Health Care

August 24, 2020

The Office for Civil Rights within the Department of Health and Human Services (OCR) provided guidance in June that reassured covered entity health care providers and that it is generally OK to use or disclose protected health information (PHI) to contact individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 for case management and care coordination. The OCR has now updated the guidance (“Guidance”) to clarify that health plans may also use or disclose PHI for…

Health Industry Washington Watch

Federal Court stays repeal of “On the Basis of Sex” definition in recent nondiscrimination final rule one day before regulations take effect

By Carol Loepere, Rebecca E. Dittrich & Taber Rueter

August 24, 2020

With only one day left before the final rule scaling back nondiscrimination regulations took effect, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York (EDNY) issued an order staying the repeal of certain parts of the former regulations. On June 19, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a final rule scaling back nondiscrimination regulations first…

DC Medical Malpractice & Patient Safety Blog

Nursing homes, still coping poorly with Covid-19, turn to lobbyists to shield them from legal accountability

By Patrick A. Malone

August 24, 2020

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Covid-19 infections and deaths are spiking anew in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, hitting worrisome levels not seen since months ago in the pandemic. The unchecked mess in centers nationwide, but especially in the South and West, is prompting more attention to them — from lobbyists boasting White House ties, health worker “strike teams,” and Big Pharma investigators. But even as the nation’s top overseer of long-term care calls on institutions…

Worms & Germs Blog

Updated Veterinary COVID Guidelines

By Scott Weese

August 24, 2020

As things change, both in the epidemiology of COVID-19 and our approach to containment, re-assessment of how we practice veterinary medicine and COVID-19 protection is important. The latest iteration of our guidance document has been released: COVID-19: A Guide to Reopening Veterinary Medicine in Ontario, Stage 3. As for the previous versions, this is a guide, not a standard – meaning it’s a document of recommendations and considerations, not a “standard of care.” The…

Health Care Law Today

EUAs for LDTs no Longer Required, but at the Expense of PREP Act Immunity

By Kyle Y. Faget

August 24, 2020

On August 20, 2020, the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) released a statement, Rescission of Guidances and Other Informal Issuances Concerning Premarket Review of Laboratory Developed Tests, which announced that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will no longer require premarket review of laboratory developed tests (LDTs), such as those currently being used to test for the presence of COVID-19, absent traditional notice-and-comment rulemaking. The notice-and-comment rulemaking now required contrasts with the…

Bill Madden's Blog

Abuse: Application to set aside settlement agreements and for leave to commence an action for a child sexual abuse cause of action.

By Bill Madden

August 24, 2020

WPM v Trustees of the Christian Brothers & ors [2020] WADC 112 (available on eCourts) saw the Court called upon to consider an Application to set aside settlement agreements and for leave to commence an action for a child sexual abuse cause of action on the basis that it was ‘just and reasonable to do so’. The plaintiff’s proposed causes of action became time barred many years ago. In 2009 and 2014 he entered…

DC Medical Malpractice & Patient Safety Blog

Are kids wrong in describing the pandemic school chaos as a ‘cluster …’ ?

By Patrick A. Malone

August 23, 2020

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If the young are the nation’s future, they are getting a sorry eyeful now of how not to deal with widespread death and disease, uncertainty, and inequity. What will kids say years from now about how parents and politicians handled young folks’ schooling during the Covid-19 pandemic? The student journalists at the University of North Carolina (photo, right) captured in one vulgar term the shambolic response, labeling it a “cluster—” you-know-what. That reaction summarized…

Death Care Compliance Law

Missouri Endowed Care Audits: Veering off the Legislature’s Intent

By Bill Stalter

August 23, 2020

In our third post on Missouri’s endowed care cemetery audits we look at the request for the cemetery’s legal documents. The current audit notice requests copies of the cemetery’s trust agreement, rules and regulations, contract forms, deed forms, brochures and any other materials making an endowed care representation. In essence, the audit is going to review these materials for compliance with Chapter 214. It has been suggested that this review is central to determining whether…

COVID-19 Workplace Law Advisor

Relaxed H-2A Rules Continue

By Michael H. Neifach

August 21, 2020

Due to the continuation of the COVID-19 national emergency, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has decided to continue its temporary loosening of H-2A rules to make it easier to employ temporary, seasonal agricultural workers. Under the rule: Employers can continue to petition to employ foreign workers who are already in the U.S. in H-2A status but who are working for a different employer; Employees will be able to start working for the new employer…

COVID-19 Workplace Law Advisor

I-9 Interim Rule Allows Approved Foreign Nationals to Begin Working

By Amy L. Peck & Michael H. Neifach

August 21, 2020

USCIS is in the process of entering a Consent Order to produce, on a specific schedule, Employment Authorization Document (EAD) cards for those 75,000 foreign nationals who have approved employment authorization applications but have been waiting for inordinate amounts of time for the cards themselves. Without the cards, these foreign nationals have not been able to complete the Form I-9 employment verification process and unable to work. In the meantime, so that they are not…

Health Care

Updated OCR Guidance on Contacting Recovered COVID-19 Patients

Federal Court stays repeal of “On the Basis of Sex” definition in recent nondiscrimination final rule one day before regulations take effect

Nursing homes, still coping poorly with Covid-19, turn to lobbyists to shield them from legal accountability

Updated Veterinary COVID Guidelines

EUAs for LDTs no Longer Required, but at the Expense of PREP Act Immunity

Abuse: Application to set aside settlement agreements and for leave to commence an action for a child sexual abuse cause of action.

Are kids wrong in describing the pandemic school chaos as a ‘cluster …’ ?

Missouri Endowed Care Audits: Veering off the Legislature’s Intent

Relaxed H-2A Rules Continue

I-9 Interim Rule Allows Approved Foreign Nationals to Begin Working

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