8th Circ. Hears PBMs' Bid To Pause FTC Insulin Pricing Case

By Matthew Perlman

An Eighth Circuit panel had only a handful of questions on Wednesday for the pharmacy benefit managers accused of inflating insulin prices, though one of the judges expressed skepticism about pausing the Federal Trade Commission's in-house enforcement action on constitutional grounds.

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Doc Takes Plea, Avoids Prison In Novel Opioid Death Case

By Julie Manganis

A retired Massachusetts doctor pled guilty and was sentenced to five years of probation in a first-of-its-kind involuntary manslaughter case over a patient's 2016 opioid overdose death, the state attorney general's office announced.

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Is 'Red Book' Best For Drug Pricing? Pa. Justices Ask

By P.J. D'Annunzio

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court seemed skeptical Wednesday that the state workers' compensation authorities were using the best guide to calculate pharmacy reimbursements for injured workers' prescription drugs, with the justices questioning the fairness of the industry's long-used "red book" method.

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Pfizer To Pay $41.5M To Settle Adulterated ADHD Drug Claims

By Spencer Brewer

Pfizer Inc. and Tris Pharma Inc. agreed Wednesday to cough up $41.5 million to settle claims brought by Texas that it gave adulterated ADHD drugs to children, ending a lawsuit alleging the companies violated a state healthcare fraud law.

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Senate GOP Resists Extending Expanded ACA Tax Premiums

By Asha Glover

Senate Finance Committee Democrats on Wednesday urged their Republican counterparts to extend the enhanced tax credits for the Affordable Care Act, which is set to expire at the end of the year, but Republicans said they were looking for other options to address rising healthcare costs.

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Senior Living Co. Inks $7.2M Deal To End Wash. AG's Probe

By Rachel Riley

Oregon-based senior living provider Bonaventure will invest $7 million in staffing and upgrades and shell out $200,000 in resident credits to resolve allegations of substandard care at 10 Washington state facilities, under a settlement filed Wednesday.

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Fla. Congresswoman Accused Of Stealing $5M In FEMA Funds

By David Minsky

A Florida congresswoman was indicted on charges that she stole $5 million in COVID-19 disaster relief funds through her family-run healthcare business and used the money to fund her 2021 campaign, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday. 

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Doctor, Husband Admit $16M Healthcare Fraud, Tax Evasion

By Anna Scott Farrell

A physician and her husband admitted to committing more than $16 million in healthcare fraud and tax evasion as part of a scheme that injected sick patients with the wrong medications or dosages, according to their plea agreements in Alaska federal court.

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Brief

Conn. Dentists Pay $714K To Settle Patient Kickback Claims

By Aaron Keller

Two Connecticut dentists will pay more than $714,000 to the state and federal governments to settle joint allegations that their practices submitted false government benefits claims that contained kickbacks for patient recruiters.

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Med Co. Sellers Urge Del. Justices To Revive Suit

By Jeff Montgomery

An attorney for former investors in urgent care provider CityMD urged Delaware's Supreme Court on Wednesday to reverse a lower court's dismissal of claims they were coerced into giving up purported rights to the same consideration a private equity controller received in a 2021 merger.

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11th Circ. Backs Kaiser In Air Ambulance Arbitration Dispute

By Grace Elletson

The Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday declined an air ambulance company's bid to scrap an arbitrator's ruling that Kaiser only owes $24,000 for an emergency helicopter flight, rejecting the emergency medical provider's arguments that the insurer committed fraud by strategically lowballing the arbitrator.

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DaVita Reaches Tentative Deal In Patients' Data Breach Suit

By Rachel Konieczny

DaVita Inc. has reached a settlement in principle with current and former patients of the healthcare company who alleged in Colorado federal court that it did not adequately protect their personal information, resulting in an April data breach.

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Hospice Co. Should Face Tobacco Fee Suit, Judge Says

By Kellie Mejdrich

A hospice and home healthcare provider shouldn't escape a proposed class action challenging a tobacco surcharge in its employee health plan, a Pennsylvania federal judge recommended, finding that allegations sufficiently backed up that a wellness program implementing the fee didn't meet all regulatory requirements.

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Brief

Aetna Gets OK For $3.4M Deal In Cancer Treatment Denial Suit

By Patrick Hoff

A Florida federal judge has signed off on Aetna's $3.4 million settlement agreement resolving a class action that alleged the insurer unlawfully mischaracterized a proton beam cancer radiation treatment as experimental to deny dozens of claims.

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Brief

Pa. Health Network's $1.15M 401(k) Suit Deal Gets Initial OK

By Patrick Hoff

A healthcare system Wednesday secured initial approval from a Pennsylvania federal court for a $1.15 million settlement agreement that would resolve a proposed class action alleging the company misused forfeited retirement plan funds and allowed the plan's administrative costs to soar.

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Alkermes, Avadel Bump Deal To $2.37B After Alternate Bid

By Al Barbarino

Alkermes PLC said on Wednesday that its agreement to purchase Avadel Pharmaceuticals PLC has been increased to as much as $2.37 billion after a third party threw an alternate bid into the mix. 

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23andMe Seeks OK For Ch. 11 Plan With Release Tweaks

By Clara Geoghegan

Attorneys for former DNA testing company 23andMe urged a Missouri bankruptcy judge Wednesday to approve its Chapter 11 liquidation plan, which resolved objections from states and the U.S. Trustee tied to claim releases.

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Gilead Sciences' GC Will Leave Co. Next Month

By Sue Reisinger

Gilead Sciences Inc. announced Wednesday that Deborah H. Telman will no longer serve as its executive vice president for corporate affairs and general counsel as of Dec. 5, 2025.

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FDA Biosimilar Guidance Should Ease Biologics Development

New draft guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, indicating that the agency may no longer routinely require comparative efficacy studies when other evidence provides sufficient assurance of biosimilarity, underscores the FDA's trust in analytical technology as a driver of biologics access, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

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Bonus Spotlight

BigLaw Begins To Fall In Line With Cravath Bonuses

By Aebra Coe

Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson, McDermott Will & Schulte LLP and Dechert LLP are among the law firms following the lead of Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP on year-end associate bonuses this week, with at least five large firms matching the market leader within a day of Cravath's Tuesday announcement.

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Troutman Owes $3.7M In Atty Fees After $1M Malpractice Loss

By Jake Maher

Troutman Pepper Locke LLP must pay $3.7 million in attorney fees to a healthcare tech company that won on malpractice claims against the firm in 2024 after six years of litigation and an eight-day bench trial, a New Jersey state judge has ordered.

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Dissent Accuses Redistrict Ruling Of 'Judicial Misbehavior'

By Spencer Brewer

A Fifth Circuit judge denounced the judge who penned a federal court order blocking Texas' newly redrawn congressional map, saying in a Wednesday opinion the order blocking the redistricting amounts to the "most blatant exercise of judicial activism" he had ever seen.

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Halligan Says Grand Jury Never Saw Final Comey Indictment

By Jared Foretek

U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan acknowledged Wednesday that the full grand jury in the James Comey case never saw or voted on the final version of the indictment that was handed up to the court in the case. An attorney for Comey said the clarification was grounds for dismissal.

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Alaska Senator Pushes For Better Vetting After Judge Scandal

By Courtney Bublé

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, said on Wednesday that after a federal judge in his state resigned in disgrace last year, he decided he had to revamp his selection process for judicial nominees.

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Pillsbury Asks 2nd Circ. To Guard $4M Client Fee From SEC

By Aaron Keller

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP on Wednesday urged the Second Circuit to allow it to keep a $4 million advance payment retainer from the since-convicted former CEO of a bankrupt cybersecurity company, but the law firm conceded it should have clarified its rights after the government sought an asset freeze.

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Latham DQ'd From Sleep Apnea Device Co.'s Patent Fight

By Madison Arnold

A Delaware federal court has disqualified Latham & Watkins LLP from representing the creator of a sleep apnea implant in its patent dispute after the firm served as counsel to the rival's underwriters, saying the "appearance of impropriety is glaring."

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The House's Plan B For Repealing Provision On DOJ Lawsuits

By Courtney Bublé

If the Senate does not take up a bill to repeal a provision in the government funding package allowing senators investigated by former special counsel Jack Smith to sue for damages, a Republican House member is already making contingency plans.

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Justices Told Presidential Firing Limits Is An 'Originalist' Idea

By Katie Buehler

A bipartisan collection of current and former government officials has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold a 90-year-old ruling that empowers Congress to prohibit the president from firing certain agency officials at will, claiming the precedent has roots that date back to the country's founding and reflects key separation of powers principles.

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