The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has posted notice to health care companies that their use of noncompete agreements for physicians and nurses may violate the law. The advisory may allow physicians and nurses engaged in clinical trials to move to other employers, thus complicating the conduct of those trials.
The debate around the U.S. 340B prescription drug discount program is once again heating up in court and in Congress. A day after the American Hospital Association called on the FTC and Department of Justice to investigate alleged antitrust issues with the rebate models a few drug companies have proposed, some members of Congress raised concerns Sept. 9 about how providers are abusing the program. Meanwhile, a U.S. appellate court heard arguments that same day on whether states can speak in the silence of the federal law that created the program more than 30 years ago.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has opened a docket for comment on noncompete employment contracts, a move which suggests that the agency may revert to evaluating these practices on a case-by-case basis rather than by issuing sweeping rules.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported Aug. 6 that it will try to block Edwards Lifesciences Corp.’s proposed acquisition of Jenavalve because Edwards’ acquisition of both Jenavalve Technology Inc. and JC Medical would eliminate competition in the TAVR space for aortic regurgitation.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission announced a $14.6 million grant it received for an upgrade of its IT infrastructure. The same grant mechanism is leveraged by the Department of Justice, which is a clear sign that U.S. enforcement will be more vigorously enabled by sophisticated analytics going forward.
Once again, U.S. legislative reforms to rein in pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) business practices missed a ride to finally becoming law. This time, they were kicked out of the Trump administration’s budget reconciliation bill that was signed into law July 4. House Resolution 1, as first passed in the lower chamber, included a few PBM reforms, but they were deleted from the Senate version that ultimately became law because the parliamentarian ruled they didn’t meet the restrictions placed on reconciliation measures.
Xlear Inc., of Salt Lake City filed a petition in U.S. district court that could terminate the Federal Trade Commission’s practice of demanding substantiation of health care claims.
Xlear Inc., of Salt Lake City filed a petition in U.S. district court that could terminate the Federal Trade Commission’s practice of demanding substantiation of health care claims.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said it sent letters to 37 contact lens prescribers reminding them a failure to automatically provide patients with a prescription can result in fines of more than $53,000 per violation.
The U.S. Department of Justice is reshuffling its enforcement focus for the coming three years per a May 12 memo attributed to Matthew Galeotti, director of the department’s criminal division. Galeotti said federal attorneys should avoid prosecutorial adventurism in an effort to strike what he described as “an appropriate balance” between enforcement and “unnecessary burdens on American enterprise.”
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