington, D.C., but the legal community of the Show-Me State has taken a significant hold in the second Trump administration.

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Norton Rose Beats $100M Suit Over Withdrawn Patent App

By Celeste Bott

Norton Rose Fulbright has defeated a former client's malpractice suit over a missed patent fee payment, after an Illinois state judge ruled that the deadline to sue began before the firm allegedly acknowledged its mistake and dismissed the company's $100 million lawsuit against the firm with prejudice.

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Murdaugh Tells 4th Circ. To Revive Jury Tampering Civil Suit

By Cara Salvatore

Disgraced lawyer Alex Murdaugh asked the Fourth Circuit on Thursday to revive his suit accusing a court clerk of interfering in his murder trial, arguing he has standing because the alleged tampering "destroyed the value" of his $600,000 defense.

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Judge Who Called For Philly DA Probe Rejects Recusal Bid

By Matthew Santoni

A federal judge who called for an investigation of the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office will not reconsider or recuse himself from the underlying habeas corpus case, calling DA Larry Krasner's bid to undo his rulings "frivolous" and "intemperate."

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Crowell Faces DQ Bid Over AI Tool At Heart Of Client's IP Suit

By Dorothy Atkins

DeviantArt urged a California federal judge Wednesday to disqualify Crowell & Moring LLP from representing Evox Productions in litigation alleging multiple AI companies used Evox's copyrighted car photos to train artificial-intelligence image generators, arguing the firm "unquestionably" represented DeviantArt and has "sued its own client on behalf of another client."

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Gov't Urges Justices To Reject Google, Intel Fight Over Fintiv

By Adam Lidgett

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject Intel Corp. and Google LLC's challenge to a precedent allowing Patent Trial and Appeal Board petitions to be denied based on related litigation.

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Would-Be Kavanaugh Assassin Slams Feds' Skewed Facts

By Lauren Berg

A woman accused of trying to kill U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh told the Fourth Circuit that federal prosecutors have presented a "wildly inaccurate description" of a Maryland federal judge's sentencing decision, rejecting their argument that she got off too easy because of her gender identity.

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NYC Sanctuary Policies Survive Trump Admin. Lawsuit

By Rae Ann Varona

A New York federal judge on Thursday tossed the Trump administration's lawsuit challenging New York City policies that the administration alleged unconstitutionally obstruct federal immigration enforcement, saying federal law the administration leaned on does not preempt the sanctuary provisions.

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