Last week, the Senate proposed a bill purporting to accelerate the FDA’s review times for medical devices. The proposed legislation would relax current conflict of interest rules that apply to FDA advisers, reversing an existing law. Currently, federal law prohibits an expert with a financial stake in medical device companies…
The Supreme Court is back in session with a full docket for the month of October. Early this month, the Court confronted the controversial question of whether the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) applied to a school teacher at a Lutheran school. The Court heard oral arguments this week, but…
The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed two felony charges in a bill of information in a Lafayette federal district court against Pelican Refining Company for knowingly violating its permit issued by the Clean Air Act at its refinery located in Lake Charles. The U.S. Attorney’s Office alleges that from 2005…
This year, the National Relations Board (NLRB) received more than one hundred charges filed by employees who were fired for an online comment or post about working conditions, according to an analysis released by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The recent spike in complaints raises a novel question: Is it…
A recent untreated wastewater spill in the Pearl River killed thousands of fish. State officials are not certain how the contamination will impact the surrounding community’s drinking water; however, some officials are optimistic that the damage will not affect citizens because the Pearl River is not a source of drinking…
Tobacco companies will now have to pay $270 million for the implementation of a smoking cessation program after the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated a Louisiana court order that was unilaterally blocked by Justice Scalia last September. The Court also denied the tobacco companies’ appeal. Louisiana smokers first filed a class…
The United States Supreme Court awarded Wal-Mart a a victory recently when the Court rejected a class of 1.5 million workers alleging sex discrimination against the company. The Court held that the workers failed to prove “questions of law or fact common to the class” under Federal Rule of Civil…
The U.S. Supreme Court revived a West Virginian state-class action lawsuit against Bayer Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of the cholesterol-lowering drug Baycol. The Supreme Court held that a Minnesota federal court exceeded its authority under the Anti-Injunction Act by banning a West Virginian state-class action suit. The federal court issued the…
An explosion occurred from a chemical fire at a Multi-Chem Corp. chemical plant in New Iberia last week, causing neighboring residents to evacuate their homes. Police reported no injuries from the explosion or its aftermath. The explosion occurred in a facility that blends chemicals for oil field operations. The accident…