Healthcare & Pharmaceutics

Psychiatrist charged with felony murder in 3 patients’ overdose deaths

A Georgia psychiatrist already facing a criminal case following the death of one patient was accused in a Wednesday indictment of killing a total of three patients, among other charges. The 62-count indictment of Dr. Narendra Nagareddy includes three felony murder counts concerning patients who allegedly died of overdoses after…

May 19, 2016 12:00 PM CDT

FDA will soon regulate e-cigarettes and increase oversight of other tobacco products

In a Thursday announcement, federal officials introduced a finalized rule (PDF) that will for the first time regulate e-cigarettes, as well as strengthen oversight by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration of other tobacco products. As of Aug. 8, the FDA will include e-cigarettes, vape pens, hookahs, pipe tobacco, premium…

May 5, 2016 4:05 PM CDT

Municipalities find new funding source by filing class-action suits

A growing number of municipalities throughout the country have found an innovative way to add to their bottom lines—joining class-action suits on a contingency-fee basis. Providence, Rhode Island, has filed 15 securities cases against banks and corporations as an institutional investor since 2011, reports the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.).…

May 3, 2016 9:25 AM CDT

Oregonians get a chance to erase marijuana-growing convictions

When voters in five jurisdictions legalized recreational marijuana, "overcriminalization" was one of the arguments they considered. Among other things, proponents of legalization argued that it's unfair and unnecessary to stigmatize people for life with criminal convictions for nonviolent drug use.

May 1, 2016 3:30 AM CDT

Supreme Court refuses to hear challenge to life sentence for pot possession

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear a challenge to the constitutionality of a mandatory life sentence without parole for possessing a small amount of marijuana. Lee Carroll Brooker, a 75-year-old disabled veteran, is serving a life sentence in an Alabama prison for growing three dozen marijuana plants for…

Apr 20, 2016 4:00 PM CDT

Lawyer admits smuggling heroin into jail, but says he stopped practicing and sought treatment

A suburban St. Louis lawyer pleaded guilty Friday in a federal heroin-dealing case, after admitting Tuesday in a state supreme court document that he had smuggled the drug into a correctional facility while he himself was addicted. In the state-court filing, Jeffrey Bremer, 49, voluntarily gave up his law practice…

Apr 1, 2016 3:50 PM CDT

Johnson & Johnson unit is settling cases over morcellators used in hysterectomies, lawyer says

A unit of Johnson & Johnson that sold laparoscopic power morcellators used to cut a woman’s uterus into small pieces that could be extracted through a tiny incision is settling cases over a number of hysterectomies, a plaintiff’s lawyer says. The problem is, if a woman has undetected cancer, the…

Mar 22, 2016 4:30 PM CDT

Doctor gets 30 years to life in landmark prosecution over patient OD deaths

A former California physician was sentenced Friday to 30 years to life in a landmark Los Angeles drug prosecution. Dr. Hsiu-Ying “Lisa” Tseng, 46, gave up her license to practice medicine in 2012, after she was charged in three patient overdose deaths. Prosecutors say her second-degree murder case is the…

Feb 5, 2016 5:00 PM CST

Law firm among pioneering employers who OK worker use of medical marijuana

A small law firm is among a pioneering group of Illinois employers that are offering assurances they won’t punish their workers for using medical marijuana. InHouse Physicians, one of the other participants, has amended its human resources manual to say that it will accommodate workers who use medical marijuana, CEO…

Feb 5, 2016 4:30 PM CST

Courts decline to extend bankruptcy laws to marijuana businesses

Recent decisions holding that state-compliant medical marijuana growers and dispensaries can't reorganize in bankruptcy are highlighting the sticky problems that result when federal and state marijuana laws conflict.

Feb 1, 2016 3:20 AM CST

Paxil suit by widow of Reed Smith partner heads to trial without summary judgment ruling

A lawsuit filed by the widow of a Reed Smith partner against the makers of Paxil is headed to trial after a federal judge indicated he won’t rule on summary judgment motions before the Sept. 19 trial date. The suit by Wendy Dolin claims GlaxoSmithKline failed to warn that the…

Jan 15, 2016 5:45 AM CST

Attorney takes plea deal in marijuana ‘grow house’ case

A Raleigh, North Carolina, attorney accused of playing a role in a marijuana “grow house” operation and using his law office to help prepare fraudulent applications for bank loans has taken a plea deal. Joseph Lee Levinson pleaded guilty Friday to a federal conspiracy count concerning false statements made to…

Jan 12, 2016 2:15 PM CST

Judge dismisses lawsuit seeking federal approval for credit union serving marijuana businesses

A credit union formed to serve Colorado’s legal marijuana industry has lost its bid for approval by the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, the Associated Press reported Wednesday. Fourth Corner Credit Union sued the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City in July for turning down its application for the master account…

Jan 6, 2016 4:30 PM CST

Obama commutes sentences of 95 federal prisoners, grants 2 pardons

Updated: More than doubling the number of federal prison sentences he has commuted during his entire time in office, President Barack Obama on Friday granted clemency to 95 inmates and pardoned two. Most were nonviolent drug offenders. A total of 184 prisoners have now been granted clemency by Obama while…

Dec 18, 2015 1:40 PM CST

Despite Holder’s call for clemency to free over 10,000, actual number so far is much lower

Updated: In a 2013 speech delivered at the American Bar Association’s annual meeting, then-U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced a new “Smart on Crime” initiative and called for a number of changes to reduce “shameful” sentencing disparities that often affect drug offenders. Among the measures he suggested was clemency. Yet…

Dec 9, 2015 3:20 PM CST