Health Law

Former Drug Company Lawyer Re-indicted in Wellbutrin Case

A onetime lawyer for drug maker GlaxoSmithKline was re-indicted on obstruction of justice charges in a probe into Wellbutrin off-label marketing. An indictment of Lauren Stevens was dismissed in March following revelations of errors during the grand jury proceeding. On Thursday, Stevens was charged again with four counts of making…

Apr 15, 2011 2:54 PM CDT

Psychologist’s Reprimand Gives Hope to Counsel for Death Row Inmates

In a closely watched case, lawyers for death row inmates who were cleared for trial by a Texas psychologist reprimanded for his methods are hopeful their clients will avoid lethal injection. The Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists has reprimanded Dr. George Denkowski, whose intellectual competency testing methods have…

Apr 15, 2011 11:30 AM CDT

Judge Dubious About Warrantless Search of Prison Cell in High Profile Abortion Doc Murder Case

Defense counsel for the wife of an abortion doctor in a high-profile murder case are raising questions about a Philadelphia jail cell search practice that a prosecutor says has been commonplace. Instead of obtaining a search warrant, prosecutors there routinely simply subpoena prison officials seeking records, according to the Associated…

Apr 14, 2011 12:07 PM CDT

11-Attorney Health Care Team Exits Faegre for Polsinelli Shughart

Eleven health care lawyers from Faegre & Benson have joined the Denver office of Polsinelli Shughart, more than half of them as partners, to establish a new practice group there.The firm has 55 health care lawyers nationally, comprising nearly 10 percent of its more than 500 attorneys. “This significant expansion…

Apr 13, 2011 10:45 AM CDT

Mom Who Didn’t Give Her Son Prescribed Chemo Meds Is Convicted of Attempted Murder

A Massachusetts woman who did not administer prescribed chemotherapy medications to her son, who had cancer, was convicted of attempted murder, child endangerment and assault today, by a Lawrence Superior Court jury. Jeremy Fraser, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2006, died in 2009. He was 9, and also…

Apr 12, 2011 8:43 PM CDT

Georgia Court Clerk with Alzheimer’s Says She Was Tricked Into Resigning

Linda Carter, the former DeKalb, Ga., superior court clerk, claims that she has Alzheimer’s disease, and last month was tricked into resigning from her position by a woman who is Carter’s successor. Carter’s attorney, Lee Parks, told the Fulton County Daily Report that Debra DeBerry, the county’s chief deputy clerk,…

Apr 12, 2011 4:24 PM CDT

Missouri Files Amicus Supporting States’ Challenge of Federal Health Care Law

Missouri today filed an amicus brief supporting states challenging the constitutionality of the federal health care law, according to the Associated Press. Florida and 25 other states filed the lawsuit, which is on appeal in the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In January, U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson…

Apr 11, 2011 8:38 PM CDT

Tenet Fights Community Hostile Takeover Bid with Overbilling Allegation

Tenet Healthcare struck back at a hostile takeover bid from Community Health Systems, alleging in a U.S. District Court action filed today that the Fortune 500 company overbills Medicare with improper patient procedures. According to the New York Times’ DealBook blog, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of…

Apr 11, 2011 7:06 PM CDT

Mom at Trial in Attempted Murder Case for Failing to Give Her Son His Cancer Meds

A mom in Massachusetts says the side effects from cancer medication made her autistic son, Jeremy Fraser, so sick she was afraid they would kill him. So she stopped giving him the drugs that his oncologist says might have given the boy an 85 percent or 90 percent chance of…

Apr 8, 2011 8:05 PM CDT

FDA Introduces Proposed New Regs Requiring Calorie Counts on Chain Restaurant Menus

The Food and Drug Administration today released proposed new regulations concerning calorie counts that chain restaurants nationwide will be required to list for their menu items under a new health care law enacted last year. Convenience stores, supermarkets and vending machine owners also will be required to comply with the…

Apr 1, 2011 9:26 PM CDT

Unique New Ariz. Law Bans Abortion Based On Race or Gender of Fetus

A new law in Arizona makes it a crime to make a decision to abort a fetus based on its ethnicity or gender Billed as what is likely the first such statute in the country, as far as the ethnicity provision is concerned, the law makes it a felony to…

Mar 31, 2011 11:29 PM CDT

Lawyer for Woman Suing over Generic Drug Labels Decides that ‘Sotomayor Rocks’

A lawyer for a woman who developed a neurological disorder while taking a generic drug says the highlight of oral arguments on Wednesday was questioning by Justice Sonia Sotomayor. “Sotomayor rocks,” said Kristine Sims in an interview with the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Sims represents Julie Demahy of Slidell, La., who…

Mar 31, 2011 2:07 PM CDT

Another 9th Circuit Decision Is Overturned; Hospitals Can’t Sue to Enforce Med Price Caps

Hospitals that serve the poor can’t sue to enforce federal price caps on medications sold to medical facilities that serve the poor. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in an 8-0 decision (PDF) that suit may be brought only by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Associated Press…

Mar 29, 2011 4:03 PM CDT

Anti-Trans-Fat Crusading Lawyer Loves Plastic, Sues Over Bag Bans; Has He Gone to ‘Dark Side’?

San Francisco lawyer Stephen Joseph is a staunch defender of plastic grocery bags. He has sued Manhattan Beach over its plastic bag ban, claiming the Southern California town didn’t follow state law mandates for environmental impact statements, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. He has threatened lawsuits against a…

Mar 28, 2011 1:07 PM CDT

Feds Probe Whether Blue Cross Blue Shield Provisions Stifle Competition

Federal officials are reportedly looking at Blue Cross Blue Shield health care plan provisions in half a dozen states, with a focus on whether they stifle competition by preventing hospitals from striking favorable deals with other insurers. Getting a particularly close look are so-called “most favored nation” provisions requiring health…

Mar 25, 2011 11:57 PM CDT