Author: Nathan Ebnet

Coronavirus Lawsuits More Than Double In 2021; Those Against Healthcare Providers Steadily Increase

Despite widespread vaccine availability and the corresponding optimism about returning to “normal,” the coronavirus pandemic continues to spawn hundreds of employment and health-related lawsuits.  Many of these lawsuits have been aimed at employers in the healthcare sector and relate to workplace safety, retaliation, and wrongful termination or wrongful denial of leave.  In fact, since our...

Coronavirus Lawsuits Against Healthcare Providers are on the Rise

Among its many impacts, the coronavirus pandemic has already spawned hundreds of employment and health-related lawsuits, with even more litigation likely as businesses continue to bring back workers and increase operations.  Many of these lawsuits have been aimed at employers in the healthcare sector and relate to workplace safety, retaliation, and wrongful termination or wrongful...

Untimely Dispensing Allegations Against Pharmacies Stricken in Opioid Litigation

As the world grapples with the health crisis caused by COVID-19, litigation regarding a different health crisis—the opioid epidemic—continues to progress (see our previous posts on this topic here and here). In a major development last week for the multidistrict litigation, the Sixth Circuit concluded that key bellwether cases against twelve large pharmacy chains may...

Protecting Patients and Providers in Unprecedented Times

As the number of COVID-19 cases increases exponentially, healthcare providers in the United States are bracing for an unmanageable number of critically ill patients.  While it is impossible to predict to what extent the virus will overwhelm hospitals in the U.S., Italy foretells a realistic and grim scenario.  In early March, the Italian College of...

Drug Companies Preview Trial Defenses for Bellwether Opioid Trial

In the last several years, thousands of cities and counties, as well as most states, have sued various combinations of pharmaceutical manufacturers, retailers, and distributors for damages allegedly caused by the opioid epidemic.  Nearly 2,000 of those cases have been consolidated into a multi-district litigation (“MDL”) in the Northern District of Ohio. Until very recently,...