Policy & Compliance

  • July 24, 2026

    Va. Court Orders FDA To Reconsider Mifepristone Restrictions

    A Virginia federal judge held that a 2023 regulation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration unlawfully placed prescribing restrictions on the abortion drug mifepristone, agreeing with a group of abortion providers that the agency inadequately addressed burdens on the healthcare system.

  • July 24, 2026

    Federal Bill Seeks CDC Set-Aside For Tribal Health

    A coalition of U.S. lawmakers from New Mexico and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., have introduced legislation that would guarantee that tribal nations have equal access to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Public Health Emergency Preparedness program.

  • July 24, 2026

    Yale Age Test, Allergy Death, Wine Royalties: A Midyear Report

    In the second half of 2026, Connecticut courts are being called upon to decide closely watched issues such as whether the state's largest hospital group violated federal disability and age discrimination laws when requiring providers over age 70 to undergo mandatory cognitive tests.

  • July 24, 2026

    Mental Health Agency Sues Mass. Prison System For Records

    A Massachusetts mental health legal advocacy committee has filed a lawsuit against the state's department of correction, claiming it was denied access to data about health services provided in one state prison by a private contractor.

  • July 24, 2026

    Novo Asks NJ Judge To Stop Lilly's 'Deceptive' GLP-1 Ads

    Novo Nordisk Inc. asked a New Jersey federal court Friday to block rival Eli Lilly & Co. from running ads allegedly comparing their respective GLP-1 drugs using "outdated" clinical trials and "false superiority messages," arguing the ads are damaging its reputation and misleading consumers.

  • July 24, 2026

    Surgical Co. Trims Tobacco Fee Suit In Texas

    A Texas federal judge pared some claims from a proposed class action alleging that a surgical company wrongly imposed a surcharge on the health plans of workers who used tobacco, while opening discovery on other allegations she found had stated a claim for violating federal benefits law.

  • July 23, 2026

    UnitedHealth's $5M Demand Challenged By Wash. Dental Co.

    A dental practice is urging a Washington federal court to stop UnitedHealth from withholding future reimbursements, saying the insurer has failed to fully explain its assertion that it overpaid the practice more than $5 million for past claims, in a lawsuit filed Wednesday.

  • July 23, 2026

    Okla. Chiropractor Convicted Of $30M Medical Fraud Scheme

    A Florida federal jury convicted an Oklahoma chiropractor of attempting to bilk $30 million from federal health insurance programs, finding him guilty of a fraud conspiracy charge after he obtained patient information to produce fake doctors' orders for unnecessary medical equipment, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • July 23, 2026

    Texas Panel Overturns Abortion Injunction Against Midwife

    A Texas appellate court overturned a temporary injunction against a licensed Houston-area midwife accused by state prosecutors of violating Texas' abortion ban, finding Thursday a trial court wrongly admitted probable-cause affidavits from a related criminal case.

  • July 22, 2026

    Late Emails Undercut BCBS Pricing Suit, Walgreens Says

    Walgreen Co. is urging an Illinois federal judge to again sanction a Blue Cross Blue Shield insurer and its subsidiary for allegedly failing to produce key email evidence the pharmacy retailer says "upends" the insurers' 6-year-old claim that it intentionally overcharged them for prescription drugs.

  • July 22, 2026

    Target Beats ERISA Suit Over Tobacco Health Surcharge

    A Minnesota federal judge on Wednesday tossed a proposed class action alleging that a tobacco fee on Target workers' health plan violated nondiscrimination provisions in federal benefits law, agreeing with the retail giant that the suit failed to state a claim.

  • July 22, 2026

    Cambia Health Hit With FCA Suit Over Medicare Fraud Claims

    Cambia Health Solutions Inc. stole millions of dollars from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services over more than a decade by submitting fraudulent diagnostic information to the government, according to a whistleblower's False Claims Act lawsuit unsealed by a Seattle federal judge this week.

  • July 22, 2026

    Insurer Sanctioned For Destroying Opioid Coverage Evidence

    An Illinois federal court Wednesday sanctioned an insurer in a drug wholesaler's suit seeking coverage for underlying opioid litigation, finding that the carrier intentionally destroyed key emails and underwriting records in order to deprive the wholesaler of that information.

  • July 22, 2026

    Ex-Players Seek $4M In Legal Fees In NFL Race-Norming Fight

    Ex-NFL players who settled a suit over racially discriminatory assessments made by the league's disability and retirement plans are asking a Maryland federal judge for over $4 million in legal fees.

  • July 22, 2026

    Trump Says 100% Tariff On Generic Drugs Coming In 2028

    Generic drugs imported into the U.S. will be hit with a tariff of 100% in 2028 and 200% in later years in an attempt to drive manufacturing into the country, President Donald Trump said on social media.

  • July 22, 2026

    9th Circ. Won't Reopen Vax Bias Suit Against Wash. Officials

    The Ninth Circuit upheld a Washington state agency's win in a suit alleging it unlawfully fired over a dozen employees rather than accommodate their religious objections to the COVID-19 vaccine, ruling they hadn't shown the agency was purposely hostile toward religion.

  • July 22, 2026

    DOL Proposes E-Delivery Rule For Employer Health Plans

    The U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits arm unveiled a proposal Wednesday that would provide more opportunities for electronic delivery of employer-provided health plans' mandatory disclosures.

  • July 21, 2026

    DC Circ. Affirms HHS Authority Over 340B Rebate Plans

    The D.C. Circuit on Tuesday upheld a lower court's finding that U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has the authority to block or approve drugmakers' efforts to implement rebates instead of discounts under the 340B drug-pricing program.

  • July 21, 2026

    Economist Concedes Opioid Stats' Limits In Albertsons Trial

    Despite testifying that Albertsons pharmacy records suggest some opioids dispensed in Washington state had "red flags" for potential diversion from legitimate use, an economist for the Evergreen State conceded Tuesday that he can't point to "even a single pill dispensed by Albertsons" that was actually improperly diverted. 

  • July 21, 2026

    $152M Health Marketing Ban, $62M Drug MDL Deal And More

    Law360 Healthcare Authority looks at the Federal Trade Commission's $152 million deal resolving allegations against a pair of health insurance marketers, a $62 million deal releasing Pfizer Inc. and other drugmakers from multidistrict litigation over generic-drug prices, and other key resolutions in healthcare litigation over the last week.

  • July 21, 2026

    Air Ambulance Co. Fights To Keep 'No Surprises' Suit Alive

    An air ambulance service looking to collect unpaid transport bills from Blue Cross Blue Shield's parent company argued Tuesday that its lawsuit should proceed because court enforcement is its only hope for combating the insurer's practice of ignoring the No Surprises Act's otherwise tight payment deadlines.

  • July 21, 2026

    Chamber Asks 2nd Circ. To Back Toss Of Pepsi Smoking Suit

    A New York federal judge rightly tossed allegations that Pepsi violated federal benefits law by making employees who smoke pay more for health insurance, the nation's largest business lobby argued in an amicus brief, urging the Second Circuit to affirm dismissal of the suit.

  • July 21, 2026

    What To Know: FDA Compounding Panel Weighs Peptides

    A panel advising the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will weigh in this week on a push to expand legal access to seven peptides that are touted by wellness influencers to treat injuries and other conditions.

  • July 21, 2026

    Class Cert. In Avandia MDL Undone For Lacking Stats

    The Third Circuit undid class certification for a group of health plans claiming GlaxoSmithKline deceptively marketed its diabetes drug Avandia, with a panel majority ruling Tuesday the plans needed stronger statistical analysis to show links between the marketing, the revelation of side effects and a drop in sales.

  • July 21, 2026

    States Dispute Drugmakers' Bid To Toss GLP-1 Antitrust Case

    The attorneys general of Texas and Louisiana pushed back on Tuesday against a bid from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly to duck a specialty pharmacy's antitrust case accusing the companies of blocking competition for GLP-1 medications.

Expert Analysis

  • 2025 Legal Milestones That Will Shape Psychedelics Sector

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    As 2025 draws to a close, psychedelic drug development stands at an inflection point, experiencing unprecedented momentum through recent sweeping regulatory changes and landmark clinical milestones, amid rapidly evolving regulatory expectations, say Odette Hauke at Odette Alina LLC and Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell.

  • 2025 State AI Laws Expand Liability, Raise Insurance Risks

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    As 2025 nears its end, claims professionals should be aware of trends in state legislation addressing artificial intelligence use, as insurance claims based on some of these liability-expanding statutes are a certainty, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • Learning From 2025 FCA Trends Targeting PE In Healthcare

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    False Claims Act enforcement trends and legislative developments from this year signal intensifying state and federal scrutiny of private equity's growing footprint in healthcare, and the urgency of compliance, says Lisa Re at Arnold & Porter.

  • How 11th Circ.'s Qui Tam Review Could Affect FCA Litigation

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    On Dec. 12, the Eleventh Circuit will hear arguments in U.S. ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, setting the stage for a decision that could drastically reduce enforcement under the False Claims Act, and presenting an opportunity to seek U.S. Supreme Court review of the act's whistleblower provisions, say attorneys at Epstein Becker.

  • How MAHA Is Taking Shape At The State Level

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    The national spotlight on the federal government's Make America Healthy Again movement is bolstering state-level actions regarding potential health impacts of certain food ingredients, increasing the difficulty and importance of maintaining effective compliance programs, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • A Look At Middlemen Fees In 340B Drug Discount Program

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    A U.S. Senate committee's recent hearing on the Section 340B drug discount program, along with statistical analysis of payment amounts, contribute to a growing consensus that middlemen fees are too high, say William Sarraille at the University of Maryland, and Shanyue Zeng and Rory Martin at IQVIA.

  • Nursing Home Abuse Cases Face 3 Barriers That Need Reform

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    Recent headlines reveal persistent gaps in oversight and protection for vulnerable residents in long-term care, but prosecution of these cases is often stymied by numerous challenges that will require a comprehensive overhaul of regulatory, legal and financial structures to address, says Veronica Finkelstein at Wilmington University.

  • Mulling Differing Circuit Rulings On Gender-Affirming Care

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    Despite the Eleventh Circuit's recent holding in Lange v. Houston County that a health plan's exclusion for gender-affirming surgery did not violate Title VII, employers should be mindful of other court decisions suggesting that different legal challenges may still apply to blanket exclusions for such care, say attorneys at Smith Gambrell.

  • State AGs May Extend Their Reach To Nat'l Security Concerns

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    Companies with foreign supply-chain risk exposure need a comprehensive risk-management strategy to address a growing trend in which state attorneys general use broadly written state laws to target conduct that may not violate federal regulations, but arguably constitutes a national security threat, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • 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.