On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) voted to issue a final rule banning non-compete provisions in most industries in the United States (“Final Rule”). Dinsmore attorneys were quick to publish the details and impact of the Final Rule, which is available here. This supplement focuses on the impact of the Final Rule on the healthcare industry ...
On April 15, 2024, the Department of Justice released its “Criminal Division’s Pilot Program on Voluntary Self-Disclosures for Individuals.” Similar in many ways to programs introduced earlier this year by the U.S ...
China's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) released the 2023 Drug Review Annual Report on its official website on February 4, 2024, closely followed by the 2023 Medical Device Registration Annual Report on February 5. According to the public information, more than 60 innovative drugs have been approved by NMPA from 2022 to 2023, and a total of 61 innovative medical devices have been approved in 2023 ...
Between September 2021 and May 2022, the words 'stress', 'mental health' and 'depression' appeared in more than 12,000 early conciliation or employment tribunal cases , demonstrating the prevalence of this subject matter in employment-related disputes. Today, more than ever, employers are expected to afford greater consideration to workplace conditions that do or could impact upon employees’ mental health ...
The United States is on the verge of one of the biggest, if not the biggest, transformations to marijuana policy in the last 50 years. According to an Associated Press report, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is expected to reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) ...
The Department for Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) recently issued a final rule under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which prohibits federally funded health programs from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability. Consistent with the Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in Bostock v ...
On May 07th, 2024, the Chilean President of the Republic sent to the Chamber of Deputies a bill (the “bill”) regarding the regulation of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) systems, being the result of the work carried out on the former bill, the National AI Policy, comparative experience, and several international recommendations regarding AI ethics ...
Can social media platforms be considered products for the purpose of a product liability action in New York? At least one court seems to think so — but as we explain below, its opinion appears to be the first of its kind, although there is limited precedent in New York either way. On March 18, Justice Paula Feroleto of the New York Supreme Court, Erie County, denied a motion to dismiss in Patterson v. Meta Platforms Inc ...
The Russian government has approved draft amendments to the Russian Criminal Code that increase the severity of punishment for leaks of personal data (“PD”) The amendments have changed slightly compared with the version adopted in the first reading ...
Did the United States Supreme Court upend specific jurisdiction in Ford Motor Co. v. Montana Eighth Judicial District Court, 141 S. Ct. 1017 (2021)? Not quite. But the Court did rule for the first time that due process does not require a causal link between the defendant’s activities in the forum and the alleged injury to the plaintiff. This case calls into question decades of precedent in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit suggesting otherwise ...
Recently, modifications announced by the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) to 42 C.F.R. Part 2 (“Part 2”) rules governing Confidentiality of Substance Use Disorder (“SUD”) Patient Records went into effect. This is a major rule change for Part 2 providers and the enhanced penalties and enforcement measures make compliance with the new rules essential for any Part 2 provider ...
The Automated Vehicles Act has received Royal Assent after a smooth and quick passage through parliament. In this article, Ben Gardner outlines what organisations in the sector can expect to happen next. What is the Automated Vehicles Act? The Act lays the foundations for the future deployment of automated vehicles on public roads ...
HR teams have a lot on their plate, but a key priority for 2024 is undoubtedly protecting the employee brand proposition. Our 2024 online programme is focused on supporting HR teams to do just this, equipping them with the tools they need to protect the employee brand proposition of the organisations they work for. Our latest webinar focused on what organisations need to do to protect their employee data ...
On 16 May, a letter was signed by over 50 participants and groups from the digital asset industry. They sent it to the Speaker and Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, urging them to back a Bill (HR 4763, the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act or “FIT 21”). FIT 21 is expected to be debated and voted on this week ...
In recent years, the regulatory framework for human genetic resources ("HGR") in China has become increasingly mature ...
For many years, nurses in Ohio were only required to disclose convictions to the Ohio Board of Nursing on their biennial license renewal application. However, a new regulation from the Ohio Board of Nursing now requires licensees to additionally report a guilty plea, conviction or treatment in lieu of conviction of certain crimes within 30 days of the plea or entry ...
Finland and Sweden secure key arms procurement under EU security exemption The Finnish Defence Forces Logistics Command has finalized a framework agreement with the Swedish Defence Materiel Agency and Finnish arms manufacturer Sako Oy. This agreement – critical for the enhancement of both nations’ military capabilities – bypasses conventional public procurement procedures, invoking Article 346(1)(b) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) ...
A General Election will be held on 4 July 2024. In this article, Sarah Jenkins considers what that might mean for the pensions industry What does the General Election mean for pensions? It has been a busy time for the pensions industry of late - a new policy, consultation or legislation seemingly appeared each month. However, the pensions plates are not the only ones which the Government has been spinning, and much of the planned pension reform has not yet made it to the statute books ...
Our Energy practice group has been following the progress of the legislative project which aims to clarify the requirements and processes for offshore wind power in the Finnish exclusive economic zone ("EEZ"). On 23 May 2024, the Finnish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment ("Ministry") held a third stakeholder meeting to inform and discuss in detail the draft government proposal, which has just been submitted for consultation ...
With the race to develop AIs, the intellectual property protection for them is an increasingly vexed subject. The UK Intellectual Property Office’s (UKIPO) new guidelines may help. The issue European and UK patent law excludes from patent protection inventions relating solely to a program for a computer or a mathematical method. The exception to this is where there is a ‘technical contribution’ to the state of the art ...
As employers begin to embrace Artificial Intelligence (AI) within the workplace, its growing use within the recruitment process means that the potential risks of its implementation need to be considered. The Responsible Technology Adoption Unit (RTA) has published guidance to assist HR and recruitment organisations on how to use AI responsibly ...
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill (the Bill) completed the legislative process and received Royal Assent on 24 May 2024 and is now law. The changes introduced by the Bill include better protection for consumers in relation to subscription contracts, regulation of fake reviews, the display of ecommerce pricing information (to avoid ‘drip pricing’) and enhanced enforcement measures (including GDPR style fines) against non-compliant traders ...
When the Second Payment Services Directive1 (‘PSD2’) replaced the First Payment Service Directive, the European Union (‘EU’) introduced the requirement of Strong Customer Authentication (‘SCA’). SCA enhances the security of electronic payments through additional layers of authentication with the aim to mitigate payment fraud ...
