INSIDE COMPLIANCE

Playing Hardball: MLB’s Antitrust Immunity Goes into Extra Innings

November 2, 2023Arti SahajpalAntitrust

Major League Baseball’s (MLB) century-long immunity from antitrust law may soon come to an end depending on the Supreme Court’s ruling in the pending Tri-City ValleyCats, Inc. v. Office of the Commissioner of Baseball. The petitioners, a pair of minor league baseball teams, are seeking to overrule years of precedent that allow the league to function as both a monopsonist (only buyer in the market) and monopolist (only seller in a market) given its unique control over the professional baseball market. While other professional sports leagues are subject to competition laws, MLB is uniquely positioned to have complete control over licensing, geographic exclusivity for teams, broadcasting, and salaries. Unsurprisingly, MLB’s unrestricted control of the multibillion-dollar professional baseball market has raised concerns about the continued exemptions.

AntitrustBaseballSupreme Court

Amazon is FTC’s New “Prime” Suspect

November 2, 2023Amanda MeyerAntitrust

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 17 state attorneys brought a lawsuit against Amazon on September 26, 2023 claiming that Amazon is engaging in illegal activities to solidify their monopolistic grip on the online retail marketplace.

The Battle Over the Endangered Species Act: Reversing Trump-era Changes and Protecting Imperiled Wildlife

November 1, 2023Rachel KosmosEnvironmental

On January 20, 2021, his first day in office, President Biden passed Executive Order 13990, directing all executive departments and agencies to “immediately review” existing regulations, orders, policies, etc. that were “promulgated, issued, or adopted” by the previous administration between January 20, 2017 and January 20, 2021 and identify those that are or may be inconsistent with “important national objectives” regarding protecting public health, the environment, and restoring science. The order further directs agency heads to review such policies and consider whether to take any agency actions to fully restore and enforce important national objectives. A key focus of this order was to strengthen and fully enforce the Endangered Species Act, emphasizing the importance of conservation efforts and wildlife protection.

AI Nancy Drew, Is That You?

November 1, 2023Kirsten BrueggemannHealthcare Compliance

The United States spends more money per person on health care than any other country, approximately $4.2 trillion in 2021. Unfortunately, our complex health care system and the large budget make fraud a significant concern for the U.S. Government, payers, and patients. The National Healthcare Anti-Fraud Association estimates that as much as 10% of annual healthcare spending is lost to scams, resulting in billions in losses yearly. To combat healthcare fraud, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General, in collaboration with state law enforcement and other governmental agencies has created special Strike Forces. These efforts have led to substantial recoveries of federal funds and criminal/civil prosecution of individuals or entities involved in Medicare and Medicaid fraud. Besides avoiding unnecessary or fraudulent claims, individual healthcare payers are motivated to prevent fraud due to severe penalties associated with the False Claims Act, Anti-Kickback Statute, Physician Self-Referral Law (Stark Law), and Civil Monetary Penalties Law. How can individual payers detect and try to prevent fraud? The answer is AI.

AIfraud and abusehealthcare

The Legal Rights of Rite Aid’s Creditors

October 31, 2023Tomer ElkayamBankruptcy

Tomer D. Elkayam Associate Editor Loyola University Chicago School of Law, JD 2024 In the midst of a lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice (“DOJ”), Rite Aid Corporation announced it had filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection after agreeing with creditors on a financial restructuring plan. Rite Aid, one of the “big three” pharmaceutical …
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Who has ownership rights to AI generated content?

October 29, 2023Zaid DababnehUncategorized

ChatGPT, like other generative AI technology, relies on what it’s “fed” when “spitting out” responses or data. For example, if ChatGPT briefs a case for a law student, this is because someone inputs all the relevant information into ChatGPT at an earlier time. If someone asks ChatGPT to brief that same case and another case in one response; the software would take the one case’s information from the place it was provided, and combines it with the information found in the other place where the second case was found. All in all, ChatGPT is limited in response to what it has been “told” at an earlier time. Think something like a Parrot. Parrots are well known as a species of bird that can repeat the sounds and words that someone says in their vicinity.

artificial intelligenceintellectual propertyregulatory compliance

Red No. 3 – The Carcinogenic Color

October 26, 2023Delaney SzwedUncategorized

Consumers read product labels regularly to educate themselves on ingredients they are putting on or in their body. More likely than not, most consumers have read a label before and seen “RED 3” as an ingredient, often listed at the end of the lengthy list. What most consumers fail to recognize is what exactly “RED 3” is and the potential hazard it can pose to their health. While the Food and Drug Administration has requirements in place restricting the use of this color additive in cosmetics, it is still permitted to be used in food and drug products despite scientific findings of its cancer-causing effects.

FDA regulationsFood Processing

EPA Finalizes Rule Requiring Reporting of “Forever Chemicals”

October 26, 2023Doria KeysUncategorized

On September 28, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized its rule for manufactures of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which requires that these manufacturers provide information about what chemicals and the amount that they produce. Effective November 13, 2023, persons that manufacture, have manufactured, or have imported PFAS in any year since January 1, 2011, will now be required to report a wide range of information of PFAS including chemical identity and structure, uses, production volumes, exposures, by-products and health and environmental effects. EPA is taking this action not only to fulfill its obligations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Section 8(a)(7), but also to address this legacy pollution that has been, and continues to be, endangering people across the nation.

Environmental Protection Agencyenvironmental regulationEPAFDApublic health

It’s About to Get Much Harder to Launder Money

October 25, 2023Sean McBrideFraud & Abuse

In January 2021, Congress passed the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) as part of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020. The CTA requires entities to list names and addresses connected to both the company and beneficial owners. Ultimately, the goal is to reduce the ease at which shell companies can be formed and used to launder money.

Department of the Treasurymoney launderingSmall businesses

Updated ABA Resolution Imposes Higher Due Diligence Standards for Lawyers

October 22, 2023Alexia MandoengFraud & Abuse, National Security

The American Bar Association (“ABA”) recently passed Resolution 100 (“The Resolution”) to strengthen rules regarding due diligence toward clients. This resolution amends ABA Model Rule 1.16 to explicitly recognize an attorney’s duty to “assess the facts and circumstances of their representation”. The updated Rule reflects the goal of preventing attorneys from using their expertise to commit or further a scheme, with money laundering and terrorist financing being of particular concern.