Policy & Compliance
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December 19, 2025
AstraZeneca Unit Ducks Patent Fraud, Not Sham Suit Claims
A Massachusetts federal judge spared AstraZeneca unit Alexion on Friday from half of a nonprofit insurer's proposed class action, finding the plaintiff too far removed from anticompetitive patent fraud that allegedly propped up blood disorder treatment Soliris, while preserving accusations that Alexion brought sham infringement allegations against would-be rivals.
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December 19, 2025
EEOC Sues Over Christian Nurse's Denied Vax Exemption
An Illinois-based hospital system bucked civil rights law when it denied a Christian nurse's request for an exemption to its COVID-19 vaccination policy and then fired her, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has told a federal court.
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December 19, 2025
Trump Admin Appeals Harvard Win In $2B Fund Freeze Case
The Trump administration will ask the First Circuit to overturn a federal judge's ruling that prevented the government from withholding $2.2 billion in federal grants from Harvard University over concerns about antisemitism on campus.
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December 18, 2025
Split 6th Circ. Blocks Michigan's Ban On Conversion Therapy
A split Sixth Circuit panel ordered an injunction on Michigan's conversion therapy ban, ruling the law likely places an unconstitutional restriction on the First Amendment rights of a Catholic charitable organization and a therapist whose faith-based psychotherapy practices fall under the ban.
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December 18, 2025
SF Must Reinstate Worker Fired For Violating COVID Vax Rule
A California federal judge ordered San Francisco to reinstate a 311 call center agent who was fired for violating a COVID-19 vaccination mandate after he sought an exemption based on his Muslim faith, ruling Thursday that the plaintiff has made a "prima facie case for religious discrimination."
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December 18, 2025
AstraZeneca Can't Block Colo. Law Over Drug Discount Rules
A Colorado federal judge rejected AstraZeneca's effort to block enforcement of a Colorado law surrounding federal 340B drug pricing that requires manufacturers to sell drugs at discounted prices to certain safety net healthcare facilities, ruling Wednesday the law isn't preempted by 340B drug pricing.
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December 18, 2025
HHS Proposes Hospital Ban On Gender Care For Minors
The Trump administration moved to block all hospitals that receive federal funding from providing gender-affirming care to minors and issued warning letters to a dozen companies Thursday as part of a sweeping push to halt the care nationwide, even in states with legal protections in place.
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December 17, 2025
Lighting Co. Strikes Deal In 401(k) Forfeiture, Tobacco Fee Suit
An automotive lighting company told an Illinois federal court Wednesday that it has settled an ex-worker's proposed class action claiming the business mismanaged forfeited 401(k) funds and failed to inform workers who used tobacco how to avoid paying an extra health plan fee.
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December 17, 2025
Braidwood Asks For Judgment In ACA Preventive Care Fight
Christian-owned, for-profit management company Braidwood Management Inc. asked a Texas federal judge Tuesday to end its challenge to an Affordable Care Act provision that requires coverage of lung cancer screenings and preexposure prophylaxis for HIV/AIDS, citing a U.S. Supreme Court finding upholding the provision.
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December 17, 2025
Doctors Not Harmed By CDC's Vaccine Guidance, Feds Say
The federal government argued Wednesday that doctors lack standing to challenge the overhaul of a key federal vaccine committee that has since downgraded the COVID-19 shot, saying healthcare providers haven't been harmed by the policy shifts.
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December 16, 2025
Ex-NIAID Director Claims Retaliation in Trump Admin Suit
The former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases filed suit in Maryland federal court on Tuesday alleging Trump administration appointees violated her constitutional rights by illegally terminating her employment and that she cannot expect her claims to be fairly heard by the "undermined" U.S. Office of Special Counsel.
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December 16, 2025
DOD To Reevaluate Discharges Over COVID Vax Refusal
The U.S. Department of Defense said on Tuesday that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered a reevaluation of the discharge status of service members who were involuntarily removed from the military after they refused to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
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December 16, 2025
Vax Skeptics Cite High Court In New Challenge To NY Mandate
A vaccine skepticism advocacy group once tied to Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is revamping its fight against New York's school vaccination mandate, arguing recent activity by the U.S. Supreme Court necessitates a fresh analysis.
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December 16, 2025
Qui Tam Challenge At 11th Circuit: 4 Takeaways
An appellate panel weighed the constitutionality of the False Claim Act's whistleblower mechanism. Law360 Healthcare Authority has what you need to know about the closely watched hearing.
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December 16, 2025
Ex-Harvard Morgue Manager Gets 8 Years In Body Parts Case
Former Harvard Medical School morgue manager Cedric Lodge was sentenced Tuesday in Pennsylvania federal court to eight years in prison after pleading guilty earlier this year to trafficking body parts from donated cadavers.
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December 16, 2025
Hospital Owners Sue HHS Over Medicare Payment Rule
Allina Health System and other nonprofit hospital owners have sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, telling a D.C. federal judge it unlawfully enacted a rule that will cause safety-net hospitals to lose out on billions of dollars of Medicare payments.
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December 16, 2025
FCA In 2025: Trump, A Qui Tam Clash And Whopping Penalties
From a 10-figure verdict to shifting Justice Department enforcement priorities, Law360 looks at the major FCA developments of the year.
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December 15, 2025
States Fight Sandoz Bid To Argue Duplication In Generics Row
Multiple attorneys general have told a Connecticut federal court that Sandoz Inc. and Fougera Pharmaceuticals Inc. can't claim the states' grievances over allegations of price fixing are duplicative of claims that were already settled, since there are some claims and forms of relief that only state plaintiffs can seek.
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December 15, 2025
DOJ Raises Accreditation Concerns In Vet School Case
The U.S. Department of Justice waded into a Tennessee veterinary school's antitrust case challenging the American Veterinary Medical Association's accreditation requirements, raising concerns about the risk posed by professional groups that play gatekeeping functions.
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December 15, 2025
NC Panel Says State's Hospital Law Is Constitutional
North Carolina's "certificate of need" law hasn't created a monopoly nor has it restricted an eye surgeon's right to earn a living, a state court panel ruled Friday, ending for now the surgeon's yearslong suit arguing the law is facially unconstitutional.
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December 15, 2025
Formula Suits An 'Undue Burden' On Cook County, Panel Says
An Illinois appellate court Friday agreed with Abbott Laboratories that 23 lawsuits alleging the company failed to warn of important risks associated with infant formulas and caused premature babies to develop necrotizing enterocolitis should not have been filed in Cook County, where the infants at the center of those cases were not born and have never lived.
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December 15, 2025
Connecticut 'Likely' To Settle Generic Drug Price Cap Dispute
A pharmaceutical industry trade group and the state of Connecticut have signaled their intent to settle a feud over the interpretation of the state's generic drug price cap law, and a federal judge gave them until Monday to say more about their plan.
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December 15, 2025
Yale Hospital Hit With $32M Baby Formula Death Verdict
A Connecticut judge has hit Yale University and Yale New Haven Hospital with a nearly $32 million verdict over the death of a premature baby, finding doctors failed to obtain either informed consent, or any consent, before feeding the infant a diet fortified by a product produced from cow's milk.
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December 15, 2025
Feds Deny Breaking Plea Deal With Ex-Morgue Manager
Prosecutors told a Pennsylvania federal judge Monday that they did not breach a plea deal between the government and Cedric Lodge by seeking a harsh sentence for the former head of Harvard University's morgue who admitted to theft and trafficking of human remains, claiming that Lodge's arguments to the contrary amounted to buyer's remorse.
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December 15, 2025
High Court Won't Review Doctor 'Upcoding' Acquittal Decision
The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday that it won't review a decision allowing a retrial of a Maryland doctor who was initially found guilty of a COVID-19 testing scheme but then secured an acquittal.
Bazelon Center Dir. On Disabilities And Medicaid 'Barriers'
Law360 Healthcare Authority talks to Jennifer Mathis of the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law about Medicaid, disability law and what states should do to stop people with impairments from being disenrolled improperly.
Lax Enforcement Spurs Suits Over Insurers' 'Ghost' Networks
More patients are alleging that what are known as insurers' ghost networks — directories full of unreachable providers — deny them access to mental health care. Their counsel say scarce enforcement is just one of the problems.
Conflict Looms Over State Medical Debt Credit-Report Bans
An about-face by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on medical debt and credit reports is animating a legal debate over preemption and state-level prohibitions meant to protect consumers.
Expert Analysis
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2025 Legal Milestones That Will Shape Psychedelics Sector
As 2025 draws to a close, psychedelic drug development stands at an inflection point, experiencing unprecedented momentum through recent sweeping regulatory changes and landmark clinical milestones, amid rapidly evolving regulatory expectations, say Odette Hauke at Odette Alina LLC and Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell.
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2025 State AI Laws Expand Liability, Raise Insurance Risks
As 2025 nears its end, claims professionals should be aware of trends in state legislation addressing artificial intelligence use, as insurance claims based on some of these liability-expanding statutes are a certainty, say attorneys at Wiley.
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Learning From 2025 FCA Trends Targeting PE In Healthcare
False Claims Act enforcement trends and legislative developments from this year signal intensifying state and federal scrutiny of private equity's growing footprint in healthcare, and the urgency of compliance, says Lisa Re at Arnold & Porter.
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How 11th Circ.'s Qui Tam Review Could Affect FCA Litigation
On Dec. 12, the Eleventh Circuit will hear arguments in U.S. ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, setting the stage for a decision that could drastically reduce enforcement under the False Claims Act, and presenting an opportunity to seek U.S. Supreme Court review of the act's whistleblower provisions, say attorneys at Epstein Becker.
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How MAHA Is Taking Shape At The State Level
The national spotlight on the federal government's Make America Healthy Again movement is bolstering state-level actions regarding potential health impacts of certain food ingredients, increasing the difficulty and importance of maintaining effective compliance programs, say attorneys at Cooley.
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A Look At Middlemen Fees In 340B Drug Discount Program
A U.S. Senate committee's recent hearing on the Section 340B drug discount program, along with statistical analysis of payment amounts, contribute to a growing consensus that middlemen fees are too high, say William Sarraille at the University of Maryland, and Shanyue Zeng and Rory Martin at IQVIA.
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Nursing Home Abuse Cases Face 3 Barriers That Need Reform
Recent headlines reveal persistent gaps in oversight and protection for vulnerable residents in long-term care, but prosecution of these cases is often stymied by numerous challenges that will require a comprehensive overhaul of regulatory, legal and financial structures to address, says Veronica Finkelstein at Wilmington University.
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Mulling Differing Circuit Rulings On Gender-Affirming Care
Despite the Eleventh Circuit's recent holding in Lange v. Houston County that a health plan's exclusion for gender-affirming surgery did not violate Title VII, employers should be mindful of other court decisions suggesting that different legal challenges may still apply to blanket exclusions for such care, say attorneys at Smith Gambrell.
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State AGs May Extend Their Reach To Nat'l Security Concerns
Companies with foreign supply-chain risk exposure need a comprehensive risk-management strategy to address a growing trend in which state attorneys general use broadly written state laws to target conduct that may not violate federal regulations, but arguably constitutes a national security threat, say attorneys at Wiley.
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Unique Aspects Of Texas' Approach To AI Regulation
The Texas Responsible AI Governance Act — which will soon be the sole comprehensive artificial intelligence law in the U.S. — pulls threads from EU and Colorado laws but introduces more targeted rules with fewer obligations on commercial entities, say attorneys at MVA Law.
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Surveying The Healthcare Policy Landscape Post-Shutdown
With last week's agreement to reopen the federal government, at least through the end of January, key healthcare legislation that has been in limbo since a December 2024 spending bill fell apart may recapture the attention of Congress, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.
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FDA Biosimilar Guidance Should Ease Biologics Development
New draft guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, indicating that the agency may no longer routinely require comparative efficacy studies when other evidence provides sufficient assurance of biosimilarity, underscores the FDA's trust in analytical technology as a driver of biologics access, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.
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Prison Body Cams Raise Health Privacy Compliance Issues
The increasing use of prison staff body cameras to enhance transparency and safety presents correctional healthcare partners with new risk management questions where they must carefully reconcile the benefits of surveillance with the imperative to protect patient privacy, say attorneys at Gordon Rees.