Federal Judge Rules For Insurers In Ghost Guns Coverage Dispute
NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York on Sept. 1 granted insurers’ motion for partial summary judgment in a declaratory judgment lawsuit disputing coverage for underlying claims that their mutual insured violated federal, state and local laws when it deliberately sold and shipped ghost gun parts and kits to New York, holding that the underlying “Ghost Gun” actions do not allege harm that was caused by an “accident” to trigger coverage and, therefore, the insurers have no duty to defend or indemnify.
5th Circuit Reverses Tax Change To Tobacco Companies’ Texas Settlement Payments
NEW ORLEANS — A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Sept. 1 reversed and remanded a ruling allocating additional liability against two tobacco companies for underpayment of their annual settlement payments to Texas based on a change to federal corporate income tax rates, writing that the payments should be calculated based on the applicable year’s profits rather than the amount set in a 2001 amendment to the settlement agreement.
Federal Judge Says N.Y. Climate Change Act Preempted By CAA, U.S. Constitution
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Finding that New York’s embattled Climate Change Superfund Act is preempted by the U.S. Constitution and the Clean Air Act (CAA), a federal judge granted summary judgment to 22 states, coal, oil and natural gas industry groupsand organizations representing the country’s largest energy producers on claims in consolidated cases challenging the law’s constitutionality.
11th Circuit Says FCA Qui Tam Provisions Don’t Violate Appointments Clause
ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 1 vacated a lower court order dismissing a qui tam suit alleging that medical providers and Medicare Advantage (MA) insurers violated the False Claims Act (FCA) and remanded, finding that the FCA’s qui tam provisions do not violate the appointments clause of Article II of the U.S. Constitution.
Texas Federal Judge Says States Have Standing, Agrees To Pause Mifepristone Case
WICHITA FALLS, Texas — A Texas federal judge held that Florida and Texas, which challenge federal actions involving the abortion drug mifepristone, one of two drugs used to induce early termination of pregnancy, have standing to sue, denying motions to dismiss filed by two drug manufacturers but granting the federal government’s request for a temporary stay while the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reviews the challenged actions.
9th Circuit Issues ‘Substantial Compliance’ Ruling In ERISA Pension Case
SAN FRANCISCO — Applying the California doctrine of substantial compliance in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act case focused on an online effort to make a pension benefit election and designate a beneficiary, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed dismissal of one benefits claim and remanded for further proceedings; however, in a separate unpublished memorandum disposition, the appellate panel affirmed dismissal of two other claims.
Judge: No Imminent Harm Shown In Challenge Of EO Reopening Outer Continental Shelf
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A lawsuit by environmental groups challenging President Donald J. Trump’s executive order (EO) reopening areas of the outer continental shelf (OCS) fails to show “substantial risk of imminent harm” off the shores of Alaska, a federal judge in that state ruled, granting the federal government parties’ motion to dismiss.
11th Circuit Upholds Stay Of Class Suit To Recover Special Needs Trusts’ Funds
ATLANTA — A putative class complaint seeking to recover more than $100 million loaned out from pooled special needs trust funds must be stayed during bankruptcy proceedings involving the funds’ trustee as the class claims are intertwined with the bankruptcy court claims even though the trustee is not named as a defendant in the class suit, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in an unpublished per curiam opinion.
Dismissal Denied In Dispute Over $100M Allegedly Depleted From Reinsurance Trust
NEW YORK — A New York federal judge on Aug. 31 denied dismissal to a reinsurer and other parties that an insurer accused of improperly depleting a reinsurance trust account by more than $100 million, finding that the insurer has standing to sue because the trust agreement provided it with the right to withdraw trust assets at any time.
5th Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment For FDA In GLP-1 Drug Shortage Delisting Cases
NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, in separate unpublished decisions, affirmed summary judgment for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in challenges to the agency’s removal of tirzepatide and semaglutide, FDA-approved drugs for diabetes and weight loss, from its drug shortage list, finding that any failure to use notice-and-comment procedures was harmless and that the agency’s shortage determinations were not arbitrary or capricious.
2nd Circuit Affirms Direct FCA Claims Dismissal, Vacates Reverse FCA Claim Ruling
NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals vacated a lower court’s dismissal of a reverse false claim and remanded for further proceedings but affirmed a lower court’s judgment dismissing direct false claims in a relator’s suit alleging that a pharmacy services provider overcharged certain government health care programs in violation of the False Claims Act (FCA) and related state law, finding that the relator failed to satisfy the specificity required regarding the direct claims but sufficiently alleged a reverse false claim.