Content about Court of Appeals

NEW YORK — The Food and Drug Administration's temporary stay pending its appeal of a district court decision ordering all levonorgestrel-based emergency contraceptives be available without a prescription and without any age restrictions was extended through May 28 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Monday. 

The Second Circuit will entertain the appeal on that day. 

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Plaintiffs in CMA et al. v. Douglas et al. have filed a request for a rehearing of the case on the heels of a reversal of the Federal District Court’s decision by a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

 SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration took the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009 one step closer to being considered by the Supreme Court earlier this week. The FDA recently petitioned the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to revisit the court's August decision that ruled in favor of the tobacco industry and precluded the FDA from mandating that graphic images depicting the consequences of smoking be placed on all cigarette packaging. 

PARSIPPANY, N.J. — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled in favor of Watson Pharmaceuticals during patent litigation concerning the drug maker's abbreviated new drug application for an overactive bladder treatment.

The appeals court affirmed a U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware's decision — made March 31 — that asserted that patents related to Allergan's Sanctura XR (trospium chloride extended-release capsules) are invalid. Watson's ANDA for a generic version of Sanctura XR is pending with the Food and Drug Administration.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of healthcare providers, denying a request by the California Department of Health Care Services to suspend a preliminary injunction that currently is preventing the implementation of Medi-Cal cuts.

NEW YORK — Cardinal Health can continue distributing controlled medications from a distribution center in Florida, according to published reports.

On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit put a stay on the Drug Enforcement Administration's order that had blocked Cardinal from shipping controlled substances from the Lakeland, Fla., center. The stay will last until the middle of the month, when Cardinal has to file its emergency motion, and the DEA has to file its response, according to the reports.

PARSIPPANY, N.J. — A federal court has stopped an injunction that would have prevented drug maker Watson Pharmaceuticals and partner company Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from marketing or selling a generic version of a blood-thinning drug.

PARSIPPANY, N.J. — An appeals court has thrown out an attempt by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries to stop Watson Pharmaceuticals from selling a generic contraceptive, Watson said.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a lower court's June 16 decision to deny Duramed Pharmaceuticals' request for an injunction that would stop Watson from selling a generic version of Seasonique (levonorgestrel and ethinyl estradiol [0.15 mg/0.03 mg] and ethinyl estradiol [0.01 mg]). Duramed originally was a subsidiary of Barr Pharmaceuticals, which Teva acquired in 2008.

INDIANAPOLIS — A federal court has upheld Eli Lilly's patent covering a drug used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Lilly said Friday.

Lilly said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned a ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey that had invalidated Lilly's patent for Strattera (atomoxetine) in a patent infringement case that Lilly had filed against generic drug maker Actavis, when the latter sought regulatory approval for a generic version of Strattera.

NORTHFIELD, Ill. — A U.S. appellate court denied Kraft Foods' request for a preliminary injunction against Starbucks, upholding a lower court's ruling.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit's denial of the injunction will allow Starbucks to end its strategic partnership with Kraft before an arbitration proceeding. The arbitration process currently is under way, Kraft said.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT This week’s decision by the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals could make political efforts to ban generic-branded patent settlements a lot more difficult.

(THE NEWS: Appeals court upholds decision to OK 'pay-for-delay' deals. For the full story, click here)