The Senate Judiciary Committee is showing renewed Congressional interest in oversight of the pharmaceutical industry, with five bipartisan drug bills on the agenda for review and discussion on February 9, 2023....more
Note From the Editors -
We bring you Vital Signs, a curated, one-stop resource on the most notable digital health law updates from our U.S. and global contributors. In Industry Insights, our lawyers take an in-depth look at...more
The National Institute of Standards and Technology ("NIST") has released its AI Risk Management Framework ("AI RMF") as a resource to reportedly assist individuals, organizations, and society identify risks associated with...more
In Short -
The Situation: On January 17, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ" or "Department") announced significant revisions to the Criminal Division's Corporate Enforcement Policy....more
In a momentous event for False Claims Act cases throughout the country, the Supreme Court has granted certiorari to decide the applicable scienter standard....more
In Short -
The Situation: The federal False Claims Act ("FCA") allows the United States to dismiss the action if the qui tam relator "has been notified by the Government of the filing of the motion and the court has...more
Courts and legislatures both in the United States and abroad continue to prioritize the eradication of labor trafficking in corporate supply chains, including those in the health care industry. For example, in the United...more
The Artificial Intelligence Bill of Rights sets forth voluntary guidelines that companies utilizing or developing technology with artificial intelligence can follow to protect users....more
On August 31, 2022, the California Attorney General delivered letters to 30 hospitals and health systems across California requesting information regarding commercial decision-making technology tools and their potential...more
In Short -
The Situation: Under 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(g), a claim that "includes items or services resulting from a violation" of the Anti-Kickback Statute ("AKS") is a false claim for purposes of the False Claims Act...more
The Situation: The practice of manufacturers making available to customers favorable and even zero-interest financing for significant purchases of medical devices is understood to be common and often expected by customers...more
DOJ recovers a record $5.6 billion from FCA cases in 2021, the largest annual total since 2014. -
The United States Department of Justice Civil Division ("DOJ") recently announced a recovery of more than $5.6 billion in...more
2/23/2022
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fraud and Abuse ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Kickbacks ,
Medicare Advantage ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Qui Tam
Health care industry participants frequently operate under nuanced legal frameworks that apply to the receipt of government funds. A breach of these regulations can open the door to draconian liability under the FCA even when...more
2/14/2022
/ False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fraud and Abuse ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Liability ,
Qui Tam ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Relators ,
Scienter ,
Statutory Interpretation
A defendant who violates the FCA can be liable for treble damages plus a civil penalty of $5,500 to $11,000 (adjusted for inflation) for each false claim. Meanwhile, FCA lawsuits often involve tens of thousands of alleged...more
2/3/2022
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Eighth Amendment ,
Excessive Fines Clause ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
False-Certification of Conformance ,
Fines ,
Health Care Providers ,
Medicare ,
Qui Tam ,
Reimbursements ,
Relators ,
Statutory Violations ,
Treble Damages
On January 4, 2022, the White House Office of Science and Technology ("OSTP") released guidance for federal agencies to implement National Security Presidential Memorandum 33 ("NSPM-33"). Issued in the final days of the Trump...more
Introduction In the first 10 months of the Biden administration, senior DOJ officials have signaled a renewed focus on corporate criminal and civil enforcement against companies and individuals. ...more
In July 2021, a bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill, S. 2428, entitled the False Claims Amendments Act of 2021 ("S. 2428"), which proposed substantive and procedural amendments to the False Claims Act ("FCA")....more
11/2/2021
/ Burden of Proof ,
Burden-Shifting ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Authority ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Materiality ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Qui Tam ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Relators ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies
Each year, Americans spend more than $1,500 per person on prescription drugs. Critics calling for measures to lower prescription drug costs often cast blame on alleged abuses of patent and competition laws. To address these...more
10/26/2021
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Biden Administration ,
Biosimilars ,
Biotechnology ,
Competition ,
Drug Pricing ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Generic Drugs ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Life Sciences ,
Patent Ownership ,
Patient Access ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
USPTO
In support of the American Telemedicine Association's Telehealth Awareness Week (September 19-25, 2021), Jones Day's Digital Health team shared key insights on various legal topics applicable to telehealth. Jones Day's...more
9/27/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Digital Health ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Medical Reimbursement ,
Patient Access ,
Patient Privacy Rights ,
Rate Parity Agreement ,
Relief Measures ,
Rural Health Care Program ,
Taxable Income ,
Telehealth ,
Telemedicine
Federal government enforcement in the telemedicine space continues to escalate, with three separate announcements in just the last three weeks regarding criminal and civil telemedicine-related actions. These enforcement...more
9/23/2021
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Billing ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
OIG ,
Qui Tam ,
Relief Measures ,
Telehealth ,
Telemedicine
A recent action by the Department of Justice ("DOJ") rescinds two prior policies (commonly referred to as the Brand Memo and the Sessions Memo) that had established limits on the federal government's use of agency guidance...more
A recent split decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit strengthens an argument many defendants of False Claims Act ("FCA") cases have been advancing for years: the violation of an ambiguous...more
8/23/2021
/ Enforcement Actions ,
False Billing ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fraud ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Pharmacies ,
Qui Tam ,
Relators ,
Safeco ,
Statutory Requirements
On May 26, 2021, DOJ announced a series of coordinated law enforcement actions against 14 defendants across seven federal districts for alleged participation in fraudulent health care schemes that, according to the...more
6/21/2021
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Billing ,
Fraud and Abuse ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Kickbacks ,
Telemedicine
On May 14, 2021, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Iowa ("USAO") announced a civil settlement involving a nursing home's allegedly deficient procedures and practices relating to COVID-19 during the early...more
The Situation: In March 2020, the Third and Ninth Circuits held, in two cases in which the government had declined to intervene, that a mere difference of medical opinion may be enough to satisfy the falsity element of the...more