Governor Perry recently signed four bills into law designed to combat Medicaid fraud, waste, and abuse. The bills are a mixed bag of enhanced enforcement capabilities for the state and a few new protections for healthcare providers. Most notably, the legislature made several changes to the Texas Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act (TMFPA), bringing the statute more in line with the federal False Claims Act. Changes to the Medicaid Fraud Laws On the enforcement side, S.B ...
In Wyeth and Cordis Corp. v. Abbott Laboratories, 2012-1223, -1224 (Fed. Cir. June 26, 2013), the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendants, holding method of treatment claims invalid under 35 U.S.C. § 112(a) (2012) as not being enabled for their full scope. (Slip op. at 3) ...
On June 13, 2013, in the highly anticipated decision for Ass’n for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., the Supreme Court shed some light on the future of genetic patenting to companies and scientists working in the personalized medicine and genetics industry. The personalized medicine industry seeks to revolutionize patient care by using genetic sequencing and testing to predict disease likelihood, severity, progression, and/or treatment response ...
In a decision that will likely have a significant impact on the pharmaceutical industry (and possibly broader implications for patent, antitrust, and high technology), the Supreme Court yesterday refused to exempt so-called reverse payment (or "pay for delay") patent settlements from antitrust scrutiny. Prior to yesterday’s ruling in FTC v. Actavis, Inc., 570 U.S. ___ (2013), most of the circuit courts to have considered the issue (i.e ...
The Supreme Court has unanimously upheld an arbitrator’s ruling that a contract that required arbitration of "any dispute" constituted an agreement to class-wide arbitration. The Court’s narrow ruling turns on the parties’ express agreement to allow the arbitrator to decide whether their contract, which contained an arbitration provision but did not mention class proceedings, authorized class arbitration ...
As discussed in our previous Alert, the French government has imposed Sunshine-like obligations on the pharmaceutical industry. Article 2 of Law No 2011-2012 of 29 December 2011 on the Strengthening of Health Protection for Medicinal and Health Products ("loi relative au renforcement de la sécurité sanitaire du médicament et des produits de santé" or "Loi Bertrand") inserted Articles L. 1453-1 in the French Code of Public Health ("Code de la santé publique" or "CSP"). Article L ...
On May 28, 2013, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a draft guidance entitled "Contract Manufacturing Arrangements for Drugs: Quality Agreements."1 The draft guidance describes FDA’s views on defining, establishing and documenting the responsibilities of parties that are involved in the contract manufacturing of drugs that are subject to current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) requirements ...
After the Netherlands, Slovakia, and the UK, it is now France’s turn to impose Sunshine-like obligations on the pharmaceutical industry. Soon, similar obligations will apply to all EU countries, after EFPIA, the European trade association for the pharmaceutical industry, adopts a code of conduct on disclosure of transfers of value between pharmaceutical companies and health care professionals or institutions ...
There was a bit of a stir in the British press recently, with certain companies complaining that the major UK supermarket chains are now using get-ups for their own-label products that are so similar to the get-ups used by the major brand owners that consumer confusion is inevitable. An industry spokesman said this: ‘Our research shows that consumers are more likely to buy own-label products if they look like brands ...
Last week, a federal jury in South Carolina found that Tuomey Healthcare System, Inc. violated the Stark Law and the False Claims Act by submitting false claims for reimbursement to the United States, resulting in $39 million in damages to the government. United States ex rel. Drakeford v. Tuomey Healthcare Sys., Inc., No. 3:05-2858-MBS (D.S.C. May 8, 2013) ...
On April 17, 2013, the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) released an Updated Provider Self-Disclosure Protocol (SDP), which replaces the original SDP published in 1998. The SDP is used by providers and suppliers to voluntarily disclose violations of the fraud and abuse laws. According to the OIG, it has received more than 800 disclosures since the SDP’s inception, resulting in more than $280 million in recoveries ...
The production and circulation of counterfeit products have been an economic and social problem for some time. Not only can such products pose a safety risk to consumers who use them, counterfeit products also lead to considerable lost income for legitimate businesses, decrease consumer confidence in the marketplace and are often used to finance organized crime. The retail value of counterfeit goods seized by the RCMP increased from $7.6 million in 2005 to $38 million in 2012 ...
Lindt received a nasty shock just before the Easter weekend. A 12-year legal battle ended with a German court ruling that Lindt could not use the German trade mark registration that it has for its famous Easter bunny to stop a competitor, Riegelen, from selling very similar looking confectionery – Lindt’s registration is for a sitting bunny wrapped in gold foil and featuring a red ribbon and a bell ...
The decision of the Indian Supreme Court to deny Novartis’s application for patent protection for an improved version of its patented Glivec drug – the culmination of a seven-year battle - has certainly made the headlines. There are a number of reasons for this. First, Glivec is a well-known drug – described by some as a ‘wonder drug’ – that’s used to combat cancer, including leukaemia and gastro-intestinal cancer ...
The Supreme Court of Appeal recently handed down a rare trade mark judgment. The protagonists were Adidas and Pepkor, and the main issue was whether Pepkor had infringed certain trade mark registrations belonging to Adidas for its famous three-stripe mark. Adidas was founded by a German called Adi Dassler in 1920 ...
A federal court jury in Illinois found that nursing home operator Momence Meadows fraudulently billed Medicare and Medicaid for “worthless services” and falsely certified compliance with health care laws and regulations, resulting in $28 million in damages to the government. United States ex rel. Absher v. Momence Meadows Nursing Ctr., Inc., No. 2:04-cv-02289 (C.D. Ill. Feb. 8, 2013) ...
It took thirteen years, four months, and five days of heated debates and passionate protests before the country’s first reproductive health law was passed. Four days shy of Christmas last year, President Aquino finally signed the 24-page bill into law. It is now Republic Act No. 10354 or The Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012 (RH Law). The passing of the RH Law, however, does by no means close this chapter of Philippine history ...
Sixteen years since the enactment of Law No. 7 of 1996 regarding Food (“the 1996 Food Law”), the Government issued the new Food Law (ie Law No. 18 of 2012) (“Food Law”) on 18 October 2012, two days after World Food Day. The Food Law replaces The 1996 Food Law. The Food Law covers three significant areas which were not governed by the 1996 Food Law, ie imports of food; the halal requirement; and the establishment of a new non-ministerial agency in-charge of food matters ...
Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“PPACA”), an employer that employs an average of at least 50 full-time and full-time equivalent employees (a “Large Employer”) during 2013 may be subject to a penalty in 2014 if the Large Employer fails to offer “minimum essential coverage” to all but 5 percent (or, if greater, five) of its full-time employees (“No Coverage Penalty”) ...
