Policy & Compliance

  • February 02, 2026

    Swedish Health Nears Deal In Hospital Workers Wage Row

    Seattle-area hospital system Swedish Health Services and the workers who were seeking about $126 million from it told a Washington state court that they agreed to settle a suit claiming meal break violations and rounding practices that led to unpaid wages.

  • February 02, 2026

    1st Circ. Judge Wary Of Boston Bid To Revive PBM Opioid Suit

    The city of Boston faced pushback from a First Circuit judge on Monday as it argued it didn't miss its window to sue pharmacy benefit managers for their alleged role in the opioid epidemic.

  • February 02, 2026

    Bausch, Lannett To Pay $17.9M In Drug Price-Fixing Deal

    Lannett Company Inc., Bausch Health US LLC and Bausch Health America Inc. will pay $17.85 million to settle allegations by 48 states and territories that they conspired to fix prices for generic drugs, according to a motion filed Monday seeking preliminary approval of the deal.

  • February 02, 2026

    Amazon Shoppers' Counsel Admit To AI Errors In Motion

    Lawyers representing Amazon customers in a proposed class action over supplement labeling have apologized to a Seattle federal judge for artificial intelligence hallucinations included in a recent filing, acknowledging "certain miscitations and misquotations" resulted from a Just Food Law PLLC attorney's use of the nascent technology and a failure by Boies Schiller Flexner LLP co-counsel to catch the errors.

  • January 30, 2026

    3rd Circ. Preview: Privacy Issues Top Feb. Argument Lineup

    Issues involving privacy feature prominently on the Third Circuit's February oral argument schedule, with panels set to hear a dispute regarding an optometry business's duty to protect private data belonging to third-party customers, and a case over whether the city of Philadelphia can be sued by a mother after a police officer shared images of her son's death from the scene where he committed suicide.

  • January 30, 2026

    Sentara Health Can't Escape Suit Over Stable Value Fund

    A Virginia federal judge said Friday that Sentara Health can't dodge a suit claiming it failed to kick an underperforming investment fund from its retirement plan, ruling the healthcare system hasn't shown it assessed the fund with the proper due diligence to beat the case.

  • January 30, 2026

    Planned Parenthood Drops Medicaid Fight After 1st Circ. Loss

    Planned Parenthood abandoned a legal challenge to a ban on Medicaid reimbursements for its clinics Friday, following a loss at the First Circuit, which upheld the ban in December.

  • January 30, 2026

    Drugmakers Ask To Appeal Overarching Conspiracy Claim

    A group of pharmaceutical companies that failed to secure a pretrial win on an overarching conspiracy claim in a sprawling generic-drug antitrust enforcement action is asking a Connecticut federal judge to let them seek Second Circuit review, saying the ruling raises a novel legal issue.

  • January 30, 2026

    FTC Requires Facility Sales For $835M Healthcare Deal

    The Federal Trade Commission reached an agreement Friday allowing Sevita Health to move ahead with an $835 million deal for BrightSpring Health Services Inc.'s community living business, conditioned on the sale of more than 100 facilities.

  • January 30, 2026

    1st Circ. Revives Ex-Hasbro Workers' Religious Vax Bias Suit

    Two former Hasbro employees who sought religious exemptions from the company's COVID-19 vaccination policy plausibly alleged they were disciplined because of their accommodation requests, the First Circuit ruled, reviving the workers' retaliation and discrimination suit.

  • January 30, 2026

    Amazon Says Shoppers' Labeling Suit Is Corrupted By AI Errors

    In customers' latest filing in their proposed class action accusing Amazon of failing to make required disclosures on dietary supplement product pages, the e-commerce giant alleges that the plaintiffs have submitted a document riddled with errors derived from the use of generative text.

  • January 30, 2026

    Drug Cos. Want Rethink Of DQ Bid Targeting Ex-Prosecutor  

    More than two dozen pharmaceutical companies accused of fixing generic-drug prices have again asked a Pennsylvania federal judge to disqualify a former Connecticut assistant attorney general now in private practice from representing insurers Humana Inc. and Molina Healthcare Inc. in a sprawling multidistrict litigation proceeding.

  • January 29, 2026

    DOL Proposes Pharmacy Benefit Manager Fee Disclosure Rule

    The U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits subagency Thursday proposed a rule to require new fee disclosures from pharmacy benefit managers, which act as intermediaries between drugmakers, pharmacies and insurers, to help managers of employee health plans ensure PBM services are reasonably priced.

  • January 29, 2026

    Conn. Drug Price Cap Survives Distributor Challenge, For Now

    The Second Circuit has declined a bid to immediately block the state of Connecticut from enforcing a cap on generic and off-patent drug prices while the Healthcare Distribution Alliance, a collection of wholesale distributors, challenges the new law.

  • January 29, 2026

    United Healthcare Beats Class Cert. Bid Over Breast Surgery

    A New Jersey federal judge on Wednesday declined to certify a proposed class of United Healthcare Insurance plan participants who were denied coverage for post-mastectomy breast reconstruction surgery, finding that she can't determine which standard of review applies to each plan's varying language without conducting individualized, fact-specific inquiries. 

  • January 29, 2026

    Sandoz, Teva Beat Malicious Prosecution Claims, For Now

    Sandoz and Teva have won a reprieve from a former pharmaceutical marketing executive claiming the drugmakers and their officers offered him up to federal prosecutors with fabricated assertions of price-fixing, with a New York federal judge concluding the suit "does not come close" to the standard for malicious prosecution.

  • January 28, 2026

    Ambulance Billing Co. Settles Data Breach Claims

    An ambulance billing service will pay a total of $515,000 to the states of Massachusetts and Connecticut and take measures to improve its data security to settle allegations stemming from a 2022 breach, the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office announced Wednesday.

  • January 28, 2026

    ArentFox Schiff Launches Longevity Industry Group

    ArentFox Schiff LLP on Wednesday announced the launch of a group geared toward advising companies focused on advancing wellness, preventive health care and the longevity of life.

  • January 28, 2026

    Generics Makers Want Hospital Drug Data In Price-Fixing MDL

    A group of 150 hospitals suing generic-drug makers for alleged price fixing in multidistrict litigation should hand over data on their drug purchases, the drugmakers have told a Pennsylvania federal court, arguing they don't sell directly to the hospitals and therefore have no records themselves. 

  • January 27, 2026

    Ohio PBM Suit Belongs In Federal Court, 6th Circ. Rules

    The Sixth Circuit on Tuesday ruled that Ohio's lawsuit accusing pharmacy benefit managers of driving up prescription prices through rebate schemes belongs in federal court, saying in an opinion recommended for publication that the suit imposes liability on conduct undertaken at the direction of a federal officer.

  • January 27, 2026

    Texas AG's Vaccine Probe Draws Fire From Health Experts

    Public health experts are condemning a Texas Attorney General inquiry into Pfizer, UnitedHealth Group and others for allegedly tapping unlawful financial incentives behind childhood vaccines.

  • January 27, 2026

    Texas AG Says Nurse Practitioner Is Shipping Abortion Drugs

    The Texas attorney general told a state court that a Delaware-based nurse practitioner and the organization she operates have shipped abortion pills to Texas, saying Tuesday that the defendants have publicly acknowledged that they send abortion pills to the Lone Star State.

  • January 27, 2026

    CBP's Medical Care Oversight Needs Improvement, GAO Says

    A report issued by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that U.S. Customs and Border Protection sometimes failed to provide proper medical oversight for certain people in its custody, violating its own policies and guidance for medical care.

  • January 27, 2026

    Novo Nordisk Advances Telehealth Co. Ozempic Ripoff Suit

    A Washington federal judge refused Monday to toss Novo Nordisk's lawsuit accusing telehealth platform Invigor Medical of falsely advertising Ozempic alternatives, ruling that the drugmaker has shown a "tangible stake" in correcting Invigor's alleged practice of misleading consumers into believing its compounded drugs are equivalent to federally approved medications.

  • January 27, 2026

    Long Road For Kaiser Whistleblowers Ends In Historic Payout

    The whistleblowers behind a massive Medicare Advantage "upcoding" case spent years in isolation before a historic settlement was finally reached.

Expert Analysis

  • How Trump Orders Affect Health Orgs.' Care For Trans Minors

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    Two recent executive orders issued by President Donald Trump regarding gender-affirming care for minors have put healthcare organizations in a precarious situation, and these institutions should prepare for various implications and potential scenarios, say attorneys at ArentFox.

  • Reproductive Health Under Trump So Far, And What's Next

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    Based on priorities stated so far, the Trump administration will likely continue to weaken Biden-era policies that protect reproductive health, with abortion, in vitro fertilization and contraception all being issues to watch closely amid a post-Dobbs shift, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • What's Next For Lab Test Regulation Without FDA Authority

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    A recent Texas federal court decision vacating the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's final rule that would apply FDA regulations to laboratory-developed tests signals potential positive impacts in the diagnostic space, and could inspire more healthcare entities to litigate against the government, say attorneys at Hooper Lundy.

  • 6 Criteria Can Help Assess Executive Branch Actions

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    With new executive policy changes announced seemingly every day, several questions can help courts, policymakers and businesses determine whether such actions are proper, effective and in keeping with our democratic norms, say Marc Levin and Khalil Cumberbatch at the Council on Criminal Justice.

  • Learning From COVID-19 Enforcement Against Nursing Homes

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    Five years after the COVID-19 outbreak caused a high number of deaths in nursing homes, an examination of enforcement actions against nursing homes in New York and elsewhere in the country highlights obstacles that may arise when bringing cases of this type, and ways to overcome them, says Kenneth Levine at Stone & Magnanini.

  • How Plan Sponsors Can Mitigate Risk In PBM Contracts

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    A recent lawsuit in New York federal court alleges that JPMorgan caused exorbitant prescription costs by mishandling the pharmacy benefit manager arrangement, adding to a growing body of Employee Retirement Income Security Act fiduciary breach litigation and affirming that fiduciaries must proactively manage their healthcare plan vendors, say attorneys at Hall Benefits Law.

  • 4th Circ. Health Data Ruling Opens Door To State Law Claims

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    In Real Time Medical v. PointClickCare, the Fourth Circuit recently clarified that state law claims can rest in part on violations of a federal law that prohibits electronic health information blocking, expanding legal risks for health IT companies and potentially creating exposure to a range of competitive implications, say attorneys at BCLP.

  • Unpacking Trump Admin Plans For Value-Based Care

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    Recent developments from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation suggest the Trump administration intends to put its own stamp on value-based care, emphasizing cost savings assessment in particular, with its recent cancellation of several payment models that had supported primary care, says Miranda Franco at Holland & Knight.

  • What To Expect For Stem Cell Regulation Under Trump Admin

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    The new administration's push for deregulation, plus the post-Chevron legal landscape, and momentum from key political and industry players to facilitate stem cell innovation may create an opportune backdrop for a significant reduction in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's regulatory framework for stem cells, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • How Importers Can Minimize FCA Risks Of Tariff Mitigation

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    False Claims Act risks are inherent in many tariff mitigation strategies, making it important for importers to implement best practices to identify and report potential violations of import regulations before they escalate, says Samuel Finkelstein at LMD Trade Law.

  • 10 Practical Takeaways From FDA's Biopharma AI Guidance

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    Recent guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration provides much-needed insight on the usage of artificial intelligence in producing information to support regulatory decision-making regarding drug safety, with implications ranging from life cycle maintenance to AI tool acquisition, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Lawmakers Shouldn't Overlook Rare Disease Therapies' Value

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    As the ORPHAN Cures Act is pending in Congress, policymakers assessing the value of certain drugs for price regulation should consider data beyond what is collected in clinical trials, say Alice Chen at the University of Southern California, and Molly Frean and Yao Lu at Analysis Group.

  • What Trump's Order Means For The Legal Status Of IVF

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    An executive order signed by President Donald Trump last month signals the administration's potential intention to increase protections for in vitro fertilization services, though more concrete actions would be needed to resolve the current uncertainty around IVF access or bring about a binding legal change, says Jeanne Vance at Weintraub Tobin.