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May 14, 2013
Mintz Levin Adds CPSC Chief Of Staff To Product Safety Group
Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky & Popeo PC said Monday that Matthew Howsare, chief of staff and chief counsel to the chairwoman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, will join the firm’s consumer product safety practice in its Washington office later this month.
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May 13, 2013
Calls For Contractor Debarment Carry Political Appeal
Barring unscrupulous companies from getting government contracts has become a politically popular topic on Capitol Hill and in state legislatures, but some contracting experts worry that lawmakers are pushing unhelpful proposals in an effort to appear tougher on wasteful spending.
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May 13, 2013
US-EU Free Trade Talks Shouldn't Touch Privacy, EPIC Says
The Electronic Privacy Information Center on Friday urged the U.S. government to steer clear of privacy issues in upcoming talks on a comprehensive trade and investment deal with the European Union, saying that the topic is too complex and would derail negotiations.
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May 13, 2013
UK Deferred Prosecution Law May Avoid FCPA Pitfalls
By adopting deferred prosecution agreements but subjecting the deals to heavy court oversight, the U.K. may sidestep some of the criticism that has plagued U.S. prosecutors during a recent Foreign Corrupt Practice Act offensive, attorneys say.
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May 13, 2013
Texas Lawmakers Push Health-Data Modernization Bills
Texas lawmakers on Thursday gave final approval to legislation designed to modernize medical data management and are pushing another pair of measures that aim to make the insurance preapproval process for prescription drugs and other health care benefits easier on patients.
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May 13, 2013
CMS Floats Framework To Cut Medicaid DSH Payments
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Monday described how it plans to cut allotments for state Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payments under the Affordable Care Act, saying the cuts would go into effect Oct. 1 unless Congress acts to delay them for a year.
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May 13, 2013
Obama, Cameron Push Comprehensive US-EU Trade Deal
President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron vowed to move ahead with completing a comprehensive trade agreement between the U.S. and the European Union to bolster economic growth as the heads of state met Monday to discuss international trade and global security.
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May 13, 2013
Hospitals Queasy Over Medicare's Inpatient Billing Fix
Hospitals are likely to revolt against Medicare's new plan to make the length of a patient's stay the key factor in determining whether an inpatient admission is eligible for reimbursement, according to attorneys who say the plan undervalues the importance of a doctor's judgment.
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May 13, 2013
Fed Wants 1st Bank-Run Stress Test Results By July
The Federal Reserve on Monday gave the 18 largest U.S. bank holding companies until July to hand over the results of their midyear, bank-administered stress tests in order to remain in compliance with the Dodd-Frank Act.
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May 13, 2013
Judge Abused Authority With Plan B Order, 2nd Circ. Hears
A New York federal judge "plainly overstepped his authority" when he ordered the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to bypass its mandatory rulemaking procedures and make the contraceptive Plan B available over the counter without restrictions, the federal government told the Second Circuit on Monday.
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May 13, 2013
AGs Urge FDA To Warn Of Newborn Opioid Withdrawal
Forty-three attorneys general on Monday told the head of the Food and Drug Administration that the FDA should require black-box warnings on opioid painkillers alerting pregnant mothers to the risk that their babies could suffer withdrawal from the painkillers after birth.
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May 13, 2013
Vermont Moves Closer To Enacting GMO Labeling Bill
The Vermont House of Representatives on Friday voted in favor of legislation that would require the labeling of genetically engineered food, the first of the labeling bills under consideration nationwide to be approved by a state legislative body.
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May 13, 2013
UK, US Officials Split On Libor Transition
The U.K. official charged with overhauling Libor reportedly said the existing process for setting the benchmark rate must be preserved even as the global financial system moves to a transaction-based system, putting him at odds with his U.S. counterpart.
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May 13, 2013
NJ Appeals Court Kills FirstEnergy Substation Challenge
A New Jersey appellate court on Monday squashed a citizens' group's protest against a FirstEnergy Corp. substation that was built in the state's environmentally sensitive Highlands region, saying state regulators had acceptable reasons for exempting the station from state environmental law.
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May 13, 2013
App Privacy Bill Gives Gov't Too Much Power, Group Says
The Marketing Research Association on Friday criticized a new bill designed to boost privacy on mobile devices by requiring app developers to get consent from consumers before collecting data, saying it would give the government too much power.
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May 13, 2013
Pataki, Cuomo Tell NY To Leave Ex-AIG Chief Alone
Former New York Govs. Mario Cuomo and George Pataki went to bat for ex-American International Group Inc. CEO Maurice Greenberg on Monday, urging the state’s attorney general to back down from efforts to bar Greenberg from trading securities or heading a company.
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May 13, 2013
HHS OKs Unique Bifurcated ACA Exchange For Utah
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has agreed to Utah’s proposed model for its Affordable Care Act-mandated health insurance exchange, allowing the state to run the small business portion while leaving individual insurance under HHS oversight, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert announced Friday.
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May 13, 2013
EEOC Lays Out Principles For Judging Investigation Quality
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of Friday released draft principles to update the way it evaluates the quality of its investigations and conciliations, another step in its drive to implement a plan to make itself more efficient.
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May 13, 2013
Marcellus Shale Group Snags Buchanan Ingersoll Lobbyist
The Pennsylvania-based Marcellus Shale Coalition announced Monday that it had added a former government relations professional from Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC to lead its lobbying efforts.
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May 13, 2013
NY To Chip In $48M For Buyouts Of Storm-Ravaged Homes
New York state will kick in more than $48 million in grants to help fund federally managed buyouts for homeowners looking to relocate after suffering severe flood damage during Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday.
Expert Analysis
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Export Controls Reform Has Arrived
The federal government recently published the first in a line of forthcoming rules and regulations implementing the Obama administration’s multiyear Export Control Reform Initiative. Critics of export reform have noted that the changes are just as likely to complicate matters rather than simplify them, especially with the addition of the little-understood 600 series, say attorneys with Nixon Peabody LLP.
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Proposed Texas Dental Bill Indicates Greater Regulation
The dental practice management model has become an increasingly popular investment opportunity with management companies and private equity firms. While the DPM model grows in popularity, so does regulation and scrutiny around the industry, which is evidenced by recent investigations and the introduction of SB 151 in Texas, say attorneys with McGuireWoods LLP.
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The Race For Riches In US-EU Trade Begins
The United States and the EU hope to start negotiations on a trade treaty focusing on nontariff barriers in June and have a deal done by the end of 2014. While the strategy is ambitious, the prize at the finish line may be enough to drive the countries through the course in time, says Reid Whitten of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP.
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FTC Shakeup Means No New Initiatives Soon
As a result of recent changes, the five-member Federal Trade Commission is left with two Democrats, two Republicans and one open seat, and seems likely in the near term to focus on actions where there is the bipartisan consensus necessary to obtain the three votes required to take action, say Steven Cernak and Suzanne Wahl of Schiff Hardin LLP.
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What Flavor Are Your PE Fund Marketing Activities?
David Blass, the chief counsel in the Division of Trading and Markets at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, recently described two “flavors” of activities that funds and their advisers should consider in evaluating potential broker-dealer status — “plain vanilla” and “dark chocolate with a subtle infusion of habañero,” say Amy Kroll and Michael Weissmann of Bingham McCutchen LLP.
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Energy Market End-Users Let Out A Sigh Of Relief
Just one day before the end-user compliance date for swap reporting and record keeping under the Dodd-Frank Act, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued a no-action letter. While the scope of the relief provided in the letter varies depending on the status of the reporting counterparty, the letter should be welcomed by most of the energy market's end-user community, say attorneys with Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP.
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Get Your Facts Fast — FOIA Requests May Be Expedited
Anyone who has submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration knows that it can be a long wait to get responsive documents and records from the FDA. A recent decision from the D.C. Circuit, however, may lead to significant changes in how the FDA and other federal agencies process FOIA requests, says Kurt Karst of Hyman Phelps & McNamara PC.
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NY Anti-Corruption Law Could Be A Game-Changer
Following the recent arrests of two New York state lawmakers on federal bribery charges, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed legislation creating a new class of public corruption crimes. The proposals have the potential to increase the power of the state government to prosecute those accused of public corruption and fraud, say attorneys with Nixon Peabody LLP.
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What You Should Know About Calif.'s Right To Know Act
California’s Right to Know Act of 2013 — the first legislation of its kind in the U.S. that applies the broader European type of transparency — permits an individual to obtain full disclosure upon request of personal information held by a company about the individual. The act may create significant compliance implications and litigation risks for businesses throughout the country, say Katherine Ritchey and Mauricio Paez of Jones Day.
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Foreign Pension Funds Could Back US Infrastructure
In order to incentivize foreign pension funds to invest in U.S. infrastructure projects — such as oil and gas fields, pipelines, real estate development and toll roads — the Obama administration has proposed putting foreign pension funds on equal footing with U.S. pension funds that are permitted to invest in certain real estate assets on a tax-exempt basis. The proposal, if enacted, would open up certain classes of investment assets effectively unavailable to foreign pension funds, say James Reardon and Elizabeth Behncke of Bracewell & Giuliani LLP.