Policy & Compliance
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June 18, 2025
DC Judge Throws Out Suits Over J&J Drug Discount Audits
A D.C. federal judge nixed five lawsuits brought by hospitals that accused federal healthcare regulators of illegally authorizing Johnson & Johnson to audit their business records for compliance with the 340B drug discount program.
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June 18, 2025
5th Circ. Affirms Nix Of Ex-Hospital Workers' COVID Vax Suit
The Fifth Circuit backed a Houston hospital's defeat of a lawsuit alleging that hundreds of employees were unlawfully fired when they refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine, saying the workers couldn't demonstrate that their right to reject the shot had been violated.
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June 18, 2025
Supreme Court Upholds Tennessee Transgender Care Ban
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a Tennessee ban on gender-affirming medical care for minors, finding that the state law does not violate the equal protection clause.
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June 17, 2025
Chinese Co. Draws Fla. AG Probe Over Health Device Security
Florida's attorney general is taking a closer look at a Chinese manufacturer of health monitoring devices that he claims has been concealing "serious security problems" that have enabled unauthorized parties to manipulate and gain access to patient data.Â
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June 17, 2025
Novo Nordisk Settles TM Suit Against Clinic Over Compounds
Novo Nordisk, the company behind drugs Ozempic, Rybelsus and Wegovy, struck a deal with an Ohio clinic to end its federal trademark infringement case, one of a slew of suits the pharmaceutical giant has filed against health facilities offering custom-made compounded drugs purporting to yield similar results to its blockbuster products used for weight loss.
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June 17, 2025
5 Court Battles Hinging On High Court's Trans Care Ruling
An imminent U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding Tennessee's ban on gender transition care for minors is poised to have a sweeping impact as courts across the country weigh similar state and federal restrictions.
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June 17, 2025
NJ Court Says Unqualified Expert Dooms Med Mal Suit
A New Jersey appellate panel on Tuesday tossed a medical malpractice suit alleging a physician failed to properly treat a man's internal bleeding that proved to be fatal, ruling that the plaintiff's expert affidavit was insufficient because the expert did not specialize in the same area as the defendant doctor.
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June 17, 2025
Ga. Panel Considers New Statute In $46M Med Mal Case
Atlanta Women's Specialists LLC and one of its physicians urged the Georgia Court of Appeals to reconsider a $13.7 million attorney fee award in a $45.8 million case in which they were found liable for medical malpractice resulting in a woman suffering severe brain damage days after childbirth.
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June 17, 2025
Health Insurance Co. Owes Workers OT Wages, Suit Claims
Humana Inc. and Humana Government Business Inc. were hit with a proposed class action in Georgia federal court on Tuesday over allegations they failed to pay registered nurse case managers proper overtime wages.
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June 17, 2025
HHS Says Trump Orders Merit Ending Trans Health Rule Case
The federal government urged a Mississippi federal court to end a lawsuit challenging a Biden-era rule that protected gender-affirming care under the Affordable Care Act, arguing the Republican attorneys general leading the case can't show imminent harm given the Trump administration's position on the definition of "sex."
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June 17, 2025
FDA Unveils Voucher Program For Fast-Paced Drug Reviews
Pharmaceutical companies that boost domestic drug manufacturing or address other national priorities will have a chance to secure speedier review and approval of new drugs under a pilot program the U.S. Food and Drug Administration unveiled Tuesday.
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June 17, 2025
9th Circ. Backs Class Cert. In Suit Over Diabetes Drug Risk
The Ninth Circuit refused to disband a class of third-party payors who claim Takeda Pharmaceutical and Eli Lilly & Co. hid their anti-diabetes drug's bladder cancer risks, finding no issue with a lower court's analysis of expert evidence showing prescriptions fell after the risks were disclosed.
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June 17, 2025
Healthcare Worker's Wage Collective 'Amorphous,' HCA Says
A respiratory therapist's proposed collective is far too expansive and "amorphous" and is based on scant evidence that HCA Healthcare Inc. illegally manipulated workers' time sheets, the company told a North Carolina federal court, urging it to deny certification.Â
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June 17, 2025
Trump's Abortion Guidance U-Turn Sparks Legal Risks
Now that the Trump administration has pulled guidance telling doctors they must perform abortions in emergency situations, healthcare attorneys are warning their clients to diligently document their decisions, especially when they find themselves caught in the middle of conflicting federal and state law.
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June 17, 2025
'A Warning Shot?' Experts Eye Surge In Drug Ad Enforcement
Despite its recent staff cuts and leadership changes, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has launched a burst of enforcement activity targeting prescription drug promotion, singling out a "sex pill" post on Instagram and an exhibit panel touting a diuretic.
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June 17, 2025
Medical AI Co. Calls Rival's Suit A Ploy To Kill Competition
A Canadian artificial intelligence company focusing on medical information has asked a Massachusetts federal judge to toss out a recent trade secrets lawsuit, saying the complaint is an attempt to thwart competition based solely on speculation.
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June 16, 2025
Life Spine Accuses Ex-CEO Of Stealing Money, Trade Secrets
Spinal device maker Life Spine slapped its founder with a civil suit in Illinois state court Friday accusing him of embezzling millions of dollars from the company through fraudulent credit card charges for motorsports, a lavish Mexico vacation for his family, customized golf clubs, jewelry and a Porsche for his wife.Â
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June 16, 2025
Ohio Tells 6th Circ. PBM Case Doesn't Target Federal Work
Ohio urged the Sixth Circuit to send its case accusing Express Scripts and Prime Therapeutics of driving up prescription drug prices through rebate schemes back to state court, arguing the case doesn't target any federal government work by the pharmacy benefit managers.
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June 16, 2025
HIV, AIDS Patients Denied Class Cert. In CVS Bias Fight
A California federal judge has refused to certify a proposed class of HIV and AIDS patients alleging CVS Pharmacy Inc. violated federal disability bias protections by making their medication harder to access, finding the proposed group failed to meet the commonality standards under federal law.Â
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June 16, 2025
Mass. Judge Blocks NIH Grant Cuts, Points To 'Discrimination'
A Massachusetts federal judge on Monday blocked the National Institutes of Health from cutting hundreds of grant programs to universities, hospitals and other organizations, saying that in his 40 years on the bench he had never seen such "palpable" racial and LGBTQ discrimination from the government.
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June 16, 2025
Justices Turn Away Merck's Bone Drug Warning Label Row
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.'s request to review a Third Circuit decision that more than 1,000 failure-to-warn claims over its osteoporosis drug Fosamax can continue despite the company's assertion that the litigation is barred by federal law.
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June 16, 2025
Justices Take Up NJ Anti-Abortion Group's Subpoena Fight
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to review the Third Circuit's dismissal of an anti-abortion pregnancy center's federal lawsuit challenging a subpoena from the New Jersey attorney general demanding information about its donors.
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June 13, 2025
Injunction Sought After J&J Unit's Catheter Antitrust Loss
Innovative Health is seeking a permanent injunction that would ban Johnson & Johnson health tech unit Biosense Webster from conditioning the provision of cardiac mapping services on purchases of cardiac catheters, after Innovative Health netted a $442 million trial win on its antitrust claims.
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June 13, 2025
5th Circ. Says No Private Right Of Action In No Surprises Act
The Fifth Circuit has ruled a pair of flight ambulance providers cannot pursue their lawsuit seeking to enforce out-of-network billing dispute resolution awards against a health insurance company, saying there's no private right of action built into a 2022 law that protects patients from surprise medical bills.
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June 13, 2025
Pa. Home Care Agency Owner Gets Prison, $235K Restitution
The New York-based owner of a Berks County, Pennsylvania, home care agency has been sentenced to spend a month in jail and repay $235,778 in fraudulently billed Medicaid claims, the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office announced Friday.
Expert Analysis
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Deregulation Memo Presents Risks, Opportunities For Cos.
A recent Trump administration memo providing direction to agencies tasked with rescinding regulations under an earlier executive order — without undergoing the typical notice-and-review process — will likely create much uncertainty for businesses, though they may be able to engage with agencies to shape the regulatory agenda, say attorneys at Blank Rome.
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The IRS Shouldn't Go To War Over Harvard's Tax Exemption
If the Internal Revenue Service revokes Harvard's tax-exempt status for violating established public policy — a position unsupported by currently available information — the precedent set by surviving the inevitable court challenge could undercut the autonomy and distinctiveness of the charitable sector, says Johnny Rex Buckles at Houston Law Center.
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New Hospice Regulations Should Enforce Core Principles
As the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General prepares to research and expand on oversight of Medicare hospice care, the OIG should keep in mind certain core principles, such as an emphasis on preventing the entry of hospices that raise red flags, says Bill Dombi at Arnall Golden.
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7 Considerations For Conducting Drug Clinical Trials Abroad
With continuing cuts to U.S. Food and Drug Administration staffing motivating some pharmaceutical companies to consider developing drugs abroad, it's important to understand the additional risks and compliance requirements associated with conducting clinical studies in other countries, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Compliance Lessons From Warby Parker's HIPAA Fine
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' civil money penalty against Warby Parker highlights the emerging challenges that consumer-facing brands encounter when expanding into healthcare-adjacent sectors, with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act compliance being a potential focus of regulatory attention, say attorneys at Saul Ewing.
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5th Circ. Ruling Is Latest Signal Of Shaky Qui Tam Landscape
In his recent concurring opinion in U.S. v. Peripheral Vascular Associates, a Fifth Circuit judge joined a growing list of jurists suggesting that the False Claims Act's whistleblower provisions are unconstitutional, underscoring that acceptance of qui tam relators can no longer be taken for granted, say attorneys at Miller & Chevalier.
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Medicare Advantage Enforcement Strong Amid Agency Cuts
The second Trump administration's actions thus far suggest that Medicare Advantage enforcement remains a bipartisan focus despite challenges presented by evolving trends in federal agency staffing and resources, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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A New Tool For Assessing Kickback Risks In Health Marketing
The Seventh Circuit's recent decision in U.S. v. Sorensen, reversing a conviction after trial of a durable medical equipment distributor, highlights two principle considerations for determining whether payments to marketers in healthcare are unlawful under the Anti-Kickback Statute, says Elisha Kobre at Sheppard Mullin.
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How Trump Orders Affect Health Orgs.' Care For Trans Minors
Two recent executive orders issued by President Donald Trump regarding gender-affirming care for minors have put healthcare organizations in a precarious situation, and these institutions should prepare for various implications and potential scenarios, say attorneys at ArentFox.
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Reproductive Health Under Trump So Far, And What's Next
Based on priorities stated so far, the Trump administration will likely continue to weaken Biden-era policies that protect reproductive health, with abortion, in vitro fertilization and contraception all being issues to watch closely amid a post-Dobbs shift, say attorneys at McDermott.
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What's Next For Lab Test Regulation Without FDA Authority
A recent Texas federal court decision vacating the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's final rule that would apply FDA regulations to laboratory-developed tests signals potential positive impacts in the diagnostic space, and could inspire more healthcare entities to litigate against the government, say attorneys at Hooper Lundy.
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6 Criteria Can Help Assess Executive Branch Actions
With new executive policy changes announced seemingly every day, several questions can help courts, policymakers and businesses determine whether such actions are proper, effective and in keeping with our democratic norms, say Marc Levin and Khalil Cumberbatch at the Council on Criminal Justice.
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Learning From COVID-19 Enforcement Against Nursing Homes
Five years after the COVID-19 outbreak caused a high number of deaths in nursing homes, an examination of enforcement actions against nursing homes in New York and elsewhere in the country highlights obstacles that may arise when bringing cases of this type, and ways to overcome them, says Kenneth Levine at Stone & Magnanini.