Policy & Compliance

  • May 26, 2026

    Seattle Hospital Loses Appeal Of Dr.'s $21M Race Bias Verdict

    A Washington Court of Appeals panel Tuesday upheld a $21 million verdict against Seattle Children's Hospital in a Black ex-medical director's lawsuit claiming he faced racism in the workplace and retaliation for complaining about systemic inequities, ruling "substantial evidence" justified the jury's findings and damages award.

  • May 26, 2026

    New Suits Target DOJ Release, Loan Rule And More

    Law360 Healthcare Authority looks at new suits filed over the past week, including a $50 million suit over the U.S. Justice Department's handling of a criminal case against Maryland doctors and another challenge over the U.S. Department of Education's rule altering federal student loan eligibility.

  • May 26, 2026

    Meet The Attys For Health Orgs. Fighting Ed. Dept. Loan Caps

    A group of healthcare organizations has tapped a new law firm founded by a former Biden administration attorney to challenge a U.S. Department of Education rule that restricts student loan eligibility for some degree programs. 

  • May 26, 2026

    6th Circ. Rejects Mich. Reproductive Rights Challenge

    Abortion opponents and several parents lack standing to sue top Michigan officials, the Sixth Circuit said Tuesday, affirming dismissal of a suit challenging the state's voter approved reproductive rights amendment.

  • May 26, 2026

    9th Circ. Backs Reinstating DEI Grants Nixed By Trump

    The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday partially upheld a lower court's preliminary injunction and class certification orders in litigation from University of California researchers against President Donald Trump, backing the reinstatement of grants terminated due to presidential orders against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives while reversing the injunction for those grants that were rescinded without explanation.

  • May 26, 2026

    Conn. Drug Price Law Still Allows Hikes, 2nd Circ. Told

    Wholesale distributors that abide by Connecticut's drug price cap law can hike the cost of their other products to ensure they don't suffer losses, the state told the Second Circuit Tuesday, raising the ire of the companies trying to invalidate the new statute.

  • May 26, 2026

    DOJ Escalates Gender Care Probes With Criminal Subpoenas

    Facing mounting court losses in challenges to civil subpoenas, justice officials escalated the Trump administration's opposition to gender care providers with a grand jury's criminal subpoena.

  • May 26, 2026

    Squires' Institution Flips Are Increasing Uncertainty At PTAB

    U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires has created a record low institution rate at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and attorneys say it's becoming increasingly clear that even an initial approval from the director may not last.

  • May 26, 2026

    Judge Tosses Anti-Pot Suit Over CMS Hemp Benefits Program

    A D.C. federal judge has thrown out a challenge to a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services program to give Medicare beneficiaries access to federally legal hemp products, finding none of the groups or individuals who aimed to block the program have standing.

  • May 22, 2026

    Law360 Reveals Titans Of The Plaintiffs Bar

    This past year, 10 lawyers across the country at plaintiffs' firms big and small helped secure millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts for their clients, going up against powerful defendants like Google, Monsanto and the Trump administration, earning the attorneys recognition as Law360's Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar for 2026.

  • May 22, 2026

    Healthcare Orgs Push DC Court To Block Student Loan Caps

    Professional organizations representing nurses, therapists, public health workers and educators urged a District of Columbia federal court on Thursday to block a rule by the U.S. Department of Education restricting federal student loan eligibility for a host of degree programs, arguing it exceeded the department's authority.

  • May 22, 2026

    Hospital Pulls $1M Medicare Suit Against UnitedHealthcare

    A Connecticut hospital has dropped a lawsuit alleging UnitedHealthcare owed it more than $1 million after refusing to correct errors in Medicare Advantage cost calculations, state court records show.

  • May 22, 2026

    Trump's Melding Of Politics, Antitrust Hard To Roll Back

    Environmental initiatives, diversity programs, anti-misinformation efforts and gender-affirming care have become central targets for President Donald Trump's antitrust enforcers in what observers say is an increasing trend of politically tinged competition enforcement.

  • May 21, 2026

    PBM Swaps Cravath For WilmerHale In Price-Fixing Suit

    Pharmacy benefit manager Prime Therapeutics LLC has replaced counsel Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP with WilmerHale and another firm in an antitrust case in Michigan federal court brought by the state's attorney general.

  • May 21, 2026

    9th Circ. Told To Reject J&J Unit's $442M Antitrust Appeal

    Cardiac catheter refurbisher Innovative Health urged the Ninth Circuit to reject the appeal from Johnson & Johnson's Biosense Webster unit seeking to upend its $442 million antitrust judgment, saying the lower court rightly found that Biosense forced hospitals to avoid refurbished catheters in favor of its own.

  • May 21, 2026

    FTC's Gender Care Policy Might Not Sink Probe, Judge Says

    A D.C. federal judge wondered Thursday whether it would set a bad precedent for future commissions to label the Federal Trade Commission's investigative demand to the American Academy of Pediatrics as "retaliatory" just because agency officials have issued a policy statement attacking gender-affirming care for minors.

  • May 21, 2026

    Medical Practice Calls $49M Missed Cancer Verdict 'Unjust'

    The Westchester Medical Group PC has asked a Connecticut state judge to find most of a $49 million jury verdict "excessive, unjust, and entirely disproportionate" to claims its staff repeatedly failed to diagnose cancer despite multiple warning signs, calling the award punitive and not supported by the evidence.

  • May 20, 2026

    2nd Circ. Skeptical Of Bid To Boost Drug Royalty Award

    A Second Circuit panel appeared unsympathetic during oral arguments on Wednesday to Acorda Therapeutics Inc.'s assertion that it should be awarded nearly $66 million beyond the $16.5 million it won in a multiple sclerosis drug dispute, with one judge remarking that the company is "kind of in the soup" because it chose arbitration.

  • May 20, 2026

    Refusing Sandoz Parent Dismissal 'Clear Error,' Court Told

    Sandoz's Swiss parent company wants a Pennsylvania federal judge to rethink her decision forcing it to face generic drug price-fixing claims from major employers like General Motors, arguing the court "conflates" Novartis AG with Sandoz AG, which was spun off in 2023.

  • May 20, 2026

    NY Hospital Strikes Deal In Suit Over Retirement Plan Lineup

    A Long Island hospital agreed to settle a proposed class action alleging it cost workers millions of dollars in savings by loading its employee retirement plan with costly and underperforming investment options, according to a filing in New York federal court Wednesday.

  • May 20, 2026

    Va. Will Require Employers To Provide Paid Sick Leave

    Workers in Virginia will soon be entitled to paid sick leave after Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed a bill Wednesday that requires employers to provide five days of paid time off for employees who get sick or have to care for a family member.

  • May 20, 2026

    Pa. AG Aims To Revive Ban On Medicaid-Paid Abortions

    Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday plans to fight an appellate panel's ruling that Medicaid-funded abortions are a fundamental right to reproductive autonomy in the state.

  • May 20, 2026

    Bass Berry Adds Crowell & Moring Healthcare Atty In DC

    Bass Berry & Sims PLC has hired a former Crowell & Moring LLP partner, who in her last role represented a healthcare insurer against whistleblower claims that it participated in a kickback scheme involving Medicare Advantage customers.

  • May 19, 2026

    New Suits Target Fed. Loan Rule, CVS 340B Rates And More

    Law360 Healthcare Authority looks at new lawsuits targeting a U.S. Department of Education rule limiting loans available to students in nursing and other healthcare programs, CVS reimbursement practices for safety net providers under the federal 340B drug discount program and more.

  • May 19, 2026

    Cigna Can't Knock Out 401(k) Forfeiture, Fund Suit

    Cigna can't escape a proposed class action alleging that underperforming investment offerings and misallocated forfeitures in its employee 401(k) plan cost workers millions, after a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled Tuesday that alleged violations of federal benefits law were sufficiently backed up to reach discovery.

Expert Analysis

  • Unique Aspects Of Texas' Approach To AI Regulation

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    The Texas Responsible AI Governance Act — which will soon be the sole comprehensive artificial intelligence law in the U.S. — pulls threads from EU and Colorado laws but introduces more targeted rules with fewer obligations on commercial entities, say attorneys at MVA Law.

  • Surveying The Healthcare Policy Landscape Post-Shutdown

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    With last week's agreement to reopen the federal government, at least through the end of January, key healthcare legislation that has been in limbo since a December 2024 spending bill fell apart may recapture the attention of Congress, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • FDA Biosimilar Guidance Should Ease Biologics Development

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    New draft guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, indicating that the agency may no longer routinely require comparative efficacy studies when other evidence provides sufficient assurance of biosimilarity, underscores the FDA's trust in analytical technology as a driver of biologics access, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

  • Prison Body Cams Raise Health Privacy Compliance Issues

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    The increasing use of prison staff body cameras to enhance transparency and safety presents correctional healthcare partners with new risk management questions where they must carefully reconcile the benefits of surveillance with the imperative to protect patient privacy, say attorneys at Gordon Rees.

  • Employer Considerations After 11th Circ. Gender Care Ruling

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    The Eleventh Circuit's en banc decision in Lange v. Houston County, Georgia, finding that a health plan did not violate Title VII by excluding coverage for gender-affirming care, shows that plans must be increasingly cognizant of federal and state liability as states pass varying mandates, say attorneys at Miller & Chevalier.

  • How Healthcare Practices Can Prepare For ICE Visits

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    Healthcare providers that may face encounters with immigration enforcement should familiarize themselves with compliance obligations beyond ensuring employment authorization, and mitigate risk by establishing clear policies and specific procedures that safeguard patient rights and manage staff interactions with agents, say attorneys at Roetzel & Andress.

  • Adapting To Calif.'s Enhanced Regulation Of PE In Healthcare

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    New California legislation enhances oversight on the role of private equity groups and hedge funds in healthcare transactions, featuring both a highly targeted nature and vague language that will require organizations to carefully evaluate existing practices, says Andrew Demetriou at Husch Blackwell.

  • Lessons From 7th Circ. Decision Affirming $183M FCA Verdict

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    The Seventh Circuit's decision to uphold a $183 million False Claims Act award against Eli Lilly engages substantively with recurring materiality and scienter questions and provides insights into appellate review of complex trial court judgments, say Ellen London at London & Naor, Li Yu at Bernstein Litowitz and Kimberly Friday at Osborn Maledon.

  • Calif. Justices Continued Anti-Arbitration Trend This Term

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    In the 2024-2025 term, the California Supreme Court justices continued to narrow arbitration's reach under state law, despite state courts' extreme caseload backlog and even as they embraced contractual autonomy in other contexts, says Josephine Petrick at The Norton Law Firm.

  • Steps For Healthcare Providers After Cigna ERISA Settlement

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    Following the Cigna class action's settlement, where Employee Retirement Income Security Act violations arose from Cigna's online provider directory advertising providers as in-network who were actually out-of-network, providers should routinely audit their contract status and directory listings, and proactively coordinate with plans and payor partners, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • What's New In FDA's Latest Cell And Gene Therapy Guidance

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    New draft guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, along with other recent initiatives, come together to promote cell and gene therapy product development by streamlining development and review pathways, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Adapting To Enforcement Focus On Wound Care Fraud

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    As federal agencies target wound care industry fraud as a top enforcement priority, attorneys advising industry stakeholders should evaluate business relationships for Anti-Kickback Statute violations, emphasize appropriate product use and documentation, and use internal data analytics to monitor billing patterns, say David Tarras at Tarras Defense and Jay McCormack at Verrill Dana.

  • AG Watch: Illinois A Key Player In State-Level Enforcement

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    Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has systematically strengthened his office to fill federal enforcement gaps, oppose Trump administration mandates and advance state policy objectives, particularly by aggressively pursuing labor-related issues, say attorneys at Troutman.