Policy & Compliance

  • December 10, 2024

    Ohio Justices Reject Opioid Nuisance Claims In $650M Appeal

    The majority of the Ohio Supreme Court on Tuesday held that the state's product liability law doesn't allow for public nuisance claims to be brought over the opioid crisis, in a challenge to a $650 million verdict won by two counties.

  • December 09, 2024

    19 Republican AGs Win Order Against DACA Health Coverage

    Nineteen states secured an order on Monday that bars the federal government from requiring them to comply with a regulation that extends federal health coverage to immigrants brought to the U.S. as children without authorization, blocking enforcement of a Biden administration rule.

  • December 09, 2024

    UCLA Student Sues Doctors Over Transgender Misdiagnosis

    A UCLA student has sued a group of doctors in Los Angeles state court, alleging she was misdiagnosed with gender dysphoria when she was 12 and rushed into taking puberty blockers and testosterone and having a mastectomy before she realized she wasn't transgender.

  • December 06, 2024

    Philly Jury Clears B. Braun In Cancer Emissions Case

    A Philadelphia jury has cleared B. Braun Medical Inc. of claims that emissions of a sterilizing chemical from a Pennsylvania manufacturing facility caused a neighbor's leukemia.

  • December 06, 2024

    Biden Admin Says Abortion Drug Fight Can't Stay In Texas

    The Biden administration and mifepristone-maker Danco Laboratories LLC doubled down Friday on their bids to end the litigation challenging federal approvals for the abortion medication, arguing the three intervening states can't continue to litigate in Texas federal court now that the private plaintiffs have dropped their claims.

  • December 06, 2024

    5th Circ. Judge Notes Inconsistencies In Medicare Rate Policy

    A Fifth Circuit judge called out inconsistencies in a new Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services policy, asking the government to explain apparent discrepancies that four Texas anesthesia practices say will cost them $4 million in reduced reimbursements.

  • December 06, 2024

    Two Firms To Rep CVS Investors In Benefit Unit Losses Suit

    Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP and Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP will co-lead a proposed class of investors in consolidated litigation alleging CVS Health Corp. hurt investors as it announced its benefit unit's unanticipated losses.

  • December 06, 2024

    Black Doctor Says BCBS Axed Her From Network Due To Race

    Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan wrongfully terminated a Black dermatologist from its network of health providers because of her race, the doctor told a Michigan federal court, alleging the health insurer terminated her after it claimed her "error rate" in billing was too high.

  • December 06, 2024

    4 Big Developments In ERISA Cases From 2nd Half Of 2024

    The Sixth Circuit reopened a retirement plan mismanagement suit against Parker-Hannifin Corp. and revived a manufacturing company worker's disability benefits bid, while the nation's highest court declined to review a plan trustee's unsuccessful attempt to force an employee stock sale dispute into arbitration. Here, Law360 looks at four recent decisions in Employee Retirement Income Security Act cases that benefits attorneys should know.

  • December 05, 2024

    Fla. Labs Say Cigna's Trial 'Confession' Erases $7.3M Verdict

    Three Florida drug testing laboratories have urged a Connecticut federal court to undo a $7.3 million jury verdict for Cigna Health and Life Insurance Co. over unjustified billings, arguing a new trial is warranted after the insurer allegedly made a "confession" during opening statements that it wasn't seeking damages for itself.

  • December 05, 2024

    DOL Says Court Erred In Tossing ESOP Claims Against Exec

    A medical equipment industry executive should continue facing claims that he ripped off workers by selling overpriced stock to his company's employee stock ownership plan, the U.S. Department of Labor told an Idaho federal judge Thursday, asking him to rethink letting the executive escape the allegations.

  • December 05, 2024

    Amazon Can't Dodge Fired Worker's Disability Bias Suit

    Amazon can't escape a proposed class action brought by a former worker with cerebral palsy alleging the company reneged on promises to support disabled employees, a California federal judge ruled, stating he showed the company may have mishandled his requests for an assignment adjustment.

  • December 04, 2024

    9th Circ. Keeps Block Of Idaho AG's Abortion Ban Stance

    The Ninth Circuit notched a win for Idaho doctors Wednesday, upholding a temporary block preventing Idaho's attorney general from enforcing his interpretation of the state's abortion ban that he said prohibits doctors from referring women across state lines to receive abortion care. 

  • December 04, 2024

    Jackson's 'Quite Worried' About Equal Protection Precedent

    The U.S. Supreme Court's Republican-appointed justices' apparent willingness Wednesday to rule that a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming healthcare for transgender minors didn't rely on sex-based classifications worried Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who warned that such a decision would undermine decades of the court's equal protection clause precedent.

  • December 04, 2024

    Justices Seem To Back Ban On Transgender Youth Care

    The U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority on Wednesday seemed poised to greenlight a Tennessee ban on minors receiving gender-affirming care, despite arguments from the court's liberal block that finding the law constitutional would fly in the face of the court's equal-protection precedents.

  • December 04, 2024

    3rd Circ. Preview: BetMGM Addiction Case Tops Dec. Lineup

    The Third Circuit is set to determine if BetMGM online casino should face a lawsuit claiming it violated New Jersey consumer protection and gambling laws for allegedly enticing a man with a gambling problem to play its games.

  • December 03, 2024

    Calif. Unveils Reproductive Rights Bills To Prep For Trump

    California lawmakers plan to introduce a pair of bills aimed at protecting access to abortion in the Golden State as Donald Trump returns to office, according to an announcement made Monday, the first day of a special legislative session called by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

  • December 03, 2024

    Atlanta Imaging Co., Ex-CEO To Pay $5M In FCA Settlement

    An Atlanta-based diagnostic imaging company and its former CEO have agreed to pay $5.25 million to end claims that the firm ran a referral kickback scheme in which it buttered up doctors with sports tickets and booze in exchange for sending patients its way, the U.S. Department of Justice has announced.

  • December 03, 2024

    Deaf Patient Drops Henry Ford Health System Bias Suit

    A deaf patient has resolved claims that Detroit's Henry Ford Health System discriminated against her when the hospital failed to provide her with American Sign Language interpreters, according to a Monday order.

  • December 03, 2024

    USPTO Abandons Polarizing Proposal Over Double Patenting

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has withdrawn an extremely controversial proposal tied to double patenting, citing "resource constraints" in a Federal Register notice set to be published Wednesday.

  • December 03, 2024

    Experts Sound Alarm On RFK Jr.'s FDA Funding Ideas

    With Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promising a major shake-up of federal health agencies in the incoming administration, healthcare experts are sounding the alarm about a looming threat to the fee structure that props up the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the critical drug approval process.

  • December 03, 2024

    What To Know About High Court's 1st Transgender Care Case

    When the U.S. Supreme Court justices gather for oral arguments on Wednesday, they will hear the court's first transgender healthcare case. Their decision could determine whether Tennessee's ban on affirming healthcare for transgender adolescents is unconstitutional and steer the fate of similar prohibitions across the country.

  • December 03, 2024

    VA Announces Study On MDMA-Assisted Therapy For Vets

    The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced Tuesday it will fund a study on psychedelic-assisted therapy for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and alcohol use disorder, alongside researchers from Brown University and Yale University.

  • December 03, 2024

    FCA Whistleblower Provisions Could Face Peril Under Trump

    Over 160 years after enactment of the False Claims Act and its qui tam provisions, the confluence of a conservative U.S. Supreme Court and a second Trump administration has attorneys contemplating a future without whistleblower-led litigation.

  • December 03, 2024

    Veterans Group Challenges Exclusion From DEA Pot Hearing

    A veterans group is challenging the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's decision to deny it a spot among 25 participants in hearings exploring whether to reschedule cannabis under the Controlled Substances Act, saying veterans have been deprived of an advocate for a conclusion that would best suit their needs.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • After Chevron: FDA Regulations In The Crosshairs

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of the Chevron doctrine is likely to unleash an array of challenges against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, focusing on areas of potential overreach such as the FDA's authority under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • USPTO Disclaimer Rule Would Complicate Patent Prosecution

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    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's proposed changes to terminal disclaimer practice could lead to a patent owner being unable to enforce a valid patent simply because it is indirectly tied to a patent in which a single claim is found anticipated or obvious in view of the prior art, say attorneys at Sterne Kessler.

  • Navigating Scrutiny Of Friendly Professional Corps. In Calif.

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    In light of ongoing scrutiny and challenges to private equity participation in the California healthcare marketplace, particularly surrounding the use of the friendly professional corporation model, management services organizations should consider implementing four best practices, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Takeaways From New HHS Substance Use Disorder Info Rules

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    A new U.S. Department of Health and Human Services rule continues the agency's efforts to harmonize complex rules surrounding confidentiality provisions for substance use disorder patient records, though healthcare providers will need to remain mindful of different potentially applicable requirements and changes that their compliance structures may require, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Calif. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

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    The second quarter of 2024 in California, which saw efforts to expand consumer protection legislation and enforcement actions in areas of federal focus like medical debt and student loans, demonstrated that the state's role as a trendsetter in consumer financial protection will continue for the foreseeable future, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • How Cannabis Rescheduling May Affect Current Operators

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    The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency's proposal to reschedule marijuana to Schedule III provides relief in the form of federal policy from the stigma and burdens of Schedule I, but commercial cannabis operations will remain unchanged until the federal-state cannabis policy gap is remedied by Congress, say Meital Manzuri and Alexis Lazzeri at Manzuri Law.

  • Air Ambulance Ruling Severely Undermines No Surprises Act

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    A Texas federal court's recent decision in Guardian Flight v. Health Care Service — that the No Surprises Act lacks a judicial remedy when a health insurer refuses to pay the amount established through an independent review — likely throws a huge monkey wrench into the elaborate protections the NSA was enacted to provide, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: June Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers two recent decisions from the Third and Tenth Circuits, and identifies practice tips around class action settlements and standing in securities litigation.

  • How Congress Is Tackling The US Healthcare Shortage

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    With healthcare shortages continuing across the U.S. despite industry efforts to improve patient access to care, increased Medicare support for graduate medical education could be a crucial component of the solution, say Sarah Crossan and Miranda Franco at Holland & Knight.

  • The Current State Of Healthcare Transaction Reviews In Calif.

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    As of April, certain healthcare transactions in California have been subject to additional notification compliance requirements, and complying with these new rules could significantly delay and discourage some deals, says Andrew Demetriou at Husch Blackwell.