This updates our December 3, 2009 posting.  The Texas Department of Insurance (“TDI”) has officially proposed regulations banning the use of discretionary clauses in insurance contracts.  The regulations are the result of a petition filed by the Texas Office of Public Insurance Counsel (OPIC) on October 28, 2009 requesting the ban. …
Read More UPDATE: Texas Moves Closer to Banning Use of Discretionary Clauses In Insurance Contracts

Pacific Employers Insurance Company (“PEIC”) entered into a facultative reinsurance certificate with Global Reinsurance Corporation of America, f/k/a Constitution Reinsurance Corporation (“Global”), which reinsured an umbrella commercial liability insurance policy issued by PEIC to Buffalo Forge Company. …
Read More Federal Court Finds that Limit of Liability Cap in Facultative Certificate Includes a Cedent’s Defense Expenses

In late May, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a supplemental proposed rule that would result in Medicare payment reductions to hospitals.  Meanwhile, questions have begun to arise over the future of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), given the upcoming inception of the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) that was created by the new healthcare overhaul law (Public Law 111-148 and 111-152). …
Read More Healthcare News from Capitol Hill and the Department of Health and Human Services – June 1, 2010

On May 28, 2010, the last business day before the June 1, 2010 effective date for the Red Flags Rule, the Federal Trade Commission issued a press release announcing another extension of the enforcement date. 

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Read More Breaking News: FTC Extends Effective Date of Red Flags Rule to December 31, 2010

In Justin Mayhew v (1) Philip King (2) Milbank Trucks Ltd (Defendants) & Chaucer Insurance plc (Third Party and Part 20 Claimant) v Towergate Stafford Knight Company Limited & Ors Sir Edward Evans-Lombe held that a term of a settlement agreement which stated that a right to an indemnity would cease if the party with the benefit of the indemnity went into administration was contrary to the anti-deprivation principle and would be struck out. …
Read More UK: High Court confirms operation of the anti-deprivation principle

The Court of Appeal handed down its judgment in Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs v Insurancewide.com Services Limited and Trader Media Group Limited [2010] EWCA Civ 422 on 22 April 2010. 

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Read More UK: Court of Appeal Rules on VAT Exemption for Insurance Intermediaries

A California jury recently returned a verdict in favor of Allergan, Inc., in a trial involving claims that Allergan’s promotion of an off-label use of its drug Botox caused the death of a pediatric patient suffering from cerebral palsy. 

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Read More Jury Finds in Favor of Botox Manufacturer in Off-Label Use Trial

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals recently relied upon the learned intermediary doctrine in affirming summary judgment in favor of Smithkline Beecham Corp. (“SBC”) in a lawsuit claiming that the antidepressant Paxil caused the decedent to commit suicide. …
Read More Learned Intermediary Doctrine: Eleventh Circuit Upholds Summary Judgment in Favor of Manufacturer in Lawsuit Claiming Antidepressant Caused Suicide

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has recently published a report entitled “Anti-bribery and corruption in commercial insurance broking: Reducing the risk of illicit payments or inducements to third parties“. …
Read More UK: Report published on anti-bribery and corruption in commercial insurance broking