Digital Health & Technology

  • January 10, 2025

    Tech Co., Feds Seek Wins In Commercial Item Preference Row

    A tech company is asking a federal judge to block the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services from proceeding with solicitations that stand to replace so-called batCAVE and Signal software it developed that is already providing the desired functionality.

  • January 10, 2025

    9th Circ. Affirms Hearing Aid Co.'s Win Over Investor Suit

    The Ninth Circuit on Friday handed a win to Eargo Inc. and affirmed the dismissal of a securities class action against the hearing aid company, which alleged that the company and its top brass acted with intent to commit insurance billing fraud.

  • January 10, 2025

    Social Media Apps Fail To Trim Calif. Mental Health Mass Tort

    Meta Platforms, YouTube, Snap and TikTok have lost a bid to cut failure-to-warn claims from consolidated litigation over their social media platforms' alleged harm to youth mental health, with a California state judge ruling that neither the Communications Decency Act nor the First Amendment bar liability based on an app's own features.

  • January 10, 2025

    1st Circ. Questions Reach Of Anti-Torture Law In Civil Cases

    The First Circuit on Friday hinted it may be considering limits on the jurisdiction of the Torture Victims Protection Act, during a hearing where former Justice Stephen Breyer recalled concerns he first raised on the Supreme Court that an overly broad reading could pave the way for other nations to arrest Americans for incidents on U.S. soil.

  • January 09, 2025

    'Stunned': Judge Rips Atty For Violating Antitrust Trial Order

    A California federal judge overseeing an antitrust jury trial over claims that Intuitive Surgical was a monopolist that abused its power by blocking hospitals from using a service to extend the life of a component related to its surgical-robot arms said Thursday she was "stunned" when plaintiff Surgical Instrument Service showed a video that violated a pretrial order.

  • January 09, 2025

    Cancer Org Fails To Get Rival's TM Counterclaims Tossed

    A Georgia federal judge said Thursday that the Glioblastoma Foundation Inc. can't yet escape a series of counterclaims filed against it by a rival nonprofit amid a trademark spat, ruling that its defenses in a dismissal bid largely relied on factual issues about whether the rival fraudulently obtained the marks at issue.

  • January 09, 2025

    VITAS Must Face Wiretap Suit Over Customer Service Calls

    A California federal judge declined to toss a putative class action alleging VITAS Healthcare violated wiretapping laws by helping a third-party software developer eavesdrop on calls with VITAS' customers, noting Wednesday the third party was capable of using the data derived from the calls for its own purposes.

  • January 08, 2025

    Intuitive Killed Biz For Reusing Robo-Surgery Arms, Jury Told

    The president of a family-owned medical instrument repair business suing biotechnology company Intuitive Surgical on antitrust claims told a California federal jury Wednesday that his company saw a "huge opportunity" in providing a service that extended the life of Intuitive's surgical robot arms, but hospitals balked after Intuitive sent threatening letters.

  • January 08, 2025

    Patent Board Knocks Out Most Of Apple Patent

    Two rulings out of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board have wiped out several claims in a patent Apple is asserting against a medical software company that was initially first to assert patents against Apple over health-related programming in the Apple Watch.

  • January 08, 2025

    Telligen's TM Suit Against IT Co. Can Move Forward

    A California federal judge is letting a trademark lawsuit from health data company Telligen proceed against information technology company Telligens, ruling that he was not yet convinced that the suit was filed 10 years too late.

  • January 08, 2025

    Biotech Co.'s Facility Failures Lost Investors Money, Suit Says

    The executives and directors of biotechnology company Humacyte Inc. have been hit with a shareholder derivative suit in North Carolina federal court alleging the company concealed that its manufacturing facility failed to comply with certain quality assurance practices, leading to delayed regulatory review for its product candidate.

  • January 07, 2025

    Robo Surgery Co. Gets Billions From Selling Parts, Jury Told

    Surgical Instrument Service accused Intuitive Surgical at the start of a federal trial Tuesday of being a monopolist making billions of dollars by blocking hospitals from extending the life of reusable surgical-robot components, while Intuitive blasted the medical instrument repair company for "trying to misuse antitrust laws to enrich itself."

  • January 07, 2025

    HHS Fines Mass. Health Firm $80K Over Ransomware Attack

    Elgon Information Systems, which provides digital medical record and billing support services, will pay $80,000 over alleged healthcare data protection rule violations following a ransomware attack on its systems in March 2023 that impacted roughly 31,248 customers, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday.

  • January 07, 2025

    HIPAA Cyber Rule Shake-Up Arrives On Eve Of Trump's Return

    A massive cybersecurity rule change proposed this week would require healthcare providers and insurers to protect patient data with multifactor authentication and other safeguards. Attorneys are watching to see if the Trump administration changes course.

  • January 06, 2025

    Labcorp Loses Appeal Of Gene-Testing Patent In $372M Case

    Labcorp, one of the world's largest chains of clinical lab providers, lost its appeal over a patent tied to a $372 million judgment it is facing in the Western District of Texas, after Federal Circuit judges on Monday upheld an administrative patent board ruling against it two years ago.

  • December 20, 2024

    Medical Records Co. Wants Rival's Antitrust Suit Tossed

    Epic Systems Corp. told a New York federal court that an antitrust case lodged by Particle Health Inc. is really just payback for revealing concerns that Particle allowed its customers to inappropriately access personal medical records.

  • December 20, 2024

    Top Privacy & Cybersecurity Developments Of 2024

    The state data privacy law patchwork continued to add new and varied pieces in 2024, while major hacks shook up the healthcare industry and other critical sectors, and the first U.S. laws setting guardrails for the use of artificial intelligence technologies emerged.

  • December 19, 2024

    Google Health Tracking Plaintiffs Fight To Keep Suit Alive

    A California federal judge who was asked by Google to toss a proposed class action alleging that the tech giant illicitly scoops up users' personal data from healthcare providers' websites indicated during a Thursday hearing that he might grant the request while adding that he still has "a lot more thinking to do."

  • December 17, 2024

    UNC Doctor Can't Shield Minor Transgender Patients' Records

    A University of North Carolina doctor cannot assert privilege over medical records sought from the university by state Republicans fighting a suit by the physician and others seeking to enjoin a law imposing limits on transgender care for minors, a federal magistrate judge has ruled.

  • December 17, 2024

    Stanford Profs Say Roche's Trade Secret Claims Time-Barred

    Stanford University's trustees and three of its professors have asked a California federal court to dismiss trade secret theft claims bought by subsidiaries of F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, arguing that the allegations are time-barred because the companies were on notice of the purported misappropriation for over three years before filing suit.

  • December 17, 2024

    New Fed Health Data Rules: What You Need To Know

    The Biden administration this week established long-awaited regulations codifying how medical providers and vendors must share electronic health information. New provisions were included to thwart criminal investigations into reproductive healthcare.

  • December 17, 2024

    FDA Sharpens Focus On Celebrity Drug Endorsements

    Ads featuring celebrities such as tennis star Serena Williams and interior designer Nate Berkus surfaced in FDA enforcement letters this year. The agency has ramped up its scrutiny of influencer drug promotion.

  • December 11, 2024

    Ga. Judge Refuses To Reconsider Toss Of Patient Data Suit

    A Georgia federal judge has refused to reconsider the dismissal of a proposed class action alleging Piedmont Healthcare Inc. unlawfully shared patients' health data with Facebook via the company's tracking pixel tool.

  • December 10, 2024

    UpHealth Says Glocal Execs Stalling On $115M Award Suit

    Digital health services company UpHealth has asked an Illinois federal judge to favor its efforts to pin down assets belonging to executives of Indian healthcare firm Glocal as it looks to enforce a $115 million arbitral award, saying the respondents are engaging in "obstructionist" conduct.

  • December 06, 2024

    Google Must Face Trimmed BIPA Suit Over IBM Dataset

    A California federal judge on Thursday permitted Illinois residents to proceed with a pared-down version of their proposed class action accusing Google of violating biometric privacy laws with facial data collected by IBM, ruling they've adequately alleged a violation of the Illinois Biometric Privacy Act.

Expert Analysis

  • Unpacking FDA's Final Clinical Decision Support Guidance

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    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's latest guidance on clinical decision support software introduces new concepts, questions and ambiguities, and may be challenging to implement in practice, say attorneys at Covington.

  • How Cos. Can Adapt To Global AI Regulation Trends

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    Companies can prepare for the future of artificial intelligence regulation by monitoring proposed and existing regulations both in the U.S. and abroad, tailoring their internal compliance architecture for AI-specific risks, and looking for opportunities to lead on governance issues, says Nicholas Diamond at Jackson Walker.

  • 4 Strategies For Drafting Effective Consumer Breach Notices

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    Businesses should consider key strategies when drafting consumer breach notification letters, such as knowing their audience and what is on their mind, and prioritizing user-friendliness and tone, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • How Contractors Can Avoid Cybersecurity FCA Violations

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    Recent U.S. Department of Justice settlements and remarks underscore heightened focus on cybersecurity liability under the False Claims Act, so government contractors should consider compliance measures such as conducting periodic risk assessments, being responsive to employee concerns, and more, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • EU Regulation Highlights AI Issues For Digital Health Cos.

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    As the regulation of artificial intelligence is high on the agenda for EU and U.K. policymakers and regulators, and likely imminent in the U.S., now is the time for providers in the digital health space to consider how compliance may need to change, and safeguard their position in the market, say Chris Eastham and Olivia Morgan at Fieldfisher.

  • What DOJ Enforcement Shift Means For Life Sciences Cos.

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    Though monitoring life science company compliance has historically been the domain of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, recent trends suggest that the U.S. Department of Justice may be assuming a primary role going forward, raising interesting questions for the industry, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Ransomware Payment Lessons Amid DOJ Recovery Success

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    The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent successes clawing back ransom payments made to hacking groups provide companies an additional factor to consider when deciding whether to engage with law enforcement after experiencing a breach, whether to pay a ransom demand, and whether to try to recover the payment, says Tyler Bridegan at Wiley.

  • What's Next For DOJ's COVID Enforcement In Health Care

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    As we enter the end of the third year of the pandemic, a few fraud-related trends and risks have emerged, necessitating important steps that health care and life sciences companies should take in light of continuing U.S. Department of Justice scrutiny, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • How To Minimize Risk When Launching Smart Medical Devices

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    Prior to launching a smart medical device, there are several critical steps that companies can take in order to protect their intellectual property, get approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and ensure the safety of their data, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Health Issues To Watch In Inflation Act, Other Policy Initiatives

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    The newly signed Inflation Reduction Act includes a number of significant drug pricing reforms, and the future holds a wider array of health issues that may be addressed in pending legislation when Congress returns in September, says Miranda Franco at Holland & Knight.

  • DOJ Filing Reawakens Fraud-On-The-FDA Theory Of Liability

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    The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent statement of interest in U.S. ex rel. Crocano v. Trividia Health before a Florida federal court represents a substantial attempt to revive a False Claims Act liability theory involving misstatements to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, potentially leading to increased scrutiny of medical products, say attorneys at Duane Morris.

  • Digital Health Cos. Should Expect More Scrutiny Amid Growth

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    As the digital health market continues to flourish, the privacy and security of patient data has become a focus of legislative, regulatory and interest group action, and developers should be motivated to reassure both regulators and consumers that users' data is adequately protected, say attorneys at Kirkland.

  • Anti-Kickback Circuit Split Holds Implications For Defendants

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    The Eighth Circuit's recent decision in U.S. v. D.S. Medical represents a significant step toward holding plaintiffs to more exacting burdens of proof in Anti-Kickback Statute False Claims Act suits, and the outcome of the resulting circuit split could decrease estimated damages for defendants, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.