Digital Health & Technology

  • June 10, 2024

    Health Data Co. Says Rival's Request Risks Patient Security

    A healthcare data company pushed back against claims in Maryland federal court that it blocks a rival's access to nursing home patient data used to identify potential complications, saying the rival is asking to disable security measures that prevent attacks on its system.

  • June 10, 2024

    Medical-Aesthetic Device Rivals Set For Sept. Poaching Trial

    A Boston federal judge on Monday scheduled a post-Labor Day jury trial for medical-aesthetic device company Cynosure's $78 million poaching lawsuit against rival Reveal Lasers, urging the parties to streamline their exhibits and damages claims.

  • June 07, 2024

    DC Circ. Undoes Library Of Congress Win In Fair Use Fight

    The D.C. Circuit on Friday reversed a lower court's decision that had rejected two industry groups' challenge to a final rule that categorized medical device diagnostic procedures and repairs as fair use exemptions to U.S. copyright law.

  • July 03, 2024

    The State Of The Retail Industry's Healthcare Investments

    Amazon and Walgreens separately announced changes to their healthcare offerings, revealing the growing divide between retail companies as they grapple with a complicated business. Law360 Healthcare Authority looks at major retailers' recent healthcare ventures and where they stand now.

  • June 04, 2024

    Medical Board Group Keeps AI Liability Focus On Doctors

    When emergency room nurses and doctors make split-second decisions using an artificial intelligence tool, who ultimately bears responsibility if a patient winds up harmed? Recent guidance from the Federation of State Medical Boards keeps the onus squarely on doctors.

  • May 31, 2024

    Samsung Strikes First With Smart Ring IP Suit Against Oura

    Samsung has yet to announce a release date for its new Galaxy Ring brand of wearable, health-tracking devices, but it has filed an intellectual property suit in California federal court Thursday targeting a Finnish startup that makes its own line of smart rings. 

  • May 30, 2024

    FTC, SEC Urged To Probe UnitedHealth's 'Negligent' Security

    The chair of the U.S. Senate finance committee on Thursday pressed the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to hold UnitedHealth Group and its top executives liable for "numerous" cybersecurity failings that fueled a debilitating cyberattack on its Change Healthcare unit. 

  • May 30, 2024

    Veradigm Execs Sued Over Company's Nasdaq Delisting

    Current and former members of healthcare technology company Veradigm Inc.'s top brass were sued in Illinois federal court by shareholders alleging that the company suffered stock drops following a string of financial reporting blunders starting in 2021, which caused it to overstate roughly $40 million in revenue before facing a delisting notice from Nasdaq.

  • May 29, 2024

    Greenberg Traurig Adds IP Atty From Eversheds Sutherland

    Greenberg Traurig LLP has bolstered its California bench of attorneys with an Eversheds Sutherland lawyer who has years of experience advising digital health and medical device companies on intellectual property issues.

  • May 28, 2024

    Pharmacy Benefits Co. Taps Health Atty To Lead Legal Team

    RxBenefits, a company focused on generating savings for employers providing pharmacy benefits, has appointed a new chief legal officer to oversee its legal and regulatory compliance efforts.

  • May 24, 2024

    Fla. Lab Owner Will Pay $27M To End False Billing Suit

    A Florida medical lab owner who pled guilty to charges related to accusations he billed Medicare for $53 million in unnecessary genetic cancer screening tests has agreed to pay more than $27 million to resolve three whistleblower suits over the same conduct, according to an announcement Friday from the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • May 23, 2024

    Stryker Unit And Seyfarth Attys Hit With $275K Sanctions

    A Colorado federal judge has imposed $275,000 in sanctions jointly and severally on Stryker-owned Howmedica Osteonics Corp., along with Seyfarth Shaw LLP, for witness coaching and discovery violations in a bitter breach-of-contract dispute, amounting to roughly one-eighth of what plaintiff ORP Surgical LLC had sought.

  • May 22, 2024

    Stryker Agrees To Settle Calif. Misclassification Suit

    Medical device company Stryker told a California federal court Wednesday it has agreed to settle a proposed class action accusing it of misclassifying workers as overtime-exempt and failing to pay them overtime during their mandatory training.

  • May 22, 2024

    Lead Blood Test Maker To Plead Guilty, Pay $42M Over Defects

    Medical device maker Magellan Diagnostics has agreed to pay at least $42 million and plead guilty to hiding a defect in its blood testing devices for lead that caused inaccurately low results for tens of thousands of children and others, Massachusetts federal prosecutors said.

  • May 21, 2024

    Amid Abortion Suit, Ind. Officials Spar Over Report Releases

    Indiana's top lawyer is set to respond to a lawsuit seeking access to doctor-created abortion reports. The case promises to highlight a rift between the state's vocally anti-abortion attorney general and other officials who say the information is off-limits to public records requests.

  • May 21, 2024

    Strategic Hiring Was The New Normal For BigLaw In 2023

    The 400 largest law firms by headcount in the U.S. grew more slowly in 2023 than in the previous two years, while Kirkland & Ellis LLP surpassed the 3,000-attorney threshold, according to the latest Law360 ranking.

  • May 21, 2024

    The Law360 400: Tracking The Largest US Law Firms

    The legal market expanded more tentatively in 2023 than in previous years amid a slowdown in demand for legal services, especially in transactions, an area that has been sluggish but is expected to quicken in the near future.

  • May 17, 2024

    FCA Relators Seek Finders Fee For SpineFrontier Doc Deals

    Three whistleblowers who tipped off the federal government to a medical device company's multimillion-dollar kickback scheme said Friday the Justice Department is refusing to pay them a cut of the $3 million in False Claims Act settlements paid by surgeons who admitted participating in the sham consulting ploy.

  • May 17, 2024

    Ga. OB-GYN Office Says Data Breach Class Action Falls Flat

    An Atlanta OB-GYN practice has urged a Georgia federal judge to dismiss a proposed class suit over a data breach that allegedly impacted the personal and protected health information of tens of thousands of patients, arguing the lead plaintiff has failed to meet the requirements of the Class Action Fairness Act.

  • May 15, 2024

    Blackbaud Dodges Data Breach Victims' Class Cert. Bid

    A South Carolina federal judge has refused to certify several proposed classes consisting of roughly 1.5 billion patients, donors and other individuals whose personal information was allegedly swept up in a 2020 ransomware attack on software provider Blackbaud Inc., finding that the plaintiffs had failed to show that class members could be easily identified. 

  • May 15, 2024

    UnitedHealth Concealed DOJ Merger Investigation, Suit Says

    UnitedHealth Group has been hit with a proposed shareholder class action alleging that it failed to disclose that the U.S. Department of Justice had reopened an antitrust investigation into the health insurance giant following its acquisition of a healthcare data company, and that top executives had sold more than $120 million of shares knowing about the investigation before a news report revealed it to the public.

  • May 14, 2024

    Under Fire For Lab Rule, FDA Remains Open To Lawmaking

    After a difficult run-up to a new federal rule on lab-developed tests, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration official overseeing medical devices voiced support Tuesday for additional lawmaking.

  • May 13, 2024

    Wash. Hospital Scores Exit In Facebook Privacy Suit, For Now

    A Washington federal judge has tossed a proposed class action accusing a Seattle-area hospital of sharing patients' confidential health information by using Facebook browser tracking tools, ruling on Monday the plaintiff has failed to show that her own private information was input into the website and shared with a third party.

  • May 13, 2024

    Philips Wants Cleaner Co. To Chip In For $1B CPAP Deal

    Koninklijke Philips NV has filed a third-party complaint in Pennsylvania federal court against SoClean Inc., which sells cleaning products for breathing devices, claiming SoClean and its parent should contribute to Philips' $1 billion settlement because its cleaners allegedly exacerbated the foam breakdown at the heart of the litigation.

  • May 10, 2024

    Retail Group Opposes $1B Arbitral Award Against Walgreens

    An advocacy group for the retail industry is backing Walgreens as it looks to set aside a nearly $1 billion arbitral award in a dispute with a COVID test maker, telling a Delaware federal judge that judicial intervention is warranted in this case.

Expert Analysis

  • BIPA, Meta Pixel Suits Could Reshape Cybersecurity Litigation

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    Businesses and attorneys should watch several pending electronic privacy cases that revolve around disclosure of protected personal information and health data, which may shape how courts handle damages and class actions in the future of cybersecurity litigation, say Kelly Johnson and Melanie Condon at Goldberg Segalla.

  • The Double-Edged Sword Of Using ChatGPT In Health Care

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    While ChatGPT has shown promising potential in health care, one of the key challenges for players in this space is balancing patient privacy and data protection with the benefits of utilizing this technology, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Addressing Legal Issues Raised By AI Use In Health Care

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    With the usage of artificial intelligence and machine learning in health care likely to be governed by a patchwork of state laws for the near future, industry actors should build flexibility into products to meet evolving regulatory concerns, including monetization of patient data and professional licensing questions, say Sara Shanti and Phil Kim at Sheppard Mullin.

  • New Health Data Compliance Considerations For Pa. Lawyers

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    Given the regularity with which attorneys handle private health information, it is important for Pennsylvania firms to understand recent significant amendments to the state's data breach law, which address information not currently covered by federal law, says Mark Mattioli at Post & Schell.

  • Mitigating Risks Of Developing Drugs And Devices With AI

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    As the use of artificial intelligence in drug and medical device development advances, companies should implement five key steps to identify and mitigate areas of potential risk before regulatory frameworks catch up, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • Scope Of FTC's Health Info Enforcement May Expand

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    The Federal Trade Commission's proposed amendments to the Health Breach Notification Rule signal the agency's mounting efforts to regulate consumer health information beyond the reaches of the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act, which does not cover many recent health apps and technologies, say Jodi Daniel and Brandon Ge at Crowell & Moring.

  • How Attys Can Avoid Exposing Their Firms To Cyberattacks

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    Attorneys are the weakest link in their firms' cyberdefenses because hackers often exploit the gap between individuals’ work and personal cybersecurity habits, but there are some steps lawyers can take to reduce the risks they create for their employers, say Mark Hurley and Carmine Cicalese at Digital Privacy & Protection.

  • Rare FDA Move Shows Stance On Remote Monitoring Devices

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    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's recent warning letter to iRhythm Technologies represents a relatively unprecedented degree of scrutiny to the remote monitoring device industry, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Tips For In-House Legal Leaders In A Challenging Economy

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    Amid today's economic and geopolitical uncertainty, in-house legal teams are running lean and facing increased scrutiny and unique issues, but can step up and find innovative ways to manage outcomes and capitalize on good business opportunities, says Tim Parilla at LinkSquares.

  • Health Providers Must Beware FCA Risks When Using AI

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    Though recent innovations in artificial intelligence can potentially bring increased productivity, greater efficiency and reduced costs to the healthcare industry, providers must take appropriate precautions to avoid risks and potential False Claims Act liability, says Sara Lord at Arnall Golden.

  • New Considerations In Med Device Cybersecurity Compliance

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    Recent guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration clarifies premarket submission procedures related to medical device cybersecurity, and indicates a significant expansion in the agency's expectations surrounding risk management practices for both manufacturers and providers, says Meghna Parikh at Buchalter.

  • Federal Oversight Of AI In Healthcare Is Taking Shape

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    A recent proposed rule from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provides early insights into how the federal government intends to oversee artificial intelligence and machine learning in healthcare, highlighting priorities like transparency, equity and potential kickback implications, say attorneys at Hooper Lundy.

  • A Close Look At Pennsylvania's Data Breach Law Changes

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    New amendments to Pennsylvania's Breach of Personal Information Notification Act will hold state agencies to stricter notification requirements more in line with those in other states, and will allow entities to determine a breach has occurred before their notification obligations take effect, says Lauren Godfrey at Constangy.