Policy & Compliance

  • August 18, 2025

    Judge Known For Nixing ACA To Lead Texas' Northern District

    A conservative judge known for declaring Obamacare unconstitutional, among other high-profile rulings, took over as chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas on Monday, according to an announcement from the court.

  • August 15, 2025

    DOJ Backs Small Biz In Gender Dysphoria Coverage Dispute

    The U.S. Department of Justice told a New Hampshire federal court Friday that employers are not required under federal anti-discrimination laws to provide medical coverage for gender dysphoria, and that federal religious freedom law protects a turbomachinery company from covering a transgender employee's treatment for the disorder.

  • August 15, 2025

    Microsoft Unit Agrees To Pay $8.5M In MOVEIt Hack MDL

    A Massachusetts federal judge has preliminarily signed off on an $8.5 million settlement reached between Nuance Communications and more than 1 million patients in multidistrict litigation over a 2023 malware attack that exploited a vulnerability in Progress Software's MOVEIt transfer file tool. 

  • August 15, 2025

    Wholesalers Want Final OK For $51M AstraZeneca Settlement

    Drug wholesalers asked a Delaware federal judge Thursday for the final stamp of approval on a combined $51.4 million in settlements AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP and Handa Pharmaceuticals LLC agreed to pay to resolve allegations AstraZeneca paid off generic-drug makers, including Handa, to protect its brand antipsychotic Seroquel XR.

  • August 15, 2025

    AbbVie's Key RICO Claims In Drug Cost Fraud Suit Survive

    An Illinois federal judge on Friday ruled that AbbVie could move ahead with the bulk of its racketeering, tortious interference and fraud claims against a behind-the-scenes healthcare company that the drugmaker alleges colluded with pharmacy benefit managers to fraudulently obtain drugs meant for patients in AbbVie's charitable programs.

  • August 15, 2025

    Home Chain Got OT Math Wrong For 1,000 Nurses, Court Told

    A group of nursing homes operating as one company left shift differentials and bonus pay out of certified nursing assistants' overtime math, a former employee alleged in a suit in Mississippi federal court, saying the violations affected more than 1,000 workers.

  • August 15, 2025

    1st Wrongful Death Suit Filed In Deadly Mass. Rest Home Fire

    The first of what are expected to be multiple wrongful death lawsuits stemming from a July 13 fire that killed 10 elderly and disabled residents of a Fall River, Massachusetts, assisted living facility was filed late Thursday in state court.

  • August 14, 2025

    OptumRx Flags Email Accidentally Sent To Opioid MDL Parties

    UnitedHealth subsidiary OptumRx Inc. is seeking a ban on secret communications with the Ohio federal judge overseeing sprawling national opioid litigation after the court-appointed special master accidentally sent the company an email, intended for the judge, celebrating a "gambit" that prevented objections to his decision.

  • August 14, 2025

    Calif. Justices Say No Arb. For Nursing Home Death Claim

    The California Supreme Court on Thursday reversed a decision sending to arbitration a wrongful death claim by parents who allege their son was neglected at the 24-hour skilled nursing facility he was admitted to.

  • August 14, 2025

    Fired Nurse Accused Of Stealing Drugs Can't Revive Bias Suit

    The Seventh Circuit declined Thursday to reinstate a fired Salvadoran nurse's suit claiming she was accused of stealing and using opioids at work out of bias for her nationality, stating she failed to put forward evidence that her national origin drove concerns rather than her sluggish behavior.

  • August 14, 2025

    20 States Win Injunction Against ICE's Use Of Medicaid Data

    A California federal judge has blocked the federal government from using Medicaid information from 20 states for immigration enforcement purposes, marking a partial victory for the coalition of states challenging a new data-sharing arrangement between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security.   

  • August 14, 2025

    Conn. Lab To Pay $1.25M In False Claims Settlement

    A Connecticut reference laboratory and its operators have struck a deal with federal and state authorities to settle False Claims Act allegations for more than $1.25 million after they allegedly sought payments for medically unnecessary drug tests, federal prosecutors said.

  • August 14, 2025

    AP Says DOJ Can't Turn Info Sharing Into Views Suppression

    The Associated Press, The Washington Post, Reuters and the BBC hit back Wednesday on Justice Department efforts to back a lawsuit from the anti-vaccine group once tied to Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., alleging they colluded with social media platforms to censor rivals.

  • August 14, 2025

    AGs' Dermatology Price-Fixing Case Not A Copy, Judge Says

    A nationwide antitrust enforcement action alleging that pharmaceutical companies fixed prices of generic dermatology drugs can proceed despite the defendants' contention that it's virtually the same as two others that were filed first, a Connecticut federal judge has ruled.

  • August 13, 2025

    Trump Axes Biden Competition Order And Eases Rocket Regs

    President Donald Trump on Wednesday evening revoked an expansive Biden-era executive order that aimed to boost competition across the U.S. economy, lower prices for consumers and increase pay for workers, while issuing his own order to ease regulations on the commercial space industry to boost American rocket launches.

  • August 13, 2025

    High Court's Trans Ruling Doesn't Change Insurer's ACA Loss

    A Washington federal judge has reaffirmed his finding that Premera Blue Cross' coverage policy for gender-affirming chest surgery violates the Affordable Care Act, rejecting the insurer's bid for a redo following the Supreme Court's decision in U.S. v. Skrmetti.

  • August 13, 2025

    8th Circ. Revives Ark. Ban On Youth Gender-Affirming Care

    A split Eighth Circuit en banc panel revived an Arkansas state law banning gender-affirming care for minors, finding that a district court erred in blocking the law because it does not discriminate based on sex but instead classifies based only on age and medical procedure.

  • August 13, 2025

    Texas Woman Says Marine Laced Her Drink With Abortion Pills

    A Texas woman has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court alleging a Marine pilot with whom she had an intimate relationship tricked her into taking abortion pills by putting them in her drink, causing her to lose her pregnancy.

  • August 13, 2025

    Wash. Agencies Must Give Up Docs In Medicaid Fraud Case

    A Washington federal judge has ordered the state attorney general's office to hand over certain records to a hospital system accused of overbilling Medicaid in connection to a neurosurgeon's fraud scheme, rejecting the argument that the documents at issue belong to other state agencies that must be subpoenaed.

  • August 13, 2025

    Pa. Judge Ends Employers' Expanded Birth Control Exemptions

    A Pennsylvania federal judge on Wednesday struck down rules set by the first Trump administration enabling employers to refuse coverage of employees' contraceptives on moral and religious grounds, holding that the government failed to provide a good reason for the broadening of exemptions.

  • August 12, 2025

    Loper Bright Neutered In 6th Circ., Tenn. Tells Supreme Court

    There is "growing confusion among the circuits" regarding the U.S. Supreme Court's rejection of judicial deference to regulators, as evidenced by a Sixth Circuit ruling that negates much of the high court's Loper Bright ruling, Tennessee told the justices in a new petition.

  • August 12, 2025

    States Push Anti-mRNA Bills Amid Growing Public Distrust

    Public distrust was a key motivator for the federal government's decision to cut contracts developing messenger RNA vaccines. The sentiment is apparent in state legislatures considering a slew of vaccine-related bills.

  • August 12, 2025

    Docs Take NJ Telemedicine Restrictions Fight To 3rd Circ.

    A group of doctors and patients have appealed the dismissal of their challenge to a New Jersey law that says out-of-state doctors can't practice telemedicine with Garden State patients unless they're licensed there, telling the Third Circuit that the rule deprives people of potentially life-saving consultation.

  • August 12, 2025

    New Barriers To Health Safety Net Spark Questions, Litigation

    Federal health officials' reinterpretation of a decades-old social welfare law is expected to boot thousands of noncitizens from safety net programs. It has also prompted a wave of enforcement questions from healthcare providers and legal pushback.

  • August 12, 2025

    Worker's Flu Shot Ruling Goes Too Far, 5th Circ. Dissent Says

    A Fifth Circuit judge on Monday said a woman briefly suspended from Texas Children's Hospital over her refusal to get a flu vaccine should be able to pursue her religious discrimination suit even though the hospital ultimately accommodated her beliefs.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • 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.