The sharing of confidential and proprietary information among competitors and potential competitors (even during due diligence) can raise serious antitrust concerns. In particular, parties must avoid exchanging information...more
Take note: Adjustments to the reporting thresholds under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (“Act”) will become effective on February 28, 2018. At that time, the minimum size-of-transaction threshold...more
Executive Summary -
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (“SAMHSA”), an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), recently finalized its changes to the...more
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”), subject to certain exceptions, provides individuals with the right to access their personal health information (“PHI”). Recently, the Office for Civil Rights...more
On February 2, 2016, the European Commission, the executive body of the European Union (“EU”), and the United States announced an agreement on a new alternative, called the “Privacy Shield,” to replace the former “Safe...more
On January 6, 2016, the Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) within the federal Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) issued a final rule to modify the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996...more
On October 14, 2015, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued guidance on how state regulatory boards can regulate their professions without running afoul of the antitrust laws (“Guidance”). The Guidance was issued in...more
On November 19, 2015, an Administrative Law Judge (the “ALJ”) at the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) dismissed the FTC’s 2013 complaint against LabMD, a clinical testing laboratory, stating that the FTC failed to demonstrate...more
On November 5, 2015, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued an administrative complaint challenging the proposed acquisition of St. Mary’s Medical Center (“St. Mary’s”) by Cabell Huntington Hospital (“Cabell”). The...more
On October 6, 2015, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”), the top court of the European Union (“EU”), released its opinion in Maximillian Schrems v. Data Protection Commissioner (C-362/14), invalidating the U.S.-EU Safe...more
10/12/2015
/ Binding Corporate Rules ,
Data Protection Authority ,
EU ,
EU Data Protection Laws ,
EU Directive ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
Facebook ,
Financial Institutions ,
Gramm-Leach-Blilely Act ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
International Data Transfers ,
Ireland ,
Member State ,
Model Contracts ,
Safe Harbors ,
Schrems I & Schrems II ,
US-EU Safe Harbor Framework
As the Department of Health and Human Services’ (“HHS”) Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”) proceeds with its second round of HIPAA audits, this time covering business associates as well as covered entities, a recent settlement...more
On August 13, 2015, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC” or “Commission”), by a 4-1 vote, approved a bipartisan “Statement of Enforcement Principles” (“Statement of Enforcement”),[1] which purports to shed light on the...more
On July 10, 2015, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) issued a Declaratory Ruling and Order (“Declaratory Ruling”) in response to 21 separate requests seeking clarification or other action on the Telephone Consumer...more
7/23/2015
/ Advertising ,
CAN-SPAM Act ,
Debt Collection ,
Declaratory Rulings ,
Exceptions ,
FCC ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Prior Express Consent ,
Reassigned Phone Numbers ,
TCPA ,
Telemarketing ,
Text Messages ,
Wireless Devices
On April 20, 2015, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced that Cardinal Health, Inc. (“Cardinal”), agreed to pay $26.8 million to resolve allegations that it violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act by monopolizing the...more
On February 24-25, 2015, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) co-hosted a second public workshop as part of the “Examining Health Care Competition” series to study...more
4/15/2015
/ ACOs ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Antitrust Division ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fee-for-Service ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Insurance Exchanges ,
Healthcare ,
Hospitals
On February 25, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States held that the North Carolina Dental Board (“Board”) was not insulated from federal antitrust liability under the so-called “state action” doctrine when it engaged...more
On November 7, 2014, the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) reached a $5 million settlement with Flakeboard America Limited (“Flakeboard”), its foreign parents, and SierraPine to settle allegations...more
1/8/2015
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disgorgement ,
Due Diligence ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Flakeboard America ,
Gun-Jumping ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hospitals ,
Sherman Act ,
Waiting Periods
Retailers face new challenges every day as a result of legislation, litigation, and technology. This Take 5 addresses some of these challenges.
1. Pregnancy Accommodation -
Several states and municipalities...more
2/21/2014
/ Contract Drafting ,
Cybersecurity ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Racial Profiling ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Release Agreements ,
Retailers ,
Separation Agreement ,
Severance Agreements ,
Social Media ,
Title VII
On January 24, 2014, in Federal Trade Commission v. St. Luke's Health System, Ltd. & Saltzer Medical Group, P.A., the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho found that the acquisition of Saltzer Medical Group...more
On January 25, 2013, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ("HIPAA") regulations (the "Omnibus Rule") implementing the statutory amendments under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical...more