In some ways, the 2023 proxy season might be met with a sigh of relief as some extraneous factors impacting United States capital markets—such as the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing Russo-Ukrainian conflict—have stabilized in terms of their increased effect. In that same vein, some changes that may have once been viewed as “trends” in disclosure are very much here to stay ...
On December 2, 2022, President Biden signed the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act (“Marijuana Research Act” or “Act”) into law. The Act aims to help facilitate research on marijuana, directs the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to follow new procedures to register practitioners to conduct marijuana research, and improves the supply of marijuana for research ...
Texas is increasingly a purple political state. The motto of the state's capital city implores its citizens to keep it weird.[1] Recent polling shows that Texans overwhelmingly support medical cannabis.[2] Every one of Texas' neighboring states has a real medical cannabis program ...
The exponentially rising hydrogen trend attracted not only hydrogen veterans to the World Hydrogen Congress in Rotterdam, but also the fossil fuel industry. Big oil giants, such as Shell and Total Energies, were major sponsors of the event and eagerly presented their new green ambitions on the showroom and the stage ...
Our support of the UK’s first official Hydrogen Week continues this week, bringing together stakeholders across the UK to celebrate and promote the role of hydrogen in reaching net zero (NZ). Michael Bennett, construction legal director at Shoosmiths, explores the topic of hydrogen and its current journey to achieving net zero. The number that has been front and centre of every environmental conference is 1.5C ...
The planning system has a key role to play in both facilitating and legislating for environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles. In the final instalment of Shoosmiths’ planning video series, legal director Sam Grange and associate Eram Watson examine how the real estate industry and planning system is incorporating ESG ...
Why is green hydrogen important and what is its role in energy transition? The UK’s first official Hydrogen Week takes centre stage this week, bringing together stakeholders across the UK to celebrate and promote the role of hydrogen in reaching net zero (NZ) ...
On February 1, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced enforcement action for the first time under its Health Breach Notification Rule[1]. The complaint against telehealth and prescription drug discount provider GoodRx Holdings Inc. (“GoodRx”), alleges its failure to notify consumers and others of its unauthorized disclosures of consumers’ personal health information to Facebook, Google and other companies ...
The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) withdrew three longstanding healthcare antitrust enforcement policy statements on the afternoon of Friday, February 3, 2023. The move follows a series of White House antitrust initiatives ...
At the end of 2022, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (“CMS”) issued a proposed rule that would amend the standard imposed on Medicare providers to report and return overpayments. If finalized, the proposed rule would replace the 60-day overpayment rule’s current “reasonable diligence” standard with the False Claims Act “knowingly” standard ...
As reported by various news outlets, the State Medical Board of Ohio (“Board”) has, and will continue, to ramp up investigations and enforcement actions related to alleged violations of ethical and professional guidelines. In particular, professional boundaries and sexual misconduct issues will be a primary focus for the Board, as it has been since the revelations of the Dr. Richard Strauss case became public ...
With the impact of climate change increasingly evident, it is no wonder that many consumers are endeavouring to make more environmentally conscious decisions in their day-to-day lives. Consumers’ focus to become more environmentally friendly often centralises around changes to their purchases of small, everyday goods such as food, toiletries and other household essentials ...
This week marks Children's Mental Health Week (6-12 February 2023). The focus on mental health has been increasing in recent years, with one in six children aged between five and 16 likely to have experienced mental health challenges. As a result, there are a growing number of workdays lost by parents, guardians, carers, and those with childcare responsibilities, to support and manage such challenges ...
On January 1, 2023, the Ohio Board of Nursing joined the multi-state Nurse Licensure Compact (“NLC”), allowing nurses who hold an Ohio nursing license to apply for a multi-state license. Ohio has joined at least 37 other states that participate in the multi-state license ...
There are less than 12 months until new mandatory biodiversity net gain (BNG) requirements are enforced as part of the Environment Act 2021. The legislation will require all new developments in England (bar a few exceptions) to deliver at least 10 per cent BNG – impacting both commercial and residential developers. Although the Environment Act received Royal Assent in November 2021, secondary legislation is set to be introduced to enable the relevant provisions to take effect ...
On April 27, 2022,Republic Act No. 11712, or thePublic Health Emergency Benefits and Allowances for Health Care Workers Act(“RA 11712”), was signed into law in recognition of the critical role of health care workers in providing quality health care and ensuring disease prevention in the general population, especially during the pandemic. It seeks to promote the welfare of health care workers through the grant of mandatory benefits and allowances with utmost efficiency ...
As previously discussed in our January 5, 2023 legal alert, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (“Pennsylvania DHS”) issued a Medical Assistance Bulletin (the “Bulletin”) in late December, 2022 that had the potential to put 340B savings at risk in Pennsylvania ...
On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued a Proposed Rule that would prohibit employers from enforcing non-compete agreements against former employees, contractors, and other workers. Dinsmore & Shohl’s Labor and Employment Group’s legal alert on January 5, provides general information about the changes envisaged in the Proposed Rule ...
On January 18, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) published a final rule (2023 Rule) revising the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) as used in the Clean Water Act (CWA). This 2023 Rule follows years of uncertainty as to the scope of CWA jurisdiction that has included nationwide litigation and multiple Supreme Court decisions ...
With the decreasing number of positive COVID-19 cases, more employees are now returning to on-site work and new COVID-19 testing protocols are in place. The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (“IATF”) provided guidelines for COVID-19 testing requirements for unvaccinated and partially vaccinated employees through its Resolutions No. 148-B and 149. Also, the National COVID-19 Immunization Program opened to the general public nationwide ...
Following the introduction of similar legislation in Scotland and Wales*, and a consultation exercise by the UK Government (the outcome of which was announced on 14 January 2023), a range of polluting single-use plastics will be banned from use in England from October 2023. What is coming into force and why? Under the Environmental Protection (Plastic Plates etc. and Polystyrene Containers etc ...
July 2022 saw the formal commencement of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry. Opened by Inquiry Chair Baroness Heather Hallett, we later witnessed preliminary hearings for Modules 1 and 2, held in October and November. As a reminder, Modules 1 and 2 cover the overarching topics of the UK’s pandemic preparedness and resilience, and core political and administrative decision-making throughout the UK (incorporating sub-modules for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), respectively ...
