Policy & Compliance

  • April 29, 2025

    Trans Care In Court: DOJ Memo, Ohio Ban And Insurer Loss

    Ohio's highest court is allowing the state to enforce a law banning the use of puberty blockers and hormones for minors seeking to medically transition while the state's attorney appeals a ruling that portions of the law are unconstitutional.

  • April 29, 2025

    Justices Wary Of Issuing 'Advisory' Ruling In Class Cert. Row

    The U.S. Supreme Court's latest attempt to address a pressing question about class certification standards may be doomed by a procedural hiccup, with a majority of justices expressing concern Tuesday that they didn't have the authority to wade into a dispute over approval of a class that contains uninjured members.

  • April 29, 2025

    DC Judge Worries About 340B Rebate Program Without 'Teeth'

    The D.C. federal judge tasked with deciding dueling summary judgments in litigation accusing the government of blocking drugmakers' efforts to reshape the way they do rebates seemed skeptical of endorsing a vision of the program that could have "potentially devastating consequences."

  • April 29, 2025

    HHS Inspector Nominee A Partisan Outlier For Watchdog Role

    President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Office of Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has a particularly partisan background for a role viewed as nonpolitical.

  • April 29, 2025

    GenBioPro Can Defend FDA Approval In Mifepristone Suit

    A Texas federal judge has allowed drugmaker GenBioPro to join a legal fight over access to the abortion drug mifepristone, finding that the company has a distinct interest in defending federal approval of the generic version of the medication.

  • April 29, 2025

    HHS Legal Staff Cuts Will Impair Abuse, Neglect Enforcement

    A massive overhaul underway at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will wipe out the roles filled by more than 100 attorneys and other staff at offices in six states. Among the enforcement areas being hit are federal efforts led by regional HHS legal teams combating elder abuse and neglect at nursing homes.

  • April 29, 2025

    Companies Are Increasing Security Coverage For GCs, Execs

    UnitedHealth Group has disclosed it spent nearly $1.9 million on security for its executives and their families in 2024, including over $213,000 for chief legal officer Christopher Zaetta, and a new study shows more corporations are following suit.

  • April 29, 2025

    Opioid MDL Judge Won't Recuse Over Ex Parte Allegations

    An Ohio federal judge will not step aside from multidistrict opioid litigation after the plaintiffs' attorney, who had alleged the judge "regularly communicates" with other lawyers involved in the litigation, testified that there was no such communication after all, the judge ruled Tuesday.

  • April 29, 2025

    BCBS Wants Hospital Sanctioned For 'Cat-And-Mouse' Tactics

    Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina asked a federal judge to sanction a hospital company and its related entities for their purported "evasion, obfuscation, misdirection and outright misrepresentation" during discovery in a $32 million billing dispute that has gone on for seven years.

  • April 29, 2025

    High Court Backs HHS In Hospital Pay Formula Dispute

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday sided with federal health officials in a challenge over a formula used to calculate billions of dollars in annual payments to hospitals treating indigent patients, saying that those entitled to Supplemental Security Income should be collecting cash payments before they're counted in the formula.

  • April 28, 2025

    Gov't Reverses Position On Surgery For Trans Prisoners

    The Trump administration is rejecting the federal government's previous stance that prison officials are constitutionally required to provide gender confirmation surgery to incarcerated people with gender dysphoria who request the treatment, noting the shift in recent statements to a Georgia federal court.

  • April 28, 2025

    NC Dentist Acquitted Of $3M Fraud, Tax Evasion Charges

    A North Carolina dentist was acquitted of wire fraud and tax evasion charges on the fourth day of a federal jury trial in which prosecutors had alleged the dentist submitted false loan applications to the Small Business Administration and failed to pay income taxes.

  • April 28, 2025

    Mich. Nurses Quit Claims Of Pay Withheld For Breaks Untaken

    Two registered nurses agreed to drop their claims of unpaid wages against the two locations of a Michigan healthcare system they had accused in federal court of requiring them to work through meal breaks without pay, ending the case Monday in federal court.

  • April 28, 2025

    2nd Circ. Upholds Clinic Manager's Repeat Charges For Fraud

    A decision that allowed the federal government to reindict a health clinic manager for a Medicare and tax fraud scheme can stand, a Second Circuit panel found Monday, agreeing with the lower court that his offenses were serious enough to permit it.

  • April 28, 2025

    Red States Want ACA Trans Health Rule Permanently Off Books

    A group of 15 red states that successfully got a Biden-era rule frozen that protected gender-affirming care under the Affordable Care Act have urged a Mississippi federal judge to rule the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services overstepped its authority and cannot require states to allow gender-affirming care for transgender people.

  • April 25, 2025

    HHS Sued Over Withholding Of $65.8M In Title X Funding

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services unlawfully withheld $65.8 million in federal grants for critically needed family planning services, a nonprofit alleged in a suit filed Thursday in D.C. federal court, saying the withholding seemed to be based, in part, on grantees' support for diversity, equity and inclusion.

  • April 25, 2025

    Justices Want More Info On HHS Authority In Task Force Row

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday ordered the federal government and a group of Texas businesses and individuals to compile more information as to whether the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services secretary has the authority to appoint members of a task force under the Affordable Care Act.

  • April 25, 2025

    Sutter Health To Pay $228M In Years-Old Antitrust Suit

    A class of millions of health insurance premium payors asked a California federal judge Friday to greenlight an eleventh-hour $228.5 million settlement resolving their long-running claims that hospital chain Sutter Health drives up costs by pushing all-or-nothing network deals on insurers.

  • April 25, 2025

    Refusing Mental Healthcare Means Liability, Pa. Justices Rule

    Physicians in Pennsylvania can be held liable for turning away a mental health patient who goes on to harm someone if that patient came to the hospital asking for help, the state Supreme Court ruled Friday.

  • April 25, 2025

    HHS Says Cuts Target Excess After Judge Seeks More Info

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told a Rhode Island federal judge that a group of states has no basis to challenge the cancellation of billions in grants supporting public health programs because they already received the funds appropriated to them by Congress.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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. 

  • 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.

  • 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.

Expert Analysis

  • Assessing PE Risk After Mass. False Claims Act Amendments

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    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.

  • What Trump Actions Mean For Federal Research Funding

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    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.

  • A Look At Healthcare Transaction Oversight In Oregon

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    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.

  • Rethinking 'No Comment' For Clients Facing Public Crises

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    “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.

  • High Court Must Acknowledge US History Of Anti-Trans Laws

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    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.

  • The Fate Of Biden-Era Clinical Study Guidance Under Trump

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    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.

  • 10 Issues To Watch In Aerospace And Defense Contracting

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    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.

  • 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.