Expect to see more of this. A judge in Connecticut recently dismissed a lawsuit filed by a 26-year employee who developed early-onset Alzheimer's disease. According to the court's opinion, the employee had performed well...more
Independence Day invites reflection on another form of freedom. How do we respect the autonomy of California’s elders who experience progressive forms of dementia while protecting them from potential abuse and other harm?...more
A bipartisan coalition of 26 AGs, led by Oklahoma AG Drummond and Minnesota AG Ellison, wrote a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and HHS urging them to provide full, unrestricted coverage of an...more
Dementia casts a long shadow in California trust and estate litigation. Contestants claim that an elder with dementia lacked sufficient mental capacity to make an estate planning change, or that dementia left the elder highly...more
On January 11, 2022, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a proposed National Coverage Determination (NCD) decision memo limiting Medicare coverage for Biogen’s new Alzheimer’s drug, Aduhelm. Under...more
On June 7, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Biogen, Inc.'s Aduhelm (aducanumab) to treat Alzheimer's disease through the FDA Accelerated Approval Program in a landmark decision. The FDA's approval...more
Near the end of 2020, in mid-December, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) launched what it referred to as “Operation CBDeceit,” a law enforcement sweep challenging allegedly unproven representations that CBD products could...more
We have all seen the headlines on traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and litigation – they run the gamut from sports injuries to motor vehicle accidents. What we don’t hear about is one of the biggest obstacles in treating brain...more
Probate Code section 859, our subject in a recent post, packs a punch in California trust litigation. It awards double damages against someone who in bad faith wrongfully takes property from an elder, in bad faith takes...more
On July 1, 2019, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed into law Public Act 19-115, “An Act Concerning Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia Training and Best Practices” (PA 19-115). This legislation modifies the continuing...more
Garden variety memory lapses, like misplacing car keys, are normal, but where do you draw the line? A good rule of thumb is that if you notice that your loved one has repeated episodes of memory loss, and/or troubling...more
An Alzheimer’s or dementia diagnosis is scary and can leave a patient and their family with more questions than answers. Legal guardianships can provide asset protection, stability, and comfort in uncertain times. ...more
Mental capacity issues are commonplace in California trust and probate litigation. Jonathan Canick, Ph.D., who spoke last year at the Sacramento Estate Planning Council on the subject of “Aging, Cognition and Capacity,”...more
A federal district court in Manhattan recently handed down a telling decision addressing an issue at the fore of digital advertising — whether trademark law prohibits an organization from purchasing a competitor’s trademark...more
Marty Edel and Adam Safer secured a victory for the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (“AFA”) in an action against it by the Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Association, Inc. (“Association”). ...more
As patent practitioners learned to their chagrin in the AMP v. Myriad Genetics case, sometimes broader Constitutional issues arise even in patent law. This is also true of matters relating to the Bill of Rights; for example,...more
When building and furnishing a memory care facility, it is important to understand the impact of colors and furnishings on people with Alzheimer’s disease. ...more
In May, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia issued a decision in the Wanda Williams v. CMO Management, LLC case. Robert Thompson suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and resided at a nursing facility preceding his...more
McCarter & English, LLP’s Health Care Group presents Issue 8 of the Health Law Insights, which discusses the latest legal issues in the health care industry. NATIONAL - New Payment Model for Part B Drugs Proposed -...more
In Lemus v. Aguilar, relatives fought over ownership of a decedent’s home. No. 04-14-00609-CV, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 2685 (Tex. App.—San Antonio Mar. 16, 2016, no pet. h.). ...more
Yes, the ancient adage caveat emptor still rules in the high-tech age. It may have sounded so simple, nice, and sweet to plunk grandma and grandpa in front of a computer screen to let them run a program to play games touted...more
Progress, and faith in progress to improve human lives, has been a cornerstone belief in American civilization (and, indeed, Western civilization generally, at least since St Augustine argued that Christ's death put an arrow...more
This Week: CMS Releases Guidance on Fast Track Process for 1115 Waivers for Medicaid and CHIP... Healthcare.gov CEO Sends Letter to State Insurance Commissioners Concerning 2016 Premium Decisions... Medicare Board of Trustees...more
As many residents of assisted living facilities age in place, their families do not want to see them moved. With the development of Alzheimer’s, of course, a move to another facility is probably inevitable. But for many...more
A two-stage meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in individuals of European ancestry identified 11 new loci associated with Alzheimer’s disease. The multidisciplinary study, recently reported in Nature...more