Policy & Compliance

  • September 24, 2025

    NY Appeals Court Backs Drug Co.'s $6.5M Contract Case Win

    A New York state appeals court won't disturb a finding that a South Korean logistics firm owes $6.5 million for breaching a deal allowing it to license and sell a RedHill Biopharma Ltd. COVID-19 treatment in the country.

  • September 24, 2025

    CVS Moves To End Worker's Tobacco Surcharge ERISA Suit

    CVS urged a California federal judge to toss an employee's proposed class action alleging it illegally imposes surcharges to health plan participants and their covered spouses who use tobacco, arguing it offers surcharge alternatives to workers and spouses when a medical condition makes it unreasonably difficult to cease tobacco use.

  • September 24, 2025

    Court Sides With Texas, Nixes Medicaid Tax Funding Rule

    The federal government improperly expanded a Medicaid funding restriction to private parties that was meant only to govern the use of state taxes to fund the health insurance program, a Texas federal court ruled Wednesday in vacating guidance from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

  • September 24, 2025

    Trans Youth Care Ban Discriminatory, Mo. High Court Hears

    The Missouri Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday on a law that bans gender-affirming care for minors and restricts Medicaid coverage for transgender care at any age, but the justices gave little indication of how they might rule.

  • September 24, 2025

    4th Circ. Kicks Trans Care Exclusion Suits Back To Trial Court

    A pair of suits challenging health plan coverage exclusions on gender-affirming care for minors are headed to district court after the Fourth Circuit vacated decisions finding those policies discriminatory, in line with a U.S. Supreme Court directive to revisit the cases in light of new precedent.

  • September 24, 2025

    Hall Booth Smith Grows In NJ With Aging Services Expert

    Hall Booth Smith PC built out its aging services practice this week with the hire of a Paramus, New Jersey-based of counsel attorney specializing in litigation and risk management for clients in the acute care and post-acute care fields.

  • September 24, 2025

    States Say Ed Dept. Must Face Suit Over Mental Health Cuts

    A group of 16 states led by Washington has asked a federal judge not to let the U.S. Department of Education escape the states' claims that the agency violated federal law by discontinuing mental health grants given to public schools to help students cope with school shootings.

  • September 24, 2025

    Amtrak Beats Retired Worker's Suit Over Benefits Reversal

    A Rhode Island federal judge dismissed an ex-Amtrak employee's suit claiming the company illegally rolled back medical care reimbursement benefits that the rail service said it mistakenly granted him in retirement, finding he wasn't entitled to the extra credits under the plan's terms.

  • September 23, 2025

    Fed. Vaccine Panel Prompts Legal, Health Confusion

    It's been days since a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention committee updated recommendations for a common childhood vaccine and the COVID-19 booster. But healthcare and legal experts are still trying to understand the implications of the meeting and the votes that came out of it.

  • September 23, 2025

    Kansas Abortion Mandates On Trial: What You Need to Know

    The largest provider of reproductive healthcare in Kansas will face off with state officials this week at a long-awaited trial focused on a 24-hour abortion waiting period, among other state requirements.

  • September 23, 2025

    Tylenol MDL In Spotlight After Trump Blasts Use In Pregnancy

    The Trump administration's attack on the use of acetaminophen during pregnancy drew on the work of a Harvard expert whose analysis is central to a legal clash now before a federal appeals court. The president's broadside promises to energize plaintiffs.

  • September 23, 2025

    State Medicaid Cuts Mean 'Financial Squeeze' For Providers

    Law360 Healthcare Authority talks with Gayland Hethcoat of ArentFox Schiff LLP about the rationale behind major cuts coming to Medicaid state-directed payments and what they will mean for providers and patients.

  • September 23, 2025

    NC Sens. Vote To Cut Planned Parenthood's Medicaid Funds

    Republican state senators in North Carolina have greenlit a bill that would revoke Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, aligning the Tar Heel state with the president's "One Big Beautiful Bill," which prohibits Medicaid funding for nonprofit groups that provide abortion services.

  • September 23, 2025

    Long Time Limits In Trans Care Laws Expand Doctors' Liability

    State lawmakers are including lengthy statutes of limitations — some of them decades-long — in new bans on transgender care for minors. Advocates say long time frames for prosecutions or civil suits make sense when a child is involved. Others see a "chilling" effect for providers.

  • September 23, 2025

    EX-CTA Worker's $425K Vaccine Bias Award Capped At $300K

    An Illinois federal judge lowered a former Chicago Transit Authority employee's $425,000 jury award to $300,000 Tuesday for the ex-worker's claim that he was wrongly fired for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine, entering a judgment the judge said he'll later amend with awards that include back and front pay.

  • September 23, 2025

    Two Longtime HHS Attys Depart Posts For Crowell & Moring

    Two prominent U.S. Department of Health and Human Services attorneys have left their posts for Crowell & Moring LLP after more than two decades in the federal government.

  • September 23, 2025

    Burns White Launches Correctional Healthcare Practice Group

    Pittsburgh-based Mid-Law firm Burns White LLC has launched a practice group focused on helping clients navigate liability risk from providing healthcare in prisons and other correctional settings.

  • September 23, 2025

    Pa. Health Network To Pay $1.15M In 401(k) Forfeiture Suit

    A Pennsylvania health system agreed to pay workers $1.15 million to resolve a federal suit alleging it unlawfully used forfeited retirement plan funds to satisfy its contribution obligations and allowed workers to be overcharged for plan administrative fees.

  • September 22, 2025

    2nd Circ. Undoes $25M Restitution In Horse-Doping Case

    A veterinarian convicted of conspiracy in a sprawling horse-doping scheme has escaped $25 million in restitution and is also off the hook for the $10.3 million forfeiture of funds tied to the sale of undetectable, performance-enhancement drugs, the Second Circuit said Monday.

  • September 22, 2025

    Family Sues For $100M In Child's Hyperbaric Chamber Death

    The family of a 5-year-old boy who died in a hyperbaric chamber explosion in January sued the center that was treating the child and the manufacturer of the chamber for more than $100 million in damages Monday, alleging the Michigan clinic concealed the dangers of using the chamber. 

  • September 22, 2025

    Anthem's $12.9M ERISA Deal Clears First Hurdle

    A New York federal judge has granted preliminary approval to a nearly $12.9 million settlement resolving claims that Anthem wrongfully denied coverage for residential behavioral health treatment under employer-sponsored health plans.

  • September 22, 2025

    Mayo Clinic Can't Fully Nix Suit Over Withheld Benefits Info

    The Mayo Clinic and its benefits administrator can't entirely escape a worker's suit claiming they pushed her to work with pricey out-of-network providers and wouldn't provide reimbursement estimates, after a Minnesota federal judge said she supported some federal benefits law claims with enough detail to remain in court.

  • September 19, 2025

    Ga. Providers Seek Exit From 'Conspiratorial' BCBS Fraud Suit

    Healthcare consulting firm HaloMD and several providers urged a federal judge Friday to toss a lawsuit from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia accusing them of abusing a federal dispute resolution process for surprise medical bills, arguing the insurer's suit offers little more than "inflammatory, conspiratorial rhetoric."

  • September 19, 2025

    CDC Panel Urges Caution On COVID Vax, Punts On Hep B

    A panel of advisers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday voted unanimously to recommend that people receiving the COVID-19 vaccine this season do so only after discussing it with their health providers.

  • September 18, 2025

    Brothers Blame Associate For $90M HIV Drug Fraud Scheme

    Two Maryland brothers accused of selling $90 million worth of mislabeled HIV drugs told a Florida federal jury on Thursday that their charges stem from an associate hired for his pharmaceutical industry connections, but who instead lied about the medication's black market origins and told them it was purchased legitimately.

Expert Analysis

  • A Shifting Trend In FDA Form 483 Disclosure Obligations

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    A New York federal court's Checkpoint Therapeutics decision extends a recent streak of dismissals of securities class actions alleging that pharmaceutical companies failed to disclose U.S. Food and Drug Administration Form 483 inspection reports, providing critical guidance for companies during the FDA approval process, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • The Future Of Lab-Test Regs After FDA Rescinds Rule

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    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently rescinded its laboratory-developed tests rule in response to a Texas federal court decision this spring, reinforcing a separation of authority between the FDA and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and calling into question the FDA's role in overseeing such tests without congressional action, say attorneys at Venable.

  • Unpacking Ore. Law's Limits On PE Healthcare Investment

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    A recent Oregon law imposes significant restrictions on nonphysicians owning or controlling medical practices, but newly enacted amendments provide some additional flexibility in certain ownership arrangements without scuttling the law's intent of addressing concerns about the rise of private equity investment in healthcare, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Criminal Healthcare Fraud Takeaways From 4th Circ. Reversal

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    After the Fourth Circuit reversed a doctor’s postconviction acquittal in U.S. v. Elfenbein last month, defense attorneys should consider three strategies when handling complex criminal healthcare matters, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • AG Watch: Texas Embraces The MAHA Movement

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    Attorneys at Kelley Drye examine Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's actions related to the federal Make America Healthy Again movement, and how these actions hinge on representations or omissions by the target companies as opposed to specific analyses of the potential health risks.

  • How States Are Regulating Health Insurers' AI Usage

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    The absence of a federal artificial intelligence framework positions states as key regulators of health insurers’ AI use, making it important for payors and service providers to understand the range of state AI legislation being passed in California and elsewhere, and consider implementing an AI-focused compliance infrastructure, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • HHS Plan To Cut Immigrant Benefits Spurs Provider Questions

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    A recent notice from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services identifying new federal public benefit programs for which nonqualified aliens are not eligible may have a major impact on entities that participate in these programs — but many questions remain unanswered, say attorneys at Foley.

  • Noncompete Forecast Shows Tough Weather For Employers

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    Several new state noncompete laws signal rough conditions for employers, particularly in the healthcare sector, so employers must account for employees' geographic circumstances as they cannot rely solely on choice-of-law clauses, say lawyers at McDermott.

  • Previewing State Efforts To Regulate Mental Health Chatbots

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    New York, Nevada and Utah have all recently enacted laws regulating the use of artificial intelligence to deliver mental health services, offering early insights into how other states may regulate this area, say attorneys at Goodwin.

  • How DOJ's New Data Security Rules Leave HIPAA In The Dust

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's recently effective data security requirements carry profound implications for how healthcare providers collect, store, share and use data — and approach vendor oversight — that go far beyond the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, say attorneys at Nelson Mullins.

  • Texas Med Spas Must Prepare For 2 New State Laws

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    Two new laws in Texas — regulating elective intravenous therapy and reforming healthcare noncompetes — mark a pivotal shift in the regulatory framework for medical spas in the state, which must proactively adapt their operations and contractual practices, says Brad Cook at Munsch Hardt.

  • DOJ-HHS Collab Crystallizes Focus On Health Enforcement

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    The recently announced partnership between the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to combat False Claims Act violations, following a multiyear trend of high-dollar DOJ recoveries, signals a long-term enforcement horizon with major implications for healthcare entities and whistleblowers, say attorneys at RJO.

  • How The Healthline Privacy Settlement Redefines Ad Tech Use

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    The Healthline settlement is the first time California has drawn a clear line in the sand around how website tracking must function in practice, so if your site uses tracking technologies, especially around sensitive content like health or finance, regulators are inspecting your website's back end, not just its banner, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.