The Energy Law is to permit industrial users to obtain certificates of origin and present them for redemption for only a portion of the electricity they purchase. But the future of this support mechanism has been called into question. The rule introduced by the 26 July 2013 act amending Poland’s Energy Law limits the obligation imposed on industrial users to support the generation of electricity from renewable energy sources (RES) and high-efficiency cogeneration (CHP) ...
Under a new state law that takes effect January 1, 2020, California health care facilities and other entities must report any written allegations that a physician or other healing arts licensee has sexually abused or engaged in sexual misconduct with respect to a patient. Sexual misconduct is defined as "inappropriate contact or communication of a sexual nature." SB 425 (Hill) amends the Business and Professions Code to add a new provision, Section 805.8 ...
WHAT IS A CON? A Certificate of Need (CON) is a permit authorizing the establishment, modification, or construction of a healthcare institution, facility, or service at a designated location. Obtaining a CON is a prerequisite to obtaining licensure from the State of Tennessee for certain enumerated health services and facilities. The Health Services and Development Agency (HSDA) regulates the healthcare industry in Tennessee through the CON program ...
The White House announced on Monday, Sept. 20, 2021, that in early November of this year, it intends to end the COVID-19 travel bans imposed in 2020 and replace them with vaccination and COVID-19 testing requirements for almost all travelers ...
This eighth edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19-related litigation, follows what we hope was a restful and meaningful Memorial Day weekend. For the third week in a row, shutdown challenges, workers' compensation claims, and wrongful death lawsuits have dominated the news cycle. But, we are also seeing a continuation in refund claims and an uptick in fraud claims involving everything from alleged misuse of sick days to corporate press releases ...
This fall, an outbreak of lung illnesses allegedly related to vaping ignited public hysteria and legislative reactions in many states. The vaping and cannabis industries are already paying, and will continue to pay, high reputational and policy costs associated with these events, and the industries should also be aware that the widespread nature of reported injuries could lead to a substantial amount of costly mass tort litigation ...
After over two years of statewide eviction moratoria in the forms of executive orders, Judicial Council rules, and legislation, California's eviction moratorium was scheduled to come to an end on March 31, 2022. However, on March 31, 2022, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, serving as acting governor while Governor Gavin Newsom was out of state, signed Assembly Bill 2179 into law, which took effect immediately ...
California Health and Safety Code section 1418.8 outlines the requirements a skilled nursing facility (SNF) must follow when a physician prescribes a medical intervention that requires informed consent for an "unfriended" resident, meaning an individual who lacks capacity and does not have a person with legal authority to make health care decisions on their behalf. Section 1418 ...
Earlier in the year, we reported on the government’s announcement of increases to visa and nationality fees. These increases to application fees came into force on 4 October 2023, other than the substantial increase to the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) which was expected to come ‘later in the autumn’ ...
We would like to provide you with an update on some changes in the legal regulation of medicines in Russia made due to dynamic spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) ...
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 ...
Even though OSHA has advised that no specific standard covers the novel coronavirus, human resource and safety personnel must be mindful of the generally-applicable standards that might apply. OSHA has issued several guidelines that, while not the rule of law, do offer guidance on addressing COVID-19 issues, including recordkeeping and 300 log reporting obligations. On April 10, OSHA issued guidance that appeared to limit what cases would be required to be reported on OSHA 300 logs ...
After decades of debate, US healthcare reform became a reality in 2010 when President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) in March. Yet public opinion remains sharply divided on the merits of this sweeping legislation, both in terms of its ability to address the problems of access to, and the rising cost of, healthcare services and in terms of the financial burden on the federal and state governments of implementing ACA ...
On June 16, 2020 the German government released its Corona-Warn-App. There are some key points employers should be aware of concerning the app: NO OBLIGATION FOR EMPLOYEES TO USE THE APP ON THEIR PERSONAL SMARTPHONES An employer may be thinking about instructing its employees to install and use the Corona-Warn-App on their own devices to reduce the infection risk among its employees. That is not permitted ...
As all court cases do, the Supreme Court's landmark decision in West Virginia v. EPA last month addressed a specific question: whether the Environmental Protection Agency had the statutory authority to shut down power plants and reshape significant parts of the energy sector in its effort to reduce emissions. The answer was a plain and simple no. Equally clear was the court's argument, which has implications for administrative actions well beyond this case ...
OSHA’s long-anticipated (as we have previously discussed) COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard ("ETS") is out and, as promised, it will require companies with at least 100 employees – across all facilities – to either institute a vaccine mandate or compel unvaccinated employees to submit to weekly testing and workplace masking for at least the next six months ...
How do we discipline employees that refuse to work due to the Ebola virus? What patient information is protected during an outbreak? How should we communicate with our employees about Ebola? Has OSHA issued new guidelines on Ebola for healthcare providers? These are just a few of the questions we are hearing from our clients ...
Last week, Waller launched an Ebola legal resource website. Since then, we have received positive feedback from our clients, follow-up questions and suggestions for additional topics we should cover. As the needs of our clients continue to evolve, we are updating the site regularly ...
On November 12, 2020, the Washington Supreme Court extended corporate attorney-client privilege protection to appropriate ex parte communications between defendant hospitals and their non-employee agents. The court’s decision in Hermanson v. MultiCare Health Sys., Inc ...
Special Report "COVID-19 in Central America" on special measures taken in each country of our region prepared by the multidisciplinary team of Consortium Legal. The information contained in this publication is for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The information is constantly updated and is subject to change ...
The Department of Health and Human Resources (“DHHR”) was West Virginia’s largest executive agency until the Legislature passed House Bill 2006 earlier this month. For several years now, West Virginia lawmakers have been looking into how to handle the enormous agency, improve its function and oversight, and improve the management of the wide range of health and social programs administered by the DHHR. With an annual budget topping $7 ...
Industrial facility owners and operators in West Virginia should be aware of new reporting requirements that will soon go into effect. In addition to currently mandated notifications to federal, state, and local agencies after certain events occur, some facilities will soon be required to notify the state within 15 minutes of discovering specific types of emergency events or be subject to a fine of up to $100,000 ...
A change in administrations from Republican to Democratic usually ushers in increased enforcement, regulation and strategic initiatives. Most of the Trump regulations and initiatives will likely be scrapped where possible. They will be replaced by rules and guidance documents that have been held in abeyance during the previous administration, as well as numerous new initiatives ...
