Policy & Compliance

  • December 05, 2025

    3rd Circ. Backs NJ In-State Rule For Medical Aid In Dying

    A Delaware woman with terminal cancer cannot end her life with medical assistance in New Jersey, the Third Circuit ruled Friday in a precedential opinion, finding that the Garden State residency requirement for medical aid in dying is restricted solely to New Jerseyans.

  • December 05, 2025

    ERISA Recap: 4 Rulings Worth Paying Attention To From Nov.

    The Ninth Circuit striking down a class action win for transgender employee health plan participants who said their gender-affirming care denials were discriminatory is just one noteworthy Employee Retirement Income Security Act ruling from November. Here's a recap of that ruling and three others.

  • December 05, 2025

    Justices Take On State Court Review Doctrine Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Friday to consider whether an appellate court correctly invoked the doctrine blocking federal courts from reviewing state court judgments in a case concerning an involuntary hospital commitment.

  • December 05, 2025

    Georgia Turns To 11th Circ. In Trans Prisoner Care Fight

    The Eleventh Circuit will get a chance to weigh in on a district judge's recent decision requiring the Georgia Department of Corrections to provide hormone therapy to transgender inmates, according to a Friday filing in federal court.

  • December 05, 2025

    CDC Panel Ends Recommendation Of Hepatitis B Shot At Birth

    A panel of federal vaccine advisers on Friday voted to lift a long-standing recommendation that all newborns be given vaccinations for hepatitis B.

  • December 04, 2025

    11th Circ. Blocks Fla. City's Abortion Clinic Buffer Zone Law

    The Eleventh Circuit on Thursday ordered a preliminary injunction blocking a Clearwater, Florida, ordinance requiring a 5-foot buffer zone outside an abortion clinic, finding the city likely violated protesters' rights by burdening their ability to leaflet drivers.

  • December 04, 2025

    CDC Vaccine Committee Punts Hepatitis B Vote Again

    Federal vaccine advisers on Thursday put off a vote on changing guidelines for a long-used hepatitis B vaccine for infants, delaying again a decision expected to have wide-ranging ramifications for national childhood vaccine policy in the U.S.

  • December 04, 2025

    Credit Bureaus Can't Duck Suit Over Excluded Medical Debt

    A California federal judge has found that Equifax, Experian and TransUnion must face key parts of a rejiggered proposed antitrust class action from medical practices and collection agencies targeting the credit reporting agencies' decision to exclude medical debt under $500 from consumer credit reports.

  • December 04, 2025

    Mass. Justices Unlikely To Revive Verizon Tower Suit

    Justices on Massachusetts' highest court appeared unlikely to second-guess a local health board's decision to drop an enforcement action against Verizon over perceived health effects from a cell tower after the telecom filed suit.

  • December 04, 2025

    Pharma Cos. Denied Early Win In States' Price-Fixing Suit

    Twenty-six pharmaceutical companies failed to secure a quick win on overarching conspiracy claims in an antitrust case by the attorneys general of Connecticut and most other states, with a federal judge finding the "substantial bulk of evidence" points toward a broad industry scheme to fix 98 dermatology drug prices.

  • December 04, 2025

    $1M AAA Club Settlement Gets Final Nod In COBRA Suit

    A Michigan federal judge granted final approval Thursday to a $1 million settlement an American Automobile Association club brokered with a class of workers to resolve their suit claiming they weren't notified on time that they could extend their health insurance after their benefits ended.

  • December 04, 2025

    Vivimed To Pay $1.9M To End Losartan Economic Loss Claims

    Vivimed has agreed to pay $1.9 million to settle economic loss claims from a class of consumers and insurers related to its losartan product in sprawling multidistrict litigation over contaminated blood pressure medication, according to a Wednesday filing.

  • December 04, 2025

    Lawmakers Debate Higher Pay, Health Benefits For Boxers

    An effort to revamp American boxing got underway on Capitol Hill on Thursday as lawmakers deliberated over legislation to provide better pay and workplace protections for fighters, with Democrats expressing concern over the potential for corruption to flourish in the sport.

  • December 03, 2025

    Pharmacies Want Opioid Mistrial As Deliberations Stretch On

    The nation's three major pharmacy chains asked a Florida state judge Wednesday to declare a mistrial following 11 days of deliberations in a $1.5 billion case by hospitals over opioid dispensing, claiming jurors seem unaware that they are allowed to report a deadlock.

  • December 03, 2025

    Allstate Files RICO Suit Over Fla. Clinic's 'Exorbitant Charges'

    Allstate hit a Florida medical practice and its owner with a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act complaint alleging the owner ran an insurance billing scheme for pain management care in violation of permanent restrictions on his medical license.

  • December 03, 2025

    FDA Seizes $1M In Illegal 7-OH Opioid Products

    Federal regulators seized $1 million worth of illicit food products containing a kratom-derived compound from companies in Missouri, according to an announcement that said the action is part of the government's ongoing effort to crack down on the opioid-like supplement.

  • December 03, 2025

    Baxter Defeats Suit Over Stable Value Fund In $4B 401(k) Plan

    An Illinois federal judge tossed a suit Wednesday from a worker who said medical products company Baxter International Inc. violated federal benefits law by retaining a lackluster stable value fund in its $4 billion retirement plan, ruling the data backing his case failed to capture long-term performance.

  • December 03, 2025

    AT&T Sues Generic Drug Manufacturers, Alleging Price-Fixing

    AT&T has joined the bevy of litigants suing a swath of pharmaceutical companies over alleged generic drug price-fixing, claiming it shelled out billions of dollars for medication reimbursements to the drugmakers as part of its employee health plans when it could have spent far less if the drugs weren't subject to anticompetitive pricing.

  • December 03, 2025

    AGs Say Sun, Taro Settlement Mustn't Touch State Claims

    State attorneys general have asked a Pennsylvania federal judge to again ensure their claims remain untouched by a settlement between private plaintiffs and generic-drug makers in sprawling price-fixing litigation, this time focusing on a $200 million deal between Sun Pharmaceutical, Taro Pharmaceuticals and employee benefit plans.

  • December 02, 2025

    States Hit Abbott With FCA Suit Over Infant Formula Recall

    Seven states, including California, Michigan and New York, on Monday intervened in a False Claims Act suit brought by the federal government against Abbott Laboratories over the 2022 infant formula crisis seeking to recoup funds spent on the tainted baby food.

  • December 02, 2025

    CR Bard's Faulty Blood Filter Killed Wash. Woman, Suit Says

    The family of a woman allegedly killed by a faulty blood filter implant accused device maker C.R. Bard Inc. in Washington federal court Monday of taking dangerous shortcuts as it rushed its line of products to market.

  • December 02, 2025

    Judge Blocks Planned Parenthood Funding Cut In 22 States

    A Massachusetts federal judge Tuesday stopped the Trump administration from halting Medicaid reimbursements to Planned Parenthood clinics in 22 states, ruling the funding cutoff likely violated requirements to warn the states ahead of time about the change.

  • December 02, 2025

    6th Circ. Affirms UnitedHealth's Escape From Preempted Suit

    The Sixth Circuit on Tuesday backed a decision to toss a worker's lawsuit accusing his employer and UnitedHealth and its subsidiaries of defrauding him into reimbursing his health insurance company for $25,000, agreeing with a lower court that federal benefits law completely preempted his state law claims.

  • December 02, 2025

    U Of Colo. To Pay $10M In Religious Bias Suit Over Vax Policy

    The University of Colorado's medical school will pay $10.3 million to a group of employees and students who claimed in federal court that their religious exemption requests to the university's COVID-19 vaccine mandate were unlawfully denied, according to the group's attorneys.

  • December 02, 2025

    Lawyers Adapt To Crop Of New FDA Pilots

    A slew of new FDA pilot programs is forcing life science attorneys to adjust to a new reality of programs that shed bureaucratic processes and eschew some of the typical push-and-pull with industry players.

Expert Analysis

  • Dispelling 10 Myths About Health Provider-Based Compliance

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    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.

  • A Look At HHS' New Opinion On Patient Assistance Programs

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    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.

  • 2 Anti-Kickback Developments Hold Lessons For Biopharma

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    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.

  • Tips For Pharma-Biotech Overlap Reporting In New HSR Form

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    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.

  • A Look At Drug Price Negotiation Program's Ongoing Impact

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    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.

  • Preparing For A Possible End To The Subminimum Wage

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    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.

  • Drug Pricing Policy Trends To Expect In 2025 And Beyond

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    Though 2025 may bring more of the same in the realm of drug pricing policy, business as usual entails a sustained, high level of legal and policy developments across at least six major areas, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Top 10 Healthcare And Life Sciences Issues To Watch In 2025

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    Under the new Trump administration, this coming year may benefit some healthcare and life sciences stakeholders, while creating new challenges for others amid an increasingly complex regulatory environment, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • 4 Keys To Litigating In An Active Regulatory Environment

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    For companies facing litigation influenced by government regulatory action — a recent trend that a politically charged atmosphere will exacerbate — there are a few principles that can help to align litigation strategy with broader public positioning in the regulatory and oversight context, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • How Views On Healthcare Price Transparency Are Changing

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    Regulators' attitudes toward price transparency regulation have shifted over the past several years in ways that may seem contradictory, and research into detailed rate information published by hospitals and health plans has yielded mixed results, says Matthew List at Charles River Associates.

  • EEOC Wearable Tech Guidance Highlights Monitoring Scrutiny

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    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's recent fact sheet on wearable technologies cautions against potential issues with federal anti-discrimination laws and demonstrates growing concern from regulators and legislators about intrusive technologies in the workplace, say attorneys at Littler.

  • Navigating The Potential End Of GLP-1 Drug Shortages

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    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's determination of whether GLP-1 products are in shortage may affect how compounders provide these products and spur a range of litigation including patent disputes and unfair competition suits, say attorneys at Goodwin.

  • Politicized OIGs Could Target Federal Employees, Contractors

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    After President Donald Trump fired nearly 20 inspectors general last week, it’s worth exploring how the administration could use Offices of Inspectors General to target federal employees and contractors, why it would be difficult to fight this effort, and one possible bulwark against the politicization of these watchdogs, says Sara Kropf at Kropf Moseley.