Healthcare & Pharmaceutics

Federal judge orders 3 pharmacy chains to pay over $650M for role in opioid epidemic

CVS, Walmart and Walgreens must pay $650.6 million to two Ohio counties after contributing to the opioid epidemic, a federal judge said Wednesday.

Aug 18, 2022 11:40 AM CDT

Attorneys advocate for cancer patients and their caregivers through longtime ABA project

“When you take on something like a law degree or a medical degree, there is an obligation to help someone other than yourself,” says Eunice Aikins-Afful, a clinical research project manager at BeiGene, a biotechnology company in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “We’re blessed to be able to do what we do, and then turn it around to someone who can’t do it for themselves. And it doesn’t have to be altruistic and fancy. It can simply just be answering a question.”

Aug 1, 2022 11:57 AM CDT

Psychedelic Rx: Legal battles aim to expand patients’ access to psilocybin and other hallucinogens

While Indigenous communities have long integrated plant-based psychedelics such as peyote and ayahuasca into their spiritual practices, interest in using both natural and synthetic hallucinogenic substances to alleviate depression and anxiety as well as anorexia, substance use disorder and other mental health conditions has increased in recent decades.

Aug 1, 2022 3:00 AM CDT

Weekly Briefs: Go-between sentenced in law prof’s murder; $4.25B opioid settlement announced

Convicted go-between gets life sentence in law prof’s murder Katherine Magbanua was sentenced Friday to life in prison without parole for acting as the go-between in the murder of Florida State University law professor Dan Markel. She also received two consecutive 30-year sentences. Magbanua’s lawyer, Tara Kawass, said her client…

Jul 29, 2022 2:35 PM CDT

Federal judge rules for drug distributors in opioid trial, says case fails under West Virginia nuisance law

A federal judge has ruled for three major drug distributors in a bench trial contending that their conduct created an opioid epidemic in Huntington, West Virginia, and the state’s Cabell County.

Jul 5, 2022 3:55 PM CDT

As 2 top state courts allow abortion limits, court filing says a third can’t stop sale of abortion pills

A generic drugmaker said in a June 30 legal filing Mississippi can’t stop sales of its abortion pill, and its case is even stronger after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the right to abortion.

Jul 5, 2022 9:48 AM CDT

SCOTUS rules for US citizen who says return of her child to Italy poses grave risk of harm

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that U.S. courts can refuse to return children to their home countries in situations posing a grave risk of harm without considering all measures that could reduce the risk.

Jun 15, 2022 12:38 PM CDT

Scott Schoettes has ‘personal stake’ in work for individuals living with HIV/AIDS

In a landmark ruling in April, the Department of Defense was ordered to stop discriminating against people with HIV and permit them to deploy and commission as military officers. Scott Schoettes represented the two plaintiffs who brought the suit, a case with personal meaning for him as an attorney living with HIV.

May 31, 2022 1:12 PM CDT

Weekly Briefs: SCOTUS to hear case on nursing home suits; Trump’s business to pay $750K to settle suit

SCOTUS agrees to hear 3 new cases The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear cases on overtime pay, nursing home lawsuits and erased bankruptcy debt. The cases are: • Health and Hospital Corp of Marion County, Indiana v. Talevski. At issue is whether state-run nursing homes can be…

May 6, 2022 4:25 PM CDT

4th Circuit upholds restrictions on lawyer ads seeking drug and device clients

A federal appeals court has upheld West Virginia’s restrictions on lawyer advertising that seeks clients for litigation involving medication and medical devices.

Apr 29, 2022 11:43 AM CDT

A teenager is mistakenly impressed by her lawyer dad

When my daughter was in college back in the '90s, she knew I was a lawyer specializing in health law. She knew I had left private practice after 20 years to become general counsel of a large statewide hospital system. And she knew I spent my workdays at a desk reading, writing and talking on the phone.

Apr 27, 2022 12:38 PM CDT

Weekly Briefs: Emmett Till probe closed; Black couple’s suit says appraisal changed with pretend white homeowner

DOJ closes Emmett Till investigation The U.S. Department of Justice has closed its reopened investigation into the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old Black youth tortured and shot in Mississippi after he was accused of making sexual advances toward a white woman in her store. The woman had testified…

Dec 10, 2021 3:17 PM CST

Lawyer-chemist’s career path includes research into psychiatric uses for psychedelic mushrooms

Andrew Chadeayne, who holds a doctorate in chemistry, is also a patent lawyer. His experience includes intellectual property work for pharmaceutical companies and a major freight forwarder. But it was his work for the revolutionary cannabis research company Ebbu that ignited his interest in developing and commercializing the mind-altering properties of much-maligned plants.

Dec 1, 2021 2:10 AM CST

America’s fights over medical treatment choices didn’t start with COVID-19 and ivermectin

Like the legal profession, the practice of medicine in the United States is highly regulated. But it hasn't always been, and the idea that a person has the right to try the medical therapies of their choice has a much longer history. In Choose Your Medicine: Freedom of Therapeutic Choice in America, law professor Lewis A. Grossman introduces readers to a fractious history with some unexpected combatants—and comrades.

Nov 24, 2021 8:48 AM CST

Do face coverings help or hinder defendants?

Before her fall from grace, Elizabeth Holmes’ ability to court and charm establishment luminaries fueled her meteoric rise as head of Silicon Valley blood-testing company Theranos. In her ongoing criminal fraud trial, she might be hoping she can work the same magic on jurors. But could wearing a mask weaken her defense and make her less likable in the eyes of the jury?

Nov 16, 2021 8:56 AM CST