United States: Healthcare

In April 2024, EPA designated perfluorooctanoic acid (“PFOA”) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (“PFOS”) as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”). As previously discussed in Re:Torts, industry groups challenged the designation, arguing that EPA misread the phrase “may present substantial danger” as requiring only a “possibility” of harm. The groups also argued EPA gave inadequate notice of its cost-benefit methodology and acted arbitrarily and capriciously.

California continues to lead the way in regulating foods and dietary supplements sold within its borders. Two recent developments are worth highlighting: the nation’s first statewide “Non-Ultraprocessed” food certification program, and a second-of-its-kind law restricting sales of certain dietary supplements and over-the-counter products to individuals under 18. Below, we break down both measures and what they may mean for food and supplement companies doing business in the state.

Henry Ford Health has filed a federal lawsuit against CVS Health and its affiliates, alleging the improper diversion of over $29 million in savings from the federal 340B Drug Pricing Program through manipulated reimbursements for specialty drugs. The healthcare system claims CVS used back-end pricing mechanisms to retain funds that should have been remitted under their pharmacy services agreements, with similar allegations emerging from other major health systems across the country.

FinCEN's September 2026 Financial Trend Analysis examines $17.5 billion in suspicious activity reports related to health care fraud, revealing critical patterns in Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance payments. The analysis demonstrates how financial institutions can distinguish between suspicious transactions and proven fraud while improving their investigation methodologies. Understanding these patterns helps compliance teams build more effective transaction monitoring systems without conflating repo

Senators Warren, Wyden, and Merkley, along with Representatives Hoyle, Ocasio-Cortez, and Subramanyam, have introduced the Stop Corporate Takeovers of Physicians Act. The bill would establish the corporate practice of medicine doctrine, rooted in more than a century of law in about half of the states, as a federal baseline. The bill would require that licensed physicians be majority owners and controllers of medical practices and place limitations upon management services organizations.

A federal appeals court has struck down HHS's regulatory tolling of advisory opinion deadlines and issued a sweeping interpretation of the Anti-Kickback Statute that affects patient support programs. The decision requires HHS to meaningfully engage with evidence submitted by requestors and enforces strict 60-day deadlines, fundamentally reshaping how life sciences companies navigate the advisory opinion process in a post-Loper Bright regulatory landscape.

Angela Humphreys and Wyatt Ritchie examine the evolving healthcare private equity landscape, analyzing M&A trends, buyer psychology shifts, and regulatory developments that are reshaping deal structures heading into 2027. The session reveals how large-scale transactions are driving market activity while state-level regulations and federal enforcement create new timing and structural challenges for healthcare investors.

The life sciences real estate market is shifting from laboratory space development to pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities, driven by efforts to reduce reliance on foreign manufacturers...

Hospitals and health systems face mounting financial pressures from Medicaid cuts, reimbursement changes, and site-neutral payment shifts. Strategic physician alignment offers a cost-effective solution to strengthen margins, improve network integrity, and leverage underutilized regulatory flexibilities in the Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute to create innovative compensation structures and value-based arrangements.