Since January 2008, Merck and Co., Inc. (“Merck”) and its joint venture partner, Schering-Plough, Corp. (“Schering-Plough”) have been under investigation for their marketing of the cholesterol lowering drug Vytorin.  Last week, Merck announced in its third quarter Form 10-Q that it received notice of further investigations and additional lawsuits, including an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”). 

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Read More Merck Discloses Additional Vytorin Investigations and Lawsuits

On 5 November, Lloyd’s issued Market Bulletin Y4202, entitled Principles of Enforcement Action (the Bulletin). The Bulletin, prepared by the Market Supervision and Review Committee (the body responsible for investigating matters of potential misconduct) sets out non-exhaustive list of the types of conduct that may result in enforcement action being taken. 

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Read More UK: Lloyd’s Issues Guidance on When it Will Take Enforcement Action

The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit recently held that an employee who allegedly beat a fellow employee with a shovel was not entitled to coverage under the employer’s insurance policy because the incident was not a covered “occurrence,” despite assertion in the answer that the employee had acted in self-defense. 

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Read More Federal Appeals Court: Co-Employee Attack Not A Covered Occurrence Despite Answer Alleging Self-Defense

On November 5, 2008, a jury in the Suffolk County Superior Court in Massachusetts reportedly awarded a $9.4 million verdict to the family of a woman who had received experimental cancer treatment at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.  After interest, the award to the family of the decedent reportedly totaled approximately $13.5 million. …
Read More Report: Massachusetts Jury Awards $13.5 Million for Wrongful Death Allegedly Arising from Experimental Cancer Treatment

The 18th annual Convencion Internacional de Seguros recently took place in Colombia, with the potential ramifications of the international credit crisis taking center stage together with the pre-planned agenda regarding catastrophic and political, social and financial risks. 

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Read More 18th International Insurance Convention in Colombia Focuses on Global Credit Crisis

A federal district court in Minnesota recently held that an insurer does not need to defend its insured under either a general liability policy or errors and omissions policy for claims related to spyware that the insured allegedly installed and monitored on a claimant’s computer. 

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Read More Court Holds that Spyware Claims are Not Covered by GL or E & O Policy

In Kenney, Becker LLP, et al. v. Kenney, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1995 (S.D.N.Y. 2008), the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York held that a party that issued a nonparty subpoena in an arbitration arising under the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) in bad faith and without the panel’s approval was subject to sanctions under both Rule 45 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the court’s inherent authority to impose attorneys’ fees. 

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Read More New York Federal Court Sanctions Party for Issuing Improper Nonparty Subpoena in Arbitration

On October 7, 2008, the United States District Court for the District of Delaware granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss in In re Countrywide Financial Corporation Derivative Litigation, a consolidated shareholder derivative action alleging breach of fiduciary duty against certain of Countrywide’s directors and officers arising out of Countrywide’s involvement in the subprime lending crisis. 

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Read More Countrywide Derivative Action Dismissed on Standing Grounds

In a prior post (please click here), we advised that the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that individual participants in 401(k) retirement plans can sue plan fiduciaries to recover losses resulting from mishandling of their individual retirement accounts. …
Read More Individual Plan Participant Suits: Despite Victory in U.S. Supreme Court, LaRue Voluntarily Dismisses ERISA Action

The European Commission (the Commission) continues to examine whether the insurance industry’s Block Exemption Regulation (BER) should continue after 2010. Please see the previous blog for further information on the block exemption by clicking here. …
Read More EU: Disappointing Response to the European Commission’s Consultation Paper on the Insurance Block Exemption Regulation