Health Law

1st Cir. Revives ‘Civil Action’ Lawyer’s Whistle-Blower Suit Against J&J

A federal appeals court has revived a whistle-blower suit against a major pharmaceutical company concerning the marketing of its anti-anemia drug Procrit. The Medicare fraud suit brought against Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary, Ortho Biotech, by former pharmaceutical sales representatives potentially could result in a multibillion-dollar damages award, according…

Aug 13, 2009 9:53 PM CDT

Stanford Law Prof Dies from Bike Accident Injuries

A professor emeritus who taught at Stanford Law School since 1969 has died from injuries he suffered in a July 14 bike accident. John Barton wrote the undergraduate textbook International Arms Control, considered the standard, the Mercury News reports. He died at the age of 72 from brain injuries suffered…

Aug 7, 2009 3:05 PM CDT

4th Cir. Upholds Jury Verdict for McGuireWoods in FMLA Case

An attorney working as a legal secretary at McGuireWoods lost at trial and has now lost again on appeal in a case alleging that the law firm retaliated against her for asserting her right to take family medical leave to care for her ailing mother and libeled her after she…

Aug 6, 2009 11:31 PM CDT

Wyeth Paid for Articles Promoting Use of Company’s Hormone-Replacement Drugs

Evidence unsealed last month in a complex federal case against a drug manufacturer shows that Wyeth paid for at least 40 ghostwritten articles in medical journals promoting the use of replacement hormones in menopausal women. The practice of publishing ghostwritten articles is controversial, because bioethicists say it obscures the connection…

Aug 6, 2009 10:25 PM CDT

Why Didn’t Anyone Tell Police About Pittsburgh Health Club Shooter’s Website?

A law firm systems analyst described in detail his troubled thoughts on at least one one website before going on a fatal shooting rampage at a suburban Pittsburgh health club this week that may have been triggered by his apparent anger at being rejected by women. So why didn’t anyone…

Aug 6, 2009 9:35 PM CDT

ABA Supports Universal Access to Health Care #ABAChicago

The ABA’s policy-making House of Delegates today approved a resolution calling for access to quality health care for all Americans, regardless of income. It passed on an overwhelming voice vote, and no one spoke in opposition to the measure. The ABA has been on record since 1972 as being in…

Aug 4, 2009 2:28 PM CDT

Biting Back at Obesity

The Big Apple’s calorie-counting law is staying on the menu

Aug 2, 2009 1:50 AM CDT

‘No Idea’ When Jackson Autopsy Will Be Released, as Medical Probe Expands

Public release of the result of Michael Jackson’s autopsy is being delayed indefinitely by the Los Angeles County coroner’s office, as an investigation of the medical personnel who treated the renowned pop singer before his June 25 death expands. Assistant chief Ed Winter of the coroner’s office says he has…

Jul 31, 2009 5:41 PM CDT

Pfizer Agrees to Pay $75M to Settle Nigerian Drug-Test Case

Without admitting liability, Pfizer has agreed to pay $75 million to settle criminal and civil cases in Nigeria alleging that the world’s largest drug company illegally tested the antibiotic Trovan on children there during a 1996 meningitis epidemic. The drug allegedly killed 11 children and disabled dozens more; however, Pfizer…

Jul 30, 2009 7:26 PM CDT

Reopen Va. Tech Probe, Add Gunman’s Medical File Info, Families Urge

Following news last week that the long-missing mental health file had been found for the gunman who massacred 32 people in a 2007 shooting rampage at Virginia Tech, injured survivors and family members of those who died are urging that an investigation be reopened. They are calling on Va. Gov.…

Jul 28, 2009 10:51 PM CDT

Feds Raid Vegas Home and Office of Michael Jackson Doc

Following up on an earlier raid by federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents on the Houston office of a physician who has treated Michael Jackson, authorities today arrived with a search warrant at the Las Vegas home and office of Dr. Conrad Murray. This time DEA agents were accompanied by Los…

Jul 28, 2009 5:31 PM CDT

Fla. Hospital Wins Tort Case Over Flying Patient to Guatemala on Chartered Plane

Despite a judge’s instruction that Martin Memorial Medical Center, as a matter of law, unlawfully detained a longtime patient and deprived him of his liberty by sending him home on a chartered plane to Guatemala, a Florida jury ruled in favor of the hospital today in a much-watched tort case.…

Jul 27, 2009 6:54 PM CDT

Ex-BigLaw Associate, 29, Forms Biotech Boutique via Craigslist

When Afif Ghannoum decided to open a biotechnology boutique in Cleveland, the 29-year-old former BigLaw associate advertised for potential partner-level attorneys on Craigslist. He received responses from nearly 100 lawyers in Ohio and another 400 in New York City. To help keep costs low, the firm’s nine lawyers operate out…

Jul 27, 2009 5:54 PM CDT

Chartering Plane to Take Patient Home Could Cost Hospital Big Bucks

During the three years he lived at a Florida hospital after suffering a severe brain injury in an automobile accident, Luis Jimenez racked up a $1.5 million medical bill. But now the uninsured illegal immigrant could potentially cost Martin Memorial Medical Center a lot more. In closing arguments today in…

Jul 23, 2009 6:06 PM CDT

Suit Seeks Warning Label on Hot Dogs

A group promoting a vegan diet has filed a lawsuit requiring hot dogs to carry warning labels saying they could increase the risk of cancer. The suit filed in New Jersey state court by the Cancer Project seeks class-action status, the Los Angeles Times reports. The complaint claims that nitrites…

Jul 23, 2009 1:42 PM CDT