Policy & Compliance

  • June 24, 2025

    Docs Navigate 'Legal Thicket' Of Pregnancy Exclusion Laws

    A first-of-its-kind lawsuit in Kansas challenges a state law that plaintiffs say undermines a woman's right to make critical end-of-life decisions while pregnant and leaves doctors legally vulnerable.

  • June 24, 2025

    Trump Admin Must Release NIH Funds Amid Appeal

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday denied the Trump administration's request to stay a recent order that it resume processing National Institutes of Health grant applications and releasing funds, warning that even one more day of delay would lead to irreparable harm.

  • June 23, 2025

    Ontrak Founder Gets 3½ Years In Novel Insider Trading Case

    A California federal judge sentenced Ontrak Inc. founder Terren Peizer to 3½ years in prison Monday, following a first-of-its-kind insider trading conviction on accusations that he based a $20 million share sale on material nonpublic information that his health technology company was about to lose its biggest client, Cigna. 

  • June 23, 2025

    9th Circ. Sends Minor's Rehab Claim Back To Premera

    The Ninth Circuit on Monday partially reopened a lawsuit accusing Premera Blue Cross of unlawfully refusing to cover a minor's time in a wilderness therapy program and rehabilitation facility, saying the insurer should take another look at one of the claims.

  • June 23, 2025

    Justices Skip Pa. Med Mal Fund's Bid To Shield $300M Surplus

    The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it won't decide if Pennsylvania's medical malpractice insurance fund is a government entity for the purpose of determining if the state is authorized to dip into the money pool's $300 million budget surplus. 

  • June 20, 2025

    Texas Panel Blocks San Antonio's Abortion Travel Funding

    A Texas appellate court blocked the city of San Antonio from going forward with a program that included funding for out-of-state travel for abortions, finding that the state has the right to challenge the program even though the funding has not yet been spent.

  • June 20, 2025

    PE Firm Demands FDA Docs For Defense In Deal Challenge

    Private equity firm GTCR BC Holdings LLC is seeking a court order for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to produce over a decade's worth of medical device approval applications, arguing the documents are necessary in its defense against a merger challenge by the federal government.

  • June 20, 2025

    Nose Spray Co. Sues FTC Over Substantiation Requirement

    Nasal spray maker Xlear Inc. is suing the Federal Trade Commission in Utah federal court, seeking a declaration that the agency is going beyond its statutory mandate by requiring scientific substantiation in marketing claims, even if the claims are not false and misleading.

  • June 20, 2025

    4 ERISA Cases To Watch In The 2nd Half Of 2025

    The U.S. Department of Labor's challenge to a pair of injunctions blocking Biden-era regulations that broaden who qualifies as an investment advice fiduciary under federal benefits law tops the list of cases benefits attorneys will be watching in the latter half of the year.

  • June 18, 2025

    Texas Judge Vacates Biden-Era HHS Abortion Privacy Rule

    A Texas federal judge on Thursday agreed to vacate a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services rule finalized during the Biden administration that aimed to protect the privacy of patients seeking abortions and gender-affirming care, ruling that the HHS didn't have the authority to "fashion special protections" in areas of "great political significance."

  • June 18, 2025

    NC Panel Rejects HCA Unit's Appeal Over Rival Project Award

    A North Carolina appeals court on Wednesday rejected an HCA Healthcare subsidiary's challenge to an award of a certificate of need allowing a rival to build a new acute care facility, backing a decision in favor of the state health department behind the award.

  • June 18, 2025

    Nurse Staffing Exec Can't Nix Conviction, Sanctions Floated

    A Nevada federal court has refused a nurse staffing executive's bid to undo his conviction on wage-fixing and wire fraud charges, and threatened his attorneys with sanctions for allegedly making repeated misrepresentations to the court.

  • June 18, 2025

    High Court Concurrences Signal Hard Battle For Trans Rights

    U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the court's two most conservative members Wednesday to suggest laws that differentiate based on transgender status should be subject to the lowest level of judicial review, providing guidance to lower courts that will likely make it harder for litigants to vindicate trans rights.

  • June 18, 2025

    NY High Court Lifts Block On NYC Shifting Retiree Healthcare

    New York's highest court lifted an injunction Wednesday that had blocked New York City from switching retired city employees' health insurance provider, ruling that the city never promised its retirees that it would keep them on a Medicare supplemental plan.

  • June 18, 2025

    Ex-Drug Exec Must Testify, But Keeps 5th Amendment Rights

    Sandoz, Teva, Actavis and Taro can again subpoena the deposition testimony of a former Actavis and Teva executive, but a Pennsylvania federal judge is still allowing the witness to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination, even though the Justice Department dropped the criminal charges against him.

  • June 18, 2025

    Age Bias Taints Kansas Health Dept. Promotions, EEOC Says

    The Kansas Department of Health and Environment overlooked an older worker for promotions to more senior lab tech roles solely because of her age, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission told a federal court.

  • June 18, 2025

    DC Judge Throws Out Suits Over J&J Drug Discount Audits

    A D.C. federal judge nixed five lawsuits brought by hospitals that accused federal healthcare regulators of illegally authorizing Johnson & Johnson to audit their business records for compliance with the 340B drug discount program.

  • June 18, 2025

    5th Circ. Affirms Nix Of Ex-Hospital Workers' COVID Vax Suit

    The Fifth Circuit backed a Houston hospital's defeat of a lawsuit alleging that hundreds of employees were unlawfully fired when they refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine, saying the workers couldn't demonstrate that their right to reject the shot had been violated.

  • June 18, 2025

    Supreme Court Upholds Tennessee Transgender Care Ban

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a Tennessee ban on gender-affirming medical care for minors, finding that the state law does not violate the equal protection clause.

  • June 17, 2025

    Chinese Co. Draws Fla. AG Probe Over Health Device Security

    Florida's attorney general is taking a closer look at a Chinese manufacturer of health monitoring devices that he claims has been concealing "serious security problems" that have enabled unauthorized parties to manipulate and gain access to patient data. 

  • June 17, 2025

    Novo Nordisk Settles TM Suit Against Clinic Over Compounds

    Novo Nordisk, the company behind drugs Ozempic, Rybelsus and Wegovy, struck a deal with an Ohio clinic to end its federal trademark infringement case, one of a slew of suits the pharmaceutical giant has filed against health facilities offering custom-made compounded drugs purporting to yield similar results to its blockbuster products used for weight loss.

  • June 17, 2025

    5 Court Battles Hinging On High Court's Trans Care Ruling

    An imminent U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding Tennessee's ban on gender transition care for minors is poised to have a sweeping impact as courts across the country weigh similar state and federal restrictions.

  • June 17, 2025

    NJ Court Says Unqualified Expert Dooms Med Mal Suit

    A New Jersey appellate panel on Tuesday tossed a medical malpractice suit alleging a physician failed to properly treat a man's internal bleeding that proved to be fatal, ruling that the plaintiff's expert affidavit was insufficient because the expert did not specialize in the same area as the defendant doctor.

  • June 17, 2025

    Ga. Panel Considers New Statute In $46M Med Mal Case

    Atlanta Women's Specialists LLC and one of its physicians urged the Georgia Court of Appeals to reconsider a $13.7 million attorney fee award in a $45.8 million case in which they were found liable for medical malpractice resulting in a woman suffering severe brain damage days after childbirth.

  • June 17, 2025

    Health Insurance Co. Owes Workers OT Wages, Suit Claims

    Humana Inc. and Humana Government Business Inc. were hit with a proposed class action in Georgia federal court on Tuesday over allegations they failed to pay registered nurse case managers proper overtime wages.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • 6 Laws Transforming Calif.'s Health Regulatory Framework

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    Attorneys at Hooper Lundy discuss a number of new California laws that raise pressing issues for independent physicians and small practice groups, ranging from the use of artificial intelligence to wage standards for healthcare employees.

  • Anticipating Calif. Oversight Of PE Participation In Healthcare

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    A new bill recently introduced in the California Senate revives last year's attempt to increase oversight of healthcare transactions involving private equity groups and hedge funds, meaning that attorneys may soon need to assess the compliance status of existing management relationships and consider modifying contract terms, says Andrew Demetriou at Husch Blackwell.

  • Considering The Future Of AI Regulation On Health Sector

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    As Texas looks to become the next state to pass a comprehensive law regulating artificial intelligence, the healthcare industry should consider how AI regulation will continue to evolve in the U.S. and how industry members can keep up with compliance considerations, say attorneys at Kirkland & Ellis.

  • What To Expect From 'Make America Healthy Again' Actions

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    The Make America Healthy Again Commission recently established by President Donald Trump and chaired by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will potentially bring energy and attention to important public health topics, and stakeholders should be aware of pathways for sharing their input and proactively informing proceedings, says Nicholas Manetto at Faegre Drinker.

  • How Citizen Petitions Have Affected Drug Competition

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    In light of recent citizen petitions and proposed legislation regulating such petitions, Omar Robles at Managing Health analyzes the statistics of the extent to which citizen petitions have been filed, and to what extent they have delayed competition in prescription pharmaceuticals.

  • Drug Kickback Ruling Will Make FCA Liability Harder To Prove

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    The First Circuit's ruling in U.S. v. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, requiring the government to prove but-for causation to establish False Claims Act liability based on violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute, raises the bar for FCA enforcement and deepens a circuit split that the U.S. Supreme Court may need to resolve, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.

  • 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.