Digital Health & Technology

  • August 06, 2024

    Pennsylvania Hospital Gets Data Breach Suit Whittled

    A Pennsylvania federal judge has shaved two counts off of a data breach lawsuit against Prospect Medical Holdings Inc., rejecting the hospital operator's argument that the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring the suit but agreeing that not all of them stated valid claims.

  • August 06, 2024

    Testing Lab Can't Add Bad Faith Claims In Income Loss Case

    A Pennsylvania federal judge found Tuesday that a prior agreement between a medical testing lab and its insurer expressly precluded added allegations that the insurer acted in bad faith while handling the lab's claim for loss of records and business income.

  • August 05, 2024

    CooperSurgical Says Lab Hid Flawed IVF Product Tests

    Fertility technology company CooperSurgical Inc. has accused a Massachusetts testing lab of failing to follow proper procedures and misrepresenting the results of quality assurance testing on a product used in the in vitro fertilization process, leading to a recall.

  • August 02, 2024

    Health Tech Co. Beats Investor Data Platform Fraud Claim

    A healthcare technology company has escaped an investor suit challenging the existence of a data platform it touted, as a Connecticut federal judge found a former employee's assertions at the center of the proposed class action weren't enough to show the company knowingly misled investors about the offering.

  • August 02, 2024

    Privacy & Cybersecurity Midyear Report: 4 Areas To Watch

    New York and Colorado shook up the data privacy landscape by enacting groundbreaking laws protecting children online and clamping down on high-risk uses of artificial intelligence during the first half of 2024, and both states and the federal government are expected to devote considerable attention to these areas in the coming months. 

  • August 02, 2024

    Akin Debuts AI Law & Regulation Info Tracker

    Global BigLaw firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP launched a tracker to help monitor changing policies related to artificial intelligence in various fields including intellectual property, data privacy, health and national security.

  • August 01, 2024

    MultiPlan, Insurance Cos. Must Face Collusion MDL In Illinois

    The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation on Thursday centralized in Chicago six class actions challenging the MultiPlan pricing tools that healthcare providers allege are used by UnitedHealth, Aetna, Cigna and other major insurers to systematically underpay out-of-network providers, with more than a dozen similar lawsuits potentially tagging along.

  • August 01, 2024

    AliveCor Asks 9th Circ. To Revive Apple Watch Antitrust Case

    Medical monitoring startup AliveCor Inc. told the Ninth Circuit that Apple Inc. should not be immunized from antitrust claims over the removal of access to heart rate data on the Apple Watch because the change was intended to block competition and not improve the device.

  • July 30, 2024

    Bad Info Goes Viral: On FDA's Drug Misinformation Proposal

    Drug and medical device companies are set to enjoy more flexibility to combat online misinformation under new draft guidance. But they also will confront new questions about whether it’s worth it to take on a celebrity or social media influencer making inaccurate claims.

  • July 30, 2024

    Rite Aid Sued Over Data Breach That Affected 2.2M Customers

    Rite Aid was hit with a proposed class action Friday in Pennsylvania federal court accusing it of failing to safeguard more than 2.2 million of its customers' personal information associated with purchases of certain retail products made seven years ago, after hackers accessed its network using an employee's credentials.

  • July 30, 2024

    Meet Jordan Cohen, Akerman's New Digital Health Team Head

    Healthcare attorney Jordan Cohen of Akerman LLP talks about his new role as leader of a cross-discipline digital health team.

  • July 30, 2024

    5th Circ. Ruling Places FCC Rural Telehealth Funding In Peril

    From Alaska to Arkansas, thousands of rural healthcare clinics rely on internet subsidies from the Federal Communications Commission to provide telehealth services to far-flung or low-income patients. A Fifth Circuit ruling threatens to disrupt services for some living outside urban centers or in healthcare "deserts."

  • July 30, 2024

    Litigator Rejoins Faegre Drinker From Medical Device Co.

    Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP's newest lateral hire is stepping back into private practice after two years as associate general counsel for orthopedic implant company Exactech, and should be a familiar face around the firm's Indianapolis office.

  • July 29, 2024

    Judge Blocks Medical Records Co.'s Anti-Bot Captchas

    A Maryland federal judge on Monday enjoined electronic medical records company PointClickCare from blocking nursing home analytics company Real Time Medical Systems from accessing patient data with automated bots, saying PCC's firewall wasn't justified by concerns over security or system speed.

  • July 29, 2024

    Watchdog Says Zoom Call Doesn't Warrant Nixing $25.3M Deal

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office has refused to undo a $25.3 million contract to support the National Institutes of Health, unconvinced that the agency had revealed a bidder's proprietary information during a Zoom call with the eventual contract winner.

  • July 29, 2024

    Ga. Health Providers Hit With Data Breach Class Action

    Two Southeastern healthcare providers have been hit with a putative class action stemming from a 2023 cyberattack that allegedly compromised the information of more than 32,000 people, arguing the providers were asleep at the wheel as their patients' data was pilfered.

  • July 26, 2024

    Healthcare Software Co. Must Face Trimmed Data Hack Suit

    NextGen Healthcare will face a slimmed-down version of a proposed class action filed against it by customers who say their data was exposed in a 2023 data hack after a Georgia federal judge on Thursday tossed several state data privacy and consumer protection claims levied against the software company.

  • July 26, 2024

    Data Co. Told To Turn Over Contracts In Kochava Case

    A D.C. federal judge plans to order TargetSmart to turn over supplier contracts to the Federal Trade Commission in the agency's case against TargetSmart client Kochava on Friday, after TargetSmart's attorney said she was "99% sure that there was no due diligence done by Kochava" regarding the data's provenance.

  • July 23, 2024

    Texas Legal Services Biz Escapes Most Data Breach Claims

    A Texas federal judge has trimmed most claims in a proposed class action over a legal services company's data breach, leaving a negligence claim lodged by one plaintiff who alleges he was a victim of identity theft due to the breach.

  • July 23, 2024

    Clinic Gets NC Biz Court's Final OK For Hacking Suit Deal

    A North Carolina Business Court judge granted final approval to a class action settlement between a physician-owned orthopedic practice and the current and former patients who took it to court over a data breach that exposed their private information, including their medical records.

  • July 22, 2024

    NC Hospital, Patients Nearing Deal In Hacking Suit

    Columbus Regional Healthcare System and the patients who accused it of failing to properly protect their personal information at its North Carolina hospital have reached a tentative settlement agreement, according to a new notice asking the Tar Heel State's business court to pause proceedings while they hash it out.

  • July 17, 2024

    Teladoc Hit With Another Investor Suit Over BetterHelp Woes

    The telehealth company that owns online counseling platform BetterHelp has been slapped with a second investor suit accusing it of not being honest with investors about how profitable the mental health service actually was.

  • July 16, 2024

    Ex-FDA Head Calls For Congressional Action On Medical AI

    A former head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has some unexpected advice for policymakers wrestling with how to regulate artificial intelligence in healthcare: Take a look at the Apple Watch.

  • July 16, 2024

    Rural Providers Say Stalled Bill Threatens Telehealth Progress

    With the clock running out on telehealth rules implemented during an unprecedented global health crisis, small-town clinics and rural healthcare providers are increasingly uncertain about the future for Medicare beneficiaries in medically underserved areas.

  • July 16, 2024

    Feds Say Drug Monitoring Co. Founder Pulled $5M Scam

    The founder of a patient monitoring company pitched as an effort to help people recovering from addictions to avoid relapsing during medical treatment duped around 50 investors into putting $5 million into his firm, a now-unsealed criminal indictment alleges in Pennsylvania federal court.

Expert Analysis

  • Privacy Lessons From FTC's BetterHelp Consent Decree

    Author Photo

    The Federal Trade Commission's recent enforcement action against BetterHelp highlights the growing risk associated with the use of third-party cookies and pixels on websites for companies that offer health services, say Rachel Marmor and Shannon Hartsfield at Holland & Knight.

  • 118th Congress: Investigative Priorities And Rule Changes

    Author Photo

    Attorneys at Gibson Dunn lay out what companies and individuals can expect with regard to congressional investigations in the 118th Congress, from political priorities to new rules and authorities.

  • Emerging Trends In Electronic Health Record Enforcement

    Author Photo

    As electronic health record systems become increasingly ubiquitous in health care, recent Anti-Kickback Statute and False Claims Act cases involving EHR systems provide a helpful list of issues that tech-savvy relators and government investigators might identify, say Ellen London at London & Stout and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Li Yu.

  • FTC's GoodRx Action Highlights Risks For Digital Health Cos.

    Author Photo

    The Federal Trade Commission's first-of-its-kind enforcement action against GoodRx for unlawfully sharing sensitive customer information is indicative of regulators' growing interest in the digital health space and heightens the importance of taking proactive compliance steps, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • What DOJ's 2022 Recovery Stats Say About FCA Enforcement

    Author Photo

    Despite showing a decline in False Claims Act recoveries in fiscal year 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice's recently released statistics should lead companies to expect a continued rise in government-initiated investigations, pandemic-related fraud enforcement and FCA cases involving new technology, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Medicare Developments Ahead For Remote Health Monitoring

    Author Photo

    Stakeholders interested in remote monitoring services should keep an eye on an upcoming multijurisdictional contractor advisory committee meeting that may lead to a new local coverage determination affecting Medicare coverage for remote monitoring devices, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • Calif. Privacy Law Holds Implications For Mental Health Apps

    Author Photo

    California is leading the way in privacy regulation with its amended Confidentiality of Medical Information Act, which has important compliance repercussions for mental health app developers and could serve as a model for similar laws in other states, say Christine Moundas and Elana Bengualid at Ropes & Gray.

  • New Clinical Trial Law Promotes Diversity And Modernization

    Author Photo

    The Food and Drug Omnibus Reform Act, signed into law last month, will likely encourage more equitable subject recruitment and enrollment in clinical trials, and also could create a pathway toward clarifying ambiguities that have historically been left for regulated entities to piece together, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Evaluating The Legal Ethics Of A ChatGPT-Authored Motion

    Author Photo

    Aimee Furness and Sam Mallick at Haynes Boone asked ChatGPT to draft a motion to dismiss, and then scrutinized the resulting work product in light of attorneys' ethical and professional responsibility obligations.

  • 2022 Law And Policy Highlights In Digital Health Care

    Author Photo

    This year, federal regulators made good on several commitments to create new opportunities for digital health innovators, and a number of promising cybersecurity bills are on the horizon, but not all virtual health care law and policy developments have been positive, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • Next Compliance Steps For Health Cos. Using Tracking Tech

    Author Photo

    In light of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights' expansive view of what constitutes protected health information, regulated entities seeking to provide websites and mobile apps for patients may need to choose between several imperfect compliance pathways if they wish to continue using tracking technologies, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Top Trends And Challenges For Health Care Financing In 2022

    Author Photo

    Rising inflation, interest hikes, supply chain issues and public market disruption are just some of the factors that made 2022 a challenging year for financing health care deals, and all indications point to continued headwinds next year, say Stephanie McCann and Samantha Koplik at McDermott.

  • 2022 Data Privacy Suits Tested New Liability Theories

    Author Photo

    In the absence of a comprehensive federal data privacy law, plaintiffs lawyers are testing new theories of liability under state laws, and a look at recent lawsuits against online companies that have resulted in large settlements shows these attempts are more frequently being met with success, say attorneys at Quinn Emanuel.