Policy & Compliance
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November 05, 2025
1st Circ. Questions Trump Admin On NIH Indirect Cost Cuts
A First Circuit panel seemed poised on Wednesday to uphold a district court decision finding that the Trump administration lacks the authority to cap indirect costs for research grants at the National Institutes of Health.
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November 05, 2025
Pharmacy Groups Urge 8th Circ. To Back Ark. PBM Limits
A pair of pharmacy trade groups is urging the Eighth Circuit to allow Arkansas to enforce a law barring pharmacy benefit managers from owning pharmacies, arguing the law is a rational response to "abusive" PBM practices.
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November 05, 2025
Judge Demands Facts In Pa. Medicaid-Paid Abortion Ban Case
A Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court judge on Wednesday repeatedly asked healthcare providers at oral arguments to show her facts on why a statewide ban on Medicaid-funded abortions was unconstitutional, often remarking that the case was short on evidence to support making changes to the coverage exclusion.
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November 05, 2025
Worker Can Keep OT Claim Against Health Care Co.
A worker's overtime claim can proceed against a healthcare company that provides services through the U.S. Department of Labor to individuals who have suffered injuries while working at nuclear facilities, a South Carolina federal judge ruled Wednesday, while tossing other wage- and benefits-related claims.
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November 05, 2025
Mich. AG Urges State High Court To OK Insulin Price Probe
The Michigan Supreme Court weighed overturning two of its prior rulings on consumer protection law Wednesday as the state's attorney general sought the court's blessing for an insulin price-gouging investigation.
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November 04, 2025
5th Circ. Judge Says FCA Illegally Steps On Executive Power
Fifth Circuit Judge James C. Ho says his court should reconsider what he called "serious constitutional problems with the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act," arguing that whistleblowers who sue under the law "are neither appointed by, nor accountable to, the president," and that conflicts with presidential authority.
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November 04, 2025
Judges Wade Into Abortion Pill Access And Rx Pricing Fights
In a flurry of recent legal activity, courts across the country have been drawn into the nation's most contentious healthcare debates over access to medication abortions and efforts to cap the cost of prescription medications.
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November 04, 2025
Meet The Attys Behind Drugmakers' Conn. Price Cap Suit
Attorneys from Goodwin Procter LLP and Wiggin and Dana LLP are teaming up to represent the Association for Accessible Medicines in its challenge to a Connecticut drug price cap set to take effect at the start of 2026.
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November 04, 2025
NY Court Splits On Emotional Damage From Fatal Birth Injury
New York’s highest court handed a loss to legal advocates who had hoped a mother’s suit over the ramifications of the death of her newborn baby would help overturn a 20-year-old precedent on prenatal torts. A dissenting judge called a legal barrier to emotional damage recovery “contrary to common sense.”
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November 04, 2025
Gov't Subpoena Powers Face Reckoning In Healthcare Battles
The judicial deference given to the government's power to issue investigative subpoenas is facing an unprecedented challenge in transgender care cases. Willingness by judges to question motives could lead to more subpoena challenges or impede worthy government investigations.
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November 04, 2025
Fed. Circ. Denies VA Surgeon's Wrongful Termination Appeal
The Federal Circuit on Tuesday affirmed the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board's decision to uphold the firing of a general surgeon by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs after he raised concerns about compromised patient care.
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November 04, 2025
9th Circ. Revives Ore. Right To Life Suit: 3 Things To Know
A divided Ninth Circuit panel sided with an Oregon anti-abortion group last week and reinstated its lawsuit challenging a state law that requires health plans to cover abortion and contraceptives.
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November 04, 2025
HHS Watchdog Puts Failing Nursing Home Program On Blast
Hefty fines aren’t enough to turn around the nation's worst nursing homes, a government watchdog has concluded. The findings illustrate the need for new enforcement strategies that promote staffing and other improvements meant to last.
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November 04, 2025
End Payors Seek $66M In Atty Fees In Generic Drug MDL
End payors in a generic drug price-fixing multidistrict litigation are seeking a Pennsylvania federal court's approval for a $66 million award of attorney fees, representing one-third of the $200 million settlement between the classes and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Inc. and Taro Pharmaceuticals USA Inc.
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November 03, 2025
Pharmacies Seek Cert. In Cholesterol Drug Price-Fixing MDL
A group of indirect reseller plaintiffs urged a Pennsylvania federal judge on Friday to certify a nationwide class of thousands of pharmacies that indirectly purchased the cholesterol medication pravastatin in sprawling multidistrict litigation over alleged price-fixing in the generic drug industry.
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November 03, 2025
FDA Official Quits As Aurinia Sues Over 'Personal Vendetta'
Aurinia Pharmaceuticals on Sunday launched a lawsuit accusing Dr. George Tidmarsh, who that same day resigned as head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's drug division, of falsely claiming the biotech's lupus nephritis drug doesn't work amid his "longstanding personal vendetta" against the company's board chair and investor.
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November 03, 2025
Judge Denies New Trial In SuperValu Whistleblower Drug Case
An Illinois federal judge has refused to grant a new trial to whistleblowers who said grocery chain SuperValu systematically overbilled the government for prescription drugs, finding there was no issue with jury instructions on causation.
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November 03, 2025
Colorado Judge Denies AbbVie's Bid To Block State Drug Law
A Colorado federal judge denied AbbVie Inc.'s bid for a preliminary injunction, which would have barred the state from enforcing its laws and penalties surrounding federal 340B drug pricing.
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October 31, 2025
Drugmakers Can't End States' Dermatology Price-Fixing Suits
A Connecticut federal judge on Friday refused to throw out the vast majority of claims in a nationwide antitrust enforcement action accusing a long list of pharmaceutical companies of fixing the prices of generic dermatology drugs, rejecting the companies' argument that the claims were filed too late.
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October 31, 2025
Amgen Again Challenges Colo. Price Cap For Arthritis Drug
Amgen has once again sued Colorado over its price cap for the arthritis drug Enbrel, claiming that the Centennial State's drug price-control statute violates the U.S. Constitution, conflicts with federal patent law and threatens patients' access to lifesaving medications.
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October 31, 2025
Hawaii Judge Declares FDA's Mifepristone Regs Unlawful
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration failed to sufficiently justify restrictions on the abortion drug mifepristone, a Hawaii federal judge ruled in an order declaring the restrictions unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act.
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October 31, 2025
Aetna Strikes $650K Deal In Lipedema Patients' Coverage Suit
Aetna has agreed to pay up to $650,000 to resolve a class action claiming it unlawfully refused to cover liposuction for over two dozen patients with a rare condition called lipedema, according to a filing in California federal court.
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October 31, 2025
Garnet Health Inks $4.6M Deal In Retirement Fee, Fund Suit
Garnet Health Medical Center has agreed to fork over $4.6 million to end a proposed class action alleging the New York healthcare network mismanaged employee retirement plan fees and investments, according to settlement documents filed by workers Friday in New York federal court.
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October 31, 2025
3 Argument Sessions Benefits Attys Should Watch In Nov.
The Third Circuit will hear a union's appeal in a withdrawal liability battle, a union health plan defends its partial win in a coverage fight at the Ninth Circuit, and pharmacy benefit managers will take a challenge to the Federal Trade Commission's authority to the full Eighth Circuit. Here are three arguments to keep an eye on in November.
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October 31, 2025
NC Attorney General, HCA Duel Over Merger Commitments
The North Carolina Attorney General's Office and HCA Healthcare have offered competing interpretations of a 2019 merger agreement in their efforts to secure a pretrial win in the state's compliance case involving the purchase of an Asheville hospital system.
Expert Analysis
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Lawmakers Shouldn't Overlook Rare Disease Therapies' Value
As the ORPHAN Cures Act is pending in Congress, policymakers assessing the value of certain drugs for price regulation should consider data beyond what is collected in clinical trials, say Alice Chen at the University of Southern California, and Molly Frean and Yao Lu at Analysis Group.
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What Trump's Order Means For The Legal Status Of IVF
An executive order signed by President Donald Trump last month signals the administration's potential intention to increase protections for in vitro fertilization services, though more concrete actions would be needed to resolve the current uncertainty around IVF access or bring about a binding legal change, says Jeanne Vance at Weintraub Tobin.
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Mitigating Tariff Risks For Healthcare In US And Canada
Healthcare stakeholders should take steps to evaluate the impact of cross-border tariffs, as the historically strong ties between Canada and the U.S. demonstrate the potential for real disruption and harm to the healthcare industry in both countries, say attorneys at Norton Rose.
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What's At Stake In High Court Transgender Care Suit
The outcome of U.S. v. Skrmetti will have critical implications for the rights of transgender youth and their access to gender-affirming care, and will likely affect other areas of law and policy involving transgender individuals, including education, employment, healthcare and civil rights, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.
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6 Laws Transforming Calif.'s Health Regulatory Framework
Attorneys at Hooper Lundy discuss a number of new California laws that raise pressing issues for independent physicians and small practice groups, ranging from the use of artificial intelligence to wage standards for healthcare employees.
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Anticipating Calif. Oversight Of PE Participation In Healthcare
A new bill recently introduced in the California Senate revives last year's attempt to increase oversight of healthcare transactions involving private equity groups and hedge funds, meaning that attorneys may soon need to assess the compliance status of existing management relationships and consider modifying contract terms, says Andrew Demetriou at Husch Blackwell.
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Considering The Future Of AI Regulation On Health Sector
As Texas looks to become the next state to pass a comprehensive law regulating artificial intelligence, the healthcare industry should consider how AI regulation will continue to evolve in the U.S. and how industry members can keep up with compliance considerations, say attorneys at Kirkland & Ellis.
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What To Expect From 'Make America Healthy Again' Actions
The Make America Healthy Again Commission recently established by President Donald Trump and chaired by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will potentially bring energy and attention to important public health topics, and stakeholders should be aware of pathways for sharing their input and proactively informing proceedings, says Nicholas Manetto at Faegre Drinker.
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How Citizen Petitions Have Affected Drug Competition
In light of recent citizen petitions and proposed legislation regulating such petitions, Omar Robles at Managing Health analyzes the statistics of the extent to which citizen petitions have been filed, and to what extent they have delayed competition in prescription pharmaceuticals.
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Drug Kickback Ruling Will Make FCA Liability Harder To Prove
The First Circuit's ruling in U.S. v. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, requiring the government to prove but-for causation to establish False Claims Act liability based on violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute, raises the bar for FCA enforcement and deepens a circuit split that the U.S. Supreme Court may need to resolve, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.
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Assessing PE Risk After Mass. False Claims Act Amendments
A law recently passed in Massachusetts amends the commonwealth's False Claims Act by dramatically expanding potential liability for private equity firms and investors, underscoring the importance of robust diligence and risk assessments for private equity firms conducting transactions in the commonwealth, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.
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What Trump Actions Mean For Federal Research Funding
New guidance from the National Institutes of Health represents a massive policy shift regarding federal funding for researchers at institutions of higher education, contributing to a perfect storm of significant resource shortfalls in upcoming years, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.
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A Look At Healthcare Transaction Oversight In Oregon
Understanding Oregon's enforcement authority and its impact on proposed transactions last year provides a road map to the state's plans to strengthen its processes this year, though enforcement could be challenged by ongoing litigation, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.