A divided Third Circuit Court of Appeals panel has reversed a district court ruling dismissing a shareholder’s lawsuit against individuals and a liquidating trustee involved in the dissolution of a biotechnology company and the liquidation of its assets. Schmidt v. Skolas, No. 13-3750 (3d Cir., decided October 17, 2014).

A trustee has filed a motion requesting court approval of a bankruptcy plan that would require New England Compounding Pharmacy owners and executives to establish a $100-million settlement fund for the benefit of creditors and individuals allegedly harmed by a 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak linked to the company’s steroid injections. In re New Eng. Compounding Pharm., Inc., No. 12-19882 (Bankr. D. Mass., motion filed May 6, 2014).

A settlement has reportedly been reached among litigants in multi district litigation proceedings involving the bankrupt New England Compounding Center (NECC) and its insurers and creditors, including those who allegedly contracted fungal meningitis linked to the compounding pharmacy’s tainted injectable steroid products.

A bipartisan coalition of senators from the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions has reportedly urged action on a bill (S. 959) that would give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) additional authority over compounded drugs, which have traditionally been subject to state oversight.