Policy & Compliance
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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January 05, 2026
Trump Backs Biden's Medicare Drug Price Law At High Court
The Trump administration is defending the Biden-era Medicare Drug Price Negotiation program to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the justices to deny AstraZeneca's petition challenging the program as unconstitutional.
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January 05, 2026
Federal Workers Fight Gender-Affirming Coverage Rollback
A group of federal employees has filed a discrimination complaint with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, saying the decision to end coverage for certain gender-affirming medical procedures under the workers' health insurance plans amounted to unlawful sex bias.
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January 02, 2026
Drug Pricing Battles To Watch In 2026
With drugmakers already pushing back on drug affordability programs and policies, Law360 looks at the year ahead for litigation focused on state and federal drug pricing programs.
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January 02, 2026
NC Legislation To Watch In 2026: Healthcare Funding In Focus
A spate of healthcare legislation is on the line as North Carolina lawmakers get ready to return to the General Assembly in January, from tenuous funding for Medicaid and Planned Parenthood to efforts to control the Tar Heel state's skyrocketing healthcare costs.
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January 02, 2026
New Jersey Cases To Watch In 2026
In the coming year, New Jersey litigators will be watching for the outcome of an appeal in a constitutional challenge to school segregation and an employment discrimination case brought by a former Johnson & Johnson attorney.
Expert Analysis
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What's At Stake In High Court Transgender Care Suit
The outcome of U.S. v. Skrmetti will have critical implications for the rights of transgender youth and their access to gender-affirming care, and will likely affect other areas of law and policy involving transgender individuals, including education, employment, healthcare and civil rights, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.
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6 Laws Transforming Calif.'s Health Regulatory Framework
Attorneys at Hooper Lundy discuss a number of new California laws that raise pressing issues for independent physicians and small practice groups, ranging from the use of artificial intelligence to wage standards for healthcare employees.
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Anticipating Calif. Oversight Of PE Participation In Healthcare
A new bill recently introduced in the California Senate revives last year's attempt to increase oversight of healthcare transactions involving private equity groups and hedge funds, meaning that attorneys may soon need to assess the compliance status of existing management relationships and consider modifying contract terms, says Andrew Demetriou at Husch Blackwell.
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Considering The Future Of AI Regulation On Health Sector
As Texas looks to become the next state to pass a comprehensive law regulating artificial intelligence, the healthcare industry should consider how AI regulation will continue to evolve in the U.S. and how industry members can keep up with compliance considerations, say attorneys at Kirkland & Ellis.
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What To Expect From 'Make America Healthy Again' Actions
The Make America Healthy Again Commission recently established by President Donald Trump and chaired by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will potentially bring energy and attention to important public health topics, and stakeholders should be aware of pathways for sharing their input and proactively informing proceedings, says Nicholas Manetto at Faegre Drinker.
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How Citizen Petitions Have Affected Drug Competition
In light of recent citizen petitions and proposed legislation regulating such petitions, Omar Robles at Managing Health analyzes the statistics of the extent to which citizen petitions have been filed, and to what extent they have delayed competition in prescription pharmaceuticals.
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Drug Kickback Ruling Will Make FCA Liability Harder To Prove
The First Circuit's ruling in U.S. v. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, requiring the government to prove but-for causation to establish False Claims Act liability based on violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute, raises the bar for FCA enforcement and deepens a circuit split that the U.S. Supreme Court may need to resolve, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.
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Assessing PE Risk After Mass. False Claims Act Amendments
A law recently passed in Massachusetts amends the commonwealth's False Claims Act by dramatically expanding potential liability for private equity firms and investors, underscoring the importance of robust diligence and risk assessments for private equity firms conducting transactions in the commonwealth, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.
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What Trump Actions Mean For Federal Research Funding
New guidance from the National Institutes of Health represents a massive policy shift regarding federal funding for researchers at institutions of higher education, contributing to a perfect storm of significant resource shortfalls in upcoming years, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.
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A Look At Healthcare Transaction Oversight In Oregon
Understanding Oregon's enforcement authority and its impact on proposed transactions last year provides a road map to the state's plans to strengthen its processes this year, though enforcement could be challenged by ongoing litigation, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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Rethinking 'No Comment' For Clients Facing Public Crises
“No comment” is no longer a cost-free or even a viable public communications strategy for companies in crisis, and counsel must tailor their guidance based on a variety of competing factors to help clients emerge successfully, says Robert Bowers at Moore & Van Allen.
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High Court Must Acknowledge US History Of Anti-Trans Laws
Despite Justice Amy Coney Barrett's claim to the contrary during oral arguments in U.S. v. Skrmetti, U.S. governments at every level have systematically discriminated against transgender people, and the U.S. Supreme Court must consider this historical context in upcoming cases about transgender issues, says Paisley Currah at the City University of New York.
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The Fate Of Biden-Era Clinical Study Guidance Under Trump
Draft guidance about the study of sex and gender differences in medical product development issued by the outgoing Biden administration currently faces significant uncertainty and litigation potential due to the Trump administration's executive orders and other actions, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.