Policy & Compliance

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • April 21, 2025

    Premera's Teen Trans Policy 'Textbook' Sex Bias, Judge Says

    Premera Blue Cross discriminated based on sex against transgender teens at the center of a lawsuit alleging the insurer and health plan administrator illegally denied coverage for gender-affirming chest surgery, according to a Washington federal judge who also denied class certification because the teens' claims are not typical of class members.

  • April 21, 2025

    Harvard Sues Trump Admin Over $2B Funding Freeze

    Harvard University on Monday hit the Trump administration with a suit in Massachusetts federal court, escalating a high-profile battle after the government slashed more than $2 billion in funding amid allegations the elite school has failed to properly address antisemitism on its campus.

  • April 21, 2025

    NJ Panel Revives Ex-Group Home Worker's Whistleblower Suit

    A New Jersey appeals court reinstated a group home worker's lawsuit alleging she was fired for raising concerns about staffing levels and training, reasoning Monday that she met the pleading standards for the state's whistleblower law.

  • April 21, 2025

    Unions Demand Halt To DOGE's Info Access At DOL, HHS

    A D.C. federal judge must block Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency from accessing sensitive systems in the U.S. Department of Labor and Department of Health and Human Services, unions argued in a preliminary injunction bid, saying the government's search for "waste, fraud and abuse" doesn't warrant access.

  • April 21, 2025

    HCA, Workers Eye Mediation in Wage Suit

    HCA Healthcare Inc. asked a North Carolina federal court to press pause on a respiratory therapist's class and collective action accusing the company of manipulating workers' time sheets to pay them less overtime wages, saying the parties are planning to attend mediation in July.

  • April 21, 2025

    Justices Mull 5th Circ. Redo In ACA Preventive Care Fight

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday appeared skeptical of a Fifth Circuit ruling that found members of a task force setting preventive services coverage requirements under the Affordable Care Act were unconstitutionally appointed, with multiple justices suggesting kicking the case back down to the circuit court for additional arguments.

  • April 21, 2025

    Justices Kick Flavored-Vape Dispute Back To 5th Circ.

    After the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's authority to reject an e-cigarette company's application to market flavored vapes, the high court on Monday granted summary disposition on one other pending case on the same subject, while denying certiorari to three others.

  • April 19, 2025

    Up Next At High Court: Preventive Healthcare, LGBTQ Books

    The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in five cases this week, including disputes over the constitutionality of a task force that sets preventive healthcare coverage requirements, a school district's introduction of LGBTQ-themed storybooks and whether parties can establish standing based on harms affecting third parties. 

  • April 18, 2025

    Walgreens To Pay DOJ $300M Over Invalid Prescriptions

    Walgreens revealed in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing Friday that it will pay upward of $300 million to resolve U.S. Department of Justice allegations that it knowingly filed millions of prescriptions for opioids and other drugs that didn't have a legitimate medical purpose or weren't valid.

  • April 18, 2025

    Lilly Blasts Compounders' 'Scattershot' Bid To Reverse FDA

    Eli Lilly urged a Texas federal judge to deny a request from pharmacies that produce copycat doses of its popular weight loss drug to have the court reverse an FDA decision taking the drug off a national shortage list, saying the bid was filled with unreliable "scattershot" arguments.

  • April 18, 2025

    Mass General Inks $8.25M Deal To End Retirement Fee Suit

    Boston-based healthcare system Mass General Brigham Inc. agreed to pay $8.25 million to settle a proposed class action alleging it unlawfully allowed its employee retirement plan to pay excessive administrative fees, according to a filing in Massachusetts federal court.

  • April 17, 2025

    Incyte Can Get Novartis' Privileged Info On Drug Royalty Deal

    Novartis must produce certain privileged documents to Incyte concerning its understanding of their contract for royalty payments from sales of Incyte's blood cancer drug, unless Novartis agrees its former outside counsel, who negotiated the terms, won't testify about that topic at the upcoming contract breach trial, a New York federal judge said Thursday.

  • April 17, 2025

    RI Judge Wants To Know Who's Behind $11B Health Grant Cuts

    A Rhode Island federal judge on Thursday pressed the Trump administration for details about the decision-makers behind the cancellation of billions in grants supporting state public health programs.

  • April 17, 2025

    Arkansas Bans PBMs From Owning Pharmacies

    Pharmacy benefit managers operating in Arkansas will soon be prohibited from owning pharmacies in the state after Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a bill that lawmakers say is meant to minimize conflicts of interest and safeguard patients.

  • April 17, 2025

    Tenet Asks Court To Enforce Dead Arbitrator's $546K Award

    Tenet Healthcare Corp. has asked a Washington, D.C., federal judge to require the Service Employees International Union to follow an arbitrator's final order to pay $546,000 after making derogatory statements, despite the arbitrator dying before ruling on the union's post-judgment reconsideration motion.

  • April 17, 2025

    AFL-CIO, Unions Can Pursue Some DOGE Access Claims

    The AFL-CIO, unions and advocacy groups may pursue allegations that Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency lacks the power to access data from the U.S. Department of Labor and other federal agencies, a D.C. federal judge ruled while tossing some claims under federal administrative and privacy law.

Expert Analysis

  • What's Next For Lab Test Regulation Without FDA Authority

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    A recent Texas federal court decision vacating the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's final rule that would apply FDA regulations to laboratory-developed tests signals potential positive impacts in the diagnostic space, and could inspire more healthcare entities to litigate against the government, say attorneys at Hooper Lundy.

  • 6 Criteria Can Help Assess Executive Branch Actions

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    With new executive policy changes announced seemingly every day, several questions can help courts, policymakers and businesses determine whether such actions are proper, effective and in keeping with our democratic norms, say Marc Levin and Khalil Cumberbatch at the Council on Criminal Justice.

  • Learning From COVID-19 Enforcement Against Nursing Homes

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    Five years after the COVID-19 outbreak caused a high number of deaths in nursing homes, an examination of enforcement actions against nursing homes in New York and elsewhere in the country highlights obstacles that may arise when bringing cases of this type, and ways to overcome them, says Kenneth Levine at Stone & Magnanini.

  • How Plan Sponsors Can Mitigate Risk In PBM Contracts

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    A recent lawsuit in New York federal court alleges that JPMorgan caused exorbitant prescription costs by mishandling the pharmacy benefit manager arrangement, adding to a growing body of Employee Retirement Income Security Act fiduciary breach litigation and affirming that fiduciaries must proactively manage their healthcare plan vendors, say attorneys at Hall Benefits Law.

  • 4th Circ. Health Data Ruling Opens Door To State Law Claims

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    In Real Time Medical v. PointClickCare, the Fourth Circuit recently clarified that state law claims can rest in part on violations of a federal law that prohibits electronic health information blocking, expanding legal risks for health IT companies and potentially creating exposure to a range of competitive implications, say attorneys at BCLP.

  • Unpacking Trump Admin Plans For Value-Based Care

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    Recent developments from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation suggest the Trump administration intends to put its own stamp on value-based care, emphasizing cost savings assessment in particular, with its recent cancellation of several payment models that had supported primary care, says Miranda Franco at Holland & Knight.

  • What To Expect For Stem Cell Regulation Under Trump Admin

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    The new administration's push for deregulation, plus the post-Chevron legal landscape, and momentum from key political and industry players to facilitate stem cell innovation may create an opportune backdrop for a significant reduction in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's regulatory framework for stem cells, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • How Importers Can Minimize FCA Risks Of Tariff Mitigation

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    False Claims Act risks are inherent in many tariff mitigation strategies, making it important for importers to implement best practices to identify and report potential violations of import regulations before they escalate, says Samuel Finkelstein at LMD Trade Law.

  • 10 Practical Takeaways From FDA's Biopharma AI Guidance

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    Recent guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration provides much-needed insight on the usage of artificial intelligence in producing information to support regulatory decision-making regarding drug safety, with implications ranging from life cycle maintenance to AI tool acquisition, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Lawmakers Shouldn't Overlook Rare Disease Therapies' Value

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    As the ORPHAN Cures Act is pending in Congress, policymakers assessing the value of certain drugs for price regulation should consider data beyond what is collected in clinical trials, say Alice Chen at the University of Southern California, and Molly Frean and Yao Lu at Analysis Group.

  • What Trump's Order Means For The Legal Status Of IVF

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    An executive order signed by President Donald Trump last month signals the administration's potential intention to increase protections for in vitro fertilization services, though more concrete actions would be needed to resolve the current uncertainty around IVF access or bring about a binding legal change, says Jeanne Vance at Weintraub Tobin.

  • Mitigating Tariff Risks For Healthcare In US And Canada

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    Healthcare stakeholders should take steps to evaluate the impact of cross-border tariffs, as the historically strong ties between Canada and the U.S. demonstrate the potential for real disruption and harm to the healthcare industry in both countries, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

  • What's At Stake In High Court Transgender Care Suit

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    The outcome of U.S. v. Skrmetti will have critical implications for the rights of transgender youth and their access to gender-affirming care, and will likely affect other areas of law and policy involving transgender individuals, including education, employment, healthcare and civil rights, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.