Policy & Compliance

  • August 27, 2024

    Medicare Fraud Case Puts Target On Qui Tam Provisions

    In a federal court in Florida, a judge is weighing what was once a pipe dream for the False Claims Act defense bar: the possible invalidation of federal law allowing private parties to bring suits on behalf of the government.

  • August 27, 2024

    Docs Foggy On Abortion Laws Amid Heated Legal Battles

    When Texan Kyleigh Thurman showed up at a hospital in central Texas with an ectopic pregnancy, she alleges that physicians' confusion over the state's strict abortion ban led to inaction and delays in her federally protected care.

  • August 27, 2024

    6th Circ. Affirms HHS' Denial Of Title X Funds To Tenn.

    The Sixth Circuit has upheld the Biden administration's authority to end a family-planning grant awarded to Tennessee after the state refused to offer abortion referrals, saying the state knew the rules when it accepted the grant.

  • August 26, 2024

    Care.com To Pay $8.5M To Settle FTC's Deception Claims

    Caregiver job website Care.com has agreed to shell out $8.5 million in refunds to put to rest allegations it misled caregivers about wages and job availability and also made it difficult for families to cancel paid memberships, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission announced Monday.

  • August 26, 2024

    Class Attys Get $1.2M In Wash. Health Workers' Wage Deal

    A Washington federal judge has awarded two plaintiffs firms almost $1.2 million of a $4.4 million class and collective wage deal ending a group of Evergreen state hospital workers' claims that their employers deducted pay for meal breaks they never took.  

  • August 26, 2024

    Rival Can't Avoid Drugmaker's False Ad Claim Over Pain Med

    A Texas federal magistrate on Monday advised against dismissing Pacira Biosciences Inc.'s suit against a rival, finding that Pacira had alleged enough facts to show QuVa Pharma Inc.'s advertising is deceptive in a suit over the former company's compounded drug for pain.

  • August 26, 2024

    FTC Mulls Proposal To Alter Puerto Rican Pharmacy Deal

    The Federal Trade Commission is considering a plan to allow Puerto Rico's largest independent pharmacy cooperative to resume collective negotiations with payors, reexamining a 2012 settlement agreement that the cooperative says is now unnecessary because of changes in the commonwealth's law and pharmacy market.

  • August 26, 2024

    NY Nursing Homes Can't Duck AG's $83M Fraud Suit

    A New York judge shot down a bid by four nursing homes and their operators to dismiss the state attorney general's claims that they defrauded Medicare and Medicaid and neglected residents.

  • August 23, 2024

    NY Can't Sue Groups Over Abortion 'Reversal' Ads, For Now

    A New York federal judge temporarily blocked the state's attorney general from taking enforcement action against certain pregnancy counseling centers for promoting a method of "reversing" medication abortions that medical associations say is not backed by science, saying the groups' conduct is likely protected by the First Amendment.

  • August 23, 2024

    Ohio Constitution Dooms 24-Hour Abortion Waiting Period

    An Ohio state judge on Friday preliminarily blocked multiple Ohio civil and criminal abortion-related statutes requiring informed consent and a 24-hour waiting period, among other restrictions, finding that the statutes likely run afoul of the recently passed voter-backed state constitutional amendment enshrining the right to abortion.

  • August 23, 2024

    Matthew Perry Death Suit Could Blow Past Calif. Damage Cap

    The federal indictment recently unsealed accusing two doctors and others of peddling the ketamine that caused Matthew Perry's death will serve as prime fodder for any wrongful death suit by the actor's estate, experts say, and California's medical malpractice damages cap may not even be a factor.

  • August 23, 2024

    NY Lawmakers Hit With ADA Suit Over Contentious Mask Ban

    A Long Island, New York, county that recently made it illegal for certain individuals to wear face masks in public has been hit with a lawsuit by a legal advocacy group alleging the ban discriminates against people with disabilities.

  • August 23, 2024

    NC Not Shielded From Racetrack's COVID Shutdown Suit

    The North Carolina Supreme Court on Friday ruled a racetrack owner's lawsuit accusing state officials of violating his constitutional rights with a COVID shutdown order can survive dismissal, reasoning the claims were sufficient to overcome the government's protections from being sued.

  • August 23, 2024

    Hospital Deducted Bogus Meal Breaks From Wages, Suit Says

    A healthcare system automatically deducted 30 minutes per day from workers' wages for meal breaks despite the workers not getting the chance to take uninterrupted meal periods, a proposed collective action filed in Michigan federal court said.

  • August 22, 2024

    Mich. Panel Upholds Block Of 24-Hour Abortion Waiting Period

    Michigan appellate judges have refused to lift a preliminary injunction blocking the enforcement of a 24-hour waiting period and other abortion regulations, leaving in place a lower court decision that found the laws likely violate the state constitution.

  • August 22, 2024

    Texas Tells High Court It's Not Idaho '2.0' In HHS Abortion Row

    Texas and a pair of anti-abortion doctor organizations have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject the federal government's appeal of a Fifth Circuit decision blocking the Biden administration's guidance that hospitals must provide emergency stabilizing medical care, including abortions. 

  • August 21, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Won't Rethink IP Safe Harbor Case

    The Federal Circuit on Wednesday declined to review its decision affirming the dismissal of Edwards Lifesciences' infringement suit against Meril Life Sciences after Edwards urged the full court to narrow its interpretation of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration safe harbor that essentially allows patent infringement during drug development.

  • August 21, 2024

    Tobacco Cos. Ask Justices To Review FDA's New Warnings

    R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Fifth Circuit decision affirming an FDA rule mandating new health warnings on cigarette packaging and advertisements, arguing that the court created an unjustified circuit split when it found the graphic warnings are "purely factual and uncontroversial."

  • August 21, 2024

    Conn. Justices Back Insurer's Out-Of-Network Patient Bills

    The Connecticut Supreme Court on Wednesday limited an emergency physician group's attempt to require a medical insurer to shoulder patient costs under the state's surprise medical billing law, holding that insurers can charge patients for shared costs, such as deductibles and copayments, at lower levels without violating consumer protection laws.

  • August 21, 2024

    Mich. High Court Asked To Redo Wrongful Death Ruling

    The family of a deceased teen asked the Michigan Supreme Court on Tuesday for another chance to show that future earnings awards should be allowed in wrongful death cases, arguing the court's recent ruling restricting those awards ignored important state law.

  • August 21, 2024

    Union Health Plan Trustees Can't Avoid Fee Claim, Judge Says

    Trustees of a UNITE HERE health plan can't topple a group of Southern California workers' claims that they are facing higher administrative expenses compared to another group of workers in Las Vegas, an Illinois federal court ruled Wednesday.

  • August 21, 2024

    Health Co. Investors Fight To Keep Suit Over Migrant Deal

    Investors in mobile medical provider DocGo are urging a New York federal judge not to toss a suit alleging it deceived stockholders before a $432 million contract with New York City to provide emergency migrant housing came under public scrutiny, saying the complaint sufficiently establishes that the defendants made material misstatements and omissions.

  • August 20, 2024

    Ala. AG Can't Prosecute Aiding Abortion Travel, DOJ Says

    The Alabama attorney general's threats of criminal prosecution against individuals and corporations who assist others in traveling to obtain lawful abortions out of state violates the constitutional right to travel, the U.S. Department of Justice told an Alabama federal judge in a court filing Monday. 

  • August 20, 2024

    Amgen's Drug Price Suit An Issue For Legislature, Judge Told

    A Colorado nonprofit that advocates for the poor told a federal judge Tuesday that Amgen's lawsuit over the state's drug price cap system is little more than a disagreement with lawmakers' policy choices disguised as a constitutional issue.

  • August 20, 2024

    9th Circ. Trans Health Appeal Hints At Supreme Court Fight

    The Ninth Circuit will hear arguments Wednesday in an appeal from the state of Idaho seeking to preserve its ban on gender dysphoria treatment for minors, in a case that involves questions about trans health access that the U.S. Supreme Court is set to consider this fall, attorneys say.

Expert Analysis

  • Preparing Law Students For A New, AI-Assisted Legal World

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    As artificial intelligence rapidly transforms the legal landscape, law schools must integrate technology and curricula that address AI’s innate challenges — from ethics to data security — to help students stay ahead of the curve, say Daniel Garrie at Law & Forensics, Ryan Abbott at JAMS and Karen Silverman at Cantellus Group.

  • ESG Around The World: South Korea

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    Numerous ESG trends have materialized in South Korea in the past three years, with impacts ranging from greenwashing prevention and carbon neutrality measures to workplace harassment and board diversity initiatives, say Chang Wook Min and Hyun Chan Jung at Jipyong.

  • General Counsel Need Data Literacy To Keep Up With AI

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    With the rise of accessible and powerful generative artificial intelligence solutions, it is imperative for general counsel to understand the use and application of data for myriad important activities, from evaluating the e-discovery process to monitoring compliance analytics and more, says Colin Levy at Malbek.

  • A Look At Healthcare Timelines Set By Biden's AI Order

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    President Joe Biden's artificial intelligence executive order establishes standards for using AI in the healthcare industry, including a number of staggered deadlines that should help coordinate a more unified federal approach to AI governance, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • A Look At Successful Bid Protests In FY 2023

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    Attorneys at Sheppard Mullin look beyond the statistics in the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s recent annual report on bid protests, sharing their insights about nine categories of sustained protests, gained from reading every fiscal year 2023 decision in which the protester had a positive result.

  • Navigating Discovery Of Generative AI Information

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    As generative artificial intelligence tools become increasingly ubiquitous, companies must make sure to preserve generative AI data when there is reasonable expectation of litigation, and to include transcripts in litigation hold notices, as they may be relevant to discovery requests, say Nick Peterson and Corey Hauser at Wiley.

  • FDA's Lab-Developed Test Rule May Bring Historic Challenges

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    If finalized, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's proposed rule for regulating laboratory-developed tests will provoke some of the most interesting legal challenges that the agency has faced in decades, with outcomes that will likely reverberate across the agency's product centers, says Stacy Amin at MoFo.

  • Finding Focus: Strategies For Attorneys With ADHD

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    Given the prevalence of ADHD among attorneys, it is imperative that the legal community gain a better understanding of how ADHD affects well-being, and that resources and strategies exist for attorneys with this disability to manage their symptoms and achieve success, say Casey Dixon at Dixon Life Coaching and Krista Larson at Stinson.

  • AI Use May Trigger False Claims Act's Public Disclosure Bar

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    The likely use of publicly available artificial intelligence tools to detect government fraud by combing through large data sets will raise complex questions about a False Claims Act provision that prohibits the filing of claims based on previously disclosed information, say Nick Peterson and Spencer Brooks at Wiley Rein.

  • Beware Privacy Risks In Training AI Models With Health Data

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    Because data used to train artificial intelligence models may be protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or other regulations, users of these models should conduct proper diligence to avoid costly compliance failures, say Neha Matta and Barbara Bennett at Frost Brown.

  • Unpacking GAO's FY 2023 Bid Protest Report

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    The U.S. Government Accountability Office's recent bid protest report reflects an increase in sustained protests, illustrating that disappointed offerors may see little reason to refrain from seeking corrective action — but there is more to the story, say Aron Beezley and Patrick Quigley at Bradley Arant.

  • White House AI Order Balances Innovation And Regulation

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    President Joe Biden’s recently issued executive order on artificial intelligence lays out a sprawling list of directives aimed at establishing standards for safety, security and privacy protection, and may help strike the balance between the freedom to innovate and the need to impose regulation in this rapidly evolving space, say Kristen Logan and Martin Zoltick at Rothwell Figg.

  • Reading Between The Lines Of HHS' National Lab Opinion

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    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General recently rejected a national laboratory's request to pay a referring lab to process specimens, but the request might have been an attempt to exploit the OIG's advisory opinion process for a competitive advantage, says Mary Kohler at Kohler Health Law.