On August 29, 2024, the Office for Civil Rights of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS-OCR”) withdrew its appeal of an order by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas’ (“District Court”) declaring unlawful and vacating a portion of an HHS-OCR Bulletin
Health Care Privacy/HIPAA
New HIPAA Requirements Place Additional Privacy Obligations on Covered Entities and Patients in an Effort to Protect Reproductive Health Care Information
By Whitney Phelps & Michael Menconi on
On April 22, 2024, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) for the United States Department of Health and Human Services issued a Final Rule amending the Privacy Rule of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The Final Rule, which goes into effect on June 25, 2024, promulgates…
Another Resolution by DOJ Pursuant to its Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative Highlights Continued Efforts to Hold Companies Accountable for Ensuring Data are Secured
By Matthew J. Westbrook & Ryan P. Blaney on
We previously wrote about the United States Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative (“CCFI”), which “aims to hold accountable entities or individuals that put U.S. information or systems at risk by knowingly providing deficient cybersecurity products or services, knowingly misrepresenting their cybersecurity practices or protocols, or knowingly violating obligations to monitor and report cybersecurity incidents and breaches.” In that post, we summarized DOJ’s first two False Claims Act (“FCA”) resolutions pursuant to the CCFI, which amounted to more than $9 million in recoveries.
Privacy Post-Dobbs
By Whitney Phelps & Angela Gichinga on
Fifty years of legal precedent established by Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), and Planned Parenthood of Southern Pa. v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992), were overturned in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, holding that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion and leaving…
Federal Vaccination Tracking Raises Privacy Concerns
By Ryan P. Blaney & Krusheeta R. Patel on
Although vaccine rollout began slowly in the United States, millions of people are now being vaccinated against COVID-19 per day. As individuals receive the vaccine, states have been collecting personal health data in individual immunization registries. Experts say this data collection is essential to effectively monitor vaccination progress, report adverse reactions, compare vaccine efficacy in cross sections of the population, and keep track of who needs second doses and when.