Policy & Compliance
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November 07, 2025
8th Circ. Upholds EpiPen Co. Worker's Reinstatement
The Eighth Circuit affirmed an arbitration award ordering EpiPen maker Meridian Medical to reinstate an employee accused of falsifying job training records, ruling Friday the decision doesn't violate public policy since there are no federal regulations governing auto-injector training that forbids reinstatement for a procedural training violation.
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November 07, 2025
Couple Says Pilot's Reckless Flying Caused Helicopter Crash
An operator of air ambulance helicopters allowed one of its pilots to make "dangerous, careless, and reckless" flight decisions that resulted in a 2023 crash in the mountains of North Carolina during a patient transport, a couple has alleged in a new lawsuit.
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November 07, 2025
ERISA Recap: 6 Things Attys May Have Missed In Oct.
Two appeals court judges used a decision in an employee stock ownership plan case to urge the full Eleventh Circuit to rethink its requirements for filing federal benefits suits, a marketing company shut down a 401(k) forfeiture case, and CVS and Duke University were hit with new suits. Here, Law360 looks back at six noteworthy ERISA developments from last month.
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November 06, 2025
Conduent Pummeled With Suits Over Monthslong Data Breach
Conduent Business Services LLC has been hit with a barrage of class action lawsuits in New Jersey federal court alleging it failed to adequately protect sensitive personal and health information of more than 10.5 million individuals that were compromised in a major data breach.
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November 06, 2025
Med Groups Call To Break Up 'Politicized' CDC Vax Committee
A Massachusetts doctor and a group of public health trade associations want the federal government to break up a key vaccine committee tasked with nationwide vaccine policy, arguing in an amended lawsuit Thursday that the panel has been tainted with anti-vaccine sentiment.
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November 05, 2025
1st Circ. Questions Trump Admin On NIH Indirect Cost Cuts
A First Circuit panel seemed poised on Wednesday to uphold a district court decision finding that the Trump administration lacks the authority to cap indirect costs for research grants at the National Institutes of Health.
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November 05, 2025
Pharmacy Groups Urge 8th Circ. To Back Ark. PBM Limits
A pair of pharmacy trade groups is urging the Eighth Circuit to allow Arkansas to enforce a law barring pharmacy benefit managers from owning pharmacies, arguing the law is a rational response to "abusive" PBM practices.
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November 05, 2025
Judge Demands Facts In Pa. Medicaid-Paid Abortion Ban Case
A Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court judge on Wednesday repeatedly asked healthcare providers at oral arguments to show her facts on why a statewide ban on Medicaid-funded abortions was unconstitutional, often remarking that the case was short on evidence to support making changes to the coverage exclusion.
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November 05, 2025
Worker Can Keep OT Claim Against Health Care Co.
A worker's overtime claim can proceed against a healthcare company that provides services through the U.S. Department of Labor to individuals who have suffered injuries while working at nuclear facilities, a South Carolina federal judge ruled Wednesday, while tossing other wage- and benefits-related claims.
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November 05, 2025
Mich. AG Urges State High Court To OK Insulin Price Probe
The Michigan Supreme Court weighed overturning two of its prior rulings on consumer protection law Wednesday as the state's attorney general sought the court's blessing for an insulin price-gouging investigation.
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November 04, 2025
5th Circ. Judge Says FCA Illegally Steps On Executive Power
Fifth Circuit Judge James C. Ho says his court should reconsider what he called "serious constitutional problems with the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act," arguing that whistleblowers who sue under the law "are neither appointed by, nor accountable to, the president," and that conflicts with presidential authority.
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November 04, 2025
Judges Wade Into Abortion Pill Access And Rx Pricing Fights
In a flurry of recent legal activity, courts across the country have been drawn into the nation's most contentious healthcare debates over access to medication abortions and efforts to cap the cost of prescription medications.
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November 04, 2025
Meet The Attys Behind Drugmakers' Conn. Price Cap Suit
Attorneys from Goodwin Procter LLP and Wiggin and Dana LLP are teaming up to represent the Association for Accessible Medicines in its challenge to a Connecticut drug price cap set to take effect at the start of 2026.
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November 04, 2025
NY Court Splits On Emotional Damage From Fatal Birth Injury
New York’s highest court handed a loss to legal advocates who had hoped a mother’s suit over the ramifications of the death of her newborn baby would help overturn a 20-year-old precedent on prenatal torts. A dissenting judge called a legal barrier to emotional damage recovery “contrary to common sense.”
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November 04, 2025
Gov't Subpoena Powers Face Reckoning In Healthcare Battles
The judicial deference given to the government's power to issue investigative subpoenas is facing an unprecedented challenge in transgender care cases. Willingness by judges to question motives could lead to more subpoena challenges or impede worthy government investigations.
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November 04, 2025
Fed. Circ. Denies VA Surgeon's Wrongful Termination Appeal
The Federal Circuit on Tuesday affirmed the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board's decision to uphold the firing of a general surgeon by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs after he raised concerns about compromised patient care.
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November 04, 2025
9th Circ. Revives Ore. Right To Life Suit: 3 Things To Know
A divided Ninth Circuit panel sided with an Oregon anti-abortion group last week and reinstated its lawsuit challenging a state law that requires health plans to cover abortion and contraceptives.
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November 04, 2025
HHS Watchdog Puts Failing Nursing Home Program On Blast
Hefty fines aren’t enough to turn around the nation's worst nursing homes, a government watchdog has concluded. The findings illustrate the need for new enforcement strategies that promote staffing and other improvements meant to last.
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November 04, 2025
End Payors Seek $66M In Atty Fees In Generic Drug MDL
End payors in a generic drug price-fixing multidistrict litigation are seeking a Pennsylvania federal court's approval for a $66 million award of attorney fees, representing one-third of the $200 million settlement between the classes and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Inc. and Taro Pharmaceuticals USA Inc.
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November 03, 2025
Pharmacies Seek Cert. In Cholesterol Drug Price-Fixing MDL
A group of indirect reseller plaintiffs urged a Pennsylvania federal judge on Friday to certify a nationwide class of thousands of pharmacies that indirectly purchased the cholesterol medication pravastatin in sprawling multidistrict litigation over alleged price-fixing in the generic drug industry.
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November 03, 2025
FDA Official Quits As Aurinia Sues Over 'Personal Vendetta'
Aurinia Pharmaceuticals on Sunday launched a lawsuit accusing Dr. George Tidmarsh, who that same day resigned as head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's drug division, of falsely claiming the biotech's lupus nephritis drug doesn't work amid his "longstanding personal vendetta" against the company's board chair and investor.
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November 03, 2025
Judge Denies New Trial In SuperValu Whistleblower Drug Case
An Illinois federal judge has refused to grant a new trial to whistleblowers who said grocery chain SuperValu systematically overbilled the government for prescription drugs, finding there was no issue with jury instructions on causation.
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November 03, 2025
Colorado Judge Denies AbbVie's Bid To Block State Drug Law
A Colorado federal judge denied AbbVie Inc.'s bid for a preliminary injunction, which would have barred the state from enforcing its laws and penalties surrounding federal 340B drug pricing.
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October 31, 2025
Drugmakers Can't End States' Dermatology Price-Fixing Suits
A Connecticut federal judge on Friday refused to throw out the vast majority of claims in a nationwide antitrust enforcement action accusing a long list of pharmaceutical companies of fixing the prices of generic dermatology drugs, rejecting the companies' argument that the claims were filed too late.
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October 31, 2025
Amgen Again Challenges Colo. Price Cap For Arthritis Drug
Amgen has once again sued Colorado over its price cap for the arthritis drug Enbrel, claiming that the Centennial State's drug price-control statute violates the U.S. Constitution, conflicts with federal patent law and threatens patients' access to lifesaving medications.
Expert Analysis
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Assessing PE Risk After Mass. False Claims Act Amendments
A law recently passed in Massachusetts amends the commonwealth's False Claims Act by dramatically expanding potential liability for private equity firms and investors, underscoring the importance of robust diligence and risk assessments for private equity firms conducting transactions in the commonwealth, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.
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What Trump Actions Mean For Federal Research Funding
New guidance from the National Institutes of Health represents a massive policy shift regarding federal funding for researchers at institutions of higher education, contributing to a perfect storm of significant resource shortfalls in upcoming years, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.
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A Look At Healthcare Transaction Oversight In Oregon
Understanding Oregon's enforcement authority and its impact on proposed transactions last year provides a road map to the state's plans to strengthen its processes this year, though enforcement could be challenged by ongoing litigation, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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Rethinking 'No Comment' For Clients Facing Public Crises
“No comment” is no longer a cost-free or even a viable public communications strategy for companies in crisis, and counsel must tailor their guidance based on a variety of competing factors to help clients emerge successfully, says Robert Bowers at Moore & Van Allen.
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High Court Must Acknowledge US History Of Anti-Trans Laws
Despite Justice Amy Coney Barrett's claim to the contrary during oral arguments in U.S. v. Skrmetti, U.S. governments at every level have systematically discriminated against transgender people, and the U.S. Supreme Court must consider this historical context in upcoming cases about transgender issues, says Paisley Currah at the City University of New York.
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The Fate Of Biden-Era Clinical Study Guidance Under Trump
Draft guidance about the study of sex and gender differences in medical product development issued by the outgoing Biden administration currently faces significant uncertainty and litigation potential due to the Trump administration's executive orders and other actions, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.
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10 Issues To Watch In Aerospace And Defense Contracting
This year, in addition to evergreen developments driven by national security priorities, disruptive new technologies and competition with rival powers, federal contractors will see significant disruptions driven by the new administration’s efforts to reduce government spending, regulation and the size of the federal workforce, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.
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Dispelling 10 Myths About Health Provider-Based Compliance
Congress appears intent on requiring hospitals to submit provider-based attestations for all off-campus outpatient hospital locations, so now is the time for hospitals to prepare for this change by understanding common misconceptions about provider-based status and proactively correct noncompliance, say attorneys at McDermott.
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A Look At HHS' New Opinion On Patient Assistance Programs
A recent advisory opinion from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General follows a recent trend of blessing patient assistance program arrangements that implicate the Anti-Kickback Statute, as long as they are structured with appropriate safeguards to minimize the risk of fraud and abuse, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
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2 Anti-Kickback Developments Hold Lessons For Biopharma
The U.S. Department of Justice's Anti-Kickback Statute settlement with QOL Medical and a favorable advisory opinion from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provide a study in contrasts, but there are tips for biopharma manufacturers trying to navigate the vast compliance space between them, says Mary Kohler at Kohler Health Law.
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Tips For Pharma-Biotech Overlap Reporting In New HSR Form
While there’s no secret recipe for reporting overlaps to the Federal Trade Commission in the new Hart-Scott-Rodino Act form, there are several layers of considerations for all pharma-biotech companies and counsel to reflect on internally before reporting on any deal, say attorneys at A&O Shearman.
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A Look At Drug Price Negotiation Program's Ongoing Impact
More than two years after the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and the rapid implementation of the drug price negotiation program, attorneys at Ropes & Gray discuss how the IRA has influenced licensing strategies, and how maximum fair prices under the law have economically affected certain drugs.
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Preparing For A Possible End To The Subminimum Wage
The U.S. Department of Labor's proposed rule to end the subminimum wage for employees with disabilities may significantly affect the community-based rehabilitation and training programs that employ these workers, so certified programs should be especially vigilant about compliance during this period of evaluation and scrutiny, say attorneys at Jackson Lewis.