By Kurt R. Karst – Shortly after Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick issued a press release on March 27, 2014 announcing a Declaration of Emergency and that the Governor had directed the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (“DPH”) and its Commissioner, Cheryl Bartlett, RN, to take several actions …
By Anne K. Walsh – The Supreme Court of Arkansas recently overturned (here and here) a lower court’s $1.2 billion award to the State of Arkansas, and also reversed and remanded the decision granting over $200 million in attorney’s fees and costs to the state. Putting …
By Riëtte van Laack – Defendants Wellness Support Network, and co-owners Robert and Robyn Held, marketed two diabetes products – Diabetic Pack and Insulin Resistance – as medical foods. In 2005 and 2006, FDA issued two Warning letters to them (here and here), claiming the products …
By Anne K. Walsh – Yes, this post relates to yet another off-label settlement between a pharmaceutical company and the federal government. But some aspects of this recent settlement, coupled with other recent cases, might indicate noteworthy trends in how these cases are being resolved. The …
By Robert A. Dormer – Every breath you takeEvery move you makeEvery bond you breakEvery step you takeI'll be watching you Every single dayEvery word you sayEvery game you playEvery night you stayI'll be watching you Our apologies to Sting and The Police, but we were reminded of the …
By JP Ellison – On February 25th, the Solicitor General’s Office weighed in on whether the Supreme Court should take up a case involving False Claims Act allegations arising out of alleged off-label promotion of a drug. The case is Nathan v. Takeda, and the United States …
By John R. Fleder – In litigation brought by or against FDA, the agency frequently seeks to avoid a “jump-ball” by arguing that FDA’s position is entitled to deference by the court. That argument is consistently made in civil cases and has been made in some …
By Jennifer M. Thomas – The writers of this blog have often noted with dismay Relators’ attempts to enforce the FDCA and FDA regulations through the False Claims Act. Here, and here, for example. Last week, the Fourth Circuit confirmed that this is a losing strategy …
By JP Ellison – In a speech on January 29th at the CBI Pharmaceutical Compliance Congress that DOJ posted on its own website, U.S. Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General Stuart Delery set forth his views of the three ways that the government’s enforcement interests align with …
By John R. Fleder – On October 2, 2013, HP&M posted the following on this blog: On September 26, 2013, the United States Attorney for the District of Colorado announced that he had filed a six count criminal Information against Eric and Ryan Jensen. The government alleges …
By Riëtte van Laack – On December 26, FDA sent Warning Letters (here and here) to Accera, Inc. and NVN Therapeutics. Accera Inc. markets a product, Axona, as a medical food “for the clinical dietary management of the metabolic processes associated with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s …
By Anne K. Walsh – While the mid-Atlantic region was paralyzed under 4 to 8 inches of snow, it was business as usual for the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Colorado. On January 21, 2014, the court issued an opinion affirming the felony conviction of John …
By Kurt R. Karst – With primary briefing over (briefs here, here, and here), and a December 13, 2013 Oral Argument before Judges Griffith, Kavanaugh and Randolph concluded, we were waiting with bated breath for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit …
By Kurt R. Karst – Last week, in an unusual move, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit waded into non-patent territory when the Court issued its decision in Allergan, Inc. v. Athena Cosmetics, Inc. (Case No. 2013-1286), a consolidated appeal of several decisions …
By Anne K. Walsh – With no fanfare, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied a writ of certiorari in a case watched closely by the drug and device industry. As reported earlier, the former CEO of InterMune Inc., Scott Harkonen, had filed a petition asking the …
