“Connecticut Attorney General William Tong announced Monday that the generic opioid manufacturer Mallinckrodt has agreed to a $1.6 billion settlement to resolve a host of lawsuits that arose in response to tens of thousands of deadly opioid overdoses nationwide fueled, in part, by prescription drugs,” reports Nicholas Rondinone in Hartford Courant’s Breaking News.

“Exactly how the money will be distributed remains under negotiation, Tong said, but the settlement and pressures from the COVID-19 pandemic led the drug maker, one of the largest supplier of generic opioids, to file bankruptcy this week.”

“In the settlement framework, Mallinckrodt has agreed to pay the money into a trust, which will go toward response to the opioid epidemic and help address individual claims against the company for its role in the crisis, Tong’s office said.”

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“Mayo Clinic Jacksonville and a proposed class of 371 patients it treated for motor vehicle accident injuries received preliminary approval of a settlement involving claims the health-care provider overcharged them, a federal court in Florida said,” reports Mary Anne Pazanowski in Bloomberg Law’s The United States Law Week.

“The class was reasonably defined and met all the prerequisites for class certification, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida said Tuesday.”

“Additionally, the total settlement amount of just over $1 million appeared to be adequate, except for the amounts allocated to an incentive fee for the named plaintiff and for class counsel’s attorneys’ fees, the court said.”

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“Johnson & Johnson will pay out over $100 million to settle more than 1000 lawsuits that claim the pharmaceutical giant’s baby powder caused cancer,” reports Daniel Cassady in Forbes’ Breaking News.

“The settlement is the first in four years of litigation and nearly 20,000 lawsuits that allege Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder and talc products caused cancer due to asbestos contamination, according to the report.”

“In 2018, a New York Times investigation found Johnson & Johnson had for at least 50 years been aware of possible asbestos contamination in its talc products without telling consumers. Test results detected no greater than 0.00002% of “chrysotile asbestos” in the talc products that were recalled in October. Thousands of lawsuits have been filed against the company by people who claim to have developed mesothelioma and ovarian cancer, both of which are linked to asbestos exposure, after using the company’s talc products.”

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“A federal grand jury has indicted Stephen L. Snyder, age 72, of Miami Beach, Florida, on the federal charges of attempted extortion and interstate travel and use of an interstate facility to carry on unlawful activity, also known as the Travel Act. Snyder was the senior partner at a Baltimore-based law firm specializing in plaintiff-side medical malpractice litigation,” released in the The United States Attorney’s Office District of Maryland.

According to the indictment “between January and October 2018, Snyder attempted to obtain $25 million from the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) for himself, separate and apart from any claim by one of his clients, by using threats of economic and reputational harm to UMMS and its organ transplant program. Specifically, the indictment alleges that Snyder threatened that if UMMS did not pay him $25 million, Snyder would launch a public relations campaign against UMMS that alleged, among other things, that UMMS transplanted diseased organs into unsophisticated patients without informing them of the quality of the organs they were receiving in order to generate revenue. According to the indictment, Snyder told UMMS officials that the campaign would include: a front-page article in the Baltimore Sun; other national news stories; a press conference; advertisements on the Internet, including one that would run every time someone accessed the UMMS transplant site; and at least two videos Snyder produced and would air if his demand for a $25 million payment were not met.”

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“Three individuals were charged today in connection with a multi-million dollar Medicare fraud scheme, bringing the total number of defendants to six,” reports the Department of Justice in The United States Attorney’s Office District of Massachusetts.

The three “were each charged by Information with one count of receiving kickbacks in connection with a federal health care program.” Two “were also charged by Information with violating the HIPAA statute.”

The papers claim defendants “sold Medicare patients’ personal and medical data … worked with foreign call centers to contact Medicare patients to ask if they were interested in durable medical equipment (DME) such as arm, back, knee and shoulder braces ‘at little to no cost.’ The call centers collected demographic and insurance information from Medicare patients.” The defendants “received more than $1.6 million… for the patient data.”

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“Attorney General Kathy Jennings announced Monday that Delaware has joined the United States, twenty-seven other states, and the District of Columbia to settle allegations against Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. Delaware’s settlement amount of $94,450.99 will go to the Division of Medicaid and Medicaid Assistance within the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services.” was reported on Delaware.gov’s Department of Justice Press Releases.

“The settlement resolves allegations that from January 2002 to November 2011, Novartis paid kickbacks to doctors to prescribe Lotrel, Valturna, Starlix, Tekamlo, Diovan HCT, Tekturna HCT, and Exforge HCT, and that between January 2010 and November 2011, Novartis did so for Exforge, Diovan, Tekturna. It was alleged in court documents that Novartis systemically paid doctors to speak about certain drugs at sham events, with a veneer of education applied in an attempt to avoid the law, and covered the costs of lavish meals and entertainment for attendee doctors, to induce doctors to write prescriptions for these Novartis drugs. Novartis admitted aspects of the scheme in a stipulation filed in federal court in connection with the settlement, to include admissions concerning excessive meal and alcohol spending, minimal medical discussions at Novartis’s events, and repeat attendance. This conduct violated the Federal False Claims Act, the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute, the Delaware False Claims and Reporting Act, and the Delaware Anti-Kickback Statute resulting in the submission of false claims to DMMA within DHSS.”

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“Bayer AG has settled thousands of U.S. Roundup weed killer lawsuits as part of an $11 billion settlement, reaching deals with the only lawyers who took cases to trial over allegations the herbicide caused cancer,” reports Tom Hals in Insurance Journal.

“In letters filed with U.S. District Court in San Francisco late on Monday, three lawyers said they had reached binding settlements.”

“The agreements covered 15,000 lawsuits, according to attorneys familiar with the talks, bringing the resolved cases to about 45,000. Bayer has estimated it faces 125,000 filed and un-filed claims over Roundup.”

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“Wheeling Hospital, Inc. has agreed to pay the United States a total of $50,000,000 to resolve claims that it violated the False Claims Act by knowingly submitting claims to the Medicare program that resulted from violations of the Physician Self-Referral Law and the Anti-Kickback Statute, the Justice Department announced Wednesday,” reports MetroNews Staff in MetroNews.

“According to the Justice Department, in this case, the United States alleged that from 2007 to 2020, under the direction and control of its prior management R&V Associates, Ltd. and Ronald Violi, Wheeling Hospital systematically violated the Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute by knowingly and willfully paying improper compensation to referring physicians that was based on the volume or value of the physicians’ referrals or was above fair market value.”

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“An Illinois lawyer, who reportedly lied and said he had cancer—when he did not—and instead was looking for discovery deadline extensions, is facing potential suspension from the practice of law. He also allegedly lied about having cancer on his University of Chicago Law School application,” reports Stephanie Francis Ward in ABA Journal’s News.

“In 2015, Vincenzo Field reportedly asked an assistant U.S. attorney in the Northern District of Illinois for additional discovery time because he would be out of the office for four months.”

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“Bayer will pay about $1.6 billion to settle nearly all of the U.S. lawsuits that, over several years, have claimed the company’s Essure birth control implant caused serious injuries,” reports Conor Hale in Fierce Biotech’s MedTech.

“The German drugmaker’s agreements with plaintiff law firms cover about 90% of nearly 39,000 filed and unfiled claims, within all of the jurisdictions with significant numbers of Essure cases, Bayer said in a statement.”

“The company is also currently in talks with lawyers representing the remaining plaintiffs. Most of the terms of the settlement agreements are confidential, but they contain no admission of wrongdoing or liability.”

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“In one of the largest COVID-relief fraud cases to date, nine Ohio and Florida individuals are alleged to have conspired to obtain fraudulent PPP loans guaranteed by the CARES Act and to have received kickbacks for filing fraudulent loan applications,” reports D. Jacques Smith, Randall A. Brater, Alexander S. Birkhold, Michael F. Dearington, Mohammed T. Farooqui, Rebecca W. Foreman, Nadia Patel, Stephanie Trunk, Laura Zell in Arent Fox’s Investigations Blog.

“In federal criminal complaints filed in the Northern District of Ohio and the Southern District of Florida, the nine individuals were charged with a combination of bank fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, and obstruction for conspiring to obtain fraudulent PPP loans and receiving kickbacks for filing fraudulent PPP loan applications. The nine individuals are: (1) Wyleia Nashon Williams of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida; (2) Phillip J. Augustin of Coral Springs, Florida; (3) Damion O. Mckenzie of Miami Gardens, Florida; (4) Andre M. Clark of Miramar, Florida; (5) Keyaira Bostic of Pembroke Pines, Florida; (6) James R. Stote of Hollywood, Florida; (7) Ross Charno of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida; (8) Deon D. Levy of Bedford, Ohio; and (9) Abdul-Azeem Levy of Cleveland, Ohio.”

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“A Florida-based specialty pharmacy will pay $3.5 million to resolve allegations it served as a conduit for a Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd subsidiary to pay kickbacks to Medicare patients, the U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday,” reports Nate Raymond in Reuters’ U.S. Legal News.

“The settlement with Advanced Care Scripts Inc was the latest to result from an industry-wide U.S. probe of drugmakers’ financial support of patient assistance charities that has resulted in nearly $921 million in settlements.”

“Representatives for Teva and ACS did not respond to requests for comment. Teva has said it has been cooperating with the investigation since first receiving a subpoena from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston in 2017.”

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“As employees increasingly transition back into the physical workplace, employers have begun to grapple with whether and how to deploy COVID-19 diagnostic testing as a return-to-work solution. Many employers want to avoid extended employee quarantine or isolation requirements that prevent their employees from returning to the office for weeks and disrupt their operations. But is this potential solution legal? And is it effective?” ask Danielle M. Bereznay, Michael S. Arnold, Corbin Carter in Mintz’ Insights Center.

In this post they discuss practical considerations for employers to consider for a return to work COVID-19 testing strategy.

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“A bill regulating the use of contact tracing data has moved its way through both chambers of the New York State legislature. Senate Bill S8450C regulates all information that includes or can reveal the identity of any individual and any COVID-19 related information or test results,” reports Dominic Panakal in HeyDataData.

“New York State established a tracing initiative to control the spread of the coronavirus pandemic across the state. The tracing program is part of the larger strategy of reducing transmission and ensuring affected individuals are appropriately isolated. As part of this initiative, the state employs contact tracers to communicate with individuals diagnosed with COVID-19, as well as any parties who have been in contact with them and therefore exposed to the virus.”

“During the early stages of the pandemic, Governor Cuomo said ‘once you trace, and you find more positives, then you isolate the positives — they’re under quarantine, they can’t go out, they can’t infect anybody else.’ Municipalities and local governments in New York have also engaged in this program or a variant of it. For example, New York City hired 3,000 disease detectives and case monitors to identify anyone who has come into contact with individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19.”

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“Recently, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), overruling an important Obama-era decision, held that employers do not have a pre first-contract duty to bargain before disciplining employees in a manner consistent with an existing policy or practice. The Board’s Care One at New Milford unanimously overruled Total Security Management Illinois 1, LLC, and will be applied retroactively to all cases pending before the NLRB,” write Anne Marie Buethe and Matthew C. Tews in Stinson’s News & Insights.

“In Care One, an employer suspended three employees and discharged another pursuant to its disciplinary policy. The employees were newly union-represented, but not yet covered by a collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The employer did not provide the union with prior notice or an opportunity to bargain. The union brought an unfair labor practice charge claiming that the employer violated the Total Security rule. The Board’s 2016 Total Security decision had held that an employer must provide a newly certified union with notice and an opportunity to bargain before imposing serious discipline (i.e., suspension, demotion, discharge), during the time after the union was certified but before the parties had entered a first CBA if the imposition of such discipline involved any discretion.”

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“Despite citing the surge in coronavirus cases and economic fallout from the pandemic in California, Sutter Health failed to persuade a state judge on Thursday to delay the $575 million settlement it reached last December over accusations of price gouging and monopolistic practices,” reports Reed Abelson in The New York Times’ Health.

“Sutter, which has already received hundreds of millions of dollars in federal coronavirus aid, argued it needed three more months to decide whether it should try to abandon the settlement terms. The sprawling health system in Northern California warned that the costs of the pandemic might force it to raise rates for patient care beyond caps set by the proposed settlement.”

“But Superior Court Judge Anne-Christine Massullo was not swayed. While sympathetic to concerns over the rising number of infections in California, the judge refused to give Sutter more time, scheduling a hearing next month on the preliminary agreement. Sutter Health could still try to block final approval of the settlement, which also prevents it from forcing insurers to include all of its health facilities in insurance policies rather than coverage for some.”

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“Florida’s largest nursing home provider is again facing a quarter-billion-dollar judgment for fraud,” reported with updates in The St. Augustine Record by Ryan Mills Naples of the Naples News.

“An appeals court last week affirmed part of a jury’s finding that Consulate Health Care, which operates a tenth of all Florida nursing homes, systematically defrauded the government by providing medically unnecessary treatments to patients.”

“While calling the judgment ‘huge,’one industry watcher predicted that Consulate homes will continue operating, even if the company continues to appeal the ruling or files for bankruptcy.”

“Consulate, based in Maitland, a suburb of Orlando, owns about 70 of Florida’s 693 nursing homes, and operates in every metro area. In all, the privately held company owns and controls about 150 nursing homes and assisted living facilities, mostly in the Southeast and the Mid-Atlantic states.”

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“Drug company Hoffmann-La Roche (OTCMKTS – RHHBY) falsified scientific conclusions and mounted a high-powered marketing and lobbying campaign to deceive the government about the effectiveness of Tamiflu (oseltamivir) for fighting a flu pandemic, according to new filings in a federal False Claims Act lawsuit. The case seeks to recover more than $1.4 billion of taxpayer dollars that the federal government wrongly spent to add Tamiflu to the Strategic National Stockpile,” reports Lanier Law Firm in Herald Mail Media’s State News.

“In a highly anticipated response to Roche’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit, whistleblower Dr. Thomas Jefferson alleges that Roche was aware that studies didn’t show that Tamiflu could protect individuals from acquiring influenza, reduce contagiousness of those infected or treat secondary symptoms. At best, studies have found that Tamiflu might slightly shorten the duration of flu symptoms.”

“The federal Food and Drug Administration repeatedly denied Roche’s efforts in the early 2000s to approve Tamiflu for pandemic use. According to the latest filings by whistleblower lawyers at The Lanier Law Firm and Halunen Law, once thwarted by the FDA, Roche began a campaign to fund, produce and publish misleading medical journal articles to create the appearance that Tamiflu would be effective at responding to a flu pandemic. The global conglomerate then used those studies and articles to create a false narrative for marketing and to lobby the CDC and Congress. As alleged, federal and state governments purchased tens of millions of doses of Tamiflu for the Strategic National Stockpile based on Roche’s misrepresentations.”

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“The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit this week reinstated part of a False Claims Act (FCA) verdict that was overturned in 2018, issuing a judgment of more than $255 against two skilled nursing facilities, two related entities providing management services at the facilities, and an affiliated company providing rehabilitation services,” reports Maggie Flynn in Skilled Nursing News’ Fraud.

“The original judgment of roughly $350 million was thrown out by U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday, who argued that the claims were not enough to merit such an amount.”

Registered nurse Angela Ruckh brought the qui tam action against multiple companies alleging “that the defendants violated the False Claims Act by misrepresenting the services provided to Medicare beneficiaries, while also failing to comply with specific Medicaid requirements.”

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“Six months after agreeing to a $575 million settlement in a closely watched antitrust case filed by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, Sutter Health has yet to pay a single dollar, and no operational changes have gone into effect. The not-for-profit healthcare giant was accused of using its market dominance in Northern California to illegally drive up prices,” reports Jenny Gold in Modern Healthcare’s Providers.

“Late last week, Sutter’s lawyers filed a motion requesting that Judge Anne-Christine Massullo of the California state Superior Court in San Francisco delay approving the settlement for an additional 90 days, due to “catastrophic” losses stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. Massullo originally was scheduled to rule on the agreement in February, but in April granted an earlier request from Sutter for a 60-day delay in the proceedings.”

“In court documents supporting its request, Sutter argues the pandemic has upended the financial landscape for hospitals and made numerous aspects of the agreement untenable. Last month, Sutter reported an operating loss of $404 million through April, citing declining patient revenue and expenses resulting from the pandemic. System officials said that loss took into account the more than $200 million the system received in COVID-19 relief funds from the federal government via the CARES Act.”

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