Policy & Compliance
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August 01, 2025
AGs Sue Trump Over 'Onslaught Of Pressure' On Trans Care
The Trump administration has improperly "weaponized" federal laws against drug misbranding, false claims and female genital mutilation as part of a pressure campaign to undermine state protections for gender-affirming care, a coalition of state attorneys general argued in a new suit Friday.
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August 01, 2025
States Urge High Court To Keep NIH Grant Funds Flowing
A coalition of 16 states pressed the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to reject the Trump administration's push to resume the mass termination of scientific research grants, saying a district judge had authority to pause the cuts.
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August 01, 2025
Indiana Health Care Co. Fudged Workers' Time, Suit Claims
An Indiana health care network falsified employees' time sheets to avoid paying their overtime, a financial counselor claimed in a proposed class and collective action in federal court.
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August 01, 2025
NC Legislation Highlights Of The 1st Half Of 2025
The North Carolina General Assembly has pushed through another round of hurricane relief aid to help the western swath of the state while lawmakers remain in talks to repeal a long-standing healthcare law that critics say hampers competition. Here are five North Carolina bills from the year's first half that saw the governor's stamp of approval or remain up for debate.
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August 01, 2025
J&J Unit's Catheter Rival Scores Injunction After $442M Win
A California federal judge will block Johnson & Johnson's Biosense Webster from refusing clinical support for its Carto cardio mapping systems from hospitals that use competitors' cardiac catheters, requiring the company to institute nondiscriminatory pricing for its services at hospitals regardless of which products they use.
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July 31, 2025
Justices Told State Med Mal Laws Fly In Federal Court
A Delaware federal court must apply a state statute requiring an expert affidavit in all medical malpractice suits, a hospital defendant told the U.S. Supreme Court, as key aspects of the Delaware law and similar statutes in 28 other states "should not be checked at the federal courthouse doors."
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July 31, 2025
EEOC Says Hospital Wrong To Fire Worker Allergic To Vaccine
A hospital violated federal disability law when it fired a worker in its insurance department who didn't get the COVID-19 vaccine because she was allergic to it, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleged in Illinois federal court Thursday.
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July 31, 2025
HHS Plans To Test Rebates In 340B Drug Pricing Program
The Trump administration on Thursday announced plans for a pilot project that would allow certain drugmakers to abandon upfront discounts in the 340B program and instead require hospitals to apply for rebates, testing an idea that would fundamentally reshape the long-running program.
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July 31, 2025
J&J Fired Sales Worker Who Reported Pay Issue, Suit Says
Johnson & Johnson wrongly credited a former executive sales representative's sales to another worker, leading to lost earned commissions, and then fired him once he complained, the former employee said in a suit in Texas federal court.
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July 30, 2025
Illumina To Pay $9.8M To Resolve Cybersecurity Qui Tam Case
Biotechnology company Illumina Inc. has agreed to pay $9.8 million in a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice to put to rest a first-of-its-kind False Claims Act suit alleging the company violated cybersecurity regulations for medical devices, according to an announcement Wednesday.
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July 30, 2025
Anesthesia Giant Keeps Poaching Claims In Antitrust Row
A New York federal judge refused Tuesday to nix counterclaims from North America's largest anesthesia provider, facing a Syracuse hospital's antitrust allegations, accusing the hospital of illegally recruiting away dozens of its clinicians and thus interfering with its employment agreements.
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July 30, 2025
CVS Can't Arbitrate RICO Suit Over Alleged 'No Generic' Policy
CVS effectively forfeited its arbitration rights in proposed class action litigation accusing it of conspiring to block Medicare beneficiaries from accessing generic versions of prescription drugs, a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled in denying the company's bid to enforce an arbitration agreement.
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July 30, 2025
FDA's Vaccine Chief Is Out After Loyalty To Trump Questioned
Dr. Vinay Prasad's tenure as the top vaccine regulator at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ended abruptly this week following intense criticism from conservative activists who questioned his loyalty to President Donald Trump.
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July 30, 2025
GTCR Denied Rival's Old Sales Prospects Data In FTC Case
An Illinois federal judge refused Tuesday to force a rival medical device coatings company to cough up old sales projections data so private equity firm GTCR BC Holdings can defend against a Federal Trade Commission challenge to its $627 million purchase of Surmodics.
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July 30, 2025
DHS Sinks Docs' Free Speech Suit Over COVID Policies
A Texas federal judge on Wednesday dismissed free speech claims brought against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and three specialty medical boards by a doctor group claiming the government and boards punished them for disapproving of COVID-19 vaccines and mandates.
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July 30, 2025
$1.6M UHC Reimbursement Suit Kicked Back To State Court
A lawsuit alleging that United Healthcare of North Carolina Inc. underpaid a hospital system by at least $1.6 million in reimbursements does not belong in federal court, a North Carolina federal judge ruled Monday.
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July 30, 2025
Fla. AG Allowed To Drop Sandoz Generics Price-Fixing Claims
After several months of wrangling over the terms of a $10 million generic drug price-fixing settlement, a Connecticut federal judge on Wednesday granted Florida's request to permanently drop its claims against Sandoz, finding that it would be an abuse of discretion to hold up the resolution any longer.
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July 30, 2025
Database Administrator Was Employee, Court Told
A former database administrator was misclassified as an independent contractor, he alleged in a proposed class and collective action in New York federal court against companies including Express Scripts and Cigna, saying he was effectively an employee.
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July 29, 2025
Fed. Circ. Backs Rejection Of Man's HPV Vaccine Claims
A man who claimed vaccines he received as a teen, including one meant to guard against HPV, caused him to develop inflammatory bowel disease will receive no payments under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, the Federal Circuit ruled on Tuesday, affirming a determination that his theory that vaccines caused his illness is unsupported.
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July 29, 2025
Ambulance Co. Can't Undo $2.3M Verdict In Wash. Crash Case
A Washington Court of Appeals panel has affirmed an ambulance operator's $2.3 million trial court loss in a patient's family's wrongful death case over a crash, rejecting the company's argument that its crew was shielded from liability by a state law that protects first responders providing emergency medical services.
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July 29, 2025
Trump Says High Court Rulings Undermine Wash. Halt On EOs
Recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court undermine a Washington federal judge's finding that portions of two executive orders concerning gender-affirming care and transgender identity likely violate the Constitution, the Trump administration argued in recent filings.
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July 29, 2025
9th Circ. Won't Renew Suit Over Wash. Ban On 'DIY' Rape Kits
A Ninth Circuit panel on Tuesday refused to revive a constitutional challenge to Washington state's ban on self-administered DNA evidence collection kits for sexual assault survivors, concluding that the plaintiff company failed to show the law illegally restricts commercial speech.
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July 29, 2025
DOD Expands Tricare's Clinical Trial Benefit
The U.S. Department of Defense has issued a final rule that makes health insurance coverage for clinical trials aimed at treating and preventing COVID-19 and other infectious diseases permanent for military personnel, retirees and their families.
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July 29, 2025
Detroit Casino Can't Beat Denied Vaccine Exemption Suit
A dozen former supervisors at a Detroit casino can proceed to trial on claims that their employer refused to accommodate their religiously motivated requests to skip the COVID-19 vaccine, a Michigan federal judge has ruled.
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July 29, 2025
9th Circ. Rescinds Ruling On Wash. Abortion Coverage Law
A Ninth Circuit panel has walked back a published March opinion rejecting a Christian church's challenge to a Washington state law mandating employer health coverage of abortion services, saying in a Tuesday order that the federal appeals court would issue a new ruling following additional oral arguments.
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.