Alert
Published 03/05/2021
By Michael A. Finio
Industries Health Care
The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), in the span of about 48 hours in the first days of March, wrapped up two challenges to hospital deals – one dropped, the other settled (pending court approval). Both outcomes should be viewed as important indicators of both the issues the enforcement agencies are likely to focus on in health care industry deals and why market definition is particularly critical in health care market transactions. The Philadelphia Case On Monday, March 1, the FTC announced that it was walking away from its year-old challenge to...
Alert
Published 03/05/2021
This month’s Friday Five discusses cases that address the meaning of “active, full-time employee,” whether remand is required where an improper standard of review was applied, the standard for capacity in reference to a dispute between beneficiaries to a life insurance policy, a successful claim that a “change in condition” warranted termination of benefits and when extra-record discovery may be appropriate to interpret a claimant’s “own occupation.” The Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr Employee Benefits/ERISA Litigation Team March 5, 2021 | By Amy Kline , Caitlin Strauss and Christina Riggs 1...
Blog Post
Published 03/04/2021
By Meri Kahan
Article
Published 03/03/2021
Article
Published 03/03/2021
Industries Health Care
Article
Published 03/02/2021
Services Antitrust
Article
Published 02/26/2021
Services Force Majeure Litigation
Alert
Published 02/25/2021
By James A. Morsch, Justin C. Danilewitz
Services Antitrust
The recent change in Administrations and control of Congress may well usher in a new era of more energetic antitrust enforcement as well as substantive changes to the federal antitrust laws. Such changes would likely affect all industries and businesses – both dominant firms, and those that compete with them or are affected by dominant firms’ exclusionary conduct. Thus, the political alignment of both the executive and legislative branches, coupled with bipartisan consensus on the anticompetitive threats from “Big Tech”, may be the harbingers of a perfect storm for a new era of aggressive...
Alert
Published 02/24/2021
By Melissa A. Clarke, Esq.
Services Environmental
On February 1, 2021, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) issued a Notice of Rule Waiver/Modification/Suspension (“Notice”) extending certain remediation timeframes as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. These include cases where the remedial action was to be completed by May 7, 2021, and other timeframes that were or will be reached while Governor Murphy’s Executive Order 103 (“EO 103”) declaring a state of emergency due to the pandemic remains in effect. Conspicuously absent from the Notice was an extension for soil-only cases, which oversight was rectified...
Article
Published 02/23/2021
Services Environmental | White Collar and Government Enforcement
Alert
Published 02/23/2021
By Jonathan Havens, Ruth Rauls, Matthew Smith, Paige Berry
Industries Cannabis Law
Although it took much longer than expected following New Jersey’s November 2020 vote to legalize adult-use marijuana, Governor Phil Murphy finally yesterday signed several cannabis reform bills into law, including Assembly Bill 21 ( A21 ), “The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act”), which legalizes cannabis use and possession for adults 21 years of age and older in the Garden State, and paves the way for regulation of the same. The Governor also signed a “clean-up” bill, which clarifies marijuana and cannabis use and possession penalties...
Alert
Published 02/23/2021
By Alexander R. Bilus, Patrick M. Hromisin
Services Cybersecurity and Privacy
Virginia is on the brink of joining California as the second state with a broad privacy law that restricts how companies can use and disclose personal information. The Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (CDPA) recently passed both houses of the legislature and is expected to be signed into law by Governor Ralph Northam as early as next month. The bill is somewhat similar to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which went into effect last year and prompted many businesses to examine and update their privacy programs. It also includes some concepts comparable to the European Union’s...
Alert
Published 02/22/2021
By Bruce D. Armon, Samantha R. Gross\
Industries Health Care | HIPAA / Health Information Privacy and Security
On February 12th, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced it settled its sixteenth enforcement action as part of its HIPAA Right of Access Initiative (the “Initiative”). The Initiative is an OCR enforcement priority with the goal to ensure individuals can easily and timely access their health information at a reasonable cost under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) Privacy Rule. This is OCR’s second settlement announced under the Biden Administration . In this settlement, Sharp HealthCare d/b/a...
Blog Post
Published 02/19/2021
By Thomas Laser
Podcast episode
Published 02/18/2021
In this episode, host Jonathan Havens, co-chair of Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr’s Food, Beverage and Agribusiness (FBA) Practice, speaks with colleague Justin Danilewitz, a litigator in the Firm’s White Collar and Government Enforcement Practice and a former federal prosecutor, about the Responsible Corporate Officer (RCO) doctrine, also known as the Park doctrine, and how it impacts the FBA industry. Justin addresses how under the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), the RCO doctrine can result in strict criminal liability for an individual who stands in a position of responsibility with respect to lower-level employees as a result of the conduct of those employees, even without knowledge of that conduct. Although strict liability for a criminal offense – without knowing participation in the conduct – is rare, the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized this exceptional approach in the public welfare context, since public health and safety is paramount in the FBA industry. Jonathan and Justin discuss the practical applications of the doctrine, how the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) partners with the Department of Justice (DOJ) on enforcement of the RCO doctrine, how federal prosecutors tend to look for evidence, and how companies can implement rigorous policies, procedures and training programs to help maintain compliance.
Alert
Published 02/16/2021
By Bruce D. Armon, Samantha R. Gross, Michael A. Finio, Jonathan Havens, Patricia Varona Garcia, David Waxman, Jourdan Garvey, Josh Pasker, Chris Hall, Scott Patterson, Richard Frazier, Joe Ourth
Industries Health Care
One year ago – in early 2020 – most of us did not know what COVID-19 meant (co-Corona; vi-Virus; d-disease; 19 – 2019); had no idea how to “zoom”; did not know what social distance meant; and, were largely unfamiliar with working from home on a normal weekday and certainly not week after week and month after month. The health care delivery system has had to react as well – and is still doing so! Institutional and individual providers have demonstrated to all they are the true HEROES of this pandemic. And their work is not done, even as the roll-out of vaccines continues to increase in numbers...
