The Detroit News: On Wednesday, “[a] federal judge heard arguments [in the] lawsuit that is being watched nationwide for its challenge of congressional authority to reform health care in a way that would penalize citizens who fail to obtain their own health insurance.” The attorney for one plaintiff, The Thomas More Law Center, a group espousing religious principles, said, “There is no precedent for this power grab” (Guthrie, 7/22).

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The Associated Press: “Responding to a final GOP challenge, Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan said Monday that she would weigh recusing herself from matters related to the new health care law on a case-by-case basis.” The issue was raised as part of questions from Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans regarding “her involvement as solicitor general in defending the health law.”

Support for the new health reform law has dropped seven percentage points in the last two months, though it remains higher than when the law was first signed in March. “Forty-nine percent of Americans now disapprove of the health care reform measure, according to the poll, which was conducted July 9-12. Thirty-six percent support the law. In a May CBS News poll, 47 percent disapproved of the new laws, while 43 percent approved. While the new poll shows a recent drop in support, the numbers have still improved overall since March, when 53 percent of Americans disapproved of the new laws and 32 percent said they approved of them.”

Massachusetts lawmakers may repeal a two-year old law requiring medical firms to disclose gifts to doctors, The Associated Press/Boston Herald reports. “Health care advocates say such a move could put a quick halt to efforts to rein in health care costs and increase transparency in the industry. Those pushing for repeal say the law has made it harder to attract those businesses to the state.

PIRACY The Intellectual Property Wars From Gutenberg to Gates Intellectual property – Law – United States – Services – Lawyers and Law Firms

People who have been unable to obtain health insurance in the commercial market because of pre-existing conditions can apply for a new, federally funded high-risk insurance pool beginning Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reports. “The program is the first major plank of the health overhaul signed into law in March, and it’s designed as a temporary provision to expand coverage until 2014, when a requirement kicks in that insurers accept all applicants.”

In Patents for Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology: Fundamentals of Global Law, Practice and Strategy, Philip Grubb and Peter R. Thomsen provide a solid introduction to patent law topics in some of the largest countries, with an emphasis on Europe, Britain, and the USA. Given the importance of global trade and patent protection for products that [...]

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Abortion opponents fought passage of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul to the bitter end, and now that it’s the law, they’re using it to limit coverage by private insurers. An obscure part of the law allows states to restrict abortion coverage by private plans operating in new insurance markets.

Politico: “Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.) is scolding the nations’ health insurance companies for ‘gaming’ the new health care law and is pushing the administration and states to impose stringent controls under the law on industry expenditures for non-medical purposes. Saying the industry had turned its focus from opposing the law to influencing its implementation, Rockefeller said he was ‘extremely concerned that the health insurance industry is mounting an all-out effort to weaken’ the law.