Policy & Compliance
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February 25, 2025
'Colossal Neglect' Sinks Walter Reed Fraud Case, Judge Rules
A Maryland federal judge threw out criminal charges against the alleged mastermind of a more than $3 million healthcare fraud scheme targeting Walter Reed National Medical Center with a Tuesday ruling that ripped prosecutors for "colossal neglect" and "extraordinary, chronic and indefensible" delays in the case.
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February 25, 2025
Fired Worker Couldn't Justify COVID Vax Refusal, 3rd Circ. Says
A software engineer who refused to comply with his company's COVID-19 vaccine policy couldn't claim he had a "sincere religious objection" while shielding his medical records from disclosure and vacillating on his reasons, a Third Circuit panel ruled Tuesday.
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February 25, 2025
Pa. Health System Strikes Deal To Exit Workers' OT Suit
A Pennsylvania health system reached a deal Tuesday to resolve a proposed class action accusing it of stiffing unionized hospital workers on overtime wages, according to a report filed in federal court announcing a successful mediation.
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February 25, 2025
Trump's Efficiency Agenda On The Line In Health Job Cuts
The mass termination of probationary federal employees, including several hundred at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, may slow scientific research and harm companies' bottom lines. The Trump administration's efficiency priorities may also be threatened.
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February 25, 2025
VA Fires Another 1,400 Employees Amid Dems' Pushback
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced Tuesday it is dismissing another 1,400 probationary employees from "non-mission critical" positions amid criticism from Democrats over a round of cuts announced earlier this month.
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February 25, 2025
CDC Layoffs Provoke Legal Questions, Worker Anxiety
Workers and experts with insight into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have described the roughly 750 layoffs at the agency as chaotic and confusing, and question Trump's legal authority to unilaterally change the agency. They are also concerned it will impact the agency’s ability to investigate disease outbreaks.
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February 25, 2025
1st Circ. Decision Adds To Defense Momentum In FCA Clash
A First Circuit decision extended a winning streak for the False Claims Act defense bar. The decision's ultimate impact on fraud prosecutions will be shaped by how whistleblowers adjust their legal strategy.
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February 24, 2025
PBMs To Challenge FTC Case At 8th Circ., But Without Pause
A Missouri federal judge summarily refused, again, on Monday to temporarily block the Federal Trade Commission's in-house case accusing Caremark Rx, Express Scripts and OptumRx of artificially inflating insulin prices, letting the case proceed while the pharmacy benefits managers appeal to the Eighth Circuit.
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February 24, 2025
Feds Fight Reinstatement Of Ousted Inspectors General
The Trump administration fired back at a lawsuit brought by eight inspectors general who were fired last month, telling a D.C. federal judge that federal law does not require the president to hold off on the terminations for 30 days after notifying Congress.
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February 24, 2025
Elizabeth Holmes Loses 9th Circ. Appeal Over Theranos Fraud
A Ninth Circuit panel on Monday affirmed the criminal fraud convictions of former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes and former Theranos executive Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani along with their respective 11-year and nearly 13-year prison sentences, rejecting arguments that the lower court made multiple evidentiary errors that unfairly swayed jurors.
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February 24, 2025
Thomas Pans High Court For Skipping Abortion Buffer Zones
The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to consider a constitutional challenge to an Illinois city's now-repealed ordinance that created 100-foot speech buffer zones around healthcare facilities providing abortions, shooting down a case aimed at overturning a 20-year-old ruling that such zones don't violate the First Amendment.
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February 24, 2025
Justices Won't Review NJ Town Abortion Buffer Zone Law
A split U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it will not review the Third Circuit's decision to let Englewood, New Jersey, continue enforcing eight-foot "buffer zones" around abortion facilities that protesters are not permitted to enter, in a case brought by an activist who said the zones infringed her free speech.
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February 24, 2025
Supreme Court Won't Revisit Contentious Feres Doctrine
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a former Air National Guard reservist's suit seeking damages for a military hospital surgery that left him paralyzed, declining to revisit a doctrine barring injury claims considered "incident to" military service.
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February 21, 2025
Drugmakers Slam 'Untimely' Claims In Employers' Antitrust Suit
Pharmaceutical companies targeted by sweeping antitrust lawsuits from major employers, including Target, Lowe's and American Airlines, have asked a Pennsylvania federal judge to trim conspiracy claims from a lawsuit accusing them of orchestrating illegal agreements for price-fixing and customer allocation, arguing the allegation was unsupported and untimely.
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February 21, 2025
Watchdog Says DOL Struggles To Enforce Mental Health Law
Workers with mental health conditions and substance use disorders are at higher risk of not receiving treatment or having to pay out of pocket for care that should be covered because of the U.S. Department of Labor's limited ability to enforce federal mental health parity laws, an agency watchdog said Friday.
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February 21, 2025
Wash. Health System Says Nurse Must Arbitrate Wage Claims
A Washington-based healthcare system facing a proposed class and collective wage action in Seattle federal court contends the plaintiff nurse agreed to arbitrate any claims with the third-party staffing agencies he contracted with to work at its facilities.
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February 21, 2025
LGBTQ+ Health Orgs Aim To Halt Trump DEI, Gender Orders
Three executive orders by President Donald Trump barring federal contractors from pushing "gender ideology" and diversity-related programs violate the U.S. Constitution, a group of nonprofit LGBTQ+ organizations told a California federal court.
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February 21, 2025
NIH Research Cuts Stay On Hold As Judge Mulls Objections
A Boston federal judge on Friday extended her hold on a Trump administration proposal to slash reimbursements from the National Institutes of Health for research grant costs, a move colleges, hospitals and other institutions have said would wreak havoc on scientific research.
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February 20, 2025
COVID Fraud Drove Record FCA Caseload, Gov't Officials Say
Federal officials said that the record-setting number of whistleblower False Claims Act cases filed in 2024 was likely driven by COVID-19-related fraud, with the use of data mining having an outsized role in those cases.
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February 20, 2025
Boston, Other Cities And MassBio Back Challenge To NIH Cuts
The city of Boston and 44 other cities, counties and elected officials around the country and, separately, the life sciences industry group Massachusetts Biotechnology Council asked a Massachusetts federal judge on Thursday to extend a temporary restraining order blocking steep cuts to National Institutes of Health reimbursement for research projects.
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February 20, 2025
Feds Say DC Judge Can't Bar 'Hypothetical' Spending Freezes
A Justice Department attorney argued before a D.C. federal judge Thursday that there is no basis to continue blocking the Trump administration from implementing a blanket suspension on federal spending, saying the court cannot bar "hypothetical" future freezes.
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February 20, 2025
Dems Seek Answers, Reversals For 'Reckless' VA Cuts
Democrats in Congress asked Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins to justify how firing 1,000-plus VA employees could possibly benefit veterans, and they called on him to reverse the cuts, stating that they are causing negative impacts.
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February 20, 2025
AmerisourceBergen Strikes Settlement In 401(k) Fee Suit
AmerisourceBergen and a proposed class of workers who alleged their employee 401(k) plan was saddled with excessive recordkeeping and administrative costs have struck a settlement deal to resolve the dispute, according to a filing in Kentucky federal court.
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February 20, 2025
HHS Rescinds Guidance On Gender-Affirming Care For Minors
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday rescinded guidance for health plans and insurers on complying with the Affordable Care Act's nondiscrimination provisions with regard to gender-affirming care for minors, which President Donald Trump called on the agency to do in a January executive order.
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February 20, 2025
DOJ Official Flags 'Aggressive' FCA Approach Under Trump
A senior U.S. Department of Justice official said Thursday that the Trump administration's focus on government efficiency will include "aggressively" enforcing the False Claims Act, including a strong focus on FCA enforcement of foreign trade issues amid recently imposed tariffs.
Expert Analysis
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Law Firm Strategies For Successfully Navigating 2024 Trends
Though law firms face the dual challenge of external and internal pressures as they enter 2024, firms willing to pivot will be able to stand out by adapting to stakeholder needs and reimagining their infrastructure, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Consultants.
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AI In Health Law: The Top Guest Articles Of 2023
As the use of artificial intelligence accelerated this year, Expert Analysis writers examined AI's significant impact on the healthcare sector, ranging from key compliance considerations for companies utilizing AI tools to regulators' efforts to keep up with rapidly evolving technologies.
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The Most-Read Legal Industry Law360 Guest Articles Of 2023
A range of legal industry topics drew readers' attention in Law360's Expert Analysis section this year, from associate retention strategies to ethical billing practices.
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Inside Higher Education's New FCA Liability Challenges
As the educational sector expands its use of government funding, schools are at increased risk under the False Claims Act, but recent settlements offer valuable lessons about new theories of liability they may face and specific procedures to reduce their exposure, say James Zelenay and Jeremy Ochsenbein at Gibson Dunn.
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AI Executive Order's Life Science, Healthcare Industry Effects
The recent White House executive order to manage risks associated with artificial intelligence includes provisions specific to healthcare and life sciences that merit special attention, including transparency, human oversight of AI output, and real world performance monitoring, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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HHS Advisory Highlights Free Product Inducement Risks
A recent U.S. Department of Health and Human Services advisory opinion highlights concerns that valuable free products and other inducements may influence patients and providers to choose one manufacturer’s product over another, notwithstanding that such free healthcare products may be a benefit, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Attorneys' Busiest Times Can Be Business Opportunities
Attorneys who resolve to grow their revenue and client base in 2024 should be careful not to abandon their goals when they get too busy with client work, because these periods of zero bandwidth can actually be a catalyst for future growth, says Amy Drysdale at Alchemy Consulting.
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In The World Of Legal Ethics, 10 Trends To Note From 2023
Lucian Pera at Adams and Reese and Trisha Rich at Holland & Knight identify the top legal ethics trends from 2023 — including issues related to hot documents, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity — that lawyers should be aware of to put their best foot forward.
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How Attorneys Can Be More Efficient This Holiday Season
Attorneys should consider a few key tips to speed up their work during the holidays so they can join the festivities — from streamlining the document review process to creating similar folder structures, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
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Top 10 Whistleblowing And Retaliation Events Of 2023
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and federal and state courts made 2023 another groundbreaking year for whistleblower litigation and retaliation developments, including the SEC’s massive whistleblower awards, which are likely to continue into 2024 and further incentivize individuals to submit tips, say attorneys at Proskauer.
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Children's Book Writing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Becoming a children's book author has opened doors to incredible new experiences of which I barely dared to dream, but the process has also changed my life by serving as a reminder that strong writing, networking and public speaking skills are hugely beneficial to a legal career, says Shaunna Bailey at Sheppard Mullin.
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The State Of CFPB Focus On Credit Reporting Of Medical Debt
An increase in credit reporting complaints and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent annual report on the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act — which focuses on medical debt in credit reporting — are both evidence of the fact that the bureau will continue to prioritize oversight of credit reporting of medical debt, says Kristen Watson at Burr & Forman.
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FDA's Recent Litigation Records Are Strong, But Imperfect
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has notched its share of litigation wins in recent years thanks to a number of key advantages, but the FDA has been less successful in certain highly visible arenas, Jonathan Berman and Colleen Heisey at Jones Day.