On April 9, 2019, federal jurors in the Northern District of Texas returned a guilty verdict against seven doctors, surgeons, and health care executives accused of participating in a $200 million bribery and kickback scheme at Forest Park Medical Center (FPMC), a physician-owned hospital in Dallas.
On April 12, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) issued an interpretative statement concluding that all releases of pollutants from a point source to groundwater are excluded from the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program pursuant to Sections 301 and 402 of the Clean Water Act (Act). USEPA’s interpretative statement clarified that such discharges are excluded from NPDES permit requirements even where pollutants are conveyed to jurisdictional surface waters via groundwater.
On March 13, 2019, the City of Cincinnati joined a growing number of states and municipalities that have passed laws prohibiting employers from inquiring into a job applicant’s salary history.
Last month, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois confronted a bank’s potential liability for false information obtained (and even allegedly encouraged) by bank employees in the processing of consumer loans.
President Trump issued two Executive Orders (EO) on April 10, 2019 to expedite permitting and construction of primarily energy-related infrastructure projects.
Jackie Ford, a partner in the Vorys Houston office and a member of the labor and employment group, authored an article for Corporate Counsel titled "America’s Opioid Crisis: What Employers and Their Counsel Need to Know."
Since the last edition of The Evaluator, there have been several notable legislative developments and decisions from courts and tax boards in jurisdictions across the country.
In a recent decision, the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota held that the Department of Justice (DOJ) can still dismiss a qui tam filed under the False Claims Act even after it has declined to intervene in the case.
Vorys Partner Joe Brunner authored an article titled, “Data Breach Litigation: Defenses Against the Rising Tide” for the April 2019 edition of AHLA Connections.
On April 3, 2019, the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a notice in the Federal Register (available in full here) announcing a public hearing and related comment period regarding stakeholders’ experience with products containing the cannabis derivative cannabidiol, popularly known as “CBD.”
On March 26, 2019, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions held a hearing to evaluate a rule proposed by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology ) to implement certain provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act (related to health information technology.
On March 20, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP, unanimously holding that a business engaged in nonjudicial foreclosure proceedings is not a “debt collector” under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (the “FDCPA”), except for the limited purpose of one section.
The U.S. Supreme Court has vacated the Ninth Circuit’s decision approving a settlement between Google and a class of its users, based on unresolved questions regarding the users’ standing to bring their federal privacy claim.
On March 18, 2019, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed a bill into law that bars many types of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) that arise in the employment arena.
Due to the evolving sophistication of criminals, security breaches continue to occur on a regular basis. When such breaches occur, the victims of breaches often look to the law to make them whole.
Victor J. Ferguson
John F. Furniss III
David A. Groenke
Emily S. Pan
Michael G. Schwartz
David A. Swift
Mark E. Vannatta
Suzanne R. Galyardt
Karen M. Moore
Bailey R. Drexler
Jackie Ford
Nicholas M.J. Ray
David M. Aldous
Lauren M. Johnson
Andrew E. DeBord
Lindsay Doss Spillman
Hilary J. Houston
Steven L. Smiseck
Megan Savage Knox
Anthony L. Ehler
David A. Froling
Scott J. Ziance
Joseph M. Brunner
Nelson D. Cary
Jeffery E. Smith
Christopher A. LaRocco