Policy & Compliance
-
August 25, 2025
DOJ Wants $10.5M From Convicted Nursing Exec For Fraud
U.S. Department of Justice prosecutors asked a Nevada federal judge Friday for a $10.5 million preliminary forfeiture order against a nurse staffing executive convicted of wage-fixing, an amount that matches what he was paid for his staffing company after deceiving the buyer into thinking there was no criminal antitrust investigation.
-
August 25, 2025
Greenberg Traurig Adds Healthcare Atty From Baker Donelson
Greenberg Traurig LLP has brought on a shareholder from Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC at its Tallahassee office, adding an experienced attorney to its healthcare and U.S. Food and Drug Administration practice, the firm announced Monday.
-
August 25, 2025
Generic-Drugs Group Asks 9th Circ. To Nix Pay-For-Delay Law
A trade group for generic drugmakers urged the Ninth Circuit to fully scrap a California law banning brand pharmaceutical companies from paying to delay generics competition, in a brief targeting both the law's in-state features upheld by a district court and the extraterritorial reach the state wants revived.
-
August 22, 2025
Texas, Fla. Want In On Abortion Medication Challenge
Texas and Florida have asked a Lone Star State federal court to allow them to intervene in litigation challenging federal approvals for the abortion medication mifepristone, arguing that their interests may "no longer be adequately represented" by Missouri, Kansas and Idaho, which are currently leading the suit.
-
August 22, 2025
Chicago Feds Create New Healthcare Fraud Section
The U.S. attorney's office in Chicago announced Friday it has created a section within its Criminal Division dedicated solely to prosecuting healthcare fraud, which the U.S. Department of Justice has identified as a fraud enforcement priority.
-
August 22, 2025
Judge Blocks Most ACA Rule Changes, Lets Others Proceed
A Maryland federal judge Friday largely froze the Trump administration's changes to Affordable Care Act regulations, handing a win to three cities, a coalition of doctors and a small business advocacy group that contend the changes would cause at least 1.8 million people to lose their healthcare coverage.
-
August 21, 2025
CVS, Drugmakers Illegally Inflated Insulin Prices, City Claims
Drugmakers Eli Lilly and Co., Novo Nordisk Inc. and Sanofi-Aventis US LLC, pharmacy benefit managers CVS Caremark, Express Scripts and Optum Rx, and others have been hit with civil racketeering and state unfair trade practices law claims by the city of Torrington, Connecticut, over an alleged scheme to inflate insulin prices.
-
August 21, 2025
DOJ Gets Backing In Fight Over Public Benefits
A group that fights to restrict immigration into the U.S. is urging a Rhode Island federal court to let the Trump administration narrow noncitizens' access to programs like Head Start, homeless shelters and food banks, arguing Thursday that a coalition of 20 states is trying to obstruct immigration enforcement and give benefits to "illegal aliens."
-
August 21, 2025
High Court Allows Trump Admin To Cancel $783M In NIH Grants
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the Trump administration to resume the mass termination of scientific grants, overturning rulings by lower courts that had kept the funds flowing to universities and other recipients.
-
August 21, 2025
Feds Claim Fla. Billing Co. Aided $15M Medicare Fraud
The U.S. government urged a Florida federal judge to deny an outsourcing company's motion to toss a $15 million False Claims Act lawsuit, saying the business aided a Miami-based laboratory to fraudulently bill Medicare for genetic tests that weren't used to treat patients.
-
August 21, 2025
11th Circ. Backs Health System In Black Worker's Bias Suit
The Eleventh Circuit ruled Thursday that a fired Black worker can't revive her race and disability bias suit against a Georgia health system, saying her failure to provide a proposed date to return from medical time off amounted to an unreasonable request for indefinite leave.
-
August 21, 2025
Seton Hall Gets COVID-19 Death Suit Tossed For Good
A New Jersey federal judge wasn't swayed by new arguments brought by parents of a Seton Hall University sophomore who died during a COVID-19 isolation period, saying their contract-related claims failed to establish one existed at all.
-
August 21, 2025
Employer Plans In Limbo As Courts Grapple With Trans Care
Despite appellate courts' apparent willingness to allow states to ban gender-affirming care for minors, employers are still waiting for clarity on whether federal anti-discrimination laws require health plans to cover transgender healthcare access, experts say.
-
August 20, 2025
17 States, DC Urge FDA To Lift Mifepristone Restrictions
Seventeen states and the District of Columbia Wednesday joined four others in urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to lift restrictions on the abortion drug mifepristone, saying that data their health departments collected overwhelmingly back the drug's safety.
-
August 20, 2025
Judge Grills Feds On Upending 30-Year Noncitizen Benefits
A Rhode Island federal judge seemed perplexed Wednesday by a government attorney's contention that for nearly 30 years, various administrations across the political spectrum have wrongly interpreted a law the Trump administration now says requires immigration status checks for additional federal benefits.
-
August 20, 2025
Ohio Justices Free Bank From $77M Guaranty Disclosure Duty
The Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that nothing in state law required Huntington Bank to inform a co-signer of a $77 million loan guaranty about the risks associated with signing the deal with two other partners, one of whom later pled guilty to a check-kiting scheme.
-
August 20, 2025
Northwell Health Inks $2.75M Deal In 403(B) Suit
New York healthcare giant Northwell Health Inc. has agreed to pay $2.75 million to end a former employee's claims it breached its fiduciary duties to participants and beneficiaries in its retirement plan by allegedly saddling workers with excessive recordkeeping fees and offering an underperforming fund.
-
August 20, 2025
TikTok Can't Dodge NC Claims Over Addictive App Design
Chinese internet behemoth ByteDance Inc. and its social media subsidiary TikTok Inc. can be sued in the Tar Heel State, North Carolina's business court ruled Tuesday, preserving a lawsuit that accuses the companies of exploiting minors through addictive app design.
-
August 20, 2025
NC's Cap On Med Mal Damages Is Constitutional, Panel Rules
The North Carolina state appeals court ruled Wednesday that a state law capping compensatory damages in certain medical malpractice lawsuits at $500,000 is constitutional, handing a defeat to a woman seeking to recoup her full $7.5 million jury verdict stemming from the loss of her unborn baby.
-
August 20, 2025
Texas AG Threatens Suit Over Orgs. Mailing Abortion Pills
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sent cease-and-desist letters to three organizations he's accused of shipping abortion drugs to women in the state in violation of state and federal laws.
-
August 20, 2025
State AGs Sidelined From Sandoz Price-Fixing Deal
A group of over 40 states and territories cannot intervene in a $275 million settlement resolving generic-drug price-fixing claims against Sandoz because they only have a nominal interest in the suit that fails to confer standing, a Pennsylvania federal judge said.
-
August 20, 2025
$2.8B BCBS Antitrust Deal Approved With $759M For Attys
An Alabama federal judge has approved a $2.8 billion settlement between Blue Cross Blue Shield and a class of medical providers in a landmark antitrust case, with $759 million going to Whatley Kallas LLP and other law firms for attorney fees and costs.
-
August 20, 2025
Insurers Say Gov't Misusing FCA To Get Medicare Cost Cap
Insurers accused of paying brokers to steer customers to their Medicare Advantage plans asked a Massachusetts federal judge to dismiss a False Claims Act lawsuit, saying the government is mischaracterizing legal payments for marketing as kickbacks in an attempt to impose caps it has thus far been unable to obtain.
-
August 20, 2025
CVS PBM Overbilling Judgment Trebled To $290M
A Pennsylvania federal judge has increased threefold a judgment against CVS Caremark from $95 million to $290 million for overbilling Medicare Part D-sponsored drugs.
-
August 19, 2025
Tenn. Judge Trims Healthcare Contract TRAP Suit
A Tennessee federal judge dismissed Fair Labor Standards Act claims brought by operating room technicians claiming their ex-employer, SpecialtyCare, unlawfully required them to repay tens of thousands of dollars for specialty training, plus interest, if they quit within three years, but the judge greenlit their Truth in Lending Act claims.
Expert Analysis
-
How Orange Book Antitrust Scrutiny Is Intensifying
Pharmaceutical patent holders should be reviewing Orange Book listing practices, as the Federal Trade Commission takes a more aggressive antitrust approach with actions such as the Teva listing probe, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration calls attention to potentially improper listings, say attorneys at McDermott.
-
After Chevron: Slowing Down AI In Medical Research
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision overturning the Chevron doctrine may inhibit agencies' regulatory efforts, potentially slowing down the approval and implementation of artificial intelligence-driven methodologies in medical research, as well as regulators' responses to public health emergencies, say Ragini Acharya and Matthew Deutsch at Husch Blackwell.
-
FDA's Multifaceted Role On Display In MDMA Therapy Scrutiny
Ongoing deliberations at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regarding MDMA-assisted therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder serves as a window into the intricate balance of scientific innovation and patient safety oversight, and offers crucial insights into regulatory nuances, say Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell and Kevin Lanzo at Pharmaka Clinical Consulting.
-
Analyzing FDA Draft Guidance On Clinical Trial Diversity
In light of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's draft guidance on clinical trial diversity action plans, there are several important considerations for sponsors and clinical researchers to keep in mind to prevent delay in a drug or device application, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.
-
In The CFPB Playbook: Making Good On Bold Promises
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding structure in the second quarter cleared the way for the bureau to resume a number of high-priority initiatives, and it appears poised to charge ahead in working toward its aggressive preelection agenda, say Andrew Arculin and Paula Vigo Marqués at Blank Rome.
-
Critical Questions Remain After High Court's Abortion Rulings
The U.S. Supreme Court's decisions in two major abortion-related cases this term largely preserve the status quo for now, but leave federal preemption, the Comstock Act and in vitro fertilization in limbo, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.
-
Navigating FDA Supply Rule Leeway For Small Dispensers
As the November compliance deadline for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's new pharmaceutical distribution supply chain rules draws closer, small dispensers should understand the narrow flexibilities that are available, and the questions to consider before taking advantage of them, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.
-
1st Gender Care Ban Provides Context For High Court Case
The history of Arkansas' ban on gender-affirming medical care — the first such legislation in the U.S. — provides important insight into the far-reaching ramifications that the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in U.S. v. Skrmetti next term will have on transgender healthcare, says Tyler Saenz at Baker Donelson.
-
6 Lessons From DOJ's 1st Controlled Drug Case In Telehealth
Following the U.S. Department of Justice’s first-ever criminal prosecution over telehealth-prescribed controlled substances in U.S. v. Ruthia He, healthcare providers should be mindful of the risks associated with restricting the physician-patient relationship when crafting new business models, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.
-
After Chevron: Scale Tips Favor Away From HHS Agencies
The loss of Chevron deference may indirectly aid parties in challenging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' interpretations of regulations and could immediately influence several pending cases challenging HHS on technical questions and agency authority, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
-
After Chevron: FDA Regulations In The Crosshairs
The U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of the Chevron doctrine is likely to unleash an array of challenges against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, focusing on areas of potential overreach such as the FDA's authority under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, say attorneys at Debevoise.
-
USPTO Disclaimer Rule Would Complicate Patent Prosecution
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's proposed changes to terminal disclaimer practice could lead to a patent owner being unable to enforce a valid patent simply because it is indirectly tied to a patent in which a single claim is found anticipated or obvious in view of the prior art, say attorneys at Sterne Kessler.
-
Navigating Scrutiny Of Friendly Professional Corps. In Calif.
In light of ongoing scrutiny and challenges to private equity participation in the California healthcare marketplace, particularly surrounding the use of the friendly professional corporation model, management services organizations should consider implementing four best practices, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.