Policy & Compliance

  • October 21, 2025

    Healthcare Laws This Week: Drug Pricing, AI And Aid In Dying

    Law360 Healthcare Authority looks at a proposal by congressional Democrats to scale back Medicare price negotiation exemptions for so-called orphan drugs, new chatbot safeguards enacted in California to prevent youth suicide and other legislative developments affecting the healthcare industry this week.

  • October 21, 2025

    4th Circ. Backs Hospital's Firing Of Christian Vaccine Refuser

    The Fourth Circuit declined Tuesday to reinstate a lawsuit from a hospital worker who claimed she was illegally fired for refusing to get immunized against COVID-19 because of her Christian faith, agreeing with the hospital that letting her remain unvaccinated would have put patients at risk.

  • October 21, 2025

    Calif. Court Backs Birth Battery Claim, Split On Gender Abuse

    A California appeals court has reinstated a medical battery lawsuit brought by a woman who accused her obstetrician of forcing an unwanted procedure on her during childbirth, but the court rejected her claim that the act constituted gender-based violence, prompting a sharp judicial dissent.

  • October 21, 2025

    Supreme Court Medina Ruling Erodes Public Health Networks

    Healthcare advocates in more than a dozen states are bracing for Planned Parenthood's ouster from public benefit programs after a U.S. Supreme Court decision in June.

  • October 21, 2025

    Texas Doctor Vows Court Battle After Ivermectin Sanction

    Four years after a confrontation outside a Fort Worth hospital, the Texas Medical Board reprimanded a doctor who arranged to have ivermectin delivered to a COVID-19 patient. Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, a vocal critic of vaccine mandates and a frequent litigant, says she's ready for more legal battles.

  • October 21, 2025

    'Ghost' Mental Health Providers Haunt Medicare Advantage

    A new federal report looks at a widespread problem within Medicare Advantage and Medicaid managed care plans of networks riddled with "ghost providers." 

  • October 20, 2025

    Drugmakers Say Conn. Law Illegally Extends Beyond State

    A group of generic drug manufacturers has asked a Connecticut federal court to block the enforcement of a new price-control law against sales that occur outside of Connecticut, claiming that the law violates the U.S. Constitution.

  • October 20, 2025

    Tylenol Maker Tells FDA Not To Add Autism Warning

    Tylenol maker Kenvue on Friday told the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to reject a call to add warnings about the risk of using acetaminophen during pregnancy, saying that "expansive" scientific evidence shows there is no proven link between the over-the-counter drug and autism.

  • October 20, 2025

    Lab Cos. Seek $542M For COVID Testing Reimbursement

    Three New York-based COVID-19 testing companies sued the federal government in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims seeking more than $542 million in damages over the government's alleged refusal to reimburse them for providing testing services to uninsured individuals.

  • October 20, 2025

    21 AGs Back Planned Parenthood In Funding Freeze Fight

    A coalition of attorneys general from 21 Democrat-led states chimed in on Monday in support of Planned Parenthood's case challenging the Trump administration's push to cut off Medicaid reimbursements to its centers and affiliates, saying more than a million people could lose healthcare access if the First Circuit doesn't halt the move.     

  • October 20, 2025

    Justices Won't Review Repeat Indictment For Medicare Fraud

    The U.S. Supreme Court let stand Monday the repeat indictment of a health clinic manager for what the Second Circuit called a massive, yearslong scheme to submit false claims to Medicare and Medicaid, effectively rejecting the manager's claims that his original trial was irreparably delayed.

  • October 20, 2025

    Top Court Won't Hear Chicago Hospital's Medicaid Dispute

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to review a decision by the full Seventh Circuit holding that a Chicago hospital can't sue the state of Illinois to force the managed care organizations it contracts with to make timely Medicaid payments, rejecting a petition that argued another case on the high court's docket "will likely decide the outcome" in this one.

  • October 20, 2025

    High Court Won't Hear Hospital Vax Mandate Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it won't review a decision backing a hospital's termination of a group of workers who refused to get COVID-19 vaccinations.

  • October 20, 2025

    Justices Won't Review Merck's Immunity From Vaccine Claims

    The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to review a decision immunizing Merck & Co. from claims that it blocked competition by making false submissions to federal regulators for its mumps vaccine.

  • October 17, 2025

    Nursing Exec Denied New Trial On Wage-Fixing Claims

    A Nevada federal judge has denied a new trial to a nursing executive convicted of wage-fixing conspiracy and wire fraud after he claimed the U.S. Department of Justice misled the jury about sweetheart terms of a cooperation deal with another company.

  • October 17, 2025

    Texas Appeals Court Revives Yelp Abortion Notice Suit

    The statewide Texas appeals court revived Texas' claims that Yelp misled customers about crisis pregnancy centers' limited services, finding that a lower court got it wrong by tossing the suit for lack of personal jurisdiction.

  • October 17, 2025

    CVS Can't Dodge Tobacco Surcharge Suit, Employee Says

    CVS shouldn't be allowed to escape a proposed class action claiming it illegally charged higher fees to health plan participants and their spouses due to their use of tobacco, an employee argued Friday, urging a California federal court to reject the company's assertion that he didn't have standing.

  • October 17, 2025

    NJ Parents Keep Fighting State Over Storage Of Babies' DNA

    Across the U.S., health departments draw small blood samples from newborns' heels to test for metabolic and genetic disorders. After a new mother discovered that New Jersey police had used DNA extracted from such samples in criminal investigations, she signed on as plaintiff in a suit that says parents have a right to refuse these blood draws.

  • October 17, 2025

    Federal Courts To Scale Back Operations Amid Shutdown

    The federal court system has run out of money and will scale back operations beginning Monday as a result of the ongoing government shutdown, possibly leading to case delays.

  • October 16, 2025

    Calif. Hospitals Sue Over New Healthcare Cost Increase Caps

    The California Hospital Association hit the state's Office of Health Care Affordability and others with a lawsuit Wednesday, claiming they violated state law with new rules that aim to limit increases in consumer health care costs by curbing hospital spending.

  • October 16, 2025

    Generics Makers Urge 3rd Circ. To Nix Price-Fixing Classes

    Actavis and Mylan have urged the Third Circuit to reverse the certification of two classes of buyers for a pair of medications in the sprawling multidistrict litigation over alleged price-fixing in the generic drug industry.

  • October 16, 2025

    31,000 Kaiser Workers Go On Strike In Calif., Ore. And Hawaii

    About 31,000 Kaiser Permanente workers represented by a nurses union are on strike in California, Hawaii and Oregon, planning to remain on the picket line through Sunday to fight for higher wages.

  • October 16, 2025

    Morrison Cohen Starts Healthcare & Wellness Practice

    Morrison Cohen LLP announced the formal launch of its healthcare and wellness practice group on Thursday, citing growing client demand at the intersection of health, technology, and consumer products and services.

  • October 15, 2025

    Judge Won't Block Mich. Medicaid Mental Health Restructure

    A Michigan state judge has ruled that the Great Lakes State has the authority to competitively bid and restructure the geographic territory of prepaid inpatient health plans that manage mental health care for the state's Medicaid beneficiaries.

  • October 15, 2025

    Conn. Hospital Had Cause To Fire Lawmaker, Judge Confirms

    A Connecticut judge has confirmed an arbitrator's finding that Norwalk Hospital had "just cause" to fire a now-former state lawmaker, Anabel Figueroa, from her job as a unit coordinator after she made allegedly antisemitic remarks on the campaign trail.

Expert Analysis

  • A Shifting Trend In FDA Form 483 Disclosure Obligations

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    A New York federal court's Checkpoint Therapeutics decision extends a recent streak of dismissals of securities class actions alleging that pharmaceutical companies failed to disclose U.S. Food and Drug Administration Form 483 inspection reports, providing critical guidance for companies during the FDA approval process, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • The Future Of Lab-Test Regs After FDA Rescinds Rule

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    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently rescinded its laboratory-developed tests rule in response to a Texas federal court decision this spring, reinforcing a separation of authority between the FDA and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and calling into question the FDA's role in overseeing such tests without congressional action, say attorneys at Venable.

  • Unpacking Ore. Law's Limits On PE Healthcare Investment

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    A recent Oregon law imposes significant restrictions on nonphysicians owning or controlling medical practices, but newly enacted amendments provide some additional flexibility in certain ownership arrangements without scuttling the law's intent of addressing concerns about the rise of private equity investment in healthcare, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Criminal Healthcare Fraud Takeaways From 4th Circ. Reversal

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    After the Fourth Circuit reversed a doctor’s postconviction acquittal in U.S. v. Elfenbein last month, defense attorneys should consider three strategies when handling complex criminal healthcare matters, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • AG Watch: Texas Embraces The MAHA Movement

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    Attorneys at Kelley Drye examine Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's actions related to the federal Make America Healthy Again movement, and how these actions hinge on representations or omissions by the target companies as opposed to specific analyses of the potential health risks.

  • How States Are Regulating Health Insurers' AI Usage

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    The absence of a federal artificial intelligence framework positions states as key regulators of health insurers’ AI use, making it important for payors and service providers to understand the range of state AI legislation being passed in California and elsewhere, and consider implementing an AI-focused compliance infrastructure, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • HHS Plan To Cut Immigrant Benefits Spurs Provider Questions

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    A recent notice from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services identifying new federal public benefit programs for which nonqualified aliens are not eligible may have a major impact on entities that participate in these programs — but many questions remain unanswered, say attorneys at Foley.

  • Noncompete Forecast Shows Tough Weather For Employers

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    Several new state noncompete laws signal rough conditions for employers, particularly in the healthcare sector, so employers must account for employees' geographic circumstances as they cannot rely solely on choice-of-law clauses, say lawyers at McDermott.

  • Previewing State Efforts To Regulate Mental Health Chatbots

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    New York, Nevada and Utah have all recently enacted laws regulating the use of artificial intelligence to deliver mental health services, offering early insights into how other states may regulate this area, say attorneys at Goodwin.

  • How DOJ's New Data Security Rules Leave HIPAA In The Dust

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's recently effective data security requirements carry profound implications for how healthcare providers collect, store, share and use data — and approach vendor oversight — that go far beyond the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, say attorneys at Nelson Mullins.

  • Texas Med Spas Must Prepare For 2 New State Laws

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    Two new laws in Texas — regulating elective intravenous therapy and reforming healthcare noncompetes — mark a pivotal shift in the regulatory framework for medical spas in the state, which must proactively adapt their operations and contractual practices, says Brad Cook at Munsch Hardt.

  • DOJ-HHS Collab Crystallizes Focus On Health Enforcement

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    The recently announced partnership between the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to combat False Claims Act violations, following a multiyear trend of high-dollar DOJ recoveries, signals a long-term enforcement horizon with major implications for healthcare entities and whistleblowers, say attorneys at RJO.

  • How The Healthline Privacy Settlement Redefines Ad Tech Use

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    The Healthline settlement is the first time California has drawn a clear line in the sand around how website tracking must function in practice, so if your site uses tracking technologies, especially around sensitive content like health or finance, regulators are inspecting your website's back end, not just its banner, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.