Health Law & Business News

HHS, Senate Probe for Ethical Conflicts in Organ Group’s Hire

The Senate Finance Committee and the Biden administration are investigating possible conflicts of interest over a nonprofit organ donation group’s hiring of a former executive branch technology expert.

US Chamber Faces Second Loss in Case to Block US Drug Price Plan

A lawsuit by the US Chamber of Commerce and other groups seeking to scuttle the Biden administration’s landmark drug price negotiation was dismissed Thursday by an Ohio federal judge.

NYU Langone Bucks Hospital Group, Backs FTC Noncompete Ban

Noncompete agreements for doctors can harm patient access and choice while unfairly constraining physicians, NYU Langone Health said in support of the Federal Trade Commission rule banning such contracts.

Drug Middlemen Legislation Faces Key Test in California Assembly

California lawmakers are making a last-minute push before adjourning to restrain pharmacy benefit managers against the background of a national effort to rein in prescription drug prices.

Obamacare Immigrant Expansion Draws Pushback From Red States

A consortium of conservative states sued to block a Biden administration move to extend federally subsidized health insurance to undocumented immigrants who arrived in the US as children.

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Chevron’s End Can Help Cannabis Firms Use Tax Code Favorably

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AI-Powered Medical Devices Bring Patent and Regulatory Pitfalls

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Latest Stories

FDA Rejects Lykos’ MDMA for PTSD in Setback for Psychedelics

US regulators rejected the use of Lykos Therapeutics Inc.’s psychedelic drug MDMA for post-traumatic stress disorder and asked for more data, a setback to the nascent field that’s won supporters across the political and corporate spectrum.

By Riley Griffin, Fiona Rutherford and Robert Langreth

Colorado Drug Board Defends Pay Limits Against Amgen Lawsuit

Colorado’s prescription drug review board has authority to limit what state-regulated health plans pay for certain drugs, the state attorney general’s office wrote Friday in its latest response to a lawsuit from Amgen Inc.

Covid-Shot Patent Ruling Emerges from ‘Nonsensical Wonderland’

Whether Pfizer Inc.’s Comirnaty vaccines infringe an Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. patent will come down to whether Alnylam can prove the Covid-19 shots are, in fact, vaccines, according to a federal judge’s ruling heavily referencing the animated 1951 film “Alice in Wonderland.”

Hacked Health Provider Akeela Had Reckless Practices, Suit Says

Alaska-based healthcare provider Akeela Inc. was hit with a proposed class action claiming its inadequate data security practices directly resulted in a June 2023 hack it waited over a year to notify its 284,000 affected patients about.

Pacira Patent on Surgery Pain Drug Voided in Win for Jiangsu

Pacira BioSciences Inc. lost a ruling to Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co. and its eVenus unit as a federal judge canceled a patent for Exparel, a long-acting injectable painkiller for managing postsurgical pain.

HHS Loses Battle Over Nevada Health Insurance Payments on Appeal

The Department of Health and Human Services wrongfully withheld payments to a Nevada health insurance cooperative under an Affordable Care Act cost-sharing program, a federal appeals court ruled.

23andMe Cuts Back Drug Research, Moves to Weight Loss

23andMe Holding Co.’s strategy is shifting as the struggling DNA-testing firm shuts down its in-house drug development effort and gets into weight-loss, one of the hottest markets in health care.

Frequency Therapeutics Consultant, Others Settle SEC Fraud Suit

A Frequency Therapeutics Inc. consultant and two other stockholders who allegedly traded on nonpublic information about clinical trial results have agreed to pay the SEC disgorgement and civil penalties.

Doctor’s Retaliation Claims Versus Pennsylvania Hospital Tossed

A Christian doctor who accused a hospital of improperly terminating him over his refusal to take the Covid-19 vaccine had his claims dismissed with prejudice by a federal court.

Meta Beats Censorship Case From RFK Jr.'s Anti-Vaccine Group

Meta Platforms Inc. didn’t violate the First Amendment rights of the Robert F. Kennedy Jr.-founded Children’s Health Defense by removing the group’s anti-vaccine Facebook posts, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.

Beyond Abortion: The Fight Over Fetal Personhood Is Here

When do legal rights begin, at birth or before that? This video looks at the fetal personhood movement, and what it could mean for the future of abortion. We explore its history and the constitutional argument underpinning it.