Policy & Compliance

  • January 08, 2026

    Walgreens Gets $392K Sanction Against Blue Cross Insurers

    A Chicago federal judge on Thursday ordered a host of Blue Cross Blue Shield insurers to pay Walgreens more than $392,000 in attorney fees and expenses for discovery misconduct in their suit that accuses the drugstore company of fraudulently overcharging for prescription drugs.

  • January 08, 2026

    9th Circ. Redo Raises New Issues On Abortion Coverage Law

    A Ninth Circuit panel that previously sided with Washington in a church's challenge to a state law mandating employer health coverage of abortion services voiced fresh concerns about both sides' positions when revisiting the case Thursday, roughly six months after rescinding the initial opinion without explanation.

  • January 08, 2026

    Ex-UnitedHealth GC Joins WilmerHale As Partner In London

    After more than 25 years as a general counsel handling some of the direst corporate crises imaginable, former UnitedHealth Group general counsel Rupert Bondy is returning to London to co-lead WilmerHale's crisis management and strategic response group.

  • January 07, 2026

    Potomac Law Adds Former DOJ, HHS Civil Rights Atty

    Potomac Law Group has hired a healthcare attorney with over 15 years working on LGBTQ+ protections and other civil rights issues at the Justice Department and the Department of Health and Human Services.

  • January 07, 2026

    Covenant Health Sued Over Patient Data Security Breach

    Nonprofit healthcare system Covenant Health Inc. has been hit with a proposed class action over a data breach that reportedly compromised the information of nearly half a million people.

  • January 06, 2026

    8th Circ. Revives Jail Suicide Suit Against Mental Health Org.

    An Eighth Circuit panel unanimously revived a lawsuit Tuesday by the family of an Iowa jail inmate who died by suicide, holding that a jury could find that a mental health provider's alleged incomplete report to jail staff put the inmate at greater risk.  

  • January 06, 2026

    Judge Hints Conn. Dentist's Press Release Claims Lack Teeth

    A Connecticut appellate judge seemed to doubt Tuesday that a dentist had asserted clear constitutional claims against state officials who issued a press release about his $300,000 False Claims Act settlement, suggesting the case might actually sound in defamation.

  • January 06, 2026

    Bankrupt Hospital Wants Out Of $3B BCBS Antitrust Deal

    A bankrupt Alabama hospital is asking a federal judge to allow it to drop out of a $2.8 billion antitrust class action settlement with Blue Cross Blue Shield, saying it may be forced to shut down unless it can pursue separate relief in bankruptcy court.

  • January 06, 2026

    The Future of The 340B Rebate Pilot

    A federal judge halted a new 340B pilot program, handing a win for safety net healthcare providers. Healthcare attorneys say it's too early for providers to celebrate.

  • January 06, 2026

    Cigna Accused Of Rigging Market For Life-Saving Drugs

    Patients with chronic health conditions sued Cigna in an Illinois federal court alleging in a proposed class action Tuesday that the company and its pharmacy and pharmacy benefit manager subsidiaries use exclusive agreements to lock users into a network where Byzantine refill processes have been deliberately erected to limit payouts for life-saving drugs.

  • January 06, 2026

    FTC Signals Support Of Miss. Bill For Midwives' Solo Practice

    A Federal Trade Commission official on Monday encouraged a Mississippi lawmaker to keep in mind the possible motives of opponents of proposed legislation that would exempt midwives from having to contract with physicians to provide advanced-level nursing care.

  • January 06, 2026

    GAO IDs 4 Funding Programs As Lacking Fraud Controls

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office has identified four federal agency funding programs as having failed to incorporate certain key requirements and leading practices meant to oversee and prevent fraud, waste and abuse in awards. 

  • January 06, 2026

    1st Circ. Questions Feds' Mootness Claim In NIH Grant Suits

    The First Circuit appeared to push back Tuesday on assertions by the government that new guidance for terminating medical research grants over supposed links to issues like DEI, gender identity and vaccines — along with a partial settlement last week — moot a pair of lawsuits challenging the directives.

  • January 06, 2026

    RFK Jr. Can't Avoid Medical Groups' Challenge To Vax Policy

    A Boston federal judge on Tuesday rebuffed U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s bid to dismiss a challenge to vaccine policy changes, saying medical associations have plausibly alleged a federal vaccine committee is not fairly balanced.

  • January 06, 2026

    NJ Judge Signals Green Light To Revive J&J Unit's Libel Suit

    A New Jersey federal judge has indicated she is planning to grant a bankrupt Johnson & Johnson talc subsidiary's bid to revive its trade libel claim over a scientific article linking asbestos in talc to mesothelioma.

  • January 06, 2026

    Public Health Atty Talks Botulism, Infants And FDA Staffing

    Three years ago, a bacterial outbreak at a Michigan manufacturing plant sparked a shutdown and a national infant formula shortage. Another episode last year at a formula plant in Iowa should be a red flag for the public and a short-handed FDA, according to Sarah Sorscher of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

  • January 06, 2026

    Wyo. High Court Strikes Down 2 Laws Restricting Abortion

    The Wyoming Supreme Court struck down the state's near-total abortion ban and a first-of-its-kind prohibition on abortion pills on Tuesday, saying the laws violated the state constitution.

  • January 06, 2026

    Ore. Leads Coalition Defending Trans Care: 5 Things To Know

    Oregon is drawing on state statutory protections for transgender patients as it leads a coalition states in a new challenge to the Trump administration. Law360 looks at what you need to know about the complaint.

  • January 06, 2026

    Healthcare Litigator Moves Practice To Troutman In Philly

    A litigator specializing in healthcare and product liability cases has joined Troutman Pepper Locke LLP's Philadelphia office after practicing for more than six years with Campbell Conroy & O'Neil PC.

  • January 06, 2026

    Teva Gets Claims Trimmed Ahead Of IUD MDL Bellwether Trial

    A Georgia federal judge has trimmed some claims from a bellwether trial against original manufacturer Teva Pharmaceuticals over alleged defects in the Paragard intrauterine device that a woman says caused her injuries requiring surgery, while allowing some failure to warn, design defect and punitive damages claims to proceed.

  • January 05, 2026

    US Chamber Gets Expedited Appeal In $100,000 H-1B Fee Suit

    The D.C. Circuit on Monday fast-tracked the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's appeal of a ruling that a $100,000 fee for new H-1B petitions was within President Donald Trump's "broad authority" to restrict noncitizens' entry.

  • January 05, 2026

    1st Circ. Upholds Block On Trump Admin NIH Funding Cuts

    The First Circuit on Monday affirmed a Massachusetts federal judge's order permanently blocking the Trump administration from gutting National Institutes of Health funding for biomedical research, agreeing that the government didn't have the authority to cap indirect costs for research grants.

  • January 05, 2026

    Exelon, Nursing Home Operator Sued Over Fatal Explosion

    PECO Energy Co., its parent company Exelon Corp. and multiple healthcare entities were hit with a lawsuit on Monday alleging they knew about gas leaks that led to a fatal nursing home explosion in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, that killed two and injured over a dozen more, but failed to act in time.

  • January 05, 2026

    Health Officials Roll Back Child Vaccine Recommendations

    Amid public outcry, federal health officials on Monday revised vaccine recommendations for American children, cutting the number from 18 to 11 and bringing the United States in line with other developed countries such as Denmark. 

  • January 05, 2026

    Ind. Sues Eli Lilly Over 'Grossly Inflated' Insulin Prices

    Indiana's attorney general on Monday announced a state court suit against Eli Lilly alleging it schemed to artificially inflate the price of insulin, saying the litigation follows two years of ultimately unsuccessful attempts to resolve the matter without litigation against the drug manufacturer.

Expert Analysis

  • A Look At Drug Price Negotiation Program's Ongoing Impact

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    More than two years after the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and the rapid implementation of the drug price negotiation program, attorneys at Ropes & Gray discuss how the IRA has influenced licensing strategies, and how maximum fair prices under the law have economically affected certain drugs.

  • Preparing For A Possible End To The Subminimum Wage

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    The U.S. Department of Labor's proposed rule to end the subminimum wage for employees with disabilities may significantly affect the community-based rehabilitation and training programs that employ these workers, so certified programs should be especially vigilant about compliance during this period of evaluation and scrutiny, say attorneys at Jackson Lewis.

  • Drug Pricing Policy Trends To Expect In 2025 And Beyond

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    Though 2025 may bring more of the same in the realm of drug pricing policy, business as usual entails a sustained, high level of legal and policy developments across at least six major areas, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Top 10 Healthcare And Life Sciences Issues To Watch In 2025

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    Under the new Trump administration, this coming year may benefit some healthcare and life sciences stakeholders, while creating new challenges for others amid an increasingly complex regulatory environment, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • 4 Keys To Litigating In An Active Regulatory Environment

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    For companies facing litigation influenced by government regulatory action — a recent trend that a politically charged atmosphere will exacerbate — there are a few principles that can help to align litigation strategy with broader public positioning in the regulatory and oversight context, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • How Views On Healthcare Price Transparency Are Changing

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    Regulators' attitudes toward price transparency regulation have shifted over the past several years in ways that may seem contradictory, and research into detailed rate information published by hospitals and health plans has yielded mixed results, says Matthew List at Charles River Associates.

  • EEOC Wearable Tech Guidance Highlights Monitoring Scrutiny

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    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's recent fact sheet on wearable technologies cautions against potential issues with federal anti-discrimination laws and demonstrates growing concern from regulators and legislators about intrusive technologies in the workplace, say attorneys at Littler.

  • Navigating The Potential End Of GLP-1 Drug Shortages

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    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's determination of whether GLP-1 products are in shortage may affect how compounders provide these products and spur a range of litigation including patent disputes and unfair competition suits, say attorneys at Goodwin.

  • Politicized OIGs Could Target Federal Employees, Contractors

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    After President Donald Trump fired nearly 20 inspectors general last week, it’s worth exploring how the administration could use Offices of Inspectors General to target federal employees and contractors, why it would be difficult to fight this effort, and one possible bulwark against the politicization of these watchdogs, says Sara Kropf at Kropf Moseley.

  • Takeaways From DOJ Fraud Section's 2024 Year In Review

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    Attorneys at Paul Weiss highlight notable developments in the U.S. Department of Justice Fraud Section’s recently released annual report, and discuss what the second Trump administration could mean for enforcement in the year to come.

  • IVF Suits Highlight Need For Better Legal Frameworks

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    The high number of in vitro fertilization embryo losses underscores the need for more cohesive legal and regulatory guidance related to human errors, property versus personhood, and liability, says Jeff Korek at Gersowitz Libo.

  • Takeaways From FDA's Updated Confirmatory Trial Guidance

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    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's latest draft guidance about accelerated drug approval indicates the FDA's intent to address the significant lag time between accelerated approval and full approval of drugs and may help motivate the industry to complete confirmatory trials, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • A Look At FDA's Plans To Establish New OTC Drug Category

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    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's recently finalized rule, creating a new over-the-counter pathway for drugs when patients satisfy certain conditions, may be useful for off-patent drugs with established safety records, though switching to OTC comes with additional costs and considerations, say attorneys at Skadden.