Digital Health & Technology
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May 13, 2024
Philips Wants Cleaner Co. To Chip In For $1B CPAP Deal
Koninklijke Philips NV has filed a third-party complaint in Pennsylvania federal court against SoClean Inc., which sells cleaning products for breathing devices, claiming SoClean and its parent should contribute to Philips' $1 billion settlement because its cleaners allegedly exacerbated the foam breakdown at the heart of the litigation.
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May 10, 2024
Retail Group Opposes $1B Arbitral Award Against Walgreens
An advocacy group for the retail industry is backing Walgreens as it looks to set aside a nearly $1 billion arbitral award in a dispute with a COVID test maker, telling a Delaware federal judge that judicial intervention is warranted in this case.
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May 10, 2024
No 'Piecemeal' Fees For Infant Data Win Amid 6th Circ. Appeal
A federal judge said Friday that he wouldn't award attorney fees to children who challenged Michigan's handling of blood samples collected in an infant health screening program until the state's Sixth Circuit appeal is resolved.
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May 08, 2024
Fla. Lab Owner Gets 10 Years For Unneeded Medical Tests
A Florida medical lab owner has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges related to accusations that he billed Medicare for $53 million in unnecessary genetic cancer screening tests.
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May 07, 2024
MultiPlan, Insurance Cos. Accused Of Algorithmic Collusion
A medical provider has lodged a proposed class action in Illinois federal court accusing MultiPlan and major insurance companies, including UnitedHealth, Aetna, Kaiser Permanente and Cigna, of using pricing tools to systematically underpay out-of-network providers.
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May 07, 2024
New FDA Device Rule No Cure For Unregulated Lab Tests
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's newly claimed authority over lab-developed tests will leave untold numbers of unregulated — and in some cases, inaccurate or otherwise faulty — tests in the hands of clinicians.
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May 06, 2024
Hooper Lundy Adds Government Relations Director
An attorney who worked in-house for healthcare industry trade and advocacy associations has joined healthcare boutique Hooper Lundy & Bookman PC as director of government relations and public policy.
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May 03, 2024
Ala. High Court Won't Rethink Decision On Frozen Embryos
The Alabama Supreme Court on Friday refused to revisit its February decision finding that frozen embryos count as children, a first-of-its-kind decision that has been received as potentially ruinous for in vitro fertilization services in the Yellowhammer State.
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May 02, 2024
Walgreens Fights $1B Arb. Award Over COVID Test Contract
At-home lab test maker Everly Health urged a Delaware federal judge to affirm its nearly $1 billion arbitration award against Walgreens over claims the pharmacy chain deliberately misused the digital health platform's trademark while secretly diverting COVID-19 tests to its own pharmacists while Walgreens argued the arbitrator overstepped his authority in bestowing such an "egregious" award.
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May 02, 2024
Masimo Hit With Derivative Suit Over Audio Co. Acquisition
The top brass at medical device company Masimo Corp. has been hit with a shareholder derivative action claiming they harmed the company and "confused" investors by pushing through a $1 billion acquisition of an audio equipment company, allegedly causing a steep drop in stock prices and a $5.1 billion market capitalization loss.
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May 02, 2024
Lawmaker Wants Antitrust Probe Of Health Insurance Data Co.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., is calling for antitrust enforcers to investigate concerns that MultiPlan and other healthcare data companies are hurting competition by helping health insurers effectively collude when making pricing decisions.
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May 01, 2024
Sens. Slam UnitedHealth's Security Lapses, Breach Response
UnitedHealth's top executive faced heavy criticism during his first appearance before a U.S. Senate committee since a cyberattack rocked its Change Healthcare subsidiary, with lawmakers blasting the company for lacking basic security measures and for still not being able to confirm the scale and scope of the incident.
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April 30, 2024
What's Behind the Q1 Digital Health Funding Rebound
The digital health industry saw a resurgence in funding at the start of 2024, driven by a handful of mega-rounds and growing deal sizes across the board, but it also faced record-low deal counts as investors signaled pickier attitudes over which ventures they're choosing to fund.
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April 30, 2024
Patients Sue NC Plasma Donation Co. Over Data Breach
A plasma collection company has been hit in North Carolina federal court with at least two proposed class actions as of Monday claiming it failed to safeguard patient data, resulting in a breach in which names, Social Security numbers, addresses and treatment information were allegedly exposed by hackers.
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April 30, 2024
Tougher Privacy Rule Won't End Abortion Data Fight
Healthcare attorneys welcomed enhanced federal protections for patient abortion records. But the new rule likely won't release providers from the bind of complying with federal privacy law while potentially facing out-of-state probes into sensitive patient information.
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April 29, 2024
UnitedHealth's Cyberattack Response Is 'Inadequate,' AGs Say
Nearly two dozen state attorneys general urged UnitedHealth Group and its subsidiary Change Healthcare "to do more" to address the fallout from a February cyberattack by Russian ransomware group Blackcat that breached their systems and services, noting their response efforts to the outage "have been inadequate."
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April 29, 2024
Amid Backlash, FDA Extends Control For Lab-Developed Tests
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration inked a final rule Monday that gives the agency broad authority over lab-developed tests by classifying them as medical devices, a move that has drawn ire from congressional leadership and those in the healthcare and life sciences industries.
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April 29, 2024
AI Pharma Co. Sued By Investor Over Handling Of Fired CEO
Artificial intelligence-driven pharmaceutical company Exscientia PLC has been hit with a proposed class action alleging its former CEO engaged in inappropriate personal relationships with employees, and that the company's chairman knew but concealed it.
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April 29, 2024
Philips Inks $1.1B Deal To Resolve CPAP Injury Claims
The plaintiffs' attorneys leading a multidistrict litigation against Koninklijke Philips NV and some of its American subsidiaries announced Monday that they had reached a $1.1 billion settlement agreement for plaintiffs claiming that degraded foam in their breathing machines caused them personal injuries or will require long-term medical monitoring.
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April 26, 2024
Ill. Hospital Wins Dismissal Of Genetic Privacy Case
An Illinois state court judge has thrown out a proposed class action accusing Advocate Health and Hospitals Corp. of violating the state's decades-old genetic information privacy law, saying Wednesday the lead plaintiff not only released the hospital system from liability, but was largely asked about her own medical status after she was already offered a job.
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April 25, 2024
Stryker Says Sanctions Bid Goes 'Galaxies Beyond' Law
Medical device maker Stryker urged a Colorado federal judge to reject an ex-distributor's latest request for sanctions, arguing in a brief that the distributor's $2.2 million bid goes "galaxies beyond" what it asked for at trial and what the Tenth Circuit said the court could entertain.
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April 25, 2024
Judge Decries Discovery Delay In Chicago Genetic-Bias Fight
An Illinois federal judge has warned a proposed class of Chicago employees that further discovery delays in their suit alleging a city wellness program intentionally discriminated against them on the basis of their genetic information could result in the court barring witnesses' testimony from the case.
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April 25, 2024
Becton BIPA Suit Gets Cut Short Under Health Exception
An Illinois federal judge permanently tossed a Chicago health worker's biometric privacy claims targeting Becton Dickinson and Co.'s drug dispensing cabinets, saying his arguments for putting distance between his case and foreclosing precedent "border on the frivolous."
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April 25, 2024
Philips Gets $506M Economic Loss Deal OK'd In CPAP MDL
A Pennsylvania federal judge on Thursday gave final approval to a $506.3 million settlement to end economic loss claims in multidistrict litigation over Philips' recalled CPAP breathing machines, including $94.4 million for the plaintiffs' attorneys.
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April 25, 2024
Digital Health Co.'s Former GC Joins Perkins Coie In NY
Perkins Coie LLP is bolstering its intellectual property practice, announcing Thursday that it has brought on the former general counsel and chief compliance officer of digital healthcare company Cleerly.
Expert Analysis
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SEC Cybersecurity Rule Presents Burden For Health Care Cos.
A new rule from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission aims to increase cybersecurity resiliency, but may only force regulated entities — particularly those in the health care space — to face a far more complicated environment with increased strategic and litigation risks, say Bess Hinson and Angad Chopra at Holland & Knight.
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Comparing US And EU Approaches To Health AI Regulation
Victoria Larson and Julia Cotney at Verrill Dana compare current U.S. and EU regulatory frameworks for artificial intelligence and machine learning in the healthcare industry and highlight key principles that providers and developers should be aware of.
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Why Privacy And Trade Secret Law Are On A Collision Course
The conflict between the legal regimes of trade secret law and data privacy law is growing as companies increasingly collect and use data about their customers, making it key for organizations to find ways to comply with both laws in order to protect their intellectual property and the privacy of their customer, says Jenny Colgate at Rothwell Figg.
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Negotiating AI-Life Sciences Partnerships To Minimize IP Risk
When life sciences companies and AI companies form partnerships to foster innovation, the parties should align interests as well as mitigate intellectual property risks by strategically identifying and addressing the unique AI-related legal issues, such as training data, AI model and output, say attorneys at Finnegan.
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Parsing Through The FTC's Proposed Health Privacy Updates
The Federal Trade Commission's recently proposed updates to its Health Breach Notification Rule contain subtle but significant changes to key terms that help modernize the agency's health app regulation and provide stakeholders an important opportunity to help shape the future of virtual health care, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.
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Regulating AI: An Overview Of Federal Efforts
The U.S. has been carefully managing a national policy and regulatory ecosystem toward artificial intelligence, but as AI technology continues to expand into our everyday lives, so too has its risks and the need for regulation, says Jennifer Maisel at Rothwell Figg.
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Compliance Takeaways From HHS Information Blocking Rule
A recently finalized rule from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General demonstrates a renewed focus on investigating practices that may interfere with patients' access to their electronic health information, and should encourage renewed compliance efforts across a range of processes, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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Life Sci Cos. Should Work With FDA To Shape AI Regulation
Due to the rapidly evolving nature of potentially long-term regulatory paradigms for artificial intelligence, drug and biologic manufacturers looking to leverage AI should engage strategically with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ensure clarity surrounding compliance obligations, say Lowell Zeta and Blake Wilson at Hogan Lovells.
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BIPA, Meta Pixel Suits Could Reshape Cybersecurity Litigation
Businesses and attorneys should watch several pending electronic privacy cases that revolve around disclosure of protected personal information and health data, which may shape how courts handle damages and class actions in the future of cybersecurity litigation, say Kelly Johnson and Melanie Condon at Goldberg Segalla.
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The Double-Edged Sword Of Using ChatGPT In Health Care
While ChatGPT has shown promising potential in health care, one of the key challenges for players in this space is balancing patient privacy and data protection with the benefits of utilizing this technology, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
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Addressing Legal Issues Raised By AI Use In Health Care
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
With the usage of artificial intelligence and machine learning in health care likely to be governed by a patchwork of state laws for the near future, industry actors should build flexibility into products to meet evolving regulatory concerns, including monetization of patient data and professional licensing questions, say Sara Shanti and Phil Kim at Sheppard Mullin.
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New Health Data Compliance Considerations For Pa. Lawyers
Given the regularity with which attorneys handle private health information, it is important for Pennsylvania firms to understand recent significant amendments to the state's data breach law, which address information not currently covered by federal law, says Mark Mattioli at Post & Schell.
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Mitigating Risks Of Developing Drugs And Devices With AI
As the use of artificial intelligence in drug and medical device development advances, companies should implement five key steps to identify and mitigate areas of potential risk before regulatory frameworks catch up, say attorneys at King & Spalding.