Health Law

Late-Term Abortion Doc Acquitted of 19 Charges

A Kansas doctor known for being one of a very few in the U.S. willing to perform late-term abortions has been acquitted of charges that did so against state law. Jurors deliberated less than an hour Friday before reaching not guilty verdicts on all 19 counts against Wichita Dr. George…

Mar 30, 2009 4:28 PM CDT

Now is the Time for ‘Life Without Lawyers,’ Says Covington & Burling Partner

New York City-based litigator and legal reform activist Philip K. Howard has been waging a battle to reshape the U.S. legal system for 15 years. Now, with the collapse of Wall Street financial giants and the promise of new regulations by the Obama administration, the Covington & Burling partner says…

Mar 24, 2009 6:16 PM CDT

Judge: FDA Overstepped Bounds in Restricting ‘Plan B’ Contraceptive

A federal regulatory agency overstepped its bounds in limiting access to the so-called “Plan B” emergency contraceptive, a federal judge has ruled. In setting special requirements for the controversial contraceptive, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration “departed in significant ways from the agency’s normal procedures regarding similar applications to switch…

Mar 23, 2009 8:13 PM CDT

Law Firm Revealed Study Suggesting Seroquel Risks

A law firm that represents patients who took the antipsychotic drug Seroquel has revealed documents about a hush-hush study showing patients who took the medicine had a risk of weight gain and diabetes. The so-called Study 15 was disclosed to the Food and Drug Administration but not to doctors or…

Mar 18, 2009 6:19 PM CDT

Panel Says La. Should Pay Katrina Doc’s $450K Defense Costs

As one member called a Louisiana doctor who at one point was accused of criminally euthanizing patients in her care a hero, a panel today recommended that the state should pay some $450,000 in legal defense costs for Dr. Anna Pou. After working at Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans,…

Mar 17, 2009 9:06 PM CDT

Former Client Seeks Punitives, Claims Hogan & Hartson Aided Competitor

A former client of Hogan & Hartson has sued the law firm for malpractice, claiming that it aided a competitor. At issue in the dispute is two competing brands of over-the-counter mouthguards used by buyers to prevent their teeth from grinding while they sleep. Prestige Brands Inc. hired Hogan partner…

Mar 14, 2009 1:23 AM CDT

Supreme Court Rules Labels Don’t Shield Drug Companies from Suits

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that pharmaceutical companies aren’t protected from lawsuits because their warning labels are approved by the federal government. The court ruled in a 6-3 decision that approval of drug labeling by the Food and Drug Administration does not pre-empt state court lawsuits over insufficient warnings,…

Mar 4, 2009 3:50 PM CST

Group May Have Aided 130 Suicides; Four Members Arrested

Scores of death investigations may be reopened as Georgia authorities probe an Atlanta area group that helped others commit suicide with helium gas. A court document says the group Final Exit Network may have helped as many as 130 people around the country commit suicide, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Investigators…

Feb 27, 2009 6:51 PM CST

Octuplets’ Mom Tells Dr. Phil: Hospital May Think I Can’t Care for My Babies

An unemployed woman who along with her own mother, is already raising six children in a three-bedroom Whittier, Calif., home in pre-foreclosure, is worried that she may not be allowed to take her new octuplets home when they are well enough to be released from the hospital. In a Tuesday…

Feb 25, 2009 10:04 PM CST

Possible Dad Seeks Paternity Test re Octuplets, Amidst Medical Debate

A new contestant weighed in today in a controversial pregnancy that has ignited international legal debate. Saying that he had donated his sperm, at Nadya Suleman’s request, during the course of a three-year relationship, Denis Beaudoin announced today on national television that he might be the father of her octuplets…

Feb 23, 2009 9:30 PM CST

Fla. Jury Awards $8M to Family of Dead Smoker in Philip Morris Case

A Broward County, Fla., jury today awarded $8 million, including $5 million in punitive damages, to the widow and son of a chain smoker who died at age 55. Philip Morris, which was the defendant cigarette-maker in the case, has vowed to appeal, reports the Miami Herald. Elaine Hess, 63,…

Feb 18, 2009 11:08 PM CST

Plaintiffs Question Judge’s Son’s Law Firm Link in Medtronic Case

U.S. District Judge Richard Kyle says he didn’t have any idea that his son’s law firm had performed work, in unrelated matters, for a defendant in a massive case he was hearing. But after plaintiff lawyers found out about Fredrikson & Byron’s connection to the litigation against Medtronic Inc., some…

Feb 13, 2009 6:04 PM CST

Special Court Finds Vaccine-Preservative Combination Didn’t Cause Autism

Ruling in three test cases, special masters appointed by the U.S. Court of Claims have found that parents of children with autism failed to prove that certain vaccines combined with a preservative caused their children’s neurological condition. Special masters ruled there was insufficient evidence to show that autism is caused…

Feb 12, 2009 4:08 PM CST

Wyeth Buyout Could Spur Justice’s Recusal in Pre-emption Case

Will Pfizer Inc.’s acquisition of Wyeth affect a pending pre-emption case before the U.S. Supreme Court? Legal Times asks the question. At issue in the case, Wyeth v. Levine, is whether pharmaceutical companies are protected from suits alleging failure to give adequate warnings because their drug labels receive federal approval.…

Feb 10, 2009 7:18 PM CST

FDA Opens Criminal Probe of Peanut Co.; Obama Calls for Agency Overhaul

The federal Food and Drug Administration has opened a criminal investigation into a closely held Virginia-based company that has been blamed for a salmonella outbreak that allegedly sickened more than 500 people and killed eight. Although Peanut Corp. of America’s own tests in 2007 and 2008 showed that salmonella was…

Feb 2, 2009 5:55 PM CST