Digital Health & Technology

  • April 23, 2024

    Privacy Bill Risks Adding To Growing Health Data Patchwork

    Lawmakers behind a new data privacy framework have trumpeted the plan as a bold consumer protection regime with significant benefits for data not already covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Some in the healthcare industry are less enthusiastic, saying the bill would make the privacy landscape more complicated.

  • April 23, 2024

    Colo. Neural Privacy Law Has Attys Scratching Their Heads

    Colorado's governor signed the nation's first law specifically protecting neural data last week, but privacy attorneys say key caveats in the legislation leave them unsure how far the measure really goes.

  • April 22, 2024

    Ransomware Still On Rise Despite Better Defenses, Firm Says

    Companies are becoming more adept at fending off and responding to a steady stream of ransomware attacks, but hackers' ability to continue to profit from these incidents and increased scrutiny by regulators and the plaintiffs' bar will keep pressure on companies to remain vigilant, according to a new BakerHostetler report.

  • April 22, 2024

    HHS Finalizes Rule Bolstering Abortion Privacy Protections

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Monday issued a finalized version of its new rule that aims to protect the privacy of abortion providers and patients by prohibiting the disclosure of information related to "lawful reproductive health care," according to an announcement made by the agency.

  • April 22, 2024

    Watchdog Nixes Unfair Treatment Claims In $310M VA IT Deal

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office was unconvinced that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affair graded an IT firm's bid for a $310.3 million deal more harshly than a competitor's, saying the rankings reflected differences in the bids.

  • April 19, 2024

    Edelson Pitches 'Better Way' To Pick Leads In Privacy Suits

    Plaintiffs in proposed privacy class actions should be given more say in who's picked as class counsel, in order to crack down on the "anemic settlements" that have resulted from the ineffective "old way of litigating" these matters, law firm Edelson PC argued in vying for lead counsel in a dispute over a data breach at genetics testing provider 23andMe.

  • April 19, 2024

    AI Health Data Co. Faces Investor Suit Over Accounting Issues

    Atlanta-based health data platform company Sharecare and two of its executives face accusations that they failed to disclose certain accounting issues to investors, leading to stock price declines when the issues became public, according to a shareholder suit filed Friday in California federal court.

  • April 19, 2024

    Northshore Health Worker Drops Genetic Info Privacy Claims

    A patient sitter for Northwestern HealthSystem has voluntarily dropped her proposed class suit claiming she and other workers were unlawfully required to give up information about their medical histories during the application process.

  • April 18, 2024

    Patient Data Breach Suit Should Be Tossed, Colo. Judge Says

    A judge has recommended that CommonSpirit Health be allowed to escape a proposed class action in Colorado federal court accusing it of failing to secure healthcare data leading to a breach affecting more than 600,000 patients, saying the complaint fails to "allege an injury-in-fact."

  • April 16, 2024

    House Panel Takes Aim At Change Healthcare, FTC Over Hack

    A House subcommittee exploring ways to boost cybersecurity in the healthcare industry on Tuesday blasted Change Healthcare for failing to take appropriate steps to block a damaging cyberattack that echoed another recent strike on critical infrastructure and the Federal Trade Commission for not stopping the provider from controlling such a large market share. 

  • April 16, 2024

    Healthcare Industry Sees Spate Of New Data Sharing Suits

    A $7 million-plus settlement between a federal regulator and a mental healthcare provider accused of improperly sharing patient data highlights the ubiquitous ties between health systems and tech giants like Facebook — and the growing legal and regulatory scrutiny over those relationships.

  • April 12, 2024

    Zoll Says 'Cookie-Cutter' Hack Claims Don't Show Harm

    Zoll Medical Corp. is asking a Boston federal judge to toss a proposed class action brought by medical device customers whose personal information was released during a ransomware attack last year and an earlier data breach in 2019, arguing the consumers weren't actually injured.

  • April 11, 2024

    FTC Curtails Treatment Provider's Sharing Of Health Data

    The Federal Trade Commission took its latest step Thursday to crack down on the mishandling of sensitive health information, announcing a settlement that requires a New York-based alcohol addiction treatment service to obtain affirmative consent before sharing this data with third parties and bars the company from disclosing this information for advertising purposes.

  • April 11, 2024

    Ernest Health Hit With Suit After Cybercriminal Data Breach

    A group of former Ernest Health Inc. patients has hit the Texas-based hospital system with a proposed class action after a notorious group of cybercriminals breached the company's systems, saying that the company should've done more to protect patient data in a Thursday complaint.

  • April 10, 2024

    Pharmacy Gets Eli Lilly's Mounjaro Suit Tossed

    A Florida federal judge has thrown out Eli Lilly & Co.'s suit accusing an online pharmacy of wrongly selling a compounded version of its drug Mounjaro, saying Eli Lilly was "using state law to enforce the terms of" federal law.

  • April 09, 2024

    Philips, Feds Enter Consent Decree Over Sleep Apnea Devices

    Philips Respironics can't make sleep apnea breathing machines until it hires an independent monitor, undergoes inspections and meets its obligations under a plan to remediate patients affected by a 2021 recall of such devices, the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday.

  • April 09, 2024

    Predatory Medicare Marketing Faces Regulator Pushback

    Consumers weighing Medicare plan options should have greater protections from predatory marketing and sales tactics, thanks to a new rule by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that was finalized April 4.

  • April 08, 2024

    Doctors Say MSU Vax Mandate Suit Needs High Court Review

    Three doctors urged the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a case challenging Michigan State University's vaccine mandate after the Sixth Circuit backed the suit's dismissal, arguing that the circuit court should have applied a stricter standard when considering whether the government could interfere with patients' medical decisions.

  • April 04, 2024

    5th Circ. Scrutinizes Data-Tracking On La. Health Provider Site

    A Fifth Circuit panel questioned Louisiana health care providers Thursday on the use of "tracking pixels" on their website, asking counsel for the providers whether a third party like Facebook could access patient records without patient permission.

  • April 04, 2024

    Microsoft Unit Gets Fed. Circ. Alice Win On Imaging Patents

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday gave a win to a software company acquired by Microsoft for nearly $20 billion, affirming a decision that claims in four medical imaging patents it was accused of infringing are invalid for claiming only an abstract idea.

  • April 04, 2024

    Ga. OB-GYN Office Hit With Data Breach Class Action

    An Atlanta OB-GYN practice has been hit with a class action in Georgia federal court over a January data breach that allegedly impacted the personal and protected health information of tens of thousands of patients.

  • April 03, 2024

    Microsoft Notches Fed. Circ. Win In 3D Imaging Patent Fight

    The Federal Circuit on Wednesday backed a ruling from an administrative tribunal that wiped out most of a patent issued to a Florida radiologist and his ex-Lockheed Martin business partner, whose company is suing Microsoft over its line of HoloLens AR headsets.

  • April 02, 2024

    Mind Your Business: Wash. Privacy Law Ignites National Prep

    Companies far beyond the borders of Washington are taking stock of what customer data they're collecting — and what it might reveal — as they face compliance with the state's expansive new privacy law.

  • April 02, 2024

    Healthcare Deals This Week: Moderna, Hildred And More

    From a private equity fundraise worth hundreds of millions of dollars to a new life sciences IPO, the healthcare industry saw a handful of news-making deals this past week.

  • April 02, 2024

    Ga. Children's Hospital Accused Of Mining Patient Data

    A major Georgia pediatric healthcare system has been using web data trackers to illegally transmit confidential patient data to Facebook and other companies to boost its bottom line, according to a proposed class action filed in the Peach State on Tuesday.

Expert Analysis

  • What Recent Study Shows About AI's Promise For Legal Tasks

    Author Photo

    Amid both skepticism and excitement about the promise of generative artificial intelligence in legal contexts, the first randomized controlled trial studying its impact on basic lawyering tasks shows mixed but promising results, and underscores the need for attorneys to proactively engage with AI, says Daniel Schwarcz at University of Minnesota Law School.

  • BIPA's Statutory Exemptions Post-Healthcare Ruling

    Author Photo

    The Illinois Supreme Court's November opinion in Mosby v. Ingalls Memorial Hospital, which held that the Biometric Information Privacy Act's healthcare exemption also applies when information is collected from healthcare workers, is a major win for healthcare defendants that resolves an important question of statutory interpretation, say attorneys at Quinn Emanuel.

  • What's New In FDA's Updated Data Monitoring Guidance

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's new guidance on the use of data monitoring committees in clinical trials is set to replace the agency's 2006 guidance on the topic, with notable updates including stronger language indicating a more stringent stance against financial conflicts of interest and adaptation to recent changes in DMC structure, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

  • Keeping Up With Class Actions: Data Breach Litigation In Flux

    Author Photo

    In this monthly look at notable class action decisions, Gerald Maatman at Duane Morris examines a recent mixed-bag data breach ruling from an Illinois federal court — in the context of case law developments over the last year — which illustrates the range of issues confronting litigants going forward.

  • Inside The PTAB's Seagen Cancer Drug Patent Decision

    Author Photo

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board's recent finding that Seagen's claims for antibody-drug conjugate technology were unpatentable — for lack of enablement, lack of written description and anticipation — mark the latest chapter in the complex patent dispute as the case heads for director review, says Ryan Hagglund at Loeb & Loeb.

  • Despite Risks, AI Is A Worthy Tool For Healthcare Industry

    Author Photo

    Artificial intelligence appears to provide a productive path forward for the healthcare industry, improving economic and human health outcomes, though companies must continue to address certain technology and compliance pain points, says Sarah Abrams at Bowhead Specialty Underwriters.

  • Potential Defendant Strategies Amid Calif. Privacy Questions

    Author Photo

    Although the current case law surrounding the California Consumer Privacy Act is in its infancy, courts have begun addressing important issues related to the notice-and-cure provisions of the statute, and these decisions show defendant-businesses would be wise to assert their notice rights early and repeatedly, say Viola Trebicka and Dan Humphrey at Quinn Emanuel.

  • Health Policy Legislative Landscape May Remain Frozen

    Author Photo

    With Congress again delaying the full resolution of fiscal year 2024 federal spending legislation, there is now an additional window in which Congress could work through several priority issues for healthcare stakeholders, though these issues are unlikely to be resolved in time, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • What Businesses Should Know About NJ Privacy Bill

    Author Photo

    New Jersey’s recently passed comprehensive privacy bill S.B. 332 presents businesses with a nuanced framework and compliance obligations, including opt-in consent requirements for sensitive data, with recommendations for businesses to organize data, review consent requirements and more, says Trisha Sircar at Katten.

  • Staying Ahead Of The AI Policymaking Curve

    Author Photo

    With artificial intelligence poised to be the hottest legislative and regulatory topic in 2024, expect the AI policymaking toolbox to continue to expand and evolve as stakeholders in the U.S. and abroad develop, deploy, use and learn more about these technologies, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

  • The 7th Circ.'s Top 10 Civil Opinions Of 2023

    Author Photo

    Attorneys at Jenner & Block examine the most significant decisions issued by the Seventh Circuit in 2023, and explain how they may affect issues related to antitrust, constitutional law, federal jurisdiction and more.

  • DOJ's Biopharma Settlement Raises Anti-Kickback Questions

    Author Photo

    In the aftermath of the U.S. Department of Justice's settlement with Ultragenyx over genetic testing programs, it may be prudent to reevaluate genetic tests through the lens of the Anti-Kickback Statute and reconsider whether it is proper for free testing programs to be treated like patient assistance programs, says Mary Kohler at Kohler Health Law.

  • Uncharted Waters Ahead For FCA Litigation In 2024

    Author Photo

    Following a year of significant court decisions, settlements, recoveries and proposed amendments, 2024 promises to be a lively year for False Claims Act actions and litigation, and one that will hopefully provide more clarity as FCA jurisprudence evolves, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.