The Courts

Opioid maker Endo International’s subsidiaries, including Endo Pharmaceuticals and Par Pharmaceutical, have settled for $10 million with the plaintiffs in the ongoing multidistrict opioid litigation, the company announced Tuesday (Aug. 20).

The Vapor Technology Association and Vapor Stockroom are asking a Kentucky district court to make FDA hold off on enforcing the deadline by which all electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) makers must submit premarket tobacco applications (PMTAs) until the agency issues rules on how to submit such applications.

Nevada’s attorney general is still considering whether to appeal U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor’s refusal to let the state intervene in an under-the-radar class action case, DeOtte, et al v. Azar, that bars HHS from enforcing the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate on any members of two broadly drawn classes, a spokesperson for Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford tells Inside Health Policy.

The Trump administration on Monday (Aug. 12) finalized a controversial rule that will make it more difficult for legal immigrants who receive Medicaid to become permanent U.S. residents, drawing outcry from stakeholders across the health care industry who say the policy will drive up the number of uninsured patients and increase the costs of uncompensated care.

An industry lawyer expects FDA will exclude several more substances from its 503B bulks list now that a federal court has sided with the agency in a lawsuit challenging its process for evaluating which substances can compounded by outsourcers.

Texas District Judge Reed O’Connor on Tuesday (July 30) rejected Nevada’s motion to intervene is a class action case over the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate and entered a final judgment blocking enforcement of the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that plans cover all FDA-approved birth control methods without cost-sharing for any individual or employer that objects to the mandate due to religious reasons.

A federal judge on Monday (July 29) again ruled against Medicaid work requirements -- this time by striking down New Hampshire’s plan to adopt the controversial policy.

The Trump administration on Tuesday (July 23) asked a federal judge to delay ruling on the legality of CMS’ approval of Medicaid work requirements in New Hampshire, but advocates for beneficiaries and a lawyer for New Hampshire urged the judge to rule quickly.

The Trump administration told a federal appeals court Thursday (July 18) that states should be able to continue testing Medicaid work requirements even as the administration acknowledged problems in how Arkansas initially implemented its first-in-the-nation work requirement program.