Policy & Compliance

  • September 03, 2025

    9th Circ. Affirms Toss Of Satanists' Idaho Abortion Ban Suit

    The Ninth Circuit refused to revive the Satanic Temple's lawsuit that challenged Idaho's laws criminalizing abortion, ruling in a published amended opinion Tuesday that the religious association of more than 1.5 million Satanists lacked standing to sue, both based on its members and as an organization.

  • September 03, 2025

    Judge Backs Harvard In Suit Over Trump's $2B Fund Freeze

    The Trump administration illegally froze more than $2 billion in grants earmarked for Harvard University when it failed to offer an explanation as to how cutting the funds addressed the government's stated goal of ending antisemitism on campus, a Massachusetts federal judge ruled Wednesday.

  • September 03, 2025

    Arkansas Insurance Rule Beats Union Plan's ERISA Challenge

    An Illinois federal judge has tossed a Teamsters healthcare plan's challenge to an Arkansas insurance regulation that aims to protect local pharmacies from under-reimbursement for prescription drugs, saying the regulation doesn't tread on the Employee Retirement Income Security Act's territory.

  • September 03, 2025

    BakerHostetler Adds King & Spalding Health Pro In Atlanta

    A longtime King & Spalding LLP attorney has brought her healthcare practice to BakerHostetler in Atlanta, the firm announced Wednesday.

  • September 02, 2025

    DOJ Accuses Nonprofit Nursing Home Chain Of FCA Violations

    The U.S. Department of Justice has intervened in a whistleblower suit against nonprofit nursing home operator ProMedica, alleging a "systematic and pervasive" pattern of understaffing that resulted in "grossly substandard" or non-existent care for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, in violation of the False Claims Act.

  • September 02, 2025

    Pharmacists, Attys Navigate Murky COVID Vaccine Waters

    In recent years, the changing of the season has sent millions of Americans to their local pharmacists for a COVID-19 vaccine with few worries about availability. This year, things aren't so simple. Without a complete federal roadmap, pharmacists are facing new legal uncertainties.

  • September 02, 2025

    Meet The Attys Behind AstraZeneca Suit Over Colo. 340B Law

    An Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP team is representing AstraZeneca in its challenge of a Colorado law aimed at guarding the ability of providers to contract with pharmacies for discounted drugs under the 340B program.

  • September 02, 2025

    Amid Vaccine Tumult, RFK Jr.'s Liability Threat A 'Red Herring'

    HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has warned doctors they could lose vaccine liability protections if they stray from agency recommendations. Vaccine law experts say he's misrepresenting a 1980s statute focused largely on drugmakers.

  • September 02, 2025

    Ex-Executive Slaps Novo Nordisk Unit With Sex, Age Bias Suit

    A former finance director for a Novo Nordisk unit hit the company with a sex and age bias lawsuit last week, saying in a North Carolina federal court complaint that her career was cut short after she complained about workplace safety and discrimination.

  • September 02, 2025

    New Insulin Lawsuit, Idaho Antitrust Claim Tossed And More

    Major insulin makers Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi and the three largest pharmacy benefit managers have been hit with a fresh lawsuit accusing them of artificially inflating the cost of the diabetes medicine. Elsewhere, an Idaho federal judge tossed a group of neurosurgeons' antitrust claims against a healthcare system. 

  • September 02, 2025

    FDA's New Cigarette Warning Label Rule Tossed By Ga. Judge

    A Georgia federal judge has vacated a U.S. Food and Drug Administration rule that would add graphic warnings to cigarette labels, saying that while the rule wasn't in violation of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, it was promulgated without "observance of procedure required by law."

  • September 02, 2025

    Defunding Planned Parenthood Is Meant To Punish, Judge Says

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Friday refused to lift an order that keeps Medicaid reimbursements flowing to Planned Parenthood, ruling that legislation intended to halt the organization's federal funding appears to illegally target the group for punishment.

  • September 02, 2025

    Wells Fargo Employee Drug Cost Battle: What To Know

    A group of former Wells Fargo employees is back in federal court this week with allegations the company mismanaged their prescription drug benefits, leading to millions in overpayments. The banking giant says the case is a do-over of allegations already axed by the Minnesota court

  • September 02, 2025

    'Never My Intention' To Defy Justices, Judge In NIH Case Says

    A veteran Massachusetts jurist on Tuesday responded to suggestions by two U.S. Supreme Court justices that he had defied the high court by going ahead with a bench trial on two challenges to the Trump administration's cuts to National Institutes of Health research grants, saying he would never intentionally disregard precedent.

  • September 02, 2025

    HHS Office Of Inspector General Leader Joins Arnold & Porter

    A longtime attorney with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General, who was nominated to be inspector general of the U.S. Department of Commerce by former President Joe Biden, has joined Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, the firm announced Tuesday.

  • August 29, 2025

    Ga. Ban On Trans Prisoner Healthcare 'Troubling,' Judge Says

    A Georgia federal judge signaled Friday that she may soon halt a new state law banning access to gender-affirming healthcare for transgender state prisoners, saying she found it "troubling to me" that lawmakers had substituted their judgment for that of doctors.

  • August 29, 2025

    3rd Circ. Backs Walmart In Opioid Securities Disclosure Suit

    A proposed class action by Walmart investors claiming the company misled them by failing to disclose a federal opioid investigation was rejected Friday by the Third Circuit, which held the retailer's U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings were not false or misleading.

  • August 29, 2025

    GardaWorld Can't Avoid Tobacco, Vaccine Health Fee Suit

    A North Carolina federal judge trimmed — but refused to toss — a proposed class action challenging a security company's health plan surcharges to employees who refused COVID-19 vaccinations and who use tobacco, opening discovery on claims that the fees violated nondiscrimination provisions in federal benefits law.

  • August 29, 2025

    Emory Healthcare Taps K&L Gates Partner As Legal Leader

    Emory Healthcare tapped a K&L Gates LLP partner with more than 20 years of experience as a healthcare regulatory attorney as its next chief counsel for health affairs.

  • August 29, 2025

    Ill. Jury Sides With Ex-CTA Worker In Vax Bias Lawsuit

    An Illinois federal jury on Friday awarded a former Chicago Transit Authority employee $425,000 in damages, finding the transit agency liable on his religious discrimination claim after he was terminated following his refusal to take the COVID-19 vaccine and denied an exemption to the agency's vaccine requirement.

  • August 28, 2025

    3rd Circ. Agrees Natera Doesn't Owe $45M In False Ad Fight

    The Third Circuit Thursday affirmed a lower court's decision to take genetic testing company Natera off the hook from paying $45 million in damages to rival CareDx, saying in an unpublished opinion that CareDx failed to prove Natera actually deceived consumers through false statements about a Natera test's superiority.

  • August 28, 2025

    DOJ Right On Anti-Vax Group's AP Boycott Claims, Court Told

    The anti-vaccine group founded by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday latched onto the arguments raised by the Justice Department backing its lawsuit alleging The Associated Press, the Washington Post, Reuters and the BBC colluded with social media platforms to censor rivals.

  • August 28, 2025

    Kimberly-Clark To Pay $40M Over Adulterated Surgical Gowns

    Kimberly-Clark agreed to pay up to $40 million to resolve federal prosecutors' criminal charge that the multinational consumer goods and personal care company sold adulterated surgical gowns and conducted fraudulent testing on the gowns to avoid having to submit a new premarket notification to the FDA.

  • August 28, 2025

    DOJ Seeks Kroger Patient Data In Opioid FCA Probe

    The U.S. Department of Justice urged an Ohio federal court to order The Kroger Co. to turn over patient names and other health information the supermarket chain has redacted in responses to the government throughout a False Claims Act investigation into its opioid dispensing practices.

  • August 28, 2025

    Unions Urge Judgment Blocking DOGE's Agency Access

    Unions and advocacy groups asked a Washington, D.C., federal judge Thursday for a win before trial in their lawsuit claiming agencies unlawfully provided Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency access to sensitive data, saying the agencies departed from their usual data access procedures without explanation.

Expert Analysis

  • High Court's Expert Ruling May Help Health Fraud Defendants

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Diaz v. U.S. appears to give the government a powerful new tool in calling its own agents as expert witnesses, but it could also benefit defense counsel in criminal healthcare fraud and other white collar criminal cases that arise in complex legal or regulatory environments, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Unpacking HHS' Opinion On Cell Therapy Refund Programs

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    A recent advisory opinion from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, determining that a biopharma company's refund program for its cell therapy will not be penalized, indicates an encouraging willingness to engage, but the regulator's assumptions about the program's limited term warrant a closer look, says Mary Kohler at Kohler Health.

  • DOJ Innovasis Settlement Offers Lessons On Self-Disclosure

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    The recent $12 million settlement with Innovasis and two of its executives demonstrates the U.S. Department of Justice's continued prioritization of Anti-Kickback Statute enforcement amid the growing circuit split over causation, and illustrates important nuances surrounding self-disclosure, say Denise Barnes and Scott Gallisdorfer at Bass Berry.

  • How Orange Book Antitrust Scrutiny Is Intensifying

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    Pharmaceutical patent holders should be reviewing Orange Book listing practices, as the Federal Trade Commission takes a more aggressive antitrust approach with actions such as the Teva listing probe, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration calls attention to potentially improper listings, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • After Chevron: Slowing Down AI In Medical Research

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision overturning the Chevron doctrine may inhibit agencies' regulatory efforts, potentially slowing down the approval and implementation of artificial intelligence-driven methodologies in medical research, as well as regulators' responses to public health emergencies, say Ragini Acharya and Matthew Deutsch at Husch Blackwell.

  • FDA's Multifaceted Role On Display In MDMA Therapy Scrutiny

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    Ongoing deliberations at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regarding MDMA-assisted therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder serves as a window into the intricate balance of scientific innovation and patient safety oversight, and offers crucial insights into regulatory nuances, say Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell and Kevin Lanzo at Pharmaka Clinical Consulting.

  • Analyzing FDA Draft Guidance On Clinical Trial Diversity

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    In light of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's draft guidance on clinical trial diversity action plans, there are several important considerations for sponsors and clinical researchers to keep in mind to prevent delay in a drug or device application, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • In The CFPB Playbook: Making Good On Bold Promises

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding structure in the second quarter cleared the way for the bureau to resume a number of high-priority initiatives, and it appears poised to charge ahead in working toward its aggressive preelection agenda, say Andrew Arculin and Paula Vigo Marqués at Blank Rome.

  • Critical Questions Remain After High Court's Abortion Rulings

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decisions in two major abortion-related cases this term largely preserve the status quo for now, but leave federal preemption, the Comstock Act and in vitro fertilization in limbo, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • Navigating FDA Supply Rule Leeway For Small Dispensers

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    As the November compliance deadline for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's new pharmaceutical distribution supply chain rules draws closer, small dispensers should understand the narrow flexibilities that are available, and the questions to consider before taking advantage of them, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • 1st Gender Care Ban Provides Context For High Court Case

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    The history of Arkansas' ban on gender-affirming medical care — the first such legislation in the U.S. — provides important insight into the far-reaching ramifications that the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in U.S. v. Skrmetti next term will have on transgender healthcare, says Tyler Saenz at Baker Donelson.

  • 6 Lessons From DOJ's 1st Controlled Drug Case In Telehealth

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    Following the U.S. Department of Justice’s first-ever criminal prosecution over telehealth-prescribed controlled substances in U.S. v. Ruthia He, healthcare providers should be mindful of the risks associated with restricting the physician-patient relationship when crafting new business models, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • After Chevron: Scale Tips Favor Away From HHS Agencies

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    The loss of Chevron deference may indirectly aid parties in challenging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' interpretations of regulations and could immediately influence several pending cases challenging HHS on technical questions and agency authority, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.