A head-spinning spree of rulings and new lawsuits in 2023's first half is reverberating across the health care industry and auguring a dizzying denouement in the year's final months that may well upend assumptions about drug prices and approvals, the False Claims Act and the powers of federal regulators.
The Biden administration has flouted the U.S. Supreme Court's rejection of a federal right to abortion by mimicking the "smurfing" techniques of money launderers and adopting "disingenuous" stances to thwart legal adversaries, a Texas federal judge ruled, preserving a challenge to abortion drug guidelines.
Merck & Co. on Tuesday likened the Inflation Reduction Act's new system of drug-price negotiations to an oppressive political regime and derided the Biden administration's rush for legal cover amid a cloudburst of litigation as "highly dubious" and "constitutionally irrelevant."
A recent False Claims Act ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court didn't set new standards for proving that companies "knowingly" scammed taxpayer-funded programs, the U.S. Department of Justice said Friday, rebutting a defense-friendly view and escalating an intense debate around the decision.
After the U.S. Supreme Court recently fortified barriers to escaping False Claims Act suits, defense counsel have started trying to turn the stumbling blocks into stepping stones, insisting the justices actually made matters harder for FCA plaintiffs alleging fraud and retaliation.