Va. Federal Judge Finds 2023 Mifepristone REMS Decision Arbitrary, Remands To FDA
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — A Virginia federal judge held that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration acted arbitrarily and capriciously when it instituted a 2023 risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) decision that removed the in-person dispensing requirement for the abortion drug mifepristone but added certain pharmacy certifications and other requirements, remanding the decision to the agency for further review.
Judge: Preemption Suit Over PBM Fiduciary Duty Has Standing Deficiency
LOS ANGELES — Concluding that a trade association “articulates a viable theory of injury” but lacks standing because “it fails to allege sufficient facts to show its members have suffered that injury,” a California federal judge on July 24 dismissed with leave to amend a suit in which the association argued that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act preempts a California state law that purports to impose fiduciary duties on the pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) of self-funded health plans.
Judge Tosses ADA Suit Alleging Website Inaccessible For Visually Impaired Persons
CHICAGO — An Illinois federal judge dismissed with leave to amend a visually impaired consumer’s putative class action alleging that a website selling men’s grooming products violated the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) by failing to make the site accessible to visually impaired persons, finding that the consumer failed to establish standing to seek prospective relief under the ADA because he did not sufficiently allege an intention to return after visiting the website only once.
No Errors In PTAB’s Obviousness Finding For Rail Sensor Patent, Panel Says
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel in a July 24 opinion affirmed a U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) decision that held multiple claims of a patent describing a system for analyzing operational problems in trains were unpatentable as obvious.
Judge Enforces $320M ICSID Awards Against Zimbabwe In Plantation Dispute
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge on July 24 granted two motions for summary judgment seeking to enforce two International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) awards collectively worth more than $320 million against the Republic of Zimbabwe, one in favor of the Swiss and German owners of Zimbabwean plantations and one in favor of the plantation companies, finding that no genuine disputes of material fact preclude enforcement.
Motions To Compel Partially Granted In X Corp. Ad Dispute Over ‘Extremist Content’
FORT WORTH, Texas — A Texas federal judge on July 23 granted in part and denied in part motions to compel discovery by a nonprofit organization in X Corp.’s suit asserting that the nonprofit wrote articles “disparaging X Corp.” by accusing X Corp. of placing advertisements on its platform near “neo-Nazi or other extremist content,” finding that while X Corp. must produce formerly public posts that it deleted, it need not produce public posts that users voluntarily deleted.
Magistrate: Plaintiffs Must Defend Talc MDL Viability After Experts’ Withdrawal
TRENTON, N.J. — Ovarian cancer plaintiffs in the federal multidistrict litigation must show why all of the cases in the action should not be dismissed for failure to produce admissible expert specific causation testimony, a magistrate judge said in an order to show cause.
State High Court: Duty To Defend Is Not Negated When Insured Enables Trafficking
PHILADELPHIA — Answering a certified question from the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that neither an insurer’s duty to defend nor its duty to indemnify is abrogated on the basis of public policy when the insured is purported to have enabled or profited from sex trafficking.
Panel: Appellants Failed To Show Professional Liability Insurer Acted In Bad Faith
SALT LAKE CITY — The 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of a professional liability insurer on the remaining bad faith claim in a coverage dispute over a medical malpractice action arising from a surgical liposuction procedure that resulted in a patient’s death, finding that the clinic insured and its assignee have failed to identify evidence demonstrating that the insurer acted in bad faith.
New Jersey High Court Affirms Appeals Court Ruling Vacating Arbitration Orders
TRENTON, N.J. — Affirming an appellate court’s judgment “substantially for the reasons expressed” in the appellate court opinion, a unanimous New Jersey Supreme Court upheld the ruling reversing and vacating a lower court’s orders compelling arbitration in Allstate’s personal injury protection (PIP) suit against medical practices and physicians under the New Jersey Insurance Fraud Prevention Act (the Fraud Act or IFPA) and the New Jersey Anti-Racketeering Act (RICO).
2nd Circuit: Sculptor Should Have Found Alleged Infringement Of Snake Piece
NEW YORK — An artist who created a Styrofoam sculpture of a snake for an Italian adult film star and politician should have discovered the sculpture’s use in another artist’s works featuring the pornographic actress created in the late 1980s and early 1990s long before the filing of a 2021 suit, a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found, upholding a New York federal judge’s finding that the plaintiff-appellant’s claims were time-barred.