Policy & Compliance
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March 25, 2025
Amid Abortion Fight, Idaho Bolsters Moral Objection Rights
A new law in Idaho 鈥 already the epicenter of a national clash over emergency abortion care 鈥 expands the conscientious objection rights of doctors and health professionals.
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March 25, 2025
Antitrust In Healthcare: 3 Cases To Watch
Amid a Congressional probe into a long-standing antitrust exemption for a national medical resident matching system, a handful of healthcare groups are in court with allegations that trade organizations have violated antitrust laws.
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March 25, 2025
Experts Warn Of 'Slippery Slope' In Judge Shopping Sanctions
A federal judge's judge shopping sanctions on lawyers challenging an Alabama transgender care ban were unusually harsh, legal experts said, and raise concerns about a chilling effect on advocates litigating similar cases in other jurisdictions.
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March 25, 2025
BU 麻豆传媒 Prof On The Evolution Of Med Mal Standard Of Care
Boston University law professor Christopher Robertson talks about the American 麻豆传媒 Institute's first update on medical malpractice law in 60 years and the state law evolution towards a 鈥渞easonable鈥 care standard.
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March 25, 2025
Hartford HealthCare Fights Disclosure Of Antitrust Settlement
Hartford HealthCare Corp. says it cannot be forced to reveal a confidential January antitrust settlement with another Connecticut hospital at the behest of a Teamsters health plan and a public transit agency separately accusing the consortium of creating a monopoly.
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March 25, 2025
Unnecessary Surgeries Drive Rare Va. Hospital Criminal Case
An unusual indictment in Virginia details grave allegations against a former doctor, including unnecessary surgeries and bogus cancer diagnoses. With former OB-GYN Javaid Perwaiz already in federal prison, the hospital where many of the procedures occurred is now facing criminal charges.
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March 24, 2025
Trump Picks Acting CDC Head After Weldon Nomination Fails
President Donald Trump on Monday nominated acting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention head Susan Monarez to take over as the agency's director, a move that comes after Trump pulled his nomination of Dr. Dave Weldon for the position when it became clear Weldon lacked needed support.
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March 24, 2025
Wells Fargo Prescription Cost Suit Axed Over Standing
Wells Fargo has beaten back allegations that it violated federal benefits law by letting workers on its healthcare plan overpay for prescription drugs, with a Minnesota federal judge ruling Monday that the ex-workers behind the proposed class action lacked standing to sue.
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March 24, 2025
Investors Blame Electrotherapy Co.'s Practices For Stock Drop
Electrotherapy device maker Zynex Inc. faces a proposed investor class action claiming it harmed shareholders after it was booted from at least one insurer network for U.S. military members, allegedly due to oversupplying its customers.
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March 24, 2025
Patients Say UBH Limits On Mental Health Violated ERISA
Employee health benefit plan participants who sought coverage for mental health and substance use disorder treatments from United Behavioral Health urged a California federal court to rule that the company violated federal benefits law by implementing overly restrictive guidelines, arguing the insurer's interest in narrowing coverage wrongly limited patients' access.
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March 24, 2025
Residents Rip Hospital Co.'s 'Scorched-Earth' Sanctions Bid
A proposed class of Connecticut residents pursuing antitrust claims against Hartford HealthCare Corp. slammed the company's bid to sanction them for seeking judicial enforcement of a document exchange deal the parties had reached, arguing that sanctions would only complicate discovery rather than help it along.
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March 21, 2025
Judge Says Anti-Abortion Group's Clinic Blockades Are Illegal
A New York federal judge ruled Thursday that an anti-abortion group violated federal and New York state laws prohibiting interference with reproductive health services, saying evidence made clear group members physically obstructed access to three reproductive health care clinics in New York City.
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March 21, 2025
Novartis Urges Court To Make FDA Block Entresto Generic
Novartis says the U.S. Food & Drug Administration has made a drug marketing exclusivity window "meaningless" and wants a D.C. federal judge to block a rival from selling a generic drug that would compete with its blockbuster heart medication Entresto.
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March 21, 2025
NC Top Court Revives Constitutional Claim In Forced Vax Suit
The North Carolina Supreme Court Friday partially revived a family's lawsuit alleging a 14-year-old was given a COVID-19 vaccine without his parents' consent, saying a federal law that shields certain activity aimed at resolving the spread of disease during a public health emergency covers tort injuries, not state constitutional violations.
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March 21, 2025
New Mexico 麻豆传媒makers Approve Medical Psilocybin Bill
New Mexico lawmakers have given final approval to legislation to create a regulated medical psilocybin program, sending the proposal to the governor's desk.
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March 21, 2025
Idaho Hospital Wins Reprieve From State Abortion Ban
Idaho's near-total abortion ban "must yield" to a federal requirement that doctors provide emergency abortions for pregnant women facing severe injuries, an Idaho federal judge ruled.
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March 20, 2025
Texas Says Planned Parenthood Can't Get Atty Immunity
Texas has urged the full Fifth Circuit to reconsider a panel's decision concluding that Planned Parenthood is entitled to attorney immunity in a whistleblower suit accusing the organization of improperly billing Medicaid programs, saying state-law attorney immunity doesn't apply.
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March 20, 2025
8th Circ. Won't Pause FTC's Insulin Pricing Case
The Eighth Circuit refused Thursday to pause the Federal Trade Commission's in-house case accusing Caremark Rx, Express Scripts and OptumRx of artificially inflating insulin prices while the pharmacy benefit managers challenge the constitutionality of the proceedings.
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March 20, 2025
MiMedx Challenges FDA Classification Of Wound Care Powder
Biomedical company MiMedx Group urged a Georgia federal judge on Thursday to overturn the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's classification of a wound care treatment as a biological product, arguing the agency misapplied its own regulations.
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March 20, 2025
4th Circ. Seems Open To Reviving Pregnant Worker's Bias Suit
The Fourth Circuit seemed receptive Thursday to a former hospital worker's argument that she was unlawfully fired for a pregnancy-related disability, pondering whether the lower court had relied on an outdated interpretation of disability bias law when it tossed her case.
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March 20, 2025
6th Circ. Judge Skeptical Of Mich. Newborn Screening Ruling
A Sixth Circuit panel questioned Thursday if Michigan's practice of holding onto blood samples collected through a newborn health screening program violates parents' rights to make medical decisions for their children, with one judge saying he didn't see evidence for that proposition.
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March 19, 2025
Abortion Case May Be Just The Start For Empowered Paxton
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's announcement of the first criminal charges under the state's abortion ban comes amid a political shift in which lawmakers are increasingly willing to empower the state's top legal office, potentially setting up a court battle over how much clout the AG should wield.
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March 19, 2025
Judge Questions Standing In DEI Executive Orders Challenge
A D.C. federal judge on Wednesday questioned whether three civil rights nonprofits have standing to block the Trump administration's executive orders ending federal diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility programs and cutting off funding for groups focused on minority populations.
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March 19, 2025
Utah Hospital Can't Nix EMTALA Claim In Suicide Attempt Suit
A Utah federal court denied a hospital's second attempt to toss a patient's claim under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, finding that facts remain in dispute regarding the patient's admittance and subsequent transfer to another facility following a suicide attempt.
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March 19, 2025
Amazon's PillPack Agrees To Pay $6.5M To End TCPA Suit
The lead plaintiff has asked a Washington federal judge to approve a $6.5 million settlement to end a class action alleging Amazon.com affiliate PillPack LLC was responsible for unsolicited telemarketing calls that violated a federal consumer law restricting robocalls and texts.
Expert Analysis
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FDA Warning Letter Tightens Reins On 'Research Only' Labels
A recent warning letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to Agena Bioscience alleged the company鈥檚 diagnostic devices were labeled for research use only, but improperly promoted for human clinical purposes, signifying a reinforcement 鈥 and a potential narrowing 鈥 of the agency's policy on products labeled 鈥渞esearch only,鈥 say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
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First 10b5-1 Insider Trading Case Raises Compliance Issues
The ongoing case against former Ontrak CEO Terren Peizer is the U.S. Department of Justice's first insider trading prosecution based primarily on the filing of 10b5-1 plans, and has important takeaways for attorneys reviewing corporate policies on the possession of material nonpublic information, say attorneys at Cadwalader.
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Policy Misrepresentations Carry Insurance Rescission Risks
The Second Circuit's recent decision in Medical Mutual v. Gnik, finding that material misrepresentation in a clinic's insurance applications warranted policy rescission, is a clear example of the far-reaching effects that misrepresentations can have and provides a reminder that policyholders should employ relatively straightforward steps to decrease risks, say attorneys at Hunton.
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The Pros And Cons Of NIST's Proposed March-In Framework
Recent comments for and against the National Institute of Standards and Technology鈥檚 proposed guidance on march-in rights 鈥 which permit the government to seize federally funded patents 鈥 highlight how the framework may promote competition, but could also pose a risk to contractors and universities, say Nick Lee and Paul Ragusa at Baker Botts.
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2 Recent Suits Show Resiliency Of Medicare Drug Price 麻豆传媒
Though pharmaceutical companies continue to file lawsuits challenging the Inflation Reduction Act, which enables the federal government to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices, recent decisions suggest that the reduced drug prices are likely here to stay, says Jose Vela Jr. at Clark Hill.
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Defense Attys Must Prep For Imminent AI Crime Enforcement
Given recent statements by U.S. Department of Justice officials, white collar practitioners should expect to encounter artificial intelligence in federal criminal enforcement in the near term, even in pending cases, say Jarrod Schaeffer and Scott Glicksman at Abell Eskew.
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Lessons For Nursing Facilities From DOJ Fraud Settlement
The U.S. Department of Justice's recent settlement with the owner of skilled nursing and assisted living facilities in Florida provides a cautionary tale of potential fraud risks, and lessons on how facilities can mitigate government enforcement actions, say Callan Stein and Rebecca Younker at Troutman Pepper.
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HHS' Updated Tracking Tech Guidance Offers Little Clarity
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights' updated guidance on the use of online tracking technologies appears more focused on legal issues raised in ongoing litigation with the American Hospital Association and less on practical guidance for covered entities, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
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Takeaways From The 2023 DOJ Fraud Section Report
Attorneys at Wiley discuss notable trends from the U.S. Department of Justice's recently reported Fraud Section activity last year and highlight areas of enforcement to watch for in the future, including healthcare fraud and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations.
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NIST March-In Framework Is As Problematic As 2021 Proposal
While the National Institute of Standards and Technology's proposed march-in framework on when the government can seize patents has been regarded as a radical departure that will support lowering prescription drug costs, the language at the heart of it is identical to a failed 2021 notice of proposed rulemaking, says attorney Kelly Morron.
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Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents
Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.
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The Road Ahead For Florida's Drug Importation Program
Though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Florida's drug importation program in January, a series of hurdles 鈥 including requisite buy-in from Canada 鈥 and potential legal challenges must be addressed before importation can begin, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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Assessing CDC's Revised Guideline On Opioid Prescriptions
Kenneth Weinstein, Nicholas Van Niel and Kate Uthe at Analysis Group look at newly available data to evaluate the impact that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's revised opioid monitoring guideline have had on prescription trends in recent years, highlighting both specific and overall decreases.