Healthcare

A declassing bid by nine doctors in a class action on behalf of women allegedly injured by a one-size-fits-all approach to breast implant surgeries must apply to the entire proceeding, not just the claims against them, a court has heard.

Dental aligner maker Invisalign has appealed its loss in suit accusing competitor SmileDirectClub of misleading consumers about the cost and efficacy of its direct-to-consumer teeth alignment kits.

The Federal Court’s recently retired top judge has landed on his feet with his appointment by the court as referee to determine which of a group of competing firms should dole out a $300 million settlement that resolved the J&J pelvic mesh class actions.

Real estate investment trust NorthWest can amend its pleadings in a lawsuit alleging one of the country’s largest unlisted healthcare property funds conspired to prevent it from acquiring a controlling stake, but has come up short in its bid to add to its claims against property giant Dexus.

A contradictor in two pelvic mesh class actions against Johnson & Johnson and unit Ethicon has told the court of the “extraordinary amount of group member unhappiness” following approval of a $300 million settlement – the largest in the history of Australian product liability group proceedings.

A fed-up judge has vented his frustration with the problem of competing class actions in a move that appears to punish the second filed case against Medibank. But is he right that the courts are increasingly being asked to deal with duplicative proceedings? And was his order really all that drastic?

A judge aggrieved by the “plague” of competing class actions in the courts has temporarily stayed a second data breach class action against Medibank, and directed the health insurer to ask the privacy commissioner to drop the investigation of a third case.

Dental aligner maker Invisalign has lost its case accusing competitor SmileDirectClub of misleading consumers about the cost and efficacy of its direct-to-consumer teeth alignment kits

Private health insurer Medibank has been served with a second class action over a data breach exposing the personal details of 10 million customers.

Private health insurer Medibank has hit back at a class action over a data breach that affected close to 10 million customers, describing the claims as “hopeless.”