Effective Jan. 26, 2021, all air passengers traveling to the United States will be required to get a viral test for current infection within the three days before their flight to the U.S. is scheduled to depart, and provide written documentation of their laboratory test results (paper or electronic copy) to the airline ...
The Supreme Court has handed down its much anticipated decision relating to the coverage of business interruption insurance claims made following the COVID-19 pandemic. A key question was whether the Supreme Court ruling would finally provide the clarity that the expedited test case sought to achieve for both policyholders and insurers. The good news for all is that the Supreme Court has indeed provided much more clarity in relation to most issues ...
The United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued an order that will take effect on January 26, 2021, requiring all arriving international airline passengers to provide proof of a negative COVID test taken within three days of the flight’s foreign departure. For those who have had it, the CDC will require proof of recovery ...
The year 2020 will have been difficult for the vast majority of industries, and in particular for the arts, entertainment and recreation industry. The video game industry, however, is growing in leaps and bounds. For example, Nintendo and PlayStation have each set record sales for their games released in 2020, including Animal Crossing:New Horizons and The Last of UsPart II. Over the past few decades, the number of video game players has never stopped increasing ...
Although the start of 2020 also shook up the M&A world, the market recovered especially in the second half of the year. At Van Doorne, the M&A specialists experienced this in the number of transactions: 32 of them. This puts the firm in 8th place in the Mergermarket Benelux League Table, based on the number of deals. In 2020, in Europe almost $850 billion was spent on a total of 6,658 transactions. This is an increase of 5.6% compared to 2019 ...
If parents cannot agree whether their children should be vaccinated, they can make an application under Section 8 of the Children Act 1989 to ask a judge to determine the issue. In M v H (Private Law Vaccination) [2020], the mother objected to the parties' two children aged six-years-old and four-years-old being given routine childhood vaccines in accordance with the NHS vaccination schedule ...
On Nov. 20, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued two final rules, which implement changes to the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) and Physician Self-Referral Law (Stark Law) regulations (respectively the OIG Final Rule and the CMS Final Rule, collectively the Final Rules) ...
The Court of Protection is a specialist Court, focussing solely on supporting vulnerable individuals. This past year has acutely highlighted the needs of those most vulnerable in our society and their dependency on others to help manage their affairs. The Court has had to adjust its practices in order to ensure that help and solutions are found for those lacking capacity with minimal delay ...
How does one resolve a dispute involving thousands of individual items where it is impractical to deal separately with each one? A recent decision in the Technology and Construction Court provides some guidance - but raises further questions. The case is Standard Life Assurance Limited v Gleeds (UK)(a firm) and Others (December 2020, TCC). Standard Life had engaged Costain as its main contractor for the development of a large residential and retail development in Berkshire ...
Parliament has revised the federal telecoms legislation – in particular, the Federal Telecommunications Act (TCA) and its various implementing ordinances. These revised regulations entered into force on 1 January 2021. The revision of the telecoms legislation brings about several fundamental changes that affect consumers as well as telecoms service providers (TSPs) and telecoms operators ...
The Unemployment Insurance Fund (“UIF”) has shed some light on what will happen to existing and outstanding COVID-19 Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme (“TERS”) applications and payments, particularly over the festive season. We discuss the must-knows for employers below ...
The State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy (OBP) is required to adopt a resolution specifying the required types of credentials for the responsible person of each business type of (i) terminal distributors of dangerous drugs and (ii) distributor of dangerous drugs. Only individuals who meet the credentials specified may be the responsible person for that type of business. On Jan ...
For several years, pursuant to the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act and Federal Trade Commission Act,[i] the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have issued joint warning letters to CBD companies alleging labeling claims they made are false or misleading. According to the agencies, the claims being made by these CBD companies include assertions that their CBD products will treat or cure serious health conditions ...
Did you know? The long-awaited draft of the Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL) was released for public consultation in October 2020. If enacted, it will be the first comprehensive law setting out the overall legal framework, as well as the obligations of different stakeholders throughout the entire lifecycle of personal data in China. Why does this matter to you? The data protection regime in China has developed rapidly in recent years and is stricter than one might think ...
When the scope of the COVID-19 pandemic became apparent in March 2020, an avalanche of articles appeared in which many insurers took the position that there was no coverage for losses associated with the SARS-CoV-2 virus due either to a lack of physical loss or damage to property necessary to trigger coverage under most commercial property policies, or to the effect of virus exclusions found in many such policies ...
The City and County of San Francisco (SF) issued a COVID-19 surge-related travel and quarantine order (Quarantine Order) on Dec. 16, 2020, and an updated Shelter-In-Place Order (SIP Order) on December 9 (updated Dec. 30, 2020). Under those orders, every person who enters SF after having been outside the Bay Area within the last ten days must quarantine for 240 hours from the time of arrival in SF. However, two exceptions apply to those working on construction projects in SF ...
Coming to Grips with Hospital Price Transparency – DC Circuit Rejects American Hospital Association’s Effort to Invalidate Price Transparency Requirements Rule Since 2010, Section 2718(e) of the Public Health Service Act has required hospitals to establish and publish annually “a list of the hospital’s standard charges for items and services provided by the hospital ...
Happy New Year! Not surprisingly, the Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog’s top ten most read posts of 2020 are dominated by COVID-19 business interruption insurance issues, as these disputes monopolized media headlines throughout the year. While 2021 shows promise for gaining control over the disease, the resulting insurance disputes are certain to remain center stage and our team will continue to report on material developments involving COVID-19 and other insurance coverage issues ...
On Dec. 22, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued warning letters to five companies for violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) related to the sale of cannabidiol (CBD) products.[i] CBD is the primary non-psychotropic compound in Cannabis sativa plant. The FDA stated the companies who were served warning letters illegally marketed CBD products for the treatment or prevention of medical conditions, including COVID-19 ...
On Jan. 19, 2021, the two recent final rules issued by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding changes to the Physician-Self Referral Law (Stark Law) and the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) regulations (respectively the OIG Final Rule and the CMS Rule, collectively the Final Rules) will become effective ...
On December 10, 2020, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced proposed changes to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule to support individuals’ engagement in their care, remove barriers to coordinated care, and reduce regulatory burdens on the health care industry ...
Last week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) updated its COVID-19 guidance to address workplace issues related to COVID-19 vaccines, including mandatory vaccination policies. According to the EEOC, employers may mandate vaccines, but must attempt to accommodate employees who refuse vaccination because of disability or a sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance ...
The 2020 Investment Priorities Plan (2020 IPP) has been promulgated by the Philippine President under Memorandum Order No. 50 dated November 18, 2020 (https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/downloads/2020/11nov/20201118-MO-50-RRD.pdf), and it became effective on December 6, 2020. The IPP is issued pursuant to the Omnibus Investments Code of 1987 (Executive Order No. 226), as amended (Omnibus Investments Code) ...
