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... the reorganization plan conditionally approved by a federal judge Wednesday protects what some call "the most evil family in America" from any civil liability...Under the plan, the Sackler family would forfeit ownership of Purdue Pharma, turn over more than 30 million documents and pay $4.5 billion. In return, the Sackler family would be shielded from an onslaught of lawsuits. Purdue has said the settlement overall will be worth about $10 billion, which includes the value of addiction treatment and overdose antidote drugs it is developing...READ MORE

UnitedHealthcare has lost an appeal in a case over Medicare Advantage overpayments...The health insurance giant initially won in lower federal court, but the Department of Health and Human Services filed an appeal in spring 2020. The ruling is the latest in the legal back-and-forth over a 2014 proposed rule that could change how much money MA plans have to pay the feds for diagnostic errors...READ MORE

The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada and the Nevada Press Association have filed a federal lawsuit calling for a halt to the state’s planned execution of Zane Floyd – which would be the state’s first in 15 years — unless the process is more transparent...The lawsuit...argues that the state violates the First Amendment by interfering with the media’s ability to observe Zane Floyd’s execution in its entirety and without obstruction. The lack of transparency is especially concerning given that the state is “using experimental drug cocktails and an untested facility,”...READ MORE

The Supreme Court agreed to hear a major dispute between the hospital industry and the federal government over cuts to 340B hospitals...The court agreed to hear the case during its next term that begins in October...A decision could be rendered sometime next year...The case called American Hospital Association v. Becerra centers on the Medicare reimbursement rate paid for outpatient drugs and whether the Department of Health and Human Services singled out 340B-covered entities...READ MORE

With 25,000 unresolved lawsuits alleging that its talcum products cause cancer, Johnson & Johnson is considering a legal maneuver sometimes referred to as the Texas two-step... a U.S. judge declined to block the move, giving the pharmaceutical giant the option to create a new business to absorb liabilities associated with the litigation and then seek bankruptcy protection...U.S. bankruptcy judge...denied a plaintiffs' request to issue a restraining order against J&J to prevent the company from employing the tactic, first used by firms decades ago to mitigate the costs associated with asbestos claims...READ MORE

Appealing a $448 million judgement in an antitrust case has ultimately paid off for AbbVie...the U.S. Federal Trade Commission withdrew its complaint that AbbVie used sham litigation in 2011 to illegally block generic competition for its testosterone drug AndroGel. While the agency still thinks AbbVie engaged in "anticompetitive conduct," an official said current laws don't support the agency's efforts to recoup money for consumers...READ MORE

After coughing up nearly $24 million in a federal settlement over donations to patient charities, Pfizer went on the offensive last summer and took the U.S.' anti-kickback policies to task. Late last month, the drug giant got its day in court...The company, angling to help Medicare patients pay for its costly heart drugs Vyndaqel and Vyndamax, recently challenged U.S. copay and kickback policies in New York federal court...a Pfizer win...could spur drug pricing fallout across the industry...Pfizer last June sued HHS in a bid to assist patients with their Medicare copays for two costly new medicines. U.S. kickback laws currently forbid drugmakers from helping patients with those costs...Pfizer is battling for the go-ahead on two programs. The first would allow the company to offer copay support directly to Medicare patients on its tafamidis meds Vyndaqel and Vyndamax, which run for $225,000 a year before rebates. The second would allow it to fund an independent charity to help with copays...READ MORE

Nevada will not sign on to a proposed $26 billion multistate settlement with the nation’s three largest drug distribution companies and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson — businesses accused of fueling the nation's opioid epidemic that has killed thousands of Nevadans — in hopes of getting a better deal...Attorney General Aaron Ford told The Nevada Independent...that the state would have received roughly $240 million from the settlements — an amount he called “woefully insufficient” — and that the state will instead pursue separate negotiations with the companies “to ensure that the people in this state are adequately recompensed for the damages that opioids have caused in our communities.”...READ MORE

Johnson & Johnson notched a win...with a $50 million talc lawsuit rejected in Illinois—however, tens of thousands of cases are still pending...J&J recently reported 34,600 talc-related lawsuits have now been filed...The Illinois case, filed in 2018 by relatives on behalf of Elizabeth Driscoll who died from ovarian cancer in 2016, sought up to $50 million in damages. The...jury trial found in favor of J&J, ruling the pharma giant was not liable...READ MORE

In the culmination of a 10-year case, the U.K. Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Servier Laboratories in its defense against England’s National Health Service over a patent on cardio drug Coversyl...The lawsuit surrounded the French pharmaceutical company’s alleged attempt to block the sale of generic versions of Coversyl by defending a patent that the company knew was not valid. The NHS claimed that Servier caused the government financial loss by deceiving the European Patents Office and the courts and sought €220 million ($300 million) in damages...By a unanimous vote, the court ruled in favor of Servier...READ MORE</strong>