The Courts

The federal government’s refusal to pay billions of dollars under the Affordable Care Act’s risk corridor program is a bait and switch of staggering proportions that will undermine the government’s ability to function as a trusted business partner if a lower court decision is not reversed, several issuers who participated in the health insurance exchanges and allege they are owed millions by the government tell the Supreme Court in opening briefs filed Friday (Aug. 30)

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford has officially appealed Texas U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor’s decision that bars HHS from enforcing the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive coverage mandate on any person or employer with religious objections.

OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family, offered to settle thousands of lawsuits against the company for $10 billion to $12 billion, according to media reports.

An Oklahoma judge determined that Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals played a role in the opioid crisis, and he ordered the company to pay more than $572 million based on public nuisance claims.

HHS will appeal a court decision that struck down a Trump administration rule requiring drug makers to disclose list prices in television advertisements, the department said in a court filing on Wednesday (Aug. 21).

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.