It has become increasingly common for physicians and other healthcare professionals to share medical information with the public via video platforms, blogs, and social media sites. ...more
Just like the dose makes the poison, the claim makes the drug.
With a pandemic well underway, some marketers are offering products that they claim will treat or prevent COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel...more
It’s not just pile drivers, combines, and frozen fish. Much of the news coverage has discussed how industrial and agricultural products are subject to new Trump administration tariffs on goods imported from China. ...more
The hamburger of the future might be less Old MacDonald and more sci-fi – and it might be here sooner than you think. Several startups are working to scale up animal cell culture technology to grow meat tissue for human...more
Holders of Florida healthcare clinic license exemptions take note. Exemption certificates, which currently bear no expiration date, will expire every two years if a bill recently passed by the Florida Legislature becomes law....more
Providers have just a couple more days to challenge Medicare’s proposed 2018 value modifier payment adjustments. On September 18, 2017, Medicare released quality reports and measures used to calculate quality-based payment...more
Hurricane Irma’s wrath knocked out power to much of Florida. At one South Florida senior rehabilitation center left in the dark, the generator was not powerful enough to sustain the air conditioning system, and a portable...more
9/26/2017
/ Assisted Living Facilities (ALFs) ,
Disaster Preparedness ,
Elder Care ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Florida ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Hurricane Irma ,
Natural Disasters ,
Nursing Homes ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Wrongful Death
Ever heard of Hailey-Hailey Disease? How about factor V deficiency or Hemimegalencephaly? These are a few examples of rare diseases, e.g., those afflicting fewer than 200,000 Americans.
Rare diseases have long had trouble...more
DEA recently revised an earlier announcement that would have eliminated the grace period for renewals of controlled substance registrations. After initially declaring that prescribers and other registrants would no longer be...more
Healthcare providers excel at providing care to their patients, not designing IT strategies. Even so, with the trend toward value-based payments increasing, more healthcare providers have turned to electronic health records...more
In the 1990s, food had to be low in fat in order to be considered healthy. Those were the days of Snack-Wells cookies and fat-free salad dressings. How times have changed. Now health professionals consider many higher-fat...more
Health insurers and HMOs have a limited time to review the new federal meaningful access rules and amend plan documents accordingly. However, many payors still have not revised their plans to include the required language,...more
8/3/2016
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Gender Identity ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare ,
HMOs ,
Limited English Proficiency (LEP) ,
Medicare Advantage ,
Payor Contracts ,
Race Discrimination ,
Sex Discrimination
Pharmacies, dispensing prescribers, and certain healthcare facilities in Florida will soon have an easier time complying with controlled-substance reporting requirements. Florida established its Prescription Drug Monitoring...more
It has been more than a year and a half since the Ebola outbreak began racing across western Africa. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), more than 28,000 people have been infected. Although...more
Food producers are reporting a sharp rise in food recalls so far this year. During the first quarter of 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published notices of 118 food recalls (excluding pet foods), and the...more
Changing reimbursement models and a shift to consumerism were two of the hot topics discussed at Akerman LLP's recent Healthcare Briefing event titled "Financial and Corporate Implications of the Affordable Care Act: A Look...more
When is a medical device substantially equivalent to another device? Like so much else, it depends. On July 15, 2014, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a draft guidance that aims to clarify that question....more
If you've seen your share of prescription drug commercials, you've likely marveled at the odd drug names: Moexipril. Oxcarbazepine. Zafirlukast. You might think pharmaceutical companies just prefer complex, new combinations...more
On June 30, 2014, the Supreme Court decided the closely watched case Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. The main question before the court was whether for-profit companies may assert religious grounds to avoid providing...more
In the waning days of the 2014 legislative session, the Florida Legislature passed the Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act of 2014. It is a very limited medical marijuana bill with very strict restrictions and conditions on...more
Data breaches are certainly not unique to the healthcare industry. Large data breaches like the one experienced by Target stores in late 2013 seem increasingly common. Retail, financial, and other types of companies hold...more
A new declaratory statement from Florida regulators clarifies the restrictions on intracompany sales of pharmaceuticals. Previously, if one pharmacy in Florida wanted to send a bottle of prescription medicine to its sister...more
The phrase "the only constant is change itself" has rarely been so true across an entire industry. The U.S. healthcare sector is having to adjust to rapidly changing times. That whirlwind of change was discussed by industry...more
We previously reported that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS") has discouraged hospitals and other third parties from paying patients' premiums or cost-sharing. HHS stated in its November 4, 2013 FAQ...more
Current events were top-of-mind last Friday, November 15, 2013, as Akerman LLP's Healthcare Practice Group and Wells Fargo invited clients and industry professionals to engage in a thoughtful discussion on healthcare reform...more