Healthcare & Pharmaceutics

Federal prosecutor moves to block nonprofit from opening nation’s first safe injection facility

Plans for the nation’s first safe injection facility hit a snag earlier this week, when Philadelphia’s top prosecutor filed a federal complaint to keep it from opening its doors. U.S. Attorney William McSwain, for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, said in the complaint filed Feb. 5 that in providing spaces…

Feb 8, 2019 5:10 PM CST

Cops in this Pennsylvania county claim sex workers with cellphones possess ‘instruments of crime’

Health Law

Oct 31, 2018 4:38 PM CDT

Widow of BigLaw partner loses en banc petition in wrongful-death lawsuit

The Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday denied a petition to rehear a wrongful-death finding involving GlaxoSmithKline and a former Reed Smith partner who died by suicide while taking a generic version of the prescribed antidepressant Paxil. Wendy Dolin, who was Stewart Dolin’s wife, alleged that GSK…

Sep 21, 2018 3:01 PM CDT

Maryland AG seeks tens of millions from fentanyl spray manufacturer

The Maryland attorney general’s office is seeking $20 million in civil penalties from an Arizona-based drugmaker for paying doctors to write prescriptions for a fentanyl spray meant to manage pain in cancer patients but used to treat other conditions. The Baltimore Sun and WBAL-TV have coverage. “It’s an immediate release…

Sep 7, 2018 11:43 AM CDT

7th Circuit tosses $3M verdict in suit blaming antidepressant labeling for BigLaw partner’s suicide

A federal appeals court has overturned a $3 million award to the widow of a Reed Smith partner who blamed antidepressant labeling for her husband’s suicide.

Aug 23, 2018 6:05 AM CDT

Milberg joins forces with mass tort firm Sanders Philips Grossman

Class action and complex litigation firm Milberg and mass tort firm Sanders Phillips Grossman plan to partner up, becoming Milberg Tadler Phillips Grossman, the American Lawyer and Global Legal Post reported Monday. The new law firm will be headquartered in New York City and represent plaintiffs across the United States…

Jan 8, 2018 5:40 PM CST

Vermont poised to be first to legalize marijuana through state legislature

Just hours after Attorney General Jeff Sessions ended the Obama-era policy against enforcement of federal marijuana law in states that legalized the drug, Vermont’s House of Representatives passed a bill legalizing personal possession of pot, WCAX reports. The legislation passed Thursday by a 81-63 vote had been reworked to assuage…

Jan 8, 2018 8:00 AM CST

Another lawsuit makes racketeering claims against state-legal marijuana business

Another lawsuit has been filed alleging Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act claims against a marijuana business, Bloomberg Businessweek reports.

Dec 15, 2017 8:00 AM CST

To Colorado, marijuana is a business—to the federal government, it’s a criminal conspiracy

Under federal law, the decriminalized marijuana industry is in a slightly precarious position. Congress has prevented the Department of Justice from interfering with state-legal medical marijuana, but it left the DOJ free to enforce federal law against state-legal recreational marijuana businesses.

Nov 1, 2017 1:40 AM CDT

Oregon county sues drugmakers for $250 million over opioids

Multnomah County, Oregon has filed a $250 million lawsuit against several pharmaceutical companies for allegedly persuading physicians to overprescribe opioids and causing widespread addiction, The Oregonian reports.

Aug 9, 2017 4:10 PM CDT

Two pharma companies file to stop Arkansas from using their drugs to execute seven inmates

Arkansas’ plan to execute seven inmates in less than two weeks has drawn the ire of two pharmaceutical companies who are trying to stop the state from using their drugs as part of the lethal injection procedure. Fresenius Kabi USA and West-Ward Pharmaceuticals Corp. filed an amicus brief (PDF) in…

Apr 14, 2017 6:04 PM CDT

When is someone too stoned to drive? The question is trickier than you’d think for courts to answer

There is no clear scientific consensus when it comes to smoking pot and driving. And few of the tools police officers have long relied on to determine whether a driver is too drunk to drive, such as the Breathalyzer, exist for marijuana.

Apr 1, 2017 3:10 AM CDT

Did antidepressant or job stress cause BigLaw partner’s suicide? Jury to decide

Stewart Dolin may have had anxiety about his law practice when he threw himself in front of a Chicago Transit Authority train, or the Reed Smith partner may have had a bad reaction to a generic version of Paxil, an antidepressant that the corporate and securities lawyer was taking at…

Mar 21, 2017 6:30 AM CDT

Retired NFL players allege team doctors broke prescription laws, pushed painkillers

A new complaint in litigation from retired professional football players alleges that teams pushed them to play through pain by overusing prescription painkillers, sometimes in violation of federal prescription drug laws. Law360 (sub. req.), the Washington Post and Deadspin reported on documents filed in Northern California federal court, in a…

Mar 13, 2017 2:32 PM CDT

Defense lawyers may obtain lethal drugs on their own for clients, Arizona execution protocol says

Defense lawyers who object to Arizona’s execution drugs may obtain drugs on their own to execute their clients, according to an execution protocol announced last month. That kind of “do-it-yourself execution” appears to be unique in the United States, the Arizona Republic reports. The new protocol, which authorizes the use…

Feb 14, 2017 8:00 AM CST