Digital Health & Technology

  • October 18, 2023

    MVP: Sheppard Mullin's Eric Klein

    Eric Klein of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP represented VillageMD through its $8.9 billion acquisition of Summit Health-CityMD, the largest health care services transaction of 2022, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2023 Health Care MVPs.

  • October 16, 2023

    Smart Medical Device Maker Inks $60M SPAC Merger

    Smart medical device developer Docter is planning on going public through a merger with Aimfinity Investment Corp. in a deal led by two law firms and worth a targeted $60 million, according to a statement from Aimfinity on Monday.

  • October 13, 2023

    Calif. Raises Data Broker Regulation Bar With Deletion Law

    California is putting data brokers under the microscope with a groundbreaking law that imposes significant new data deletion and disclosure obligations, creating heightened liability risks and once again establishing a privacy standard that other states are likely to follow. 

  • October 13, 2023

    Patients, Health Co. Settle Data Breach Suit For $2.9M

    A class of people caught up in a 2022 data breach asked a Michigan federal judge on Friday to preliminarily approve a $2.9 million deal with a maker of prosthetics and orthotics to settle claims that the company didn't adequately protect their sensitive information from a cyberattack.

  • October 11, 2023

    FDA Launches New Digital Health Advisory Committee

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday it's creating a new committee to advise on the use of digital technologies like artificial intelligence and remote monitoring in health and medicine, signaling the growing importance of digital health for business and regulators.

  • October 10, 2023

    23andMe Didn't Protect Sensitive Info From Hacker, Users Say

    Biotechnology company 23andMe didn't have in place adequate safeguards to protect the genetic ancestry data and other sensitive information of thousands of customers from a data breach the company announced last week, according to a proposed class action filed Monday in California federal court.

  • October 10, 2023

    Network Says Patients, Employees Not Injured By Data Breach

    A network of dental practices on Monday urged a Michigan federal judge to toss a suit alleging it didn't keep patients' and employees' personal information safe from a cyberattack, saying the proposed class has not shown they have suffered a real-world injury from the data breach.

  • October 10, 2023

    Cooley Adds Foley & Lardner Life Sciences Atty In San Diego

    Cooley LLP has hired a longtime Foley & Lardner LLP life sciences partner, who will join the firm's health care transaction group in its San Diego office, the firm announced Monday.

  • October 06, 2023

    Mich. Health Co. 'Reckless' With 2.5M Patients' Info, Suit Says

    Michigan health system McLaren Health Care Corp. was hit with a federal lawsuit after a ransomware attack allegedly compromised the personal information of around 2.5 million patients.

  • October 06, 2023

    DEA Issues 2nd Extension Of Telehealth Prescription Rule

    The Drug Enforcement Administration on Friday extended for the second time a temporary COVID-19 era rule allowing providers to prescribe controlled substances without first seeing a patient in person, keeping the status quo in place through the end of 2024 while the agency hashes out plans on a final rule. 

  • October 05, 2023

    IP Forecast: Novartis To Fight Antitrust Row Over Drug Patent

    Novartis is set to oppose an appeal at the Second Circuit from a rival seeking to restore an antitrust suit accusing it of hiding things from the patent office to illegally corner the market for an eye syringe treatment. Here's a look at that case — plus all the other major intellectual property matters on deck in the coming week.

  • October 05, 2023

    Blackbaud To Pay States, DC $49.5M For Data Breach Claims

    Blackbaud Inc. has agreed to pay $49.5 million to resolve claims brought by 49 states and the District of Columbia over the software company's security practices and its response to a 2020 ransomware attack that affected thousands of its customers, the parties said Thursday.

  • October 04, 2023

    Suit Says BCBS Of Ill. Failed To Protect Data In Breach

    Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois was hit with a putative class action Tuesday alleging it failed to implement safeguards that would have protected members' personal, sensitive information from being disclosed through a third-party vendor and took nine months to discover there was a breach.

  • October 03, 2023

    Google Says It Didn't Use Data From Period App To Advertise

    Google has told a California federal court it should dismiss a proposed class action alleging the company used a data analytics tool to wrongfully retrieve data from a menstruation tracking app because the tech giant didn't use the data to produce targeted advertising.

  • October 02, 2023

    Sutter Health Emails Reveal Billing Confusion In $519M Trial

    Internal Sutter Health emails shown Monday during a whistleblower's $519 million California bench trial over double-billing claims revealed that the hospital systems' personnel regularly asked Sutter compliance administrators how they should charge patients and insurers for certain recovery room and operating room services, and expressed concerns over potentially inconsistent billing practices.

  • September 28, 2023

    Cedars-Sinai Tells 9th Circ. Data Suit Belongs In Federal Court

    Cedars-Sinai is urging the Ninth Circuit to block the remand to state court of a trio of consolidated suits accusing it of improperly sharing patients' personal information with tech giants like Facebook, arguing the dispute "requires a federal forum to resolve" because it's premised on the provider's efforts to carry out a federal government-backed initiative to improve health technology infrastructure.

  • September 26, 2023

    Miss. Orthopedic Group Sued For Patient Data Hack

    A Mississippi orthopedic care provider was hit with a federal lawsuit Monday in the state after a data breach allegedly compromised the personal information of around 242,986 patients.

  • September 25, 2023

    IBM, J&J Face Class Action Over August Patient Data Breach

    IBM and the health care arm of Johnson & Johnson were hit with a proposed class action in New York federal court alleging their failure to safeguard protected health information resulted in a data breach on Aug. 2 that impacted thousands of patients who weren't told of the breach until Sept. 15.

  • September 25, 2023

    PharMerica Unit Hit With Data Breach Class Action In Calif.

    Pharmacy services company Amerita Inc., a subsidiary of PharMerica, was hit with a putative class action in California federal court Monday by a patient who accused the company of failing to implement protocols to protect sensitive information from cyberattacks and data breaches, and waiting nearly six months to inform impacted customers.

  • September 21, 2023

    Mass. Judge Tosses Desktop Metal Securities Suit For Good

    A Massachusetts federal judge has permanently tossed a proposed securities suit claiming 3D printing company Desktop Metal Inc. and its executives misled investors about a flagship product that was ultimately recalled, finding that the suit failed to plead any actionable misleading statements or that the executives knowingly deceived the investors.

  • September 19, 2023

    Medical Firm UpHealth Files For Ch. 11 After $31M Judgment

    Digital health care company subsidiary UpHealth Holdings Inc. filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware on Tuesday after it lost a legal battle with former financial adviser Needham & Company LLC, which won a $31 million judgment.

  • September 14, 2023

    Dental Co. Seller Countersues Buyer In Del. Over $312M Deal

    The seller of a dental insurance and administration company who is fighting breach of contract allegations from its new owners in Delaware district court has now countersued them in the First State's Court of Chancery, also alleging breach of contract.

  • September 13, 2023

    Product Liability Claims Rose Over 5 Years, Report Says

    Except for a brief drop in 2021 likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of product liability suits filed in federal court has risen steadily from 2018 to 2022, with last year setting the record, according to a new report by Lex Machina.

  • September 13, 2023

    CareFirst Data Breach Fight Whittled Down To Contract Claim

    A D.C. federal judge on Wednesday declined to put an end to a putative class action over a 2014 data breach at health insurer CareFirst, axing a pair of state consumer protection law claims while leaving a sole breach of contract allegation to move forward in the long-running dispute.

  • September 11, 2023

    HCA Healthcare Sued In Fla. Over Data Breach Of 11M Patients

    A Tennessee-based health care provider was sued in Florida state court in connection with a data breach of approximately 11 million patients earlier this year after a hacker stole private health information and posted it to the internet, saying the company didn't do enough to secure its computer system from intruders.

Expert Analysis

  • How COVID-19 Accelerated Telehealth In 2020

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    Telehealth experienced unprecedented expansion due to COVID-19 in 2020, and its technological, legal and logistical trajectory is poised to continue beyond the pandemic, say attorneys at Marshall Dennehey.

  • How New Kickback Rules Benefit Health Care Industry: Part 1

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    Recently finalized U.S. Department of Health and Human Services rules, implementing changes to the Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark Law, advance the health care industry's transition to value-based care by removing obstacles to innovative cost-sharing arrangements, say Karen Lovitch and Rachel Yount at Mintz.

  • COVID-19 Vaccines Unlikely To Create Litigation Opportunities

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    Although COVID-19 vaccines are on the horizon, litigation opportunities may be limited due to the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act's significant liability protections for not only vaccine manufacturers, but also virtually all entities in the supply chain, say Eric Kraus and Jennifer Shah at Phillips Lytle.

  • Overcoming Immunity Of Foreign Gov't Cyberattack Sponsors

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    To combat the emerging threat of foreign state-sponsored cyberattacks on U.S. businesses and citizens, litigants need to creatively argue for exceptions to immunity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act for foreign governments, say Jerry Goldman and Bruce Strong at Anderson Kill.

  • The State Of Consumer Class Actions Amid COVID-19

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    While the pandemic has slowed the filing of consumer class actions, they remain a significant part of the litigation landscape — with false labeling claims remaining particularly popular, likely because they are easy to file and frequently survive motions to dismiss, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Anticipating The Biden Administration's Health Care Agenda

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    The Biden administration is unlikely to successfully push sweeping and partisan health care legislation in the next two years, but it will be able to reverse a litany of Trump administration policies pertaining to the Affordable Care Act, reproductive health care and more, say Nick Manetto and Ilisa Halpern Paul at Faegre Drinker.

  • What Biden Presidency May Mean For Data Privacy Litigation

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    The administration of President-elect Joe Biden will likely bring major changes to data privacy law and attendant litigation, including federal legislation that could preempt state laws, renegotiation of conditions for EU data transfers to the U.S., and increased Federal Trade Commission enforcement activity, say attorneys at Squire Patton.

  • 5 Tips For In-House Counsel Anticipating Cyber Class Actions

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    In light of a 270% increase in data breaches this year, and the attendant class actions, in-house counsel can prepare to efficiently manage litigation by focusing on certain initial steps, ranging from multidistrict litigation strategy to insurance best practices, say David McDowell and Nancy Thomas at MoFo.

  • Where Data Privacy And CFPB Are Headed Under Biden

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    Data privacy is likely to be a key area of legislative and enforcement focus for President-elect Joe Biden, and consumer financial protection is expected to be an immediate priority due to the economic impact of the pandemic, with the most drastic shift likely to occur at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • Ethics Considerations For Law Firms Implementing AI

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    Richard Finkelman and Yihua Astle at Berkeley Research Group discuss the ethical and bias concerns law firms must address when implementing artificial intelligence-powered applications for recruiting, conflict identification and client counseling.

  • The Legal Implications Of Mobile Health Advancements

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    With the pandemic rapidly accelerating the timeline for the shift to remote and mobile health care, providers will need to keep a close eye on new privacy and cybersecurity risks, and on new potential to collect real-time information from patients, say attorneys at Squire Patton.

  • The Post-Election State AG Enforcement Landscape

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    Election results so far have kept the number of Republican and Democratic state attorneys general even, and no matter the outcome of the presidential race, AGs will work across the aisle on important issues like health care, competition and the environment, says former Illinois attorney general Lisa Madigan at Kirkland.

  • What A Trump Or Biden Win Will Mean For State AGs

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    The outcome of the presidential election will have significant consequences on cooperation between federal agencies and state attorneys general, but either way robust multistate investigations — especially in the consumer protection space — will continue, says Sean Riley at Cozen O'Connor.