Policy & Compliance

  • April 30, 2026

    Express Scripts, Cigna Seek End To Ohio PBM Price Suit

    After the Sixth Circuit ruled that a legal dispute between Ohio and a group of pharmacy benefit managers belongs in federal court, Express Scripts and Cigna now want dismissed the lawsuit accusing them of participating in an antitrust conspiracy that is driving up prescription drug prices. 

  • April 30, 2026

    Kroger's Health Plan Tobacco Fee Shirks ERISA, Suit Says

    Supermarket giant Kroger violated federal benefits law by requiring workers to pay an extra fee through their health plan if they used tobacco while failing to give them a fair opportunity to avoid the charge, according to a proposed class action filed in Ohio federal court.

  • April 30, 2026

    Feds Appeal Order Freezing CDC Childhood Vaccine Changes

    The Trump administration said late Wednesday that it's appealing a court order that stopped its pared-down childhood vaccine schedule from going into effect.

  • April 29, 2026

    CEO Stole From His Company To Buy Mansion, SEC Says

    The former CEO of a California-based pharmaceutical company agreed Wednesday to pay the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission $30,000 to end a lawsuit accusing him of misappropriating $3.2 million in company funds partly to buy a Beverly Hills mansion.

  • April 29, 2026

    Novo Nordisk Rejects Claim It Influences GLP-1 Market

    Pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk told a Texas federal judge that it does not control the GLP-1 market and has not attempted to crush its competition in a bid to dismiss an antitrust suit it is facing.

  • April 29, 2026

    PBMs Say Michigan AG Price-Fixing Suit Is Unsound

    Pharmacy benefit managers Express Scripts, Evernorth Health and Prime Therapeutics have bolstered their effort to escape a federal price-fixing suit brought against them by Michigan's attorney general by arguing the statutes cited in the complaint do not apply to them.

  • April 29, 2026

    Mass. AG, Insurer Settle Deceptive Marketing Claims For $5M

    A Texas-headquartered health insurance agency will pay $5 million to settle allegations that it engaged in deceptive and unfair marketing to sell plans and other types of health programs to thousands of Massachusetts consumers, the state's attorney general announced on Wednesday.

  • April 29, 2026

    5th Circ. Will Rehear Aetna Arbitration Bid In Aramark Suit

    The full Fifth Circuit will reconsider insurance company Aetna's bid to force uniform and food services company Aramark to arbitrate its dispute over employee health benefit claims, staying a panel's ruling from December that had kept proceedings in court.

  • April 29, 2026

    AbbVie Seeks Early Win Over HHS In Botox Drug Price Suit

    When the federal government included Botox in Medicare's drug price negotiation program, which allows Medicare officials to negotiate for lower drug prices, it overstepped its authority, drugmaker AbbVie Inc. told a D.C. federal court, arguing the cosmetic drug and migraine treatment is a "plasma-derived" product ineligible for price controls.

  • April 29, 2026

    Medical Equipment Co. Settles Patient Overbilling Claims

    Patients who claim Pennsylvania-based AdaptHealth Corp. overcharged them for returned medical equipment have reached the final version of a class settlement and will soon submit it to a North Carolina federal court for approval, they told the court this week.

  • April 29, 2026

    Justices Rule NJ Info Demand Chilled Anti-Abortion Speech

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday unanimously revived an anti‑abortion pregnancy center network's constitutional challenge to a New Jersey subpoena seeking years of donor information, holding that the state's demand infringed free speech.

  • April 28, 2026

    Ohio Justices Nix 'Would Have Been Married' Obergefell Test

    The Ohio Supreme Court held Tuesday that a state law establishing parental rights for the spouse of a woman who conceives a child through artificial insemination doesn't retroactively apply to same-sex couples when a child was born before gay marriage was legalized by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2015.

  • April 28, 2026

    Ex-Fauci Adviser Charged With Concealing COVID Records

    Federal prosecutors have charged a former adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci with deleting government emails and using his personal email account to dodge public records requests about the origins of the COVID-19 virus.

  • April 28, 2026

    Purdue Pharma's $5.5B Plea Deal Clinched As Survivors Protest

    OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP has to pay a $3.5 billion fine and forfeit an additional $2 billion, more than five years after it pled guilty to criminal charges related to its role in the opioid crisis, a New Jersey federal judge said Tuesday.

  • April 28, 2026

    As RFK Jr. Touts Peptides, Industry Eyes Regulatory Hurdles

    Compounding pharmacies eager to cash in on the peptide boom are watching closely as the nation’s top health official pushes to legalize the market. A regulatory minefield may mean a long wait.

  • April 28, 2026

    Attys Want To See Examples In New Mental Health Parity Rule

    The Trump administration's plans to promulgate new regulations governing mental health parity requirements for employee health plans are currently causing headaches for attorneys, but a rule that includes specific examples could ultimately ease compliance burdens for benefit plan sponsors.

  • April 28, 2026

    MedMal Case Volume Declines, But Doctor Risks Remain High

    While the volume of malpractice lawsuits against U.S. physicians has dropped in recent years, that doesn't mean the threat of legal liability is dissipating, according to a report released Monday by the American Medical Association. 

  • April 28, 2026

    Mich. Health System Inks $1.9M Deal To End ERISA Suit

    A Michigan health system agreed to pay $1.9 million to resolve a suit claiming it failed to kick an underperforming investment fund from its workers' retirement plan, causing employees to lose out on millions in savings.

  • April 28, 2026

    La. AG On 340B, Comstock And 'Political Act' Of Abortion Pills

    Louisiana's attorney general has sued over mifepristone, pursued charges against out-of-state doctors and sparred with drugmakers. Liz Murrill talks to Law360 Healthcare Authority about her approach to healthcare and the law.

  • April 28, 2026

    Union Urges Toss Of Tobacco Co.'s Retiree Health Fight

    A North Carolina federal judge should let a tobacco workers' union keep its win in a retiree healthcare fight with the company that makes Winston and Salem cigarettes, the union argued, saying the company's challenge to a November arbitration award can't proceed because it wasn't properly filed.

  • April 28, 2026

    Maryland Justices Allow IVF Cost Class Action To Proceed

    A Maryland couple can pursue a proposed class action against a health insurer that they say wrongfully denied coverage for embryo thawing in connection with an in vitro fertilization procedure, the Maryland Supreme Court has ruled, finding that the insurer's subsequent payment of the claim doesn't moot the suit.

  • April 28, 2026

    Meet The Attys Arguing The High Court 'Skinny Label' Case

    When the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments Wednesday in a patent case involving "skinny labels" on generic drugs, a longtime patent attorney as well as a government attorney who often handles intellectual property cases will face an appellate specialist who has argued many high court cases.

  • April 27, 2026

    North Dakota Drug-Pricing Law Blocked In Pharma Fight

    A North Dakota federal judge on Monday blocked the state's new drug-pricing law, agreeing with pharmaceutical companies that while the law purports to "protect the underdogs," it illegally interferes with the federal drug-pricing regime.

  • April 27, 2026

    DOJ Says Wash. 340B Drug Law Is Preempted In Novartis Suit

    The U.S. Department of Justice waded into a dispute between pharmaceutical giants and the state of Washington on Monday, arguing that federal law preempts a new state law that expands discounts that drugmakers must provide under the federal 340B Drug Pricing Program.

  • April 27, 2026

    Wyoming's Latest Near-Total Abortion Ban Blocked

    A Wyoming judge has blocked enforcement of the latest effort by state lawmakers to enact a rigid anti-abortion law, after the Wyoming Supreme Court in January struck down the state's previous near-total ban on abortion. 

Expert Analysis

  • Lawmakers Shouldn't Overlook Rare Disease Therapies' Value

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    As the ORPHAN Cures Act is pending in Congress, policymakers assessing the value of certain drugs for price regulation should consider data beyond what is collected in clinical trials, say Alice Chen at the University of Southern California, and Molly Frean and Yao Lu at Analysis Group.

  • What Trump's Order Means For The Legal Status Of IVF

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    An executive order signed by President Donald Trump last month signals the administration's potential intention to increase protections for in vitro fertilization services, though more concrete actions would be needed to resolve the current uncertainty around IVF access or bring about a binding legal change, says Jeanne Vance at Weintraub Tobin.

  • Mitigating Tariff Risks For Healthcare In US And Canada

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    Healthcare stakeholders should take steps to evaluate the impact of cross-border tariffs, as the historically strong ties between Canada and the U.S. demonstrate the potential for real disruption and harm to the healthcare industry in both countries, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

  • What's At Stake In High Court Transgender Care Suit

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    The outcome of U.S. v. Skrmetti will have critical implications for the rights of transgender youth and their access to gender-affirming care, and will likely affect other areas of law and policy involving transgender individuals, including education, employment, healthcare and civil rights, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • 6 Laws Transforming Calif.'s Health Regulatory Framework

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    Attorneys at Hooper Lundy discuss a number of new California laws that raise pressing issues for independent physicians and small practice groups, ranging from the use of artificial intelligence to wage standards for healthcare employees.

  • Anticipating Calif. Oversight Of PE Participation In Healthcare

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    A new bill recently introduced in the California Senate revives last year's attempt to increase oversight of healthcare transactions involving private equity groups and hedge funds, meaning that attorneys may soon need to assess the compliance status of existing management relationships and consider modifying contract terms, says Andrew Demetriou at Husch Blackwell.

  • Considering The Future Of AI Regulation On Health Sector

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    As Texas looks to become the next state to pass a comprehensive law regulating artificial intelligence, the healthcare industry should consider how AI regulation will continue to evolve in the U.S. and how industry members can keep up with compliance considerations, say attorneys at Kirkland & Ellis.

  • What To Expect From 'Make America Healthy Again' Actions

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    The Make America Healthy Again Commission recently established by President Donald Trump and chaired by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will potentially bring energy and attention to important public health topics, and stakeholders should be aware of pathways for sharing their input and proactively informing proceedings, says Nicholas Manetto at Faegre Drinker.

  • How Citizen Petitions Have Affected Drug Competition

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    In light of recent citizen petitions and proposed legislation regulating such petitions, Omar Robles at Managing Health analyzes the statistics of the extent to which citizen petitions have been filed, and to what extent they have delayed competition in prescription pharmaceuticals.

  • Drug Kickback Ruling Will Make FCA Liability Harder To Prove

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    The First Circuit's ruling in U.S. v. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, requiring the government to prove but-for causation to establish False Claims Act liability based on violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute, raises the bar for FCA enforcement and deepens a circuit split that the U.S. Supreme Court may need to resolve, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.

  • Assessing PE Risk After Mass. False Claims Act Amendments

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    A law recently passed in Massachusetts amends the commonwealth's False Claims Act by dramatically expanding potential liability for private equity firms and investors, underscoring the importance of robust diligence and risk assessments for private equity firms conducting transactions in the commonwealth, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • What Trump Actions Mean For Federal Research Funding

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    New guidance from the National Institutes of Health represents a massive policy shift regarding federal funding for researchers at institutions of higher education, contributing to a perfect storm of significant resource shortfalls in upcoming years, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • A Look At Healthcare Transaction Oversight In Oregon

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    Understanding Oregon's enforcement authority and its impact on proposed transactions last year provides a road map to the state's plans to strengthen its processes this year, though enforcement could be challenged by ongoing litigation, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.