Policy & Compliance

  • March 13, 2025

    NY AG James Pitches Bill To Expand Consumer Protection Law

    New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday announced legislation that would expand the state's ban on deceptive business practices to also protect against unfair and abusive practices, an idea backed by Biden-era Federal Trade Commission and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau heads.

  • March 13, 2025

    Calif. AG Appealing State Limits On Pay-For-Delay Ban

    California enforcers are appealing to the Ninth Circuit after a lower court found that a new state law restricting "reverse payment" settlements between brand-name and generic-drug makers cannot be used to regulate deals that were struck outside the state.

  • March 13, 2025

    PBMs Tell FTC 5-Month Delay Too Long For In-House Insulin Trial

    The nation's "Big Three" pharmacy benefit managers say they want to get to trial in the Federal Trade Commission's administrative suit against them sooner rather than later, arguing that the agency's request for a five-month delay would be too long, but they're open to a three-week postponement.

  • March 13, 2025

    HHS Calls Back Terminated Attys Clearing Medicare Appeals

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday moved to reinstate about 15 attorneys who were cut loose in recent weeks, restoring staff many in the agency saw as critical to clearing a backlog of Medicare appeals.

  • March 13, 2025

    9th Circ. Ends Idaho Abortion Law Row After Mutual Dismissal

    A Ninth Circuit panel has dropped an appeal from Idaho claiming the state's strict abortion ban doesn't conflict with a federal law protecting emergency abortions, after the Trump administration announced its decision to drop the Biden-era legal challenge. 

  • March 13, 2025

    Days Into New Role, FDA's Top Lawyer Is Out

    The top lawyer of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration resigned just two days after she was selected for the role, according to a Thursday announcement by the agency on social media site X.

  • March 13, 2025

    Lacking Votes, White House Pulls Weldon Nomination At CDC

    The White House pulled Dr. Dave Weldon's nomination to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday after support among GOP lawmakers wavered, and it became clear he didn't have the votes to clear a Senate committee.

  • March 12, 2025

    GOP Senators Take Aim At CFPB Medical Debt Rule

    Republican senators have introduced a measure to overturn the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent rule banning medical debt from credit reports, one of the latest Biden-era regulations to be targeted for legislative repeal.

  • March 12, 2025

    Cancer Cause Or Red Herring? Jury Weighs Plant Bellwether

    A medical sterilization company told a Colorado jury Wednesday that four women can't get millions in damages based on the "possibility" that emissions from a sterilization plant caused their cancer, at the close of a six-week trial in which the plaintiffs argued the company should be punished for its negligence.

  • March 12, 2025

    Law360 Cheat Sheet: Novartis' Fight Over Generic Entresto

    Novartis has led a wide-ranging litigation campaign to block generic versions of its bestselling cardiovascular drug Entresto that has involved multidistrict litigation, trips to several circuit courts and cases against the federal government. Here, Law360 breaks down how the various cases intersect and what's still playing out.

  • March 12, 2025

    Women Attys, AGs Urge Justices To Protect Provider Choice

    Women attorney groups and a group of state attorneys general urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject South Carolina's attempt to stop Medicaid patients from seeing Planned Parenthood healthcare providers, saying in an amicus brief Wednesday that patients have a right to choose their healthcare providers and have a private right of action to enforce that right.

  • March 12, 2025

    SEC Says Ex-Allarity Execs Concealed Doomed FDA Approval

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued three former executives of clinical-stage pharmaceutical company Allarity Therapeutics Inc. in Massachusetts federal court, alleging Wednesday that they schemed to conceal from the public that the company's new drug application for its flagship drug had no chance of gaining regulatory approval.

  • March 12, 2025

    Trump Admin Seeks To End ACA Access For 'Dreamers'

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday proposed a regulation that would do away with the Biden administration's rule allowing recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals to qualify for Affordable Care Act coverage.

  • March 12, 2025

    Judge Says Hospital Orgs.' Input Not Needed In Multiplan MDL

    The Illinois federal judge handling multidistrict litigation targeting Multiplan's out-of-network reimbursement rates has rejected two hospital organizations' bid to weigh in as he considers whether he should dismiss the case.  

  • March 12, 2025

    NC Organ Procurer Sues CMS Over Hospital Waiver

    A North Carolina-based organ procurement organization told a federal court Wednesday that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has violated federal law by giving a waiver to a hospital to work with another organ procurement service from a different region. 

  • March 12, 2025

    HHS To Eliminate 6 Regional Offices For Legal Staff

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday it will close six out of 10 regional offices where attorneys for the agency work.

  • March 12, 2025

    Harvard Docs Say Gov't Censored Articles With Gender Terms

    A pair of Harvard Medical School researchers sued the Trump administration in Massachusetts federal court on Wednesday, claiming their work was erased from a government-run patient safety website because their articles contained terms like "LGBTQ" and "transgender."

  • March 11, 2025

    FTC Merger Suit, Hospital DEI Probe And Qui Tam At 11th Circ.

    The Federal Trade Commission initiated its first merger challenge since the start of President Donald Trump's current term, arguing that a private equity firm's plans to buy a medical device company would lead to an unlawful level of market concentration.

  • March 11, 2025

    'Paucity' Of Proof Thwarts NC State Law Claims In Gardasil MDL

    A North Carolina federal judge has found that Merck did not violate state law by not including warnings about its Human Papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil, saying there was a "paucity" of evidence that the vaccines cause certain injuries to recipients.

  • March 11, 2025

    Conversion Therapy Ban At High Court: 5 Cases To Know

    The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear a First Amendment challenge to a Colorado ban on mental health professionals using "conversion" therapy intended to help change minors' gender identity or sexual orientation.

  • March 11, 2025

    Zydus Cuts Deal With States, Tribes In Opioid Nuisance Suit

    Zydus Pharmaceuticals Inc. has reached a deal in principle with states and Native American tribes that should quash claims related to the company's alleged role in exasperating the opioid crisis.

  • March 11, 2025

    Hospital Orgs. Say MultiPlan Must Not Duck Price-Fix Claims

    Hundreds of American hospitals are "on the brink of collapse" and letting MultiPlan and a host of insurers who have been accused of conspiring to underpay out-of-network providers off the hook will not improve matters, two groups that represent thousands of hospitals have told the court.

  • March 11, 2025

    Alaska's RICO Claims Advance Against PBM In Opioid Suit

    An Alaska federal judge has allowed most of the state's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act claims to move forward against pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts for its alleged role in the opioid epidemic.

  • March 11, 2025

    Feds Turn To FCA As Enforcement Weapon In Opioid Crisis

    Federal prosecutors are expanding their use of the False Claims Act to target pharmacies accused of contributing to the opioid crisis, a legal strategy that exposes the defendants to hefty penalties.

  • March 11, 2025

    Trump Admin Drops Suit Over COVID Nasal Spray Ads Claims

    The U.S. Department of Justice quietly moved Monday to drop a Utah federal court lawsuit filed on behalf of the Federal Trade Commission accusing a sinus nasal spray company of falsely claiming its products could help prevent and treat COVID-19.

Expert Analysis

  • DOJ Innovasis Settlement Offers Lessons On Self-Disclosure

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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.