Digital Health & Technology
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January 12, 2024
Healthcare Co. HealthEC Hit With Data Breach Suit
Healthcare software company HealthEC has been hit with a lawsuit alleging that a July 2023 data breach affected nearly 4.5 million patients and that the company failed to comply with Federal Trade Commission guidelines and industry standards.
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January 12, 2024
Lab Says COVID-19 Test-Maker Owes $30M Over Faulty Kits
A California-based manufacturer of COVID-19 testing kits has been hit with a $30 million suit alleging it sent defective tests to an independent clinical lab, causing the lab to receive false positive results and subsequently get banned from testing sites.
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January 11, 2024
Quest Fertility Biz Reaches $1.25M Deal In Data Breach Case
A Quest Diagnostics fertility treatment unit has reached a $1.25 million settlement, according to a Wednesday filing in Massachusetts federal court, after a 2021 ransomware attack and accusations that a slow response by Quest left sensitive information unguarded.
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January 11, 2024
Electronic Waveform Says Travelers Owes It $1.3M
A Minnesota medical device manufacturer has told a federal court that insurer Travelers has been intentionally down-coding a pain management device popular among professional athletes in order to underpay the company, resulting in a loss of $1.3 million.
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January 11, 2024
FCC Issues Final Rule On Rural Telehealth Discount
The Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday issued an update to the Rural Health Care program, changing it to allow healthcare providers with conditional eligibility to request funding and compete for bidding.
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January 11, 2024
Conn. Healthcare Co. Eyes Deal For Data Breach Class
Merritt Healthcare Advisors is working to finalize a settlement with a proposed class of consumers who claim that the company's lax security allowed cybercriminals to access their personal information, according to a paperless order entered Thursday in the District of Connecticut.
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January 10, 2024
Rex Medical Asks Fed. Circ. To Decry Slashing Of $10M Award
Rex Medical LP is asserting to the Federal Circuit that a Delaware federal judge was wrong to slash a jury's $10 million patent damages verdict in Rex's favor to just $1 over a purported lack of evidence.
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January 10, 2024
FDA 'Can't Do This Alone,' Wants Help Vetting AI In Healthcare
The Food and Drug Administration will almost certainly need outside help regulating the safety of artificial intelligence deployed by hospitals and healthcare organizations, the agency's commissioner said Wednesday, citing the complexity of the technology and need to track health outcomes over long periods of time.
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January 09, 2024
FDA Digital Tech Rule Faces Health Privacy, Inequity Test
A new federal road map for collecting "remote" health data in clinical investigations could help speed such technologies to the marketplace, experts told Law360, while creating new risks to patient privacy and the effort to address inequities in healthcare.
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January 09, 2024
FTC Halts Data Broker's Location Data Sharing In Novel Deal
The Federal Trade Commission has stepped up its efforts to curtail the unauthorized disclosure of consumers' sensitive location information, announcing a groundbreaking settlement Tuesday with a data broker that the agency claims unlawfully sold precise location data that could be used to track people to reproductive health clinics, religious worship centers and other sensitive places.
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January 09, 2024
Mich. Resident Sues Software Co., Provider Over Data Breach
A Michigan resident is asking a federal court to impose damages on software company Welltok LLC and Michigan provider Corewell Health East after the health information of a million patients in its database became the target of a ransomware attack.
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January 08, 2024
Orrick Client Delta Dental Of Calif. Hit With Data Breach Suit
Weeks after Delta Dental of California's law firm Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP was hit with a proposed class action over a data leak that allegedly included Delta files, the insurer was hit with a suit in Massachusetts federal court on Monday over another leak connected to the massive MOVEit data breach.
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January 08, 2024
Wash. Pediatric Hospital Asks Judge To Toss Data Privacy Suit
Seattle Children's Hospital has urged a state judge to dismiss a proposed class action alleging the hospital violated Washington privacy and consumer laws, contending the plaintiffs' own actions were to blame if any personal information was shared with Meta, the parent company of Facebook.
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January 08, 2024
Eli Lilly, Novartis Could Pump Close To $3B Into AI Drug Tech
Eli Lilly & Co. and Novartis could invest close to $3 billion in the development of artificial intelligence for drug discovery under two new agreements with a digital biology company owned by Google's parent company.
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January 05, 2024
Hospitals Want Fast End To 'Flawed' Online Tracking Rules
The American Hospital Association and others on Friday urged a Texas federal court to scrap federal guidance effectively barring certain healthcare entities from using online tracking technology as the data captured from visitors to their websites falls "far outside" the information protected by federal health privacy law.
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January 05, 2024
Eli Lilly Goes Straight To Consumers With Telehealth Platform
A new website launched by Eli Lilly & Co. will connect patients with doctors who treat obesity and offer direct home delivery of the company's obesity drug Zepbound, which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved in November.
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January 05, 2024
Split 9th Circ. Revives Antitrust Suit Against Catheter Maker
A split Ninth Circuit panel sided with Innovative Health LLC on Friday and revived its antitrust suit against Biosense Webster Inc. in a dispute over the market for catheters, saying Innovative provided sufficient evidence to defeat summary judgment in its claim that Biosense tied the sale of catheters to clinical support services.
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January 05, 2024
Barley Snyder Promotes Health, Estate Attys To Partnership
Barley Snyder has announced the addition of an experienced healthcare lawyer and an expert estate planner as its first new partners of the year.
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January 05, 2024
Ga. Board Restores Telehealth Rx For Controlled Substances
A Georgia medical oversight group has relented and restored doctors' ability to prescribe controlled substances, including painkillers and attention-deficit medications, via virtual visits.
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January 05, 2024
IQVIA Drops Healthcare Ad Deal After Court Pause
Healthcare data company IQVIA has abandoned its planned purchase of Propel Media after the Federal Trade Commission convinced a court to pause the deal over concerns about the cost of advertising that targets doctors and other healthcare professionals.
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January 04, 2024
Birth Control Clips Hurt Women When They Move, Suit Says
The Filshie Clips birth control device may move around after implantation, a hazard the clips' manufacturers did not warn the public or healthcare professionals about, according to a Connecticut federal lawsuit from a woman who says she was injured by them.
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January 04, 2024
Merck And Insurers Settle $1.4B Cyberattack Coverage Case
Merck has reached a settlement with its insurers over whether the pharmaceutical giant's "all-risk" property insurance covered $1.4 billion in losses stemming from the 2017 NotPetya attack or if its "hostile/warlike" exclusion applies.
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January 03, 2024
AHA Says Data-Blocking Penalty Threatens Rural Hospitals
A proposed federal rule that establishes monetary penalties for information blocking may threaten the financial viability of small and rural hospitals, according to the American Hospital Association.
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January 03, 2024
ACTS Retirement Data Breach Suit Settlement Gets Initial OK
A Pennsylvania federal judge gave preliminary approval Tuesday to a deal inked by ACTS Retirement Services Inc. to settle claims it failed to protect the personal information of nearly 21,000 people exposed in an April 2022 data breach.
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January 03, 2024
BioXcel Execs Face Investor Suit Over Alzheimer's Drug Probe
Top brass at artificial intelligence-driven biopharmaceutical company BioXcel Therapeutics Inc. have been hit with a shareholder derivative suit alleging they took too long to disclose a U.S. Food and Drug Administration probe of its development of an Alzheimer's treatment and its lead clinical trial investigator's compliance issues.
Expert Analysis
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How EU's New Pharma Incentives May Affect US Cos.
Geneviève Michaux and Georgios Symeonidis at King & Spalding examine Europe's recent revisions to its General Pharmaceutical Legislation and the Orphan and Paediatric Legislation, and consider the European Commission's related policy proposals, with an emphasis on pharmaceutical incentives and impacts for U.S. pharmaceutical developers and manufacturers that market products in Europe.
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HHS Bulletin Raises HIPAA Risks For Online Tracking Vendors
A new bulletin from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services clarifies how the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act applies to information collected by tracking technology on websites and mobile apps, creating new compliance considerations for online tracking vendors that may be unfamiliar with HIPAA, says Mason Fitch at Hintze Law.
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Compliance Considerations For Virtual Ketamine Clinics
In the wake of investigations into several online prescribers of controlled substances, it is more important than ever that virtual clinics providing off-label ketamine treatment for mental and behavioral health issues consider five key aspects to staying compliant with medical practice and controlled substance regulations, say attorneys at Goodwin.
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State Regulation Compliance Tips For Telehealth Employers
Nondisclosure, onboarding and reimbursement challenges are behind many remote work-related telehealth employment lawsuits, but with advance planning and knowledge of the state's requirements where practitioners are located, telehealth employers can avoid costly mistakes from the inception through the end of employment, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.
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9 Legal Ethics Considerations In Natural Disaster Preparation
Since natural disasters like Hurricane Ian do not relieve lawyers of their ethical obligations to clients, law firms should focus their preparedness efforts on specific areas crucial to continuity of representation and ethics compliance, like business and communications contingency planning, record redundancy and more, says Mark Hinderks at Stinson.
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NY Data Breach Penalty Expands Regulatory Requirements
The New York Department of Financial Services’ recent consent order with EyeMed is an aggressive reading of state regulation that arguably expands current requirements, which could increase the complexity of the risk assessment process and may serve as a precedent for other privacy and data security regulators, says Rick Borden at Frankfurt Kurnit.
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Cybersecurity Expectations Intensify For Medical Device Cos.
A recent FBI industry notification and U.S. Food and Drug Administration draft guidance highlight urgent compliance considerations for medical device manufacturers, and contrasts with how federal regulators have previously treated health care players as victims in cybersecurity incidents, say attorneys at Morrison Foerster.
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Risk Mitigation In Face Of Rising Legal Malpractice Claims
As the recent rise in frequency and cost of legal malpractice claims is expected to continue amid global high inflation and economic uncertainty, law firms and insurers would be wise to evaluate key risk areas and consider six steps to minimize exposure, say Nicole Shapiro and Cory Stumpf at Atheria Law.
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Unpacking FDA's Final Clinical Decision Support Guidance
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's latest guidance on clinical decision support software introduces new concepts, questions and ambiguities, and may be challenging to implement in practice, say attorneys at Covington.
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How Cos. Can Adapt To Global AI Regulation Trends
Companies can prepare for the future of artificial intelligence regulation by monitoring proposed and existing regulations both in the U.S. and abroad, tailoring their internal compliance architecture for AI-specific risks, and looking for opportunities to lead on governance issues, says Nicholas Diamond at Jackson Walker.
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4 Strategies For Drafting Effective Consumer Breach Notices
Businesses should consider key strategies when drafting consumer breach notification letters, such as knowing their audience and what is on their mind, and prioritizing user-friendliness and tone, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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How Contractors Can Avoid Cybersecurity FCA Violations
Recent U.S. Department of Justice settlements and remarks underscore heightened focus on cybersecurity liability under the False Claims Act, so government contractors should consider compliance measures such as conducting periodic risk assessments, being responsive to employee concerns, and more, say attorneys at WilmerHale.
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EU Regulation Highlights AI Issues For Digital Health Cos.
As the regulation of artificial intelligence is high on the agenda for EU and U.K. policymakers and regulators, and likely imminent in the U.S., now is the time for providers in the digital health space to consider how compliance may need to change, and safeguard their position in the market, say Chris Eastham and Olivia Morgan at Fieldfisher.