Policy & Compliance
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October 22, 2025
Ed Dept. Must Face States' Case Over Mental Health Grants
A Seattle federal judge declined to throw out a lawsuit accusing the U.S. Department of Education of illegally discontinuing grants for student mental health programming, recognizing that Washington and other states have valid claims that the move will cut them off from money meant for reducing violence in schools.
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October 22, 2025
States Back Boston Hospital In Fight Over Trans Care Records
A group of states backed a Boston hospital in its bid to block the Trump administration from accessing transgender care records, warning a federal judge that allowing the government's request could expose a wide variety of doctors to criminal charges.
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October 22, 2025
Obstetrician's Win Upheld In 'Outrageous Terminology' Suit
A Georgia Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld a trial court's decision that an Atlanta obstetrician's allegedly "outrageous terminology" wasn't "extreme and dangerous," and that she didn't intentionally inflict emotional distress when she told a couple their stillborn child had been "decapitated" during delivery.
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October 22, 2025
DOJ Pushes To Pause DACA Health Suit Due To Shutdown
Pointing to the government shutdown, the U.S. Department of Justice asked a North Dakota federal judge to pause litigation over a regulation that allowed immigrants brought to the U.S. as children without authorization to access Affordable Care Act health coverage.
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October 21, 2025
Novo Nordisk Says Officials Not Qualified To Doubt Drug Bills
Attorneys for Novo Nordisk Inc. on Tuesday sought to undercut witness testimony that Medicaid claims in Washington state for the company's hemophilia drug NovoSeven were shockingly high, leading one state auditor to suspect fraud.
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October 21, 2025
Anesthesia Giant Cuts Deals To End Hospital Antitrust Cases
North America's largest anesthesia provider has reached settlements ending antitrust claims from hospitals in New York and Florida as well as counterclaims accusing the hospitals of illegally recruiting away clinicians, according to court filings.
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October 21, 2025
MAHA Insider Talks 'Fever Point' For Healthcare
A MAHA insider says the healthcare industry should be prepared amid a massive cultural shift on health issues.
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October 21, 2025
Healthcare Laws This Week: Drug Pricing, AI And Aid In Dying
Law360 Healthcare Authority looks at a proposal by congressional Democrats to scale back Medicare price negotiation exemptions for so-called orphan drugs, new chatbot safeguards enacted in California to prevent youth suicide and other legislative developments affecting the healthcare industry this week.
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October 21, 2025
4th Circ. Backs Hospital's Firing Of Christian Vaccine Refuser
The Fourth Circuit declined Tuesday to reinstate a lawsuit from a hospital worker who claimed she was illegally fired for refusing to get immunized against COVID-19 because of her Christian faith, agreeing with the hospital that letting her remain unvaccinated would have put patients at risk.
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October 21, 2025
Calif. Court Backs Birth Battery Claim, Split On Gender Abuse
A California appeals court has reinstated a medical battery lawsuit brought by a woman who accused her obstetrician of forcing an unwanted procedure on her during childbirth, but the court rejected her claim that the act constituted gender-based violence, prompting a sharp judicial dissent.
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October 21, 2025
Supreme Court Medina Ruling Erodes Public Health Networks
Healthcare advocates in more than a dozen states are bracing for Planned Parenthood's ouster from public benefit programs after a U.S. Supreme Court decision in June.
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October 21, 2025
Texas Doctor Vows Court Battle After Ivermectin Sanction
Four years after a confrontation outside a Fort Worth hospital, the Texas Medical Board reprimanded a doctor who arranged to have ivermectin delivered to a COVID-19 patient. Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, a vocal critic of vaccine mandates and a frequent litigant, says she's ready for more legal battles.
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October 21, 2025
'Ghost' Mental Health Providers Haunt Medicare Advantage
A new federal report looks at a widespread problem within Medicare Advantage and Medicaid managed care plans of networks riddled with "ghost providers."
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October 20, 2025
Drugmakers Say Conn. Law Illegally Extends Beyond State
A group of generic drug manufacturers has asked a Connecticut federal court to block the enforcement of a new price-control law against sales that occur outside of Connecticut, claiming that the law violates the U.S. Constitution.
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October 20, 2025
Tylenol Maker Tells FDA Not To Add Autism Warning
Tylenol maker Kenvue on Friday told the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to reject a call to add warnings about the risk of using acetaminophen during pregnancy, saying that "expansive" scientific evidence shows there is no proven link between the over-the-counter drug and autism.
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October 20, 2025
Lab Cos. Seek $542M For COVID Testing Reimbursement
Three New York-based COVID-19 testing companies sued the federal government in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims seeking more than $542 million in damages over the government's alleged refusal to reimburse them for providing testing services to uninsured individuals.
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October 20, 2025
21 AGs Back Planned Parenthood In Funding Freeze Fight
A coalition of attorneys general from 21 Democrat-led states chimed in on Monday in support of Planned Parenthood's case challenging the Trump administration's push to cut off Medicaid reimbursements to its centers and affiliates, saying more than a million people could lose healthcare access if the First Circuit doesn't halt the move.
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October 20, 2025
Justices Won't Review Repeat Indictment For Medicare Fraud
The U.S. Supreme Court let stand Monday the repeat indictment of a health clinic manager for what the Second Circuit called a massive, yearslong scheme to submit false claims to Medicare and Medicaid, effectively rejecting the manager's claims that his original trial was irreparably delayed.
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October 20, 2025
Top Court Won't Hear Chicago Hospital's Medicaid Dispute
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to review a decision by the full Seventh Circuit holding that a Chicago hospital can't sue the state of Illinois to force the managed care organizations it contracts with to make timely Medicaid payments, rejecting a petition that argued another case on the high court's docket "will likely decide the outcome" in this one.
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October 20, 2025
High Court Won't Hear Hospital Vax Mandate Case
The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it won't review a decision backing a hospital's termination of a group of workers who refused to get COVID-19 vaccinations.
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October 20, 2025
Justices Won't Review Merck's Immunity From Vaccine Claims
The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to review a decision immunizing Merck & Co. from claims that it blocked competition by making false submissions to federal regulators for its mumps vaccine.
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October 17, 2025
Nursing Exec Denied New Trial On Wage-Fixing Claims
A Nevada federal judge has denied a new trial to a nursing executive convicted of wage-fixing conspiracy and wire fraud after he claimed the U.S. Department of Justice misled the jury about sweetheart terms of a cooperation deal with another company.
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October 17, 2025
Texas Appeals Court Revives Yelp Abortion Notice Suit
The statewide Texas appeals court revived Texas' claims that Yelp misled customers about crisis pregnancy centers' limited services, finding that a lower court got it wrong by tossing the suit for lack of personal jurisdiction.
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October 17, 2025
CVS Can't Dodge Tobacco Surcharge Suit, Employee Says
CVS shouldn't be allowed to escape a proposed class action claiming it illegally charged higher fees to health plan participants and their spouses due to their use of tobacco, an employee argued Friday, urging a California federal court to reject the company's assertion that he didn't have standing.
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October 17, 2025
NJ Parents Keep Fighting State Over Storage Of Babies' DNA
Across the U.S., health departments draw small blood samples from newborns' heels to test for metabolic and genetic disorders. After a new mother discovered that New Jersey police had used DNA extracted from such samples in criminal investigations, she signed on as plaintiff in a suit that says parents have a right to refuse these blood draws.
Expert Analysis
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Tips For Pharma-Biotech Overlap Reporting In New HSR Form
While there’s no secret recipe for reporting overlaps to the Federal Trade Commission in the new Hart-Scott-Rodino Act form, there are several layers of considerations for all pharma-biotech companies and counsel to reflect on internally before reporting on any deal, say attorneys at A&O Shearman.
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A Look At Drug Price Negotiation Program's Ongoing Impact
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.
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Preparing For A Possible End To The Subminimum Wage
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.
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Drug Pricing Policy Trends To Expect In 2025 And Beyond
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.
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Top 10 Healthcare And Life Sciences Issues To Watch In 2025
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.
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4 Keys To Litigating In An Active Regulatory Environment
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.
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How Views On Healthcare Price Transparency Are Changing
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.
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EEOC Wearable Tech Guidance Highlights Monitoring Scrutiny
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.
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Navigating The Potential End Of GLP-1 Drug Shortages
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.
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Politicized OIGs Could Target Federal Employees, Contractors
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.
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Takeaways From DOJ Fraud Section's 2024 Year In Review
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.
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IVF Suits Highlight Need For Better Legal Frameworks
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.
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Takeaways From FDA's Updated Confirmatory Trial Guidance
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.