Policy & Compliance

  • July 31, 2026

    NC Judge Deems Alleged $55M Medicare Clawbacks Unfair

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services didn't give a hospital operator fair notice of its interpretation of the term "provider" in Medicare regulations that HHS relied on to claw back millions of dollars in reimbursements, a North Carolina federal judge ruled.

  • July 31, 2026

    DC Circ. Backs Ex-Steward CEO's Contempt Charge

    The D.C. Circuit on Friday upheld a U.S. Senate committee's criminal and civil contempt finding against former Steward Health Care System LLC Chief Executive Ralph de la Torre after he refused to appear before lawmakers despite a subpoena, calling his appellate arguments "wholly meritless."

  • July 31, 2026

    No Standing For NY 'Aid-In-Dying' Law Challenge, Judge Rules

    A New York federal judge tossed a challenge by disability rights organizations and individuals to a state law enacted this year allowing patients with terminal illnesses to seek a doctor's assistance in ending their lives, finding the group lacked standing.

  • July 31, 2026

    Voluntary Benefits Suits Emerge As New ERISA Battleground

    A recent crop of proposed class actions targeting employers' insurance-related voluntary benefits offerings — for things like critical illness or hospital indemnity — marks a litigation trend that appears to be gaining, experts say.

  • July 30, 2026

    Health Plans Ask 2nd Circ. To Revive Celgene Cancer Drug Row

    Health plans and pharmacies backed by Cigna are asking the Second Circuit to revive a proposed class action alleging Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and its Celgene subsidiary fraudulently obtained patents, filed sham lawsuits and paid off generic-drug makers to maintain a monopoly on the blockbuster blood cancer drug Pomalyst.

  • July 30, 2026

    Albertsons Can't Nix 14 Years Of Opioid Claims At Wash. Trial

    Albertsons and Safeway can't dodge 14 years' worth of claims in Washington state's lawsuit accusing the grocery stores' pharmacies of irresponsibly dispensing prescription opioids and fueling the state's overdose crisis, according to a Seattle judge's ruling Wednesday striking the companies' statute-of-limitations defense.

  • July 30, 2026

    O'Reilly Auto Parts Can't Dodge Tobacco Surcharge Suit

    O'Reilly Automotive Inc. must face a former employee's lawsuit alleging he was unlawfully charged hundreds of dollars more per year for health insurance because he used tobacco, with a Missouri federal judge ruling Thursday that his claims were detailed enough to stay in court.

  • July 30, 2026

    Judge Keeps New Medicaid 'Frailty' Proof Rule In Place

    A Massachusetts federal judge late Wednesday declined to block the government from requiring medically frail Medicaid recipients to prove they are significantly impaired to avoid a new requirement that they engage in 80 hours of work or volunteering per month or attend school part-time.

  • 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.

Expert Analysis

  • 5 Takeaways From Justices' Subpoena Fight Ruling

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in First Choice v. Davenport fortifies a line of First Amendment associational privacy cases stretching back nearly 70 years, and ensures that organizations subject to government demands for donor information have a meaningful federal forum in which to defend their constitutional rights, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • Accelerated Psychedelic Therapy Pathways Require Caution

    Author Photo

    President Donald Trump's new executive order aiming to accelerate the approval of psychedelic drugs for the treatment of mental health disorders will likely bolster investigational psychedelic therapies, but parties within the psychedelic product supply chain will still need to prepare for potentially burdensome compliance requirements, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Health Cos. Must Act Quickly To Secure Digital Front Doors

    Author Photo

    A fast-approaching deadline will require health providers to implement digital accessibility standards to their websites, necessitating important compliance steps that will help to ensure equal access to online health services, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • How Oregon Ruling Affects Federal Gender Care Crackdown

    Author Photo

    In a favorable development for healthcare providers, an Oregon federal court recently vacated certain U.S. Department of Health and Human Services restrictions on gender-affirming care for minors, but the government's broader campaign against this care, including proposed rulemaking and agency investigations, leaves significant uncertainty, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • NY Opioid Antagonist Mandate Leaves Employers Guessing

    Author Photo

    A recently enacted New York law will require employers that are federally mandated to maintain first-aid supplies to now include an opioid antagonist, but being that it is subject to a complicated Occupational Safety and Health Administration analysis, employers face several unanswered compliance questions, say attorneys at Conn Maciel.

  • Calif. Case Raises Questions For Medical Practice Investors

    Author Photo

    The California attorney general's amicus brief in Art Center v. WCE and the California Medical Association's response highlight how the California appeals court's ruling could significantly affect the structure and enforceability of succession arrangements in medical practice ownership, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Previewing FDA Preapproval Access In Psychedelics EO

    Author Photo

    The second of two pathways for psychedelic drug access outlined in President Donald Trump's recent executive order constitutes an unprecedented expansion of the Right to Try Act, which could fundamentally alter the psychedelic access landscape while presenting significant regulatory, operational and legal challenges, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

  • Previewing FDA National Priority Vouchers In Psychedelics EO

    Author Photo

    President Donald Trump's recent executive order on psychedelic drug access represents a watershed moment in federal drug policy, but its significance lies in two distinct regulatory pathways, the first being the Commissioner's National Priority Vouchers, which offer a significant opportunity to compress U.S. Food and Drug Administration review, say Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell and Odette Hauke at Odette Alina.

  • AG Watch: Texas Charts A Course On Investigative Authority

    Author Photo

    The Texas Supreme Court's recent decision in Texas v. PFLAG affirmed, and arguably expanded, the Texas attorney general's civil investigative demand authority, providing a road map that other courts evaluating state attorney general CIDs may find instructive, amid a lack of precedent, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.

  • Initial Virginia AG Actions Signal Focus On Multistate Efforts

    Author Photo

    Now that Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones has reached the 100-day mark in office, his first set of actions reveals a clear preference for coalition with regional and national counterparts, which means the primary risk for businesses is no longer just the fact of enforcement, but the speed at which investigations can escalate, says Lauren Cooper at Hogan Lovells.

  • How CMS Fraud Priorities Complicate Provider Acquisitions

    Author Photo

    As the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services steps up usage of its affiliates authority and post-transaction audits, parties contemplating the acquisition or sale of home health and hospice providers should take steps to avoid the potential suspension of Medicare billing privileges, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • Mapping Philly US Atty's White Collar Enforcement Push

    Author Photo

    Attorneys at Blank Rome discuss the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania David Metcalf’s commitments and priorities, survey early results from his first year, and suggest practical action items for companies operating under the office's jurisdiction.

  • How The Coming Months Will Shape State Drug Price Boards

    Author Photo

    The future of state prescription drug affordability boards may be determined in the next few months, between an upcoming court decision in a challenge against state authority to set drug prices, and pending state decisions about whether to use federal Medicare maximum fair prices as reference, say Michael Kolber, Steven Chen and Kelechi Ezealaji at Manatt.