Health

Expert Analysis

• Compliance Tips For Marketing Health Benefits In Alcohol

  

  When it comes to marketing alcohol products around health benefits, such as vitamin-fortified hard seltzer, accurately understanding product classification, along with regulators' stance on individual beverage claims, will make it easier to avoid regulatory risk, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

• Tax-Exempt Orgs, Beware This 403(b) Plan Compliance Pitfall

  

  A recent Internal Revenue Service publication puts 403(b) retirement plan sponsors on notice about a contribution aggregation compliance failure often identified in audits of government and tax-exempt entities, but risk can be minimized by ensuring plan documents and communications address the issue directly, say Greg Needles and Michael Gorman at Morgan Lewis.

• Nursing Homes May See Litigation Spike After 7th Circ. Ruling

  

  The Seventh Circuit’s recent Federal Nursing Home Reform Act ruling in Talevski v. Health and Hospital Corp. opens skilled nursing facilities to federal litigation from private plaintiffs and could require exhaustion of administrative remedies before invoking state or federal court jurisdiction, say Randall Fearnow and Edward Holloran at Quarles & Brady.

• Girardi Scandal Provides Important Ethics Lessons

  

  The litigation and media maelstrom following allegations that famed plaintiffs attorney Thomas Girardi and his law firm misappropriated clients' funds provides myriad ethics and professional responsibility lessons for practitioners, especially with regard to misconduct reporting and liability insurance, says Elizabeth Tuttle Newman at Frankfurt Kurnit.

• How Health Care Cos. Can Untangle Web Of Vaccine Mandates

  

  While health care companies anxiously await further guidance from various federal agencies on overlapping COVID-19 vaccine mandates, there are several steps industry employers can take to tackle the compliance conundrum and prepare for accommodation requests, staffing shortages and other likely challenges, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

• Takeaways From DC Circ. Medicare Overpayment Ruling

  

  The D.C. Circuit's recent decision in UnitedHealth v. Becerra, reinstating a rule that requires Medicare Advantage organizations to refund certain overpayments, is a near-complete victory for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, but arguably abandons the rule's negligence standard, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

• Series

  Embracing ESG: Jabil GC Talks Compliance Preparation

  

  Tried-and-true compliance lessons from recent decades can be applied to companies’ environmental, social and governance efforts, especially with regard to employee training and consistent application of policies — two factors that can create a foundation for ESG criteria to flourish, says Robert Katz at Jabil.

• Corporate Boards' Role In Workplace Vaccine Mandates

  

  Company boards may have a role to play in workplace COVID-19 vaccination mandates, given their duty to manage risks and the growing recognition of employees’ importance to the corporate mission — and effective oversight is key to ensuring a vaccine program doesn't introduce new issues, says Jen Rubin at Mintz.

• Opinion

  Bankruptcy Venue Reform Bill Needs Amending

  

  The Bankruptcy Venue Reform Act, currently pending in Congress, goes too far in limiting Chapter 11 filings to jurisdictions where a debtor's principal assets or headquarters are located; we propose a more targeted solution that considers the current reality of complex corporate structures, say Kenneth Rosen and Philip Gross at Lowenstein Sandler.

• 3 Ways CLOs Can Drive ESG Efforts

  

  Chief legal officers are specially trained to see the legal industry's flaws, and they can leverage that perspective to push their companies toward effective environmental, social and governance engagement, says Mark Chandler at Stanford Law School.

• Qui Tam Order Shows Concern Over FCA Plaintiffs' Leverage

  

  In Jehl v. GGNSC Southaven, a Mississippi federal court's recent decision to sidestep the question of False Claims Act liability in a health care fraud case questions the fairness and appropriateness of the significant leverage provided to plaintiffs in FCA qui tam actions, say Jack Selden and Kya Henley at Bradley Arant.

• 2 Cases Will Help Shape Opioid Litigation Insurance Coverage

  

  Upcoming decisions from the Ohio and Delaware high courts in Acuity v. Masters Pharmaceutical and Rite Aid Corp. v. ACE American Insurance, respectively, on whether insurers must defend policyholders in prescription opioid litigation filed by government entities are sure to provide precedent for resolution of these coverage issues nationwide, say Courtney Horrigan and Kateri Persinger at Reed Smith.

• How To Navigate California's New Intrastate CBD Route

  

  Businesses and consumers should prepare for rigorous compliance checks on manufacture, distribution and retail sale of consumer products made with CBD and other hemp-derived cannabinoids. following California's new law opening the potentially enormous market for these items, says Christian Foote at Clark Hill.

• Why The Future Of Telehealth Parity Remains Murky

  

  Though the federal government, states and private insurers have united during the pandemic in recognizing the value of expanding telehealth access, there is no consensus on the merits of long-term telehealth parity, say Adriana Riviere-Badell and Alexandria Swette at Kobre & Kim.

• How Law Firms Can Rethink Offices In A Post-Pandemic World

  

  Based on their own firm's experiences, Kami Quinn and Adam Farra at Gilbert discuss strategies and unique legal industry considerations for law firms planning hybrid models of remote and in-office work in a post-COVID marketplace.