Policy & Compliance
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April 25, 2025
Trans Prisoners Fight For Care Over New White House Hurdles
After staff at a New Jersey federal prison told Alishea Sophia Kingdom that, due to an executive order by President Donald Trump, she would no longer be receiving hormone therapy to treat gender dysphoria, Kingdom lodged the latest in a series of suits against the Federal Bureau of Prisons that contend following the executive order violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment.
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April 25, 2025
Organ Donor Network Wants Veteran's Waitlist Bias Suit Axed
The United Network for Organ Sharing asked a Georgia federal court to toss a lawsuit filed against it and several university medical schools over allegations that they delayed a Black military veteran's ability to receive a kidney transplant by artificially inflating his kidney function scores.
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April 25, 2025
DOD To Assess Tricare Program Competition In Ga. And Fla.
The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded contracts to CareSource Military and Veterans to compete with managed care support contractors in delivering health, medical and administrative support services to eligible Tricare beneficiaries in the Atlanta and Tampa markets.
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April 25, 2025
2nd Circ. Says Withdrawn Application Dooms Age Bias Suit
The Second Circuit refused to reopen a sleep doctor's lawsuit claiming a hospital refused to consider him for a job because he was 66 years old, saying his decision to turn down an interview after receiving a misaddressed email doomed his case.
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April 25, 2025
5 Issues Benefits Attys Want The Gov't To Shed Light On
The first three months of President Donald Trump's administration have left lawyers who represent employers and benefit plans hungry for clarity on issues like cryptocurrency as a 401(k) investment and coverage for gender-affirming care. Here, Law360 looks at five areas where attorneys are hoping for guidance or regulations.
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April 24, 2025
Ex-Pain Clinic Owner Gets 3½ Years For Drug Test Scheme
The former owner of a Pennsylvania pain management practice has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for conspiring with others to defraud Medicare by submitting unnecessary urine drug tests for chronic opioid patients at his medical clinics.
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April 24, 2025
'Egregious' Delays Wipe Out Ga. Health Fraud Case
A Georgia federal judge on Thursday dismissed an eight-year-old case over alleged Medicaid fraud, calling the government's delays in bringing three healthcare executives to trial "egregious" and noting that the alleged criminal conduct took place between 12 and 25 years ago.
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April 24, 2025
No Greece Trip For Ex-Conn. Official Facing Corruption Cases
A Connecticut federal judge on Thursday denied a former state official's request to take a trip to Greece amid two indictments, an order that came the day after the government opposed the plan.
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April 24, 2025
Polsinelli Gains 2 Healthcare Shareholders In Denver
Polsinelli PC announced this week that it has brought two Denver-based attorneys from Husch Blackwell LLP and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to its healthcare practice, which the firm says gained six new shareholders in the past 12 months, not including these most recent additions.
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April 24, 2025
Harvard Seeks To Move 'Swiftly' In $2B Fund Freeze Suit
Harvard University is seeking to move as quickly as possible to get to the merits of its suit challenging the Trump administration's $2.2 billion funding freeze, asking a Massachusetts federal judge to expedite discovery and briefing.
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April 24, 2025
Workplace Screening Co. To Pay $8M For False Billing Claims
Vault Medical Services will pay $8 million to resolve allegations that it knowingly submitted false reimbursement claims for providing COVID-19 testing and other pandemic-related services to a federal program designated for uninsured patients.
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April 23, 2025
11th Circ. Considers Timeliness Of J&J Pelvic Mesh Claims
An Alabama couple urged the Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday to revive their lawsuit over injuries allegedly caused by pelvic mesh manufactured by Ethicon Inc. and its parent Johnson & Johnson, arguing that a district court wrongly found their claims were time-barred.
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April 23, 2025
Feds Oppose Ex-Conn. Official's 'Troubling' Greece Trip Plan
Federal prosecutors on Wednesday opposed a twice-indicted ex-Connecticut budget official's request to spend six weeks in Greece visiting family as he awaits twin corruption trials, citing a skipped deadline to relinquish guns and the risk that he might use Greek citizenship to evade justice.
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April 23, 2025
Genetic Testing Co., Marketer Settle FCA Case For $6M
A genetic testing company, marketing firm, and their top executives have agreed to pay $6 million to resolve the government's allegations that they billed Medicare for unnecessary medical tests, in violation of the False Claims Act.
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April 23, 2025
Eli Lilly Sues 4 Telehealth Cos. For Weight Loss Drug Copies
Eli Lilly filed a new round of lawsuits Wednesday over the compounding of its popular weight loss drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound, accusing four telehealth companies of making copies of the medications while alleging that two companies violated laws requiring doctors to make medical decisions, not corporations.
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April 22, 2025
Free Speech Experts Question DOJ Letter To Medical Journal
A federal prosecutor's letter to a medical journal skeptically asking about its commitment to nonpartisan debate is an unusual intrusion into editorial decision-making and may interfere with the publication's First Amendment rights, free speech experts say.
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April 22, 2025
'Fetal Personhood' Animates Neb. Aborted-Remains Debate
Nebraska lawmakers are sparring over a bill that would require healthcare facilities to bury or cremate fetal remains following an elective abortion. Supporters envision a "dignified" disposition. Opponents decry a requirement targeting providers while advancing the “fetal personhood” doctrine.
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April 22, 2025
Hogan Lovells Adds Ex-HHS Atty To Health Practice
Hogan Lovells on Tuesday announced the arrival of a former U.S. Department of Health and Human Services attorney to the firm's global regulatory and intellectual property practice group.
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April 22, 2025
Trump's Healthcare Order A Mixed Bag For Big Pharma
While Trump's executive order last week is more of a general road map than a clear plan for cutting prices, experts say it signals key policy priorities for the administration — including on a point of serious contention between drug companies and federal regulators.
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April 22, 2025
Pharma Co. Owner Cops To Selling $60M Of Sham HIV Drugs
An owner of a pharmaceutical company has pled guilty in Florida to participating in a $60 million nationwide scheme to illegally distribute misbranded and adulterated HIV drugs to patients.
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April 22, 2025
MoFo Adds Perkins Coie FDA Regulatory Leader In DC
Morrison Foerster LLP has hired a former Perkins Coie LLP leader who focuses his practice on a range of regulatory matters involving the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as its new head of food and regulatory, the firm announced Tuesday.
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April 22, 2025
Trump Deregulation Order Puts Target On Nurse Survey Rule
The Trump administration's push for mass deregulation is raising the hopes of nursing facilities that have spent years pushing back on a controversial rule limiting when a registered nurse must be present during facility safety inspections.
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April 22, 2025
State Legislatures Pull Back On Certificate-Of-Need Laws
Lawmakers in a handful of states are considering a fresh round of repeals and rollbacks to certificate-of-need laws, an often divisive tool designed to control healthcare costs by limiting duplication of services. That means more changes to a legal landscape that has evolved significantly since the advent of the statutes in the 1970s.
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April 22, 2025
Save Mart Reaches $20.5M Deal On Nonunion Retiree Benefits
California-based Save Mart Supermarkets will pay about $20.5 million to escape a suit from workers who alleged the company unlawfully revoked a monthly health reimbursement that it promised to nonunion retirees and their spouses for life, according to a proposed deal filed in federal court.
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April 22, 2025
Nossaman Health Atty Talks Staffing, Evolving Calif. Law
A former Procopio Health attorney has made the jump to Nossaman LLP at a time when California law around peer and judicial review processes for medical staff is evolving.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Takeaways From New HHS Substance Use Disorder Info Rules
A new U.S. Department of Health and Human Services rule continues the agency's efforts to harmonize complex rules surrounding confidentiality provisions for substance use disorder patient records, though healthcare providers will need to remain mindful of different potentially applicable requirements and changes that their compliance structures may require, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.