Ongoing investigations by both the Department of Defense (DOD) and a major U.S. media organization allege that suspicious marketing and prescribing activities have led to astronomical increases in TRICARE costs for compounded medications. According to the Military Times, TRICARE paid $769 million for compound prescriptions between January and March 2015, ... Read More »

Public awareness of the long-term effect of head injuries sustained in competitive sports, including but certainly not limited to collegiate and professional football, has increased significantly in the past decade. The highly publicized National Football League (NFL) federal court litigation has transitioned from the sports section to page-one treatment in ... Read More »

On February 25, 2015, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) announced that Eligible Professionals (“EPs”) participating in the Medicare Electronic Health Record Incentive Program (“Meaningful Use”) now have until 11:59 p.m. ET on March 20, 2015, to attest to Meaningful Use for the 2014 reporting year. The previous ... Read More »

In Lee County, Florida, a home healthcare nurse stands accused of stealing from her elderly patients. Police investigators say that the nurse opened fraudulent credit card accounts under the names of at least eight of her patients. Computer and transaction records indicate that she used stolen or fraudulently obtained credit ... Read More »

This week, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) greatly expanded the number of entities that may take back controlled substances from individuals lawfully in possession of such drugs. The DEA rule implements a 2010 law that aims to reduce abuse, misuse, diversion, and accidental ingestion of controlled substances stored in home ... Read More »

At the Health IT Policy Committee meeting in July 2014, CMS and the ONC reported on attestations for meaningful use (MU) Stage 2 as well as the progress and performance of eligible professionals (EPs) in the first three years of the EHR Incentive Program. 2014 attestations through July 1 included ... Read More »

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has recently issued two important reports discussing important aspects of the roll-out of the federal exchange and cost-effective preventive measures in U.S. healthcare. The first report, published on July 30, 2014, examines the problematic roll-out of Healthcare.gov. In this report, entitled “HEALTHCARE.GOV – Ineffective Planning ... Read More »

On September 30, 2014, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) will release information to the public relating to certain payments to physicians and teaching hospitals (collectively “Covered Providers”) from drug/device manufacturers and group purchasing organizations, as well as information on physician ownership and investment interests in certain drug/device ... Read More »

On July 1, 2014, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released several documents applicable to compounding pharmacies, which are in the business of preparing custom-tailored drugs intended for patients. The first document is draft interim guidance that describes the FDA’s expectations regarding compliance with current good manufacturing practice requirements. It focuses on ... Read More »

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has recently released a new security risk assessment tool for the purpose of aiding covered entities and business associates in their never-ending duty of ensuring HIPAA/HITECH compliance with their operations.Under HIPAA/HITECH, covered entities and business associates must conduct regular risk assessments of ... Read More »

On April 24, 2014, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued its long-awaited proposed regulations (Deeming Regulations) to bring electronic cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, water pipe (hookah) tobacco, dissolvables and nicotine gels (Newly Covered Products) under the agency’s tobacco regulatory authority. The Deeming Regulations would subject Newly Covered Products to ... Read More »