Policy & Compliance
-
April 10, 2026
Chest Binders Become Latest Front In Anti-Trans Litigation
Chest binders — medical devices that can be used by individuals experiencing gender dysphoria or who want a more gender-neutral alternative to bras — have emerged as the newest target in an unfolding regulatory and legal climate that transgender advocates describe as an overtly partisan political attack against a type of product that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has deemed the least risky.
-
April 10, 2026
Wisconsin High Court OKs COVID Immunity For Hospitals
A Wisconsin state appeals court erred when it held that a statute shielding healthcare providers from civil liability during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic violated a woman's constitutional right to a jury, the state's highest court ruled unanimously Friday.
-
April 10, 2026
Colo. Transport Co. Says Termination Lacked Due Process
A medical transportation company that provided transportation services for Medicaid users in Denver asked a Colorado state judge to reverse a termination of its services from the state, claiming the statute used to issue the termination against the company is unconstitutional.
-
April 10, 2026
Compass Group Workers Get Cert. For Tobacco Fee Suit
Former employees for food service company Compass Group USA have secured class certification for their Missouri federal lawsuit claiming the company's $48 bi-weekly health insurance fee for tobacco using-workers violates federal law.
-
April 10, 2026
Philip Morris Urges 11th Circ. To Affirm FDA Rule Toss
Philip Morris urged the Eleventh Circuit to affirm a decision that struck down a U.S. Food and Drug Administration rule calling for graphic warnings on cigarette packaging, arguing a district court rightly found the FDA had not followed proper procedure when crafting the regulations.
-
April 10, 2026
Drugmakers Can Intervene In Texas, Fla. Abortion Drug Suit
A federal judge Friday allowed abortion medication manufacturers GenBioPro Inc. and Danco Laboratories to intervene in litigation brought by the states of Texas and Florida seeking to undo a slew of federal regulations concerning the abortion drug mifepristone.
-
April 10, 2026
Elevance Can't Nix Suit Over GLP-1 Coverage For Sleep Apnea
An Indiana federal judge declined to toss a proposed class action claiming Elevance Health Inc. illegally denied coverage for a GLP-1 weight loss medication that was prescribed to treat sleep apnea, ruling that the insurance company is the right party to answer to the allegations at play.
-
April 10, 2026
Ill. Jury Adds $17M Punitive Award To Baby Formula Verdict
Illinois jurors on Friday slapped another $17 million in punitive damages atop the $53 million they awarded the previous afternoon to four mothers who accused Abbott Laboratories of selling preterm infant formula that contributed to a serious and often fatal gut condition their babies developed.
-
April 09, 2026
Yale Medical School Can't Nix Fraudulent Insemination Suit
Yale can't escape a negligence suit by onetime patients alleging its former fertility doctor secretly inseminated them with his own sperm, after a Connecticut judge said that a letter from an anonymous doctor, which is mandated by law to support their claims, met the statutory requirements.
-
April 09, 2026
Irish Mallinckrodt Unit Stuck In Drug Price-Fixing Suit
An Irish entity of drugmaker Mallinckrodt waited too long to seek dismissal of a price-fixing lawsuit brought by states based on a lack of personal jurisdiction or proper service, a Connecticut federal judge has ruled, finding that the company first raised that argument more than five years after the complaint was filed.
-
April 09, 2026
Cigna 401(k) Suit Won't Wait For Intel Supreme Court Decision
A Pennsylvania federal court turned down Cigna's bid to stay a proposed class action alleging the insurance company misspent forfeitures from its employee 401(k) plan and offered an underperforming investment fund while the U.S. Supreme Court considers a 401(k) suit against Intel, finding the request unjustified.
-
April 09, 2026
Abbott Hit With $53M Verdict Over Baby Formula Harms
A Cook County jury on Thursday awarded a total of $53 million in damages to four mothers claiming Abbott Laboratories' preterm baby formula contributed to their babies' development of a serious and often fatal gut condition, in the first of such claims to go to trial in Illinois.
-
April 09, 2026
Nonprofit Insurer Wants To Seek AstraZeneca Claims Revival
EmblemHealth asked a Massachusetts federal judge to let it seek First Circuit intervention against a decision that cut in half its proposed class action accusing AstraZeneca unit Alexion of using sham patents to protect blood disorder treatment Soliris from biosimilar rivals.
-
April 09, 2026
Philly Injection Site Row Judge Rejects Nonprofit's 'Ploy'
A Pennsylvania federal judge on Thursday called the addition of overdose prevention nonprofit Safehouse's president as a counterclaim plaintiff in the government's suit to stop it from launching a safe-injection site in Philadelphia a "ploy" to add another to the ranks of those claiming the government infringed the group's religious freedom.
-
April 09, 2026
US Again Urges High Court To Back Drug Price Program
The administration of President Donald Trump again urged the Supreme Court not to hear a challenge to the Medicare drug price negotiation program, arguing against a constitutional challenge brought by Boehringer Ingelheim that drug companies aren't forced to accept lower prices because they can choose not to participate.
-
April 08, 2026
Ed. Dept. Says It's Not Required To Fund $1B In Youth Grants
The U.S. Department of Education denied accusations by 16 U.S. states that it is flouting a court order to restore nearly $1 billion in K–12 mental health grants, arguing in a Western District of Washington filing that the order required officials to re-review the grants, not actually provide full funding.
-
April 08, 2026
AbbVie Says 340B Program Defines 'Patient' Too Broadly
Federally funded healthcare providers in the 340B Drug Pricing Program are using an "overly broad" interpretation of the word "patient" based on government guidelines, and it's leading to them abusing 340B discounts, AbbVie claimed in a lawsuit filed against two federal health agencies Wednesday.
-
April 08, 2026
3M Settles Ex-Worker's COVID Vax Firing Suit
A former 3M Co. employee who claimed the company's COVID-19 vaccination mandate policy was "unnecessary" and "draconian" has settled his more than 3-year-old suit over his firing, according to a court filing.
-
April 08, 2026
AstraZeneca Wants 25 Opt-Ins Axed From Pay Bias Suit
More than two dozen women refused to take part in required discovery and should be removed from a collective action accusing AstraZeneca of paying female pharmaceutical sales representatives less than men, the company told an Illinois federal court.
-
April 08, 2026
Whistleblower, Healthcare Operator End Retaliation Suit
A nursing home administrator who participated in a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development whistleblower investigation into alleged false payment claims and a healthcare facility operator agreed to end a lawsuit over his firing, according to a stipulation filed in Colorado federal court Wednesday.
-
April 08, 2026
Faegre Drinker Hires 2 Venable FDA Partners In DC
Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP has hired two attorneys from Venable LLP who joined that firm in 2023 and focus their practices on helping clients understand U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulatory frameworks, the firm announced Wednesday.
-
April 08, 2026
HIV, AIDS Patients End Disability Bias Suit With CVS
CVS Pharmacy Inc. and a group of HIV and AIDS patients have agreed to wrap up a suit claiming the company made it harder for them to get their medication in violation of disability discrimination law, according to a California federal court filing.
-
April 07, 2026
Calif. Dialysis Bill Violates 1st Amendment, 9th Circ. Says
The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday struck down provisions of a California law that aims to restrict dialysis providers' ability to profit from patients receiving health insurance premium assistance from nonprofit charities, ruling in a published opinion that the provisions violated nonprofit American Kidney Fund's and dialysis providers' First Amendment rights.
-
April 07, 2026
Pa. Hospitals Accuse Aetna Of Underpaying Medicare Claims
Two Pennsylvania hospital operators have sued Aetna Health Inc. in federal court, alleging the insurer has been improperly denying Medicare Advantage claims for inpatient services, or underpaying, under a new policy.
-
April 07, 2026
Insurer Premera Accuses Clinic Of Misusing No Surprises Act
Premera Blue Cross sued a weight loss clinic on Monday in Washington federal court saying it abused a federal law aimed at safeguarding patients from unexpected medical bills in order to shake down the insurer for exorbitant amounts of money — as much as 10 times what Premera pays in-network providers.
High Court Ruling Won't End 'Conversion Therapy' Battles
The U.S. Supreme Court's rejection of Colorado's ban on what is commonly known as gay conversion therapy may have rendered dozens of similar laws toothless, but don't expect it to be the end of legal challenges in this arena.
As FCA Meets 340B, Geyser Of Qui Tam Suits May Erupt
A Ninth Circuit ruling on the intersection of two of the most contentious laws in healthcare may be a combustible mix that triggers a new wave of fraud litigation.
Utah Hospitals To Track Violence As States Step Up Reporting
Under a new law, Utah hospitals will join a national effort to better understand the risks facing healthcare workers.
Expert Analysis
-
Trump Order Signals Tougher Benefits Fraud Probes
A recent order from President Donald Trump establishing a federal taskforce for addressing fraud in federally funded benefit programs emphasizes interagency information sharing, potentially affecting a broad range of areas including government contracts, administrative law considerations and False Claims Act cases, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
-
The Evolution Of States' Workplace Violence Prevention Laws
Utah's new law requiring hospitals to implement comprehensive workplace violence reporting systems continues a broader trend of state efforts to expand workplace protections in the absence of sufficient federal regulations, say attorneys at Ogletree.
-
FDA Guidance May Move Goalposts For Form 483 Responses
New draft guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration provides formal insight on how drug manufacturers are expected to respond to Form 483s, raising some concerns about the agency's timelines and expectations, say attorneys at Cooley.
-
2 Strands Of Patent Law In High Court's 'Skinny Label' Case
Amarin v. Hikma, which is set for oral argument in the U.S. Supreme Court this month, highlights the distinction between two different strands of intellectual property law — analogizing a patent to either a property deed or a home, says Jonas McDavit at Spencer West.
-
A Check-Up On HHS' Push To Implement AI Infrastructure
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has made some headway in its efforts to implement artificial intelligence across its agencies, but will have to overcome a number of near-term tests in order to be successful, says Theodore Thompson at Stinson.
-
Mich. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q1
Michigan's financial services sector saw several significant developments in 2026's first quarter, including the state Department of Insurance and Financial Services' issuance of a bulletin on the use of artificial intelligence and the Michigan House's introduction of a bill based on the Model Money Transmission Modernization Act, say attorneys at Dykema.
-
The Road Ahead For Drug Development In The US
Against the backdrop of drug manufacturers potentially looking to move development efforts overseas, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's latest guidance on new approach methodologies signals the FDA is likely to be receptive to industry innovation that makes U.S.-based drug development faster or less expensive, creating opportunities and compliance risks for tech companies, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
-
FDA's Crackdown On Drug Ads Conflicts With Precedent
Recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration warning letters to drug manufacturers targeting direct-to-consumer advertising raise significant constitutional concerns, and directly clash with prior FDA stances, say attorneys at Sidley.
-
Informal Announcements Are Reshaping FDA Regulations
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's recent shift toward using press releases, podcasts and other informal channels to announce major policy changes reflects a valid desire to modernize and accelerate regulatory efforts, but it could lead to diminished transparency, increased industry burden and reduced policy durability, says Rachel Turow at Skadden.
-
A Shift In Fed. Circ.'s Approach To Patent Summary Judgment
The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Range of Motion v. Armaid may come to be seen as a seminal opinion for potentially exposing and entrenching the Federal Circuit's movement away from its previous framework for identifying obvious noninfringement cases, says Nicholas Nowak at Nowak IP Group.
-
DOJ Actions Suggest Expansion Of Healthcare Enforcement
Recent actions by the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Food and Drug Administration suggest that federal healthcare enforcement efforts are moving away from traditional program-based fraud and toward cases centered on product integrity, regulatory transparency and telehealth marketing, effectively widening the government's enforcement playbook, say attorneys at MoFo.
-
New Orphan Drug Law Provides A Key Fix For Pharma Cos.
The Consolidated Appropriations Act enacted last month restores the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's long-standing interpretation of "same disease or condition," related to orphan drug exclusivity, resolving years of regulatory uncertainty and litigation that have discouraged rare disease research, say attorneys at Spencer Fane.
-
FDA User Fee Talks Offer Clues On Upcoming Reforms
As the U.S. Food and Drug Administration undergoes the User Fee Act reauthorization process and renegotiates its user fee agreements over the next several months, the agency's consultation meetings with relevant industries can shed light on the FDA's priorities, and provides stakeholders an opportunity to participate in the reform process, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.