Policy & Compliance

  • July 29, 2026

    Albertsons Pharmacy Work Was 'House Of Cards,' Judge Told

    Albertsons pharmacists in Washington state repeatedly warned supervisors that busy workloads and limited staffing were making it difficult to review prescriptions before filling them, a state judge in Seattle heard Monday, during a bench trial in Washington's case accusing Albertsons and its Safeway subsidiary of fueling the state's opioid crisis.

  • July 29, 2026

    Novo Faces Narrowed Investor Suit Over Obesity Drug Claims

    A New Jersey federal judge narrowed a proposed securities class action against Novo Nordisk, preserving claims that it misled investors about the CagriSema obesity drug's tolerability and a flexible protocol used in a clinical trial.

  • July 29, 2026

    Colo. Hospital Patients In Gender Care Suit Seek Class Cert.

    Transgender adolescents urged a Colorado state judge Wednesday to allow them to proceed as a certified class in their lawsuit seeking to have Children's Hospital Colorado resume providing gender-affirming care for them and other transgender youth patients, arguing the class is "objectively definable."

  • July 29, 2026

    Health Economist's Report Cleared For Generic-Drug MDL

    The Pennsylvania federal judge overseeing the multidistrict litigation over generic-drug price-fixing claims has ruled that Humana's health economist's expert report can be admitted into evidence, rejecting several pharmaceutical companies' argument that his findings were based on a flawed methodology.

  • July 29, 2026

    NC Attorney General's Clash With HCA Cleared For Trial

    The North Carolina Business Court has cleared a path to trial in the state attorney general's suit accusing HCA Healthcare of letting the quality of care at Mission Hospital in Asheville languish.

  • July 28, 2026

    Ed Dept. Can't Cancel K–12 Mental Health Grants Worth $1B

    A Washington federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration on Tuesday from terminating nearly $1 billion in K–12 mental health grants serving 15 states, finding that the plaintiff states are likely to prove the U.S. Education Department bypassed federal procedures when attempting to cut off the funds.

  • July 28, 2026

    J&J $5.5B Talc MDL Deal, $25.4M Cooley Judgment And More

    Law360 Healthcare Authority looks at Johnson & Johnson's $5.5 billion commitment in a proposed settlement to resolve thousands of suits alleging its talcum powder products caused ovarian cancer, a New Jersey state court's order that Cooley LLP pay $25.4 million in litigation over its representation of a biotech founder, and other key resolutions in healthcare litigation over the last week.

  • July 28, 2026

    No COVID Immunity For Mich. Hospitals In Malpractice Revival

    Just because a motion is unopposed doesn't mean it should be granted, Michigan appellate judges said in a published opinion Tuesday, reversing a trial court's decision that the Pandemic Health Care Immunity Act shielded Beaumont Hospital Farmington Hills from a medical malpractice suit.

  • July 28, 2026

    Judge Mulls Pausing Medicaid Work Rule For 'Frail' Recipients

    A Massachusetts federal judge said Tuesday he anticipates deciding by the end of the week whether the Trump administration will have to pause part of a new rule states must follow in determining whether medically frail Medicaid recipients are exempt from new work or school requirements.

  • July 28, 2026

    Nursing Facility Pays $15M In Calif. AG's Understaffing Suit

    Sweetwater Care and its affiliates agreed to resolve the California attorney general's consumer protection suit alleging they understaffed their skilled nursing facilities in more than 14,000 instances, exposing patients to neglect, abuse and injury with delayed care, while the defendants accepted nearly $200 million from Medicare and Medi-Cal.

  • July 28, 2026

    340B Appellate Cases To Watch In The 2nd Half Of 2026

    Drugmakers are pressing appellate judges in the back half of 2026 to strike down state laws blocking them from restricting 340B contract pharmacy arrangements. Law360 Healthcare Authority has the cases to watch.

  • July 28, 2026

    Med Center To Pay $200K To End EEOC Disability Bias Probe

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Tuesday that a California medical center has agreed to pay $200,000 to wrap up an investigation into a nurse's claim that it violated disability bias law by firing her instead of letting her transfer to another role.

  • July 27, 2026

    Albertsons Opioid Trial Told Of Needles, ODs In Library

    A witness in Washington's case accusing Albertsons Cos. Inc. of fueling the state's opioid crisis testified at a bench trial Monday that problem drug use was evident in a city library system she's led for nearly a decade, pointing to syringes scattered across the facility and multiple instances of overdoses.

  • July 27, 2026

    Wash. Panel Revives Island Health Wage, Break Class Action

    A Washington Court of Appeals panel has reinstated a worker's proposed class action accusing public hospital district Island Health of denying employees meal breaks and illegally rounding time worked when calculating wages, finding Monday that a trial court wrongly concluded the claims must be arbitrated under a union agreement.

  • July 27, 2026

    Cigna Must Face Pa. Suit Over Portal Health Data Tracking

    A Pennsylvania federal judge on Monday allowed a group of Cigna health plan participants to pursue most of their claims alleging the company unlawfully disclosed their protected health information for marketing purposes by using an Adobe tracking pixel.

  • July 27, 2026

    Hygiene Co. Can't Fight FTC's Need To Back Up COVID Claims

    Xylitol-based hygiene products company Xlear can't challenge the Federal Trade Commission's general insistence that companies "substantiate" health claims like COVID-19 protections, because the FTC isn't currently suing over those claims, a Utah federal judge ruled Monday.

  • July 27, 2026

    Health Data Co. Inks $4.8M Settlement To End Investor Suit

    The health diagnostics company formerly known as Sema4 has reached a $4.8 million settlement with investors accusing the company of misleading them about a nonexistent, artificial intelligence-driven data platform it claimed to operate.

  • 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.

Expert Analysis

  • How 6th Circ. Tightened NLRB Injunction Standard

    Author Photo

    The Sixth Circuit's recent ruling in Kerwin v. Trinity Health Grand Haven Hospital, dissolving a Section 10(j) injunction obtained by the National Labor Relations Board against an employer that refused to bargain, will make it harder for the NLRB to obtain injunctions while prosecuting unfair labor practice proceedings, say attorneys at Bass Berry.

  • Md. Ruling Reflects Classic Administrative Law Principle

    Author Photo

    A Maryland federal court's recent decision in Columbus v. Kennedy significantly limits how far the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services can go in reshaping the Affordable Care Act through regulation, highlighting a principle that will likely be applied in similar Administrative Procedure Act challenges, says Michael King at Brownstein Hyatt.

  • Healthcare Orgs Should Prep For Greater Grant Oversight

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' new Audit Enforcement and Risk Oversight initiative, and a proposed overhaul of the governmentwide framework for grants management, signal an aggressive and data-driven approach to federal grant enforcement, and could significantly expand the pathways leading to enforcement actions and private litigation, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

  • 3rd Circ. Decision Sheds Light On BIPA Bank Exemption

    Author Photo

    The Third Circuit's recent decision in McGoveran v. Amazon illuminates how courts are extending the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act's financial institution carveout beyond banks and insurers to technology vendors and other businesses handling biometric data, a defendant-friendly shift that still casts uncertainty around BIPA's enforcement, say attorneys at Dorsey & Whitney.

  • Data Reveals Pivot In Feds' Financial Fraud Priorities

    Author Photo

    Recent Justice Department data shows fraud prosecutions fell to their lowest rate in a decade in 2025, illustrating a move away from traditional financial cases and toward a targeted mix of healthcare, government program, consumer and sanctions matters, say Paul Hinton and Adrienna Huffman at The Brattle Group.

  • New Timeline For Benefits Cases May Increase FCA Litigation

    Author Photo

    Recent reforms designed to speed enforcers’ intervention decisions in False Claims Act suits involving state-administered benefits will likely encourage more qui tam relators to litigate cases without the government’s imprimatur, and increase defendants’ discovery burdens, defense costs and business disruptions, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • FTC's Clinical Trial Requirement Threatens Food Claim Rules

    Author Photo

    The Federal Trade Commission's general requirement for randomized controlled trials for most health-benefit claims, recently embraced by the National Advertising Review Board, lacks legal basis and endangers the existing statutory framework Congress created for marketing food and dietary supplements versus drugs, say attorneys at Keller & Heckman.

  • HHS Enforcement Restructuring Signals Compliance Risks

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' recent restructuring of its Office for Civil Rights suggests that, while Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act enforcement remains central, its priorities have expanded to encompass civil rights, conscience and religious freedom, and data and cybersecurity issues, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • AG Watch: Oregon's Strategic Civil Enforcement Approach

    Author Photo

    Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield’s recent antitrust litigation activity and proposed staffing increase are the latest in a series of structural and policy changes that signal that the state Department of Justice is taking a more aggressive approach to civil enforcement, says Keturah Taylor at Cozen O'Connor.

  • A Decade Later, Escobar Is Still Shaping FCA Cases

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision 10 years ago in Universal Health Services v. U.S. ex rel. Escobar changed the way in which lower courts evaluate False Claims Act cases — and the ruling remains vital in nearly every FCA case filed today, say attorneys at Bradley Arant.

  • How FCA, FCPA Risks Are Shifting As Feds Pull Back

    Author Photo

    As the federal government continues its retreat from white collar enforcement, companies should expect False Claims Act risk to grow through private whistleblower suits and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act scrutiny to shift toward foreign prosecutors, requiring more adaptability as accountability becomes less centralized, says Temidayo Aganga-Williams at Selendy Gay.

  • Trump Admin's Agency Records Purge Tests Judicial Notice

    Author Photo

    While courts commonly take judicial notice of data in government websites and reports, the Trump administration's recent modification or wholesale deletion of these sources means that litigants must look elsewhere to support trial admission of this information, says Jon Gryskiewicz at Lewis Baach.

  • West Coast Health Cos. Must Brace For Federal Enforcement

    Author Photo

    In light of the U.S. Department of Justice's newly established West Coast strike force targeting healthcare fraud across Northern California, Arizona and Nevada, health organizations will need to prioritize knowledge, vigilance and operational discipline to reduce exposure from potentially parallel criminal and civil investigations, says Michael Beckwith at Dickinson Wright.