Digital Health & Technology

Expert Analysis

• Predictions For How Telehealth Law Will Evolve In 2021

  

  Following the significant activity COVID-19 brought to telemedicine and digital health policy in 2020, legislators will likely continue reducing barriers to virtual care this year, but regulators' enforcement efforts will rise as well, says Nathaniel Lacktman at Foley & Lardner.

• Lessons From 2020 Life Sciences Securities Class Actions

  

  Life sciences companies can draw important insights from the many dismissal opinions that federal courts issued during 2020 in securities actions arising from adverse U.S. Food and Drug Administration actions and clinical development setbacks, say Yvonne Puig and Peter Stokes at Norton Rose.

• State AGs' 2020 Actions Offer Hints At 2021 Priorities

  

  A review of state attorney general actions in 2020 addressing consumer concerns including data privacy, product safety and marketplace competition can help companies prepare for the expected regulatory enforcement wave in 2021, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

• A Law Of The Digital Sea Could Expand Data Rights, Oversight

  

  Democracies should implement a law of the digital sea that can balance innovation with individual rights and national security by mandating personal ownership of data, rigorously enforcing antitrust law, and empowering agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to grade cyberhygiene, says Luke Schleusener at QOMPLX.

• How 2020 Changed Product Liability — And What's Next

  

  Like many other legal sectors, product liability regulation and litigation felt the sharp impact of COVID-19 in 2020, especially in health care and life sciences — and 2021 may hold more pandemic-related changes, as well as a new regulatory approach from the Biden administration, say attorneys at MoFo.

• Gov't Pandemic Response Will Boost Life Sciences In 2021

  

  The U.S. government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic has shown increasing openness to collaborating with life sciences and health companies, leading to advancements in telemedicine and the use of virtual environments that will likely continue through 2021 and beyond, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

• FCA Whistleblowers Are More Important Than Ever Before

  

  Though a recent Law360 guest article argued that the new U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' False Claims Act working group is correctly deemphasizing the role of whistleblowers, the group does not actually favor defense counsel and whistleblowers are crucial now due to the surge in emergency funding caused by the pandemic, says attorney Neil Getnick.

• 2020 ERISA Litigation Trends Hint At What's Ahead This Year

  

  Trends from a record-setting year for Employee Retirement Income Security Act litigation show no signs of slowing down in 2021, with more excessive fee claims targeting smaller plans, health coverage continuation notice lawsuits, and challenges to defined benefit plans’ actuarial assumptions likely on the horizon, say attorneys at Groom Law.

• 2 Major Digital Health Trends Driven By COVID-19

  

  The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting regulatory flexibility have enabled rapid development of information technology and big data in the digital health space that may continue to accelerate in the years ahead, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

• How New Kickback Rules Benefit Health Care Industry: Part 2

  

  While the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' changes to the Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark Law related to value-based health care delivery and payment garnered the most attention from the health care industry, the new rules include a number of other industry-friendly changes, say Karen Lovitch and Rachel Yount at Mintz.

• How COVID-19 Accelerated Telehealth In 2020

  

  Telehealth experienced unprecedented expansion due to COVID-19 in 2020, and its technological, legal and logistical trajectory is poised to continue beyond the pandemic, say attorneys at Marshall Dennehey.

• How New Kickback Rules Benefit Health Care Industry: Part 1

  

  Recently finalized U.S. Department of Health and Human Services rules, implementing changes to the Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark Law, advance the health care industry's transition to value-based care by removing obstacles to innovative cost-sharing arrangements, say Karen Lovitch and Rachel Yount at Mintz.

• COVID-19 Vaccines Unlikely To Create Litigation Opportunities

  

  Although COVID-19 vaccines are on the horizon, litigation opportunities may be limited due to the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act's significant liability protections for not only vaccine manufacturers, but also virtually all entities in the supply chain, say Eric Kraus and Jennifer Shah at Phillips Lytle.