Policy & Compliance

  • March 19, 2025

    Judge Questions Standing In DEI Executive Orders Challenge

    A D.C. federal judge on Wednesday questioned whether three civil rights nonprofits have standing to block the Trump administration's executive orders ending federal diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility programs and cutting off funding for groups focused on minority populations.

  • March 19, 2025

    Utah Hospital Can't Nix EMTALA Claim In Suicide Attempt Suit

    A Utah federal court denied a hospital's second attempt to toss a patient's claim under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, finding that facts remain in dispute regarding the patient's admittance and subsequent transfer to another facility following a suicide attempt.

  • March 19, 2025

    Amazon's PillPack Agrees To Pay $6.5M To End TCPA Suit

    The lead plaintiff has asked a Washington federal judge to approve a $6.5 million settlement to end a class action alleging Amazon.com affiliate PillPack LLC was responsible for unsolicited telemarketing calls that violated a federal consumer law restricting robocalls and texts.

  • March 19, 2025

    Ohio Opioid Judge Says Texas Court Should Hear Appeal Bid

    An Ohio federal judge overseeing multidistrict opioid litigation denied Albertsons Cos.' request to appeal its summary judgment loss in the bellwether case brought by a Texas county, saying Wednesday that since pretrial proceedings are now done, the appeal should head to the appellate court for the Lone Star State.

  • March 19, 2025

    Anesthesiology Giant Says Private Antitrust Suit Has No Legs

    U.S. Anesthesia Partners wants out of a proposed class action accusing it of monopolizing the Texas anesthesia market through a private equity-powered "roll-up" strategy, saying the man behind the lawsuit doesn't have standing to sue and has simply "repackaged" FTC allegations.

  • March 19, 2025

    UMass Medical Execs To Face Retaliation Claim In Vax Dispute

    The medical director at UMass Memorial Medical Center has won dismissal of retaliation claims brought by one of the Massachusetts institution's former compliance executives who declined a COVID-19 vaccine, but two other leaders will have to face claims that the ex-executive's firing was tied to her request for work accommodations.

  • March 19, 2025

    Law360 Announces The Members Of Its 2025 Editorial Boards

    Law360 is pleased to announce the formation of its 2025 Editorial Advisory Boards.

  • March 19, 2025

    Purdue Pharma Files New $7.4B Ch. 11 Plan Settlement

    Bankrupt OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP filed a new Chapter 11 plan in a New York bankruptcy court, including a $6.5 billion payment from members of the Sackler family who own the company and $900 million from the debtor, that aims to compensate thousands of creditors for damages from opioid sales.

  • March 18, 2025

    Texas Abortion Charges, HHS Rehirings And FTC Deal Warning

    The Trump administration is seeking an emergency halt of a Maryland federal court order that led the Department of Health and Human Services to delay the terminations of almost 3,000 probationary employees, arguing it has burdened HHS and over a dozen other federal agencies behind the mass firings. Here, Law360 Healthcare Authority looks at these and other significant cases and decisions that shaped the healthcare industry over the last week.

  • March 18, 2025

    HHS Seeks Early Win Over Lilly, Novartis, BMS In Rebate Row

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services urged a D.C. federal judge Monday to grant it an early win against behemoth drugmakers' claims that it unlawfully blocked their plans to offer after-the-fact rebates, rather than up-front discounts, to safety-net hospitals via a decades-old federal drug pricing program.

  • March 18, 2025

    Ga. Hospital Failed To Protect Data Of 120K, Patient Says

    A former patient of a southwest Georgia hospital hit the provider with a proposed class action Monday over a data breach last year, alleging that it failed to secure 120,000 customers' personal information before it was filched in a cyberattack.

  • March 18, 2025

    NIH Avoids Contempt In Trans Case Despite Judge's Criticism

    A federal judge said there is no clear evidence that the National Institutes of Health's revoking a Washington hospital's research grant violated her order blocking President Donald Trump's efforts to cut funding for gender-affirming care for young people, but the judge chastised the administration for its "narrow and self-serving view" of what makes up care.

  • March 18, 2025

    Ky. Abortion Ban Carveouts Stir Concerns Over Clarity

    Kentucky lawmakers passed a bill spelling out medical exceptions to the state's strict post-Dobbs abortion ban. The bill, drafted by anti-abortion lawmakers, is stoking concerns that it could lead to more restrictions in emergency situations.

  • March 18, 2025

    Reg Attys Talk FTC Healthcare and Antitrust Under Ferguson

    Regulatory attorneys focused on the healthcare industry aren't expecting huge changes in federal antitrust activity under new leadership at the Federal Trade Commission.

  • March 18, 2025

    Ohio Appeals Court Blocks Trans Care Restrictions

    An Ohio state appeals court on Tuesday ruled that a portion of a state law restricting gender-affirming care for transgender youth was unconstitutional, overturning a county court judge's decision siding with the state. 

  • March 18, 2025

    Elevance Inks $3.3M Deal To End Surgery Claim Denial Suit

    Elevance has agreed to pay $3.3 million to close a suit claiming it denied coverage for a spinal surgery through employee health plans after incorrectly deeming the procedure medically unnecessary, according to a Kentucky federal court filing.

  • March 18, 2025

    Feds Say Wash. Hospital Can't Strike Facts From Fraud Suit

    The government has accused a hospital operator in Washington state of "grasping at straws" by trying to strike inconvenient facts from the court record in a bid to defeat a False Claims Act lawsuit, a tactic prosecutors urged the court to see through and reject.

  • March 18, 2025

    Repeal Of Social Needs Guidance Sows Medicaid Uncertainty

    A Trump administration rollback of guidance on health-related social needs may bode poorly for the future of state-federal pilot programs that provide Medicaid recipients with tools to live healthier, safer lives.

  • March 18, 2025

    States Oppose Term In Sandoz Price-Fixing Deal With Fla.

    State enforcers still locked in price-fixing litigation against generic-drug maker Sandoz are raising objections to a cap on what they could win through settlements in Florida's recent agreement with the company, telling the Connecticut federal judge weighing approval that it would block or delay potential settlements of their own.

  • March 18, 2025

    Indirect Effexor Buyers Seek Approval Of $2.3M Antitrust Deal

    A proposed class of indirect drug purchasers have asked a New Jersey federal judge for his initial sign-off on a $2.25 million deal with Teva Pharmaceuticals to resolve antitrust claims against the company over antidepressant and anxiety disorder treatment Effexor XR.

  • March 18, 2025

    Feds Reject 'Absurd' Defense In Harvard Body Parts Case

    Federal prosecutors in Pennsylvania have blasted an "absurd argument" that a stolen-goods law doesn't criminalize buying and selling body parts stolen from cadavers donated to the Harvard Medical School's morgue.

  • March 18, 2025

    Illinois Asbestos Injury Firm Escapes 'Fraud Playbook' Suit

    A Chicago federal judge on Tuesday tossed a racketeering suit an industrial pipe company brought against a "prolific" Illinois asbestos litigation law firm, finding that the pipe company failed to adequately plead that the law firm formed an "enterprise" with various clients, witnesses, co-counsel and staff.

  • March 18, 2025

    Minn. AG, Mayo Clinic Settle Charity Probe: 3 Things To Know

    The Mayo Clinic will reform its charity care policies after an investigation by Minnesota officials found the hospital system sued its patients over medical debt even though they might have qualified for financial assistance.

  • March 17, 2025

    US Chamber Says FCA Qui Tam Provisions Unconstitutional

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Monday endorsed a legal challenge aimed at bringing down the whistleblower provisions in the False Claims Act, arguing there is a "manifest conflict between the modern FCA's qui tam provisions and Article II's text."

  • March 17, 2025

    Gutting USAID Threatens US Credibility, 22 Ex-Officials Say

    A bipartisan group of former high-ranking national security and defense officials on Monday voiced opposition to the Trump administration's decision to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development, saying in an amicus brief filed in D.C. federal court that the shutdown undermines the United States' credibility while allowing China and Russia to build theirs.

Expert Analysis

  • 3 Healthcare FCA Deals Provide Self-Disclosure Takeaways

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    Several civil False Claims Act settlements of alleged healthcare fraud violations over the past year demonstrate that healthcare providers may benefit substantially from voluntarily disclosing potential misconduct to both the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, say Brian Albritton and Raquel Ramirez Jefferson at Phelps Dunbar.

  • Takeaways From High Court's Tribal Health Admin Cost Ruling

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent determination that the government must reimburse two Native American tribes for administrative healthcare costs will help tribes maintain equal footing with the Indian Health Service when administering programs, and continues a pattern of how the current court aligns on tribal concerns, say attorneys at Lewis Roca.

  • FTC Focus: Private Equity Investments In Healthcare

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    As the Federal Trade Commission is tightening its scrutiny of private equity investment in healthcare, the agency is finding novel grounds to challenge key focus areas, including rollup acquisitions, the flip-and-strip approach and minority investments in rival providers, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • High Court's Expert Ruling May Help Health Fraud Defendants

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Diaz v. U.S. appears to give the government a powerful new tool in calling its own agents as expert witnesses, but it could also benefit defense counsel in criminal healthcare fraud and other white collar criminal cases that arise in complex legal or regulatory environments, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Unpacking HHS' Opinion On Cell Therapy Refund Programs

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    A recent advisory opinion from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, determining that a biopharma company's refund program for its cell therapy will not be penalized, indicates an encouraging willingness to engage, but the regulator's assumptions about the program's limited term warrant a closer look, says Mary Kohler at Kohler Health.

  • DOJ Innovasis Settlement Offers Lessons On Self-Disclosure

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    The recent $12 million settlement with Innovasis and two of its executives demonstrates the U.S. Department of Justice's continued prioritization of Anti-Kickback Statute enforcement amid the growing circuit split over causation, and illustrates important nuances surrounding self-disclosure, say Denise Barnes and Scott Gallisdorfer at Bass Berry.

  • How Orange Book Antitrust Scrutiny Is Intensifying

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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.