There can be no doubt that the dominant and most oft-debated legal issue affecting the practice of medicine today is the prescribing of controlled substances to patients for pain. At the forefront of the debate is the drug Oxycontin, a powerful opioid produced by the privately-held company Purdue Pharma.» Read More

Did you know that any patient, colleague, pharmacist, or hospital can file a complaint against a physician at any time? No matter what the complaint may be, the state medical board is required to start a preliminary investigation, at the very least.» Read More

Generally, when using or disclosing an individual’s Protected Health Information (“PHI”), HIPAA regulations require the covered entity to obtain an authorization from an individual, including for research purposes[1].  The Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”), the entity that enforces HIPAA compliance, recently issued guidance for situations when an entity obtains an authorization from an individual for use and disclosure of PHI for research[2], focusing on the following topics:

• Sufficient Description – HIPAA regulations require that the authorization, in plain language, provide “a description of each purpose of the requested use or disclosure.

On Friday, June 1, 2018, Governor Murphy signed into law the Out-of-Network Consumer Protection, Transparency, Cost Containment and Accountability Act, to take effect Thursday, August 30.  The bill is intended to protect patients from surprise out-of-network medical bills.

Click here to read our alert to learn how this new Act will affect patients, insurance carriers, and health care providers.» Read More

In a recent press release, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York announced that a Poughkeepsie physician and his wife were sentenced for a misdemeanor for ordering and administering to patients, drugs that were not approved by the FDA and were obtained from foreign sources. » Read More

The Office of the Medicaid Inspector General (“OMIG”) has released its Work Plan for the next Fiscal Year, which encompasses April 1, 2018, through March 31, 2019.  The stated mission of the OMIG, an independent entity created within the New York State Department of Health, is to detect and prevent fraudulent practices within the Medicaid system and recover funds deemed improperly paid to health care providers. » Read More