As discussed in Casey Kannenberg’s June Blog post, recent legislation in Colorado is going to dramatically impact the defense of medical negligence claims by tripling the applicable caps for non-economic damages over the next five years. The cap is going to grow over the next five years from $300,000 to $875,000. After that, the noneconomic damages cap will be adjusted biennially for inflation.…
The 2025 Regular Session of the West Virginia Legislature had drama and intrigue as lawmakers considered some high-profile health law legislation. Below is a non-exhaustive recap of legislation related to health matters this session.
S.B. 458 – Universal Professional and Occupational Licensing Act of 2025
On March 10, 2025, the Supreme Court of the United States agreed to hear Berk v. Choy, No. 23-1620, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 18336 (3d Cir. July 25, 2024), a case over whether a Delaware statute which requires service of an affidavit of merit before a claimant can sue a health care provider will be applied in cases filed in federal court. This is important to health care providers because the Supreme…
In an effort to get around the American Rule of no recovery for attorney fees on negligence claims, an avenue sometimes explored is the addition of a claim under the Colorado Consumer Protection Act, C.R.S. §6-1-101 et seq. The Act provides for recovery of attorney fees by a successful plaintiff (but not a successful defense unless the claim is frivolous), and treble damages. C.R.S. §6-1-113(2).…
On April 19, 2024, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a final rule pertaining to the administrative dispute resolution (ADR) process for certain disputes arising under the 340B Drug Pricing Program (the “340B Program”).[1] The 340B Program derives from Section 340B of the Public Health Service Act (PHSA),[2]…
Hot off the presses yesterday (3/14/2024) is Cummings v. Paine where the Intermediate Court of Appeals (ICA) affirmed that jury verdicts against health care providers must be reduced by the amount of any pretrial settlements.
In Cummings, after the jury awarded $250,000 against a doctor and physician’s assistant, the circuit court adjusted the verdict by the percentage of fault assessed against…
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights, in coordination with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, recently released a Final Rule which modifies the Confidentiality of Substance Use Disorder (“SUD”) Patient Records regulations located at 42 C.F.R. Part 2 (commonly known as “Part 2”)[1]. The statute upon which Part 2 relies, 42…
New Year’s Resolutions are often quickly abandoned as the warm glow and hopeful aura of the holidays are snuffed out by winter’s more frigid days. At least one recent survey claims that people give up on those optimistic goals around 3.74 months into the new year.[1] While Jack Frost may sweep away certain resolutions, those in the health care industry should hold fast to at least one goal…
In a recent post,[i] we highlighted the Fourth Circuit’s decision in Pledger v. Lynch, 5 F.4th 511, 520 (4th Cir. 2021). There, the Fourth Circuit held that the notice and certification requirements[ii] of West Virginia’s Medical Professional Liability Act (“MPLA”) are incompatible with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and therefore do not apply in federal court. Pledger’s holding sets the…
On July 3, 2023, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a final rule implementing information blocking penalties against two types of health care actors—health information networks (HINs)/health information exchanges (HIEs) and developers and offerors of health information technology (HIT).[1] The final rule became effective…
Effective August 7, 2023, physician assistants in Colorado will no longer be required to practice under the supervision of a physician. SB 083 allows most physician assistants to now practice collaboratively with a physician rather than under a supervisory agreement.
The collaborative agreement must include:
The physician assistant's name, license number, and primary location of practice;
On July 1, 2023, the new law restricting physician non-compete agreements went into effect in Indiana. Four days later, the first case relying on these new provisions was filed in Allen County Superior Court, David Lankford, D.O. v. Lutheran Medical Group, LLC, 02D02-2307-PL-000261.
In Dr. Lankford’s complaint, he alleges that the Hospital materially breached the terms of his employment agreement…
