Digital Health & Technology

  • February 26, 2024

    NC Health Data Breach Class Deal Gets Preliminary OK

    A North Carolina state judge has preliminarily approved a settlement resolving a class action against an orthopedic practice over a data breach that compromised sensitive personal information and medical records of current and former patients.

  • February 26, 2024

    UnitedHealth Unit Hits 6th Day Of IT Outage After Cyberattack

    A UnitedHealth Group unit on Monday entered its sixth day of dealing with a cyberattack that breached its information technology systems and services spanning pharmacy claims billing, medical records and payor communications software.

  • February 26, 2024

    NC Hospital's Weak Data Security Led To Breach, Suit Says

    A patient filed a proposed class action in North Carolina's business court alleging a hospital system's inadequate data security resulted in a breach that allowed hackers to access private personal and health information.

  • February 23, 2024

    Seattle Hospital Gets Facebook Browser Tracking Suit Tossed

    A Washington state judge sided with Seattle Children's Hospital on Friday, throwing out a proposed class action accusing the healthcare provider of privacy law violations and agreeing the group of parents hadn't shown how the use of a browser tracking tool on its website disclosed confidential patient information to Facebook.

  • February 23, 2024

    Chamber's Report Bemoans Biden's March-In Idea For Drug IP

    The most powerful business lobbying group in the U.S. said that although the country ranked at the top of its annual International IP Index, the Biden administration's efforts to potentially use patent laws to reduce the price of pharmaceuticals would jeopardize its place down the line.

  • February 23, 2024

    Fla. Doctor Says T-Mobile Let Hacker Steal Her SIM Card

    A Tampa, Florida, doctor has sued T-Mobile for allegedly failing to stop a "SIM swap" hacker from transferring her personal phone account and then doing little to address the identity theft that followed, which involved the hacker trying to steal thousands from her retirement account and using her medical credentials to write more than 700 fraudulent prescriptions.

  • February 23, 2024

    Healthcare AI Startup Abridge Raises $150M

    AI clinical documentation company Abridge said on Friday that it had raised a $150 million series C round to build on its existing product lines and accelerate research and development.

  • February 22, 2024

    HHS' Civil Rights Office Reaches 2nd-Ever Ransomware Deal

    The Department of Health and Human Services has reached a deal with a Maryland-based behavioral health practice over a ransomware attack that affected the protected health information of nearly 15,000 individuals.

  • February 22, 2024

    HHS Warning to Congress: Health Data Breaches Surging

    The number of large data breaches exposing protected health information more than doubled in a recent five-year period, reaching 626 incidents in 2022 that affected nearly 42 million people, federal officials said Thursday.

  • February 22, 2024

    Mich. Judge OKs $52M Deal For Mayo Foundation Subscribers

    A Michigan federal judge on Wednesday gave the initial approval to a $52 million deal for subscribers to the Mayo Foundation's health magazine who allege the publisher shared their private information without consent.

  • February 21, 2024

    Del. Suit Accuses Healthcare Data Co. Exec Of Insider Trading

    A stockholder launched a derivative lawsuit late Wednesday in Delaware's Court of Chancery, alleging the founder of a behavioral healthcare data firm traded company shares using insider information and that nearly a dozen current and former directors and officers provided false and misleading disclosures about the business.

  • February 21, 2024

    Former Exec Convicted Of Medtronic Insider Trading Scheme

    A Minneapolis man who tipped off a friend about his employer's secret negotiations on a $1.6 billion acquisition deal with medical device company Medtronic has been convicted of securities fraud and conspiring to commit insider trading, the Minnesota U.S. Attorney's Office has announced.

  • February 21, 2024

    3rd Circ. Kicks Data Privacy Suit Against Penn To State Court

    A proposed class action alleging that the University of Pennsylvania violated the state's privacy law must head back to state court, the Third Circuit ruled Wednesday, rejecting arguments that the university health system acted as a federal officer by operating an online patient portal.

  • February 20, 2024

    Ala. Justices Deem Frozen Embryos Children Under State Law

    The Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos count as children in a first-of-its-kind decision bemoaned by advocates and a dissenting judge as potentially ruinous for in vitro fertilization services in the state. 

  • February 20, 2024

    FDA Flags 'Alarming Trend' Of Bad Data In Med Device Testing

    The Food and Drug Administration warned medical device manufacturers Tuesday that it has spotted an uptick in fraudulent data submitted by applicants seeking approval for new devices, an "alarming trend" the agency said could harm patients' access to vital medical equipment.

  • February 20, 2024

    Biology AI Startup Bioptimus Raises $35M Seed Round

    Artificial intelligence startup Bioptimus has raised $35 million to build an AI foundational model focused on biology, the company announced Tuesday.

  • February 20, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Backs Microsoft's PTAB Win Over 3D Patents

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board properly invalidated a pair of 3D medical imaging patents challenged by Microsoft, the Federal Circuit affirmed Tuesday.

  • February 15, 2024

    7th Circ. Rejects Ancestry.com's Arbitration Bid In Privacy Suit

    The Seventh Circuit on Thursday upheld a lower court's decision that minors suing Ancestry.com for sharing their genetic testing information can avoid arbitration, saying there was no language in the terms their parents signed designating the children as parties to the agreement.

  • February 15, 2024

    House Committee Blasts VA, Oracle For E-Record Failures

    Lawmakers on Thursday rebuked the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Oracle Corp. for inadequate fixes to electronic medical records systems that they say continue to threaten the health and safety of thousands of veterans, who are not being advised of the risk.

  • February 15, 2024

    Med Monitoring Claims In Philips MDL Sent Back For Review

    The judge overseeing multidistrict litigation over Koninklijke Philips NV's recalled breathing machines has declined a special master's recommendation to trim claims seeking medical monitoring for some users, instead sending the case back for a deeper look at which states would allow such claims or whether they required proof of physical injury.

  • February 14, 2024

    Telehealth Advocates Press DEA On Prescription 'Red Flags'

    Several telehealth providers, policy organizations and a technology company joined forces to urge the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to provide "explicit guidance" to pharmacists about filling prescriptions for controlled substances that result from telehealth visits. 

  • February 14, 2024

    Mo. Hospital Faces Action Over Breach Of 500K Patients' Data

    A Missouri hospital has been hit with a proposed class action after allegedly taking five months to notify more than 500,000 patients that their sensitive information had been compromised, according to a complaint filed in Missouri federal court.

  • February 14, 2024

    NYC Sues Facebook, Social Media Cos. Over Teen Addiction

    New York City on Wednesday became the latest government entity to accuse social media giants such as Facebook, TikTok and YouTube of purposefully hooking youth on their platforms and driving a mental health care crisis by designing their apps to mimic gambling and tobacco industry tactics in a California state court suit.

  • February 14, 2024

    Software Co. Inks $4M Deal In Privacy Suit Over Breached Info

    Patients suing software company Connexin Software for allegedly failing to safeguard the healthcare and personal identifiable information of more than 200,000 people compromised during a data breach, including that of children, asked a Pennsylvania federal judge on Wednesday to approve a $4 million class settlement.

  • February 14, 2024

    Dad Sues Hacked Chicago Children's Hospital Again

    A plaintiff already suing Ann Lurie Children's Hospital over alleged negligence in managing its medical records has again targeted the Chicago hospital, claiming it didn't do enough to protect patient data from hackers who have stymied hospital operations for weeks. 

Expert Analysis

  • How EU's New Pharma Incentives May Affect US Cos.

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    Geneviève Michaux and Georgios Symeonidis at King & Spalding examine Europe's recent revisions to its General Pharmaceutical Legislation and the Orphan and Paediatric Legislation, and consider the European Commission's related policy proposals, with an emphasis on pharmaceutical incentives and impacts for U.S. pharmaceutical developers and manufacturers that market products in Europe.

  • HHS Bulletin Raises HIPAA Risks For Online Tracking Vendors

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    A new bulletin from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services clarifies how the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act applies to information collected by tracking technology on websites and mobile apps, creating new compliance considerations for online tracking vendors that may be unfamiliar with HIPAA, says Mason Fitch at Hintze Law.

  • Compliance Considerations For Virtual Ketamine Clinics

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    In the wake of investigations into several online prescribers of controlled substances, it is more important than ever that virtual clinics providing off-label ketamine treatment for mental and behavioral health issues consider five key aspects to staying compliant with medical practice and controlled substance regulations, say attorneys at Goodwin.

  • State Regulation Compliance Tips For Telehealth Employers

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    Nondisclosure, onboarding and reimbursement challenges are behind many remote work-related telehealth employment lawsuits, but with advance planning and knowledge of the state's requirements where practitioners are located, telehealth employers can avoid costly mistakes from the inception through the end of employment, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

  • 9 Legal Ethics Considerations In Natural Disaster Preparation

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    Since natural disasters like Hurricane Ian do not relieve lawyers of their ethical obligations to clients, law firms should focus their preparedness efforts on specific areas crucial to continuity of representation and ethics compliance, like business and communications contingency planning, record redundancy and more, says Mark Hinderks at Stinson.

  • NY Data Breach Penalty Expands Regulatory Requirements

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    The New York Department of Financial Services’ recent consent order with EyeMed is an aggressive reading of state regulation that arguably expands current requirements, which could increase the complexity of the risk assessment process and may serve as a precedent for other privacy and data security regulators, says Rick Borden at Frankfurt Kurnit.

  • Cybersecurity Expectations Intensify For Medical Device Cos.

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    A recent FBI industry notification and U.S. Food and Drug Administration draft guidance highlight urgent compliance considerations for medical device manufacturers, and contrasts with how federal regulators have previously treated health care players as victims in cybersecurity incidents, say attorneys at Morrison Foerster.

  • Risk Mitigation In Face Of Rising Legal Malpractice Claims

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    As the recent rise in frequency and cost of legal malpractice claims is expected to continue amid global high inflation and economic uncertainty, law firms and insurers would be wise to evaluate key risk areas and consider six steps to minimize exposure, say Nicole Shapiro and Cory Stumpf at Atheria Law.

  • Unpacking FDA's Final Clinical Decision Support Guidance

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    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's latest guidance on clinical decision support software introduces new concepts, questions and ambiguities, and may be challenging to implement in practice, say attorneys at Covington.

  • How Cos. Can Adapt To Global AI Regulation Trends

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    Companies can prepare for the future of artificial intelligence regulation by monitoring proposed and existing regulations both in the U.S. and abroad, tailoring their internal compliance architecture for AI-specific risks, and looking for opportunities to lead on governance issues, says Nicholas Diamond at Jackson Walker.

  • 4 Strategies For Drafting Effective Consumer Breach Notices

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    Businesses should consider key strategies when drafting consumer breach notification letters, such as knowing their audience and what is on their mind, and prioritizing user-friendliness and tone, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • How Contractors Can Avoid Cybersecurity FCA Violations

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    Recent U.S. Department of Justice settlements and remarks underscore heightened focus on cybersecurity liability under the False Claims Act, so government contractors should consider compliance measures such as conducting periodic risk assessments, being responsive to employee concerns, and more, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • EU Regulation Highlights AI Issues For Digital Health Cos.

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    As the regulation of artificial intelligence is high on the agenda for EU and U.K. policymakers and regulators, and likely imminent in the U.S., now is the time for providers in the digital health space to consider how compliance may need to change, and safeguard their position in the market, say Chris Eastham and Olivia Morgan at Fieldfisher.