Policy & Compliance

  • June 13, 2024

    CVS Dodges Discovery Audit In Generic Drug Collusion Suit

    A federal judge declined to make CVS hire a forensic auditor to evaluate its compliance with information demands in a lawsuit alleging it colluded with drugmakers to keep Medicare beneficiaries from accessing certain generic drugs, despite a whistleblower bemoaning "woefully deficient" discovery on the pharmacy chain's part.

  • June 13, 2024

    Health Co. Execs Charged In $100M Adderall Sales Scheme

    Two California digital healthcare company executives were charged in a first-of-its-kind case Thursday with scheming to sell Adderall through deceptive advertising, allegedly bringing in $100 million in illicit profits.

  • June 13, 2024

    EU Makes First Ever Formal Pharma Price-Fixing Complaint

    European Union antitrust authorities issued their first ever price-fixing complaint in the pharmaceutical industry Thursday, going after the only company that did not agree to a €13.4 million ($14.4 million) settlement in October.

  • June 13, 2024

    Abortion Medication Case Ends 'With A Whimper' At High Court

    A case that threatened to cut off access to a widely used abortion medication while disrupting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's authority over drugs and medical devices ended Thursday at the U.S. Supreme Court with a decision concerned solely with challengers' right to sue.

  • June 12, 2024

    32 AGs Urge Justices Take Up Okla. PBM Law Fight

    Thirty-two attorneys general urged the U.S. Supreme Court to take up Oklahoma's petition for review of a Tenth Circuit decision holding that federal law preempted portions of a state law regulating pharmacy benefit managers, arguing the justices needed to intervene to resolve a circuit split.

  • June 12, 2024

    Sen. Dems Seek Criminal Penalties For PE Hospital 'Looters'

    A pair of Democratic senators are targeting private equity's role in the healthcare industry, introducing new legislation Tuesday that would give federal and state enforcers new tools to go after firms they say are "looting" hospital systems and other providers, including possibly jailing executives if patient deaths result.

  • June 11, 2024

    6th Circ. Judge Doubts Clinic's Standing To Block Bias Law

    During Sixth Circuit arguments Tuesday probing whether a Christian medical clinic can block Michigan from targeting it for refusing to facilitate gender transitions, one judge searched for evidence that the clinic is actually at risk of being prosecuted under the state's civil rights law.

  • June 11, 2024

    Doc-Patient Privilege, The Four Tops, And A Win For Humana

    Humana wins a round in a Medicare Advantage lawsuit. The high court takes up hospital "dish" payment case. A Motown legend sues a Michigan hospital. Law360 looks at those and other legal cases from the past week.

  • June 11, 2024

    Texas, Mont. Sue HHS Over ACA Trans Discrimination Rule

    Texas and Montana filed suit against the Biden administration seeking to halt its rule clarifying the application of the Affordable Care Act's nondiscrimination protections to gender identity, saying the new regulations infringe on states' autonomy and force them to violate their own laws.

  • June 11, 2024

    Judge Says Fla. Trans Medical Care Ban Is Unconstitutional

    A Florida federal judge on Tuesday declared that a state law banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors and restricting it for adults is unconstitutional because it was motivated by animus for a specific group of people and serves no legitimate state interest.

  • June 11, 2024

    Fast Appeal In Hospital Merger Row A Sign Of Determined FTC

    The Federal Trade Commission's quick appeal of its failed challenge to a North Carolina hospital merger suggests the agency remains committed to aggressive scrutiny of healthcare consolidation.

  • June 11, 2024

    High Court On Familiar Ground In Hospital Pay Row

    Two years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court decided a case about federal formula for calculating disproportionate share hospital payments — commonly called "dish" payments — under Medicare Part A. A similar case set for high court review puts the justices back on familiar ground.

  • June 11, 2024

    10 Firms Seek $13M Fee For Effexor Antitrust Deal

    Ten law firms asked a New Jersey federal judge on Monday to award $13 million in counsel fees and an additional $2.1 million in costs for representing direct buyers in a $39 million settlement with Pfizer Inc. unit Wyeth over an alleged scheme to delay generic competition for the antidepressant drug Effexor XR.

  • June 11, 2024

    CFPB Floats Rule To Take Medical Debt Off Credit Reports

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday proposed a rule that would restrict how lenders and credit reporting companies can use consumers' medical debt information, a measure that the agency said could remove up to $49 billion in outstanding medical bills from millions of credit reports.

  • June 11, 2024

    Pivotal ERISA Case Stalls Amid Mental Health Crisis

    A nationwide mental health crisis has emerged while a landmark case involving thousands of insurance claims denied by United Behavioral Health has wound its way through the courts. The dispute is hitting new headwinds at the Ninth Circuit.

  • June 11, 2024

    WilmerHale Lands Latham Atty To Help Lead Life Sciences

    WilmerHale has added a partner in Palo Alto, California, who is an expert in complex strategic collaboration and licensing transactions, to co-chair its life sciences practice group, the firm said Tuesday.

  • June 11, 2024

    Rao Tracks His Journey From Stay-At-Home Dad To FTC

    Rahul Rao said that every role he's taken on — from BigLaw attorney to stay-at-home dad to overseeing healthcare mergers at the Federal Trade Commission — has helped shape him into the lawyer he is today.

  • June 11, 2024

    FDA Urges 11th Circ. To Back E-Cig Ban Over High Nicotine

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is urging the Eleventh Circuit to not let Bidi Vapor market an e-cigarette product that the agency claimed would expose users to nearly twice as much nicotine as a typical combustible cigarette.

  • June 11, 2024

    Next Wave Of Opioid Suits Targets Drug Biz 'Middlemen'

    Communities ravaged by opioid addiction have secured billions of dollars in settlements with companies that make, market and dispense the drugs. A new target is now emerging in the next wave of litigation — pharmacy benefit managers.

  • June 11, 2024

    Beveridge & Diamond Hires DOJ Jan. 6 Litigator In DC

    Beveridge & Diamond PC's new white collar principal, Louis Manzo, has worked on some of the highest-profile cases in the nation for the Justice Department, helping secure convictions for several January 6 insurrectionists charged with seditious conspiracy.

  • June 10, 2024

    Rehab Clinics Add To MultiPlan Insurance Fixing Pile-On

    Addiction treatment providers sued MultiPlan, Aetna, Cigna, UnitedHealth and Elevance Friday and Saturday in 14 separate New York federal court complaints that appear to be the first to add substance abuse disorder-specific allegations to the cases pegging MultiPlan at the center of a scheme to suppress insurer payouts.

  • June 10, 2024

    IHS Urges Budget Shift After High Court Healthcare Ruling

    The Indian Health Service, following a divided U.S. Supreme Court decision affirming that the federal government is liable for the reimbursement of millions in administrative healthcare costs for two Native American tribes, is urging Congress to shift its budget appropriations for fiscal year 2026 to protect the agency's overall health.

  • June 10, 2024

    SoCal Workers Want Class Cert. In Union Healthcare Fee Suit

    A group of union-represented Southern California hospitality workers who say they're getting charged much higher health insurance rates than their counterparts in Las Vegas are seeking class certification in their lawsuit challenging the rates, according to a filing in Illinois federal court.

  • June 10, 2024

    Baltimore Lands $45M Deal With Allergan In Opioid Litigation

    Baltimore has put to rest its claims that Allergan played a part in the opioid crisis, reaching a $45 million settlement with the pharmaceutical company, an amount the city called "unprecedented" in an announcement on Monday.

  • June 10, 2024

    Colo. Justices Say Doc-Patient Privilege Mirrors Atty-Client

    The Colorado Supreme Court held Monday that doctor-patient privilege does persist after a patient dies but that a "testamentary exception" exists for when a late patient's medical records become necessary information to execute their estate, similar to how attorney-client privilege works.

Expert Analysis

  • 4 PR Pointers When Your Case Is In The News

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    Media coverage of new lawsuits exploded last year, demonstrating why defense attorneys should devise a public relations plan that complements their legal strategy, incorporating several objectives to balance ethical obligations and advocacy, say Nathan Burchfiel at Pinkston and Ryan June at Castañeda + Heidelman.

  • Digging Into The Debate On FDA's Proposed Lab Test Rule

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    A proposed 10-word amendment from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration represents a sea change in device regulation as it would summarily end decades of FDA enforcement discretion for laboratory developed tests, and the public comments offer some insight into the future of this long-running saga, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • Law Firm Strategies For Successfully Navigating 2024 Trends

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    Though law firms face the dual challenge of external and internal pressures as they enter 2024, firms willing to pivot will be able to stand out by adapting to stakeholder needs and reimagining their infrastructure, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Consultants.

  • AI In Health Law: The Top Guest Articles Of 2023

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    As the use of artificial intelligence accelerated this year, Expert Analysis writers examined AI's significant impact on the healthcare sector, ranging from key compliance considerations for companies utilizing AI tools to regulators' efforts to keep up with rapidly evolving technologies.

  • The Most-Read Legal Industry Law360 Guest Articles Of 2023

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    A range of legal industry topics drew readers' attention in Law360's Expert Analysis section this year, from associate retention strategies to ethical billing practices.

  • Inside Higher Education's New FCA Liability Challenges

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    As the educational sector expands its use of government funding, schools are at increased risk under the False Claims Act, but recent settlements offer valuable lessons about new theories of liability they may face and specific procedures to reduce their exposure, say James Zelenay and Jeremy Ochsenbein at Gibson Dunn.

  • AI Executive Order's Life Science, Healthcare Industry Effects

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    The recent White House executive order to manage risks associated with artificial intelligence includes provisions specific to healthcare and life sciences that merit special attention, including transparency, human oversight of AI output, and real world performance monitoring, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • HHS Advisory Highlights Free Product Inducement Risks

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    A recent U.S. Department of Health and Human Services advisory opinion highlights concerns that valuable free products and other inducements may influence patients and providers to choose one manufacturer’s product over another, notwithstanding that such free healthcare products may be a benefit, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Attorneys' Busiest Times Can Be Business Opportunities

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    Attorneys who resolve to grow their revenue and client base in 2024 should be careful not to abandon their goals when they get too busy with client work, because these periods of zero bandwidth can actually be a catalyst for future growth, says Amy Drysdale at Alchemy Consulting.

  • In The World Of Legal Ethics, 10 Trends To Note From 2023

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    Lucian Pera at Adams and Reese and Trisha Rich at Holland & Knight identify the top legal ethics trends from 2023 — including issues related to hot documents, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity — that lawyers should be aware of to put their best foot forward.

  • How Attorneys Can Be More Efficient This Holiday Season

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    Attorneys should consider a few key tips to speed up their work during the holidays so they can join the festivities — from streamlining the document review process to creating similar folder structures, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • Top 10 Whistleblowing And Retaliation Events Of 2023

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and federal and state courts made 2023 another groundbreaking year for whistleblower litigation and retaliation developments, including the SEC’s massive whistleblower awards, which are likely to continue into 2024 and further incentivize individuals to submit tips, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • Children's Book Writing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Becoming a children's book author has opened doors to incredible new experiences of which I barely dared to dream, but the process has also changed my life by serving as a reminder that strong writing, networking and public speaking skills are hugely beneficial to a legal career, says Shaunna Bailey at Sheppard Mullin.