Policy & Compliance

  • May 29, 2025

    Split 9th Circ. Says Spa's Rule On Certain Trans Women Biased

    A divided Ninth Circuit refused to reinstate a Korean spa's constitutional challenge against the Washington State Human Rights Commission and ordered it to rescind its policy denying admission to trans women without gender-affirming surgery, noting Thursday the policy violated state law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

  • May 28, 2025

    Elon Musk Is Leaving White House Role, Trump Admin Says

    Billionaire Elon Musk is ending his work with President Donald Trump and the federal Department of Government Efficiency, a White House official confirmed Wednesday evening.

  • May 28, 2025

    Justices Told Del. Expert Law Doesn't Apply In Federal Court

    A retired attorney who claims he was negligently injured by healthcare providers urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to hold that a Delaware federal court need not apply a state statute requiring an expert affidavit for all medical malpractice suits.

  • May 28, 2025

    Judge Rejects Johns Hopkins Unit's Claim FCA Suit Is Untimely

    A Maine federal judge on Wednesday denied Johns Hopkins Medical Services Corp.'s bid to dismiss a False Claims Act suit as untimely, ruling it must face allegations it failed to report being overpaid for healthcare services for military personnel, retirees and their families.

  • May 28, 2025

    Feds Urge Supreme Court To Let 10th Circ. PBM Ruling Stand

    The federal government urged the U.S. Supreme Court not to take up the state of Oklahoma's challenge to a Tenth Circuit decision that found parts of a law regulating pharmacy benefit managers were preempted by federal benefits and healthcare laws, arguing the case doesn't warrant further review from the justices.

  • May 28, 2025

    Colorado, Feds Clash Over $6.7M From Collapsed Insurer

    A Colorado federal judge pressed the state Wednesday on how its bid to pay out $6.7 million from a defunct health insurer to a Denver Health plan doesn't conflict with the federal government's interests, noting the disbursement would result in less money to a federal risk program.

  • May 28, 2025

    DOJ Says Justices' Ruling Backs Nursing Exec's Conviction

    The U.S. Department of Justice is pointing to a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling to bolster its fight against a new trial being sought by a convicted Nevada nursing home executive, saying that the new high court decision establishes that economic loss isn't needed to prove wire fraud.

  • May 28, 2025

    Cooley Adds Ex-FDA Attorney To DC Life Sciences Group

    Cooley LLP has hired a former U.S. Food and Drug Administration attorney, who for the majority of her public service career worked as an associate chief counsel, trying civil actions and criminal prosecutions against those accused of violating regulations for a range of products.

  • May 27, 2025

    Musk, DOGE Fail To Nix States' Suit Against 'Limitless' Power

    Fourteen states can proceed in their lawsuit challenging Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency's influence in the federal government after a D.C. federal judge Tuesday refused to toss their suit, rejecting the government's contention that Musk wasn't subject to the U.S. Constitution's appointments clause.

  • May 27, 2025

    CMS Heightens Medicaid Oversight For Immigrant Care

    The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Tuesday said it is ramping up its financial oversight of states to detect misuse of federal Medicaid dollars, telling states it will seek to recoup federal funds spent on nonemergent care for "illegal aliens."

  • May 27, 2025

    Healthcare Hires: Wilson Sonsini, BCLP, Proskauer And More

    Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC has bolstered its regulatory practice with the addition of a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services attorney who most recently led Crowell & Moring LLP's digital health group.

  • May 27, 2025

    What The MAHA Report Tells Us About Its Future Agenda

    A long-awaited report from a commission tasked with addressing childhood chronic disease in the United States signals key parts of the healthcare system that may soon see policy changes as part of the larger Make America Healthy Again agenda.

  • May 27, 2025

    The Surgical Pay Gap: How Bias May Hurt Women's Health

    Medical and legal professionals warn that systemic sex discrimination in U.S. surgical valuations — in the form of lower pay for procedures on female anatomy — discourages specialization in women's health, leads to delayed care and increased suffering for female patients, and could expose insurers to legal liability.

  • May 27, 2025

    Feds No Longer Advise COVID Shot For Kids, Pregnant Adults

    The nation's public health agency on Tuesday pulled the COVID-19 vaccine from the list of recommended shots for healthy children and pregnant adults, a move that experts say could reduce demand for the vaccine and make it more expensive for some families.

  • May 27, 2025

    Fla. Judge Pauses Suit Over Baseball Player's Death

    A Florida state court judge on Tuesday ordered a temporary halt to a lawsuit alleging medical malpractive against a Minnesota Twins physician over the death of a minor league baseball player, pausing the case while an order denying immunity for the doctor is appealed.

  • May 27, 2025

    Wilson Sonsini Adds Ex-HHS, Crowell & Moring Leader In DC

    A former policy director at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services who later helped Crowell & Moring LLP launch its healthcare consulting group has joined Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC's Washington, D.C., team, the firm announced Tuesday.

  • May 23, 2025

    Minn. Patient Sues Over Colorado Limits On Aid-In-Dying Care

    A new suit by two Colorado doctors and an out-of-state patient challenges a state restriction barring nonresidents from accessing a form of healthcare legalized in Colorado allowing patients to receive a doctor's help in ending their life.

  • May 23, 2025

    Ex-McKinsey Exec Sentenced For Obstructing Purdue Probe

    A Virginia federal judge has sentenced a disbarred attorney and former McKinsey & Co. partner to six months in prison for obstructing an investigation into the consulting giant's work with opioid manufacturer Purdue, federal prosecutors announced Friday.

  • May 23, 2025

    Trump Admin Must Restore 'Censored' Harvard Docs' Articles

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Friday ordered the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to restore articles penned by two Harvard Medical School researchers that contained terms like "transgender" and "LGBTQ," calling their removal a "textbook example of viewpoint discrimination."

  • May 23, 2025

    Class Of Health Plans Certified In Avandia Marketing MDL

    A Pennsylvania federal judge has certified a class of health plans in multidistrict litigation over GlaxoSmithKline's alleged deceptive marketing of the drug Avandia in which the plans claim they wouldn't have paid higher premiums for the drug if they'd known about its potential cardiovascular risks.

  • May 22, 2025

    Clinic Tells NC Justices Med Mal Reforms Apply To Practices

    An orthopedic clinic is urging North Carolina's highest court to free it from a family's negligent-retention claim over an allegedly faulty surgery by a doctor who later lost his license, asserting that the lower court incorrectly found that state medical malpractice statutes and subsequent reforms don't apply to medical practices.

  • May 22, 2025

    Justices Urged To Undo Denial Of Fast Track For Gastro Drug

    Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the Food and Drug Administration's decision denying fast-track approval for its gastroparesis drug tradipitant, saying it meets the statutory standard for fast-track review as a new treatment with the "potential to address unmet medical needs."

  • May 22, 2025

    Judge Asks If DEI Is Now 'Homogeneity, Inequity And Exclusion'

    A Massachusetts federal judge considering a challenge to the Trump administration's cuts to hundreds of National Institutes of Health grants pressed the U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday for its definition of diversity, equity and inclusion, at one point asking hypothetically whether the government's policy is now "homogeneity, inequity and exclusion."

  • May 21, 2025

    GOP FTC Renews Calls For Orange Book Patent Delistings

    The now-Republican controlled Federal Trade Commission again called on Teva, Novartis, Mylan and other drugmakers to remove patents from a key federal database that partially insulates their drugs from generic competition, arguing Wednesday the patents cover "devices," not drugs, and thus don't warrant such protection.

  • May 21, 2025

    Court Won't Revive Mental Health Class Suit Against Fla. Blue

    A Florida appeals court Wednesday declined to revive a proposed class suit by state employees enrolled in a Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida healthcare plan alleging the insurer designed a claims process to obstruct approval and payment of claims for mental health care.

Expert Analysis

  • How New Fraud Enforcement Tool Affects Gov't Contractors

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    Government contractors will likely face greater scrutiny under the recently enacted Administrative False Claims Act, which broadens federal agencies' authority to pursue low-dollar fraud claims, but contractors may also find the act makes settlement of such claims easier to negotiate, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • Consultants Should Be Aware Of DOJ's Potential New Reach

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's recent first-of-its-kind settlement with McKinsey & Co. indicates not only the DOJ's more aggressive stance toward businesses' potential criminal wrongdoings, but also the benefits of self-disclosure and cooperation when wrongdoing becomes apparent, says Dom Caamano at Kibler Fowler.

  • Health Tech Regulatory Trends To Watch In 2025

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    With an upcoming change in administration and the release of some long-awaited rules, the healthcare industry should prepare for shifting trends, including a growing focus on health data and interest in technology-enabled delivery of healthcare, say attorneys at Orrick.

  • 10 Noteworthy CFPB Developments From 2024

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    In a banner year for consumer finance regulation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau made significant strides in its efforts to rein in Big Tech and nonbank financial firms, including via rules regarding open banking, credit card late fees, and buy now, pay later products, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • The Future Of GLP-1 Policy After Drug Shortage Ends

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    If and when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration determines that GLP-1 RA drugs are no longer in short supply, regulators will face questions of how to balance access to GLP-1 RAs with statutory and policy considerations applicable to compounded drugs, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Top 10 Whistleblowing And Retaliation Events Of 2024

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    From a Florida federal court’s ruling that the False Claims Act’s qui tam provision is unconstitutional to a record-breaking number of whistleblower tips filed with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, employers saw significant developments in the federal and state whistleblower landscapes this year, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • How White Collar Defense Attys Can Use Summary Witnesses

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    Few criminal defense attorneys have successfully utilized summary witnesses in the past, but several recent success stories show that it can be a worthwhile trial tactic to help juries understand the complex decision-making at issue, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • Nutraceutical Patent Insights As Market Heats Up

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    Companies entering the expanding nutraceutical market and seeking patents to protect their innovations should evaluate successful nutraceutical claim language and common patent challenges in this field, say attorneys at Sterne Kessler.

  • How White Collar Attys Can Use Mythic Archetypes At Trial

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    A careful reading of a classic screenwriting guide shows that fairy tales and white collar trials actually have a lot in common, and defense attorneys would do well to tell a hero’s journey at trial, relying on universal character archetypes to connect with the jury, says Jack Sharman at Lightfoot Franklin.

  • What 2024 Election Means For Drugs, Medicare And Medicaid

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    With Republicans running the White House, U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, the incoming administration is likely to provide pathways — through new initiatives and others returning from Trump's previous presidency — for a range of potential changes to drug pricing, Medicare and Medicaid, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Justices Mull Sex-Based Classification In Trans Law Case

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in U.S. v. Skrmetti this week, it appears that the fate of the Tennessee law at the center of the case — a law banning gender-affirming healthcare for transgender adolescents — will hinge on whether the majority read the statute as imposing a sex-based classification, says Alexandra Crandall at Dickinson Wright.

  • Key Takeaways From FDA's Latest Social Media Warnings

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    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's latest untitled letter concerning a drug company's social media promotion provides lessons for how companies should navigate risk presentation, FDA labeling requirements and superiority claims, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Rank-And-File DOJ Attorneys Will Keep Calm And Carry On

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    Career prosecutors at the U.S. Department of Justice often pride themselves on their ability to remain apolitical in order to ensure consistency and keep the department’s mission afloat, and the incoming Trump administration is unlikely to upend this tradition, says Michael Landman at Bird Marella.