9th Circ. Probes Buyers On HIV Drug Antitrust Claims

By Matthew Perlman

Insurers and health plans told a Ninth Circuit panel on Thursday that a lower court was wrong to toss their claims that Gilead orchestrated a product-hop scheme for its HIV drugs ahead of trial and for not seeing a price drop as evidence of an alleged agreement with Teva to delay generics.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

ADA Doesn't Stop At Prison Gates, 3rd Circ. Says In Reversal

By Parker Quinlan

The Third Circuit ordered a lower court to accept an incarcerated man's amended Americans with Disabilities Act lawsuit against a Pennsylvania prison that he says denied him proper medical treatment when a spinal cord injury left him paralyzed in his cell.

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

Va. Panel Nixes $2.5M Med Mal Verdict Over Jury Instruction

By Mike Curley

A Virginia state appeals court has overturned a $2.5 million verdict awarded to a woman who sued an anesthesiologist because he did not provide anesthesia before her cesarean section, finding that the jury should have been given an instruction on superseding cause.

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

Brief

Fed. Circ. Affirms Contractor Is Due Money For COVID Delays

By Madeline Lyskawa

The Federal Circuit on Thursday backed an Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals decision finding the government must compensate a contractor for fees incurred during the 2020 COVID-19 shutdown, just days after hearing oral argument. 

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

McKesson Aims To Escape Dealer Claims In Overdose Death

By Chart Riggall

Pharmaceutical distributor McKesson urged the Georgia Court of Appeals Thursday to throw out a suit trying to hold the company liable for a man's prescription opioid overdose death, arguing that allowing it to go forward would wrongly expand the scope of liability under a statute designed to punish illegal drug dealers.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Biotronik Wants Full 9th Circ. Review Of Whistleblower Ruling

By Tom Lotshaw

Biotronik Inc. urged the full Ninth Circuit to review a panel ruling that revived a whistleblower suit alleging the company used unlawful compensation tactics to boost heart-device sales, saying it should have been tossed based on prior disclosures in news articles.

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

Tivity Health Investors Seek Final OK Of $17M Settlement

By Emilie Ruscoe

An investor in fitness program administrator Tivity Health Inc. has asked a Nashville federal judge for a final nod for an over $17 million deal ending claims the company misled investors about its financial prospects after its $1.3 billion acquisition of troubled weight-loss meal delivery company Nutrisystem.

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

Pharma Co. Looks To Nix 'Absurd' Award Over Acne Drug

By Caroline Simson

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries is urging a New York federal court to partially undo an arbitral award issued in a dispute over intellectual property for an acne drug, saying the award, if allowed to stand, could interfere with a medication that's been available in Canada for years.

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

Aetna Inks ERISA Deal Over Nixed Spinal Surgery Claims

By Grace Elletson

Aetna has agreed to pay a class of health plan members up to $55,000 each to resolve their suit alleging their coverage claims for lumbar disk replacement surgeries were wrongfully denied, amounting to a deal worth millions of dollars, according to a California federal court filing.

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

Tort Report: Nuked 'Nuclear Verdict' Stays, Texas Justices Say

By Y. Peter Kang

The fate of a "nuclear verdict" that was used to jump-start tort reform campaigns across the country and a settlement of a suit over a Kiss guitar technician's death lead Law360's Tort Report, which compiles recent personal injury and medical malpractice news that may have flown under the radar.

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

Hemp Co. Asks Del. Court To Defer Ex-Exec's Suit To Australia

By Jarek Rutz

An Australian hemp manufacturer and its U.S. subsidiaries asked a Delaware federal judge Thursday to dismiss or pause a lawsuit filed by a former executive-turned-whistleblower, arguing the case should be deferred under international comity principles.

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

Brief

San Antonio Abandons Out-Of-State Abortion Travel Appeal

By Spencer Brewer

The city of San Antonio on Thursday conceded defeat in its request for court approval to go forward with a program that included funding for out-of-state travel for abortions, handing a victory to the state's attorney general.

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

Ropes, Kirkland Guide $5.2B Novo Nordisk Liver Disease Deal

By Al Barbarino

Novo Nordisk said on Thursday it will acquire U.S.-based Akero Therapeutics for up to $5.2 billion in cash, expanding its portfolio into metabolic liver disease in a deal steered by Ropes & Gray LLP and Kirkland & Ellis LLP. 

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

How Courts May Interpret Data-Driven Healthcare Fraud Suits

As the U.S. Department of Justice and other agencies increasingly turn to data mining as an enforcement tool, courts will have to determine how far data alone can take a fraud case, and sound theory, clinical expertise and institutional context will play an important role, say Jaime Jones at Sidley and Andrée-Anne Fournier and Atang Gilika at Analysis Group.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

AG Watch: Va. Race Spotlights Consumer Protection Priorities

Ahead of the state's attorney general election, Virginia companies should assess how either candidate's approach could affect their compliance posture, with incumbent Jason Miyares promising a business-friendly atmosphere that prioritizes public safety and challenger Jay Jones pledging to focus on economic justice and corporate accountability, says Chuck Slemp at Cozen O’Connor.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Series

Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Painting trains me to see both the fine detail and the whole composition at once, enabling me to identify friction points while keeping sight of a client's bigger vision, but the most significant lesson I've brought to my legal work has been the value of originality, says Jana Gouchev at Gouchev Law.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Sullivan & Cromwell Impersonators Hit With NY Fraud Claims

By Emily Sawicki

New York Attorney General Letitia James is attempting to take down a slew of businesses whose names are variants of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, accusing them of attempting a scheme to fraudulently redirect checks meant for the global corporate law firm.

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

Analysis

False-Statement Case Puts Comey In Rare Company

By Phillip Bantz

Former FBI director James Comey is the latest addition to the relatively short list of government officials who have been criminally charged over the past several decades with making false statements to Congress.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NY Atty General Indicted Following Pressure From Trump

By Lauren Berg

New York Attorney General Letitia James was indicted in Virginia federal court Thursday on charges related to mortgage fraud, three weeks after President Donald Trump wrote a social media post encouraging U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to take action because James and two other political opponents were "guilty as hell."

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

Jenn Mascott Of WH Counsel's Office Confirmed To 3rd Circ.

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate voted 50-47 on Thursday to confirm Jenn Mascott, currently serving in the White House Counsel's Office, to the Delaware seat on the Third Circuit.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

7th Circ. Nominee Taibleson Advances To Full Senate

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced on party lines the nomination of Rebecca Taibleson, a federal prosecutor in Wisconsin, to serve on the Seventh Circuit, as well as four district judicial nominees and five U.S. attorney nominees.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Baldoni Atty Faces LA Malpractice Suit Over Client 'Betrayal'

By Emily Sawicki

Entertainment attorney Bryan Freedman has been accused in Los Angeles County Superior Court of turning his back on a former client, allegedly convincing him to sign an unfavorable settlement on trademark claims against "It Ends With Us" star Justin Baldoni, only to later begin representing the actor and director.

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

Calif. Supreme Court Justice Martin Jenkins To Retire

By James Mills

California Supreme Court Justice Martin J. Jenkins, the first openly gay man and the third African American man to sit on the bench, will retire at the end of October, the court announced Thursday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Weinstein Says Jurors Traded Threats, Tainting Verdict

By Cara Salvatore

Harvey Weinstein's legal team said his June sexual assault convictions were tainted by juror misconduct, including physical threats and an unfounded bribery claim, arguing in a motion for a new trial that a judge refused to properly investigate.

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