Mr. Trump’s Swing at Financial Regulation

During his first 67 days in office, Mr. Trump signed 19 executive orders. One such action designed to roll back regulations from the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act (“Act”) received little to no media attention but may have long lasting ramifications in the financial industry.

Compliance in the Garment Industry: A Closer Look Into Bangladesh’s Factories

Compliance with labor laws is a major component of effectively and efficiently conducting business in the garment industry. Although there are a variety of areas, such as wage and hour compliance and disability compliance, human rights compliance issues are becoming increasingly prominent in recent times—especially in Bangladesh. The garment industry in Bangladesh came under international scrutiny in 2013 after the collapse of the Rana Plaza building, ultimately killing over 1,100 workers. This incident is considered to be one of the worst industrial disasters to ever occur and exposed many serious hazards that were occurring in Bangladeshi factories. Subsequently, some of the largest brands shifted to implement better conditions for workers.

DOJ Joins Whistleblower Suit Against UnitedHealth Group

The United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) recently intervened in a qui tam action against UnitedHealth Group (“United”) and its subsidiary, UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement, the nation’s largest provider of Medicare Advantage (“MA”) Plans. The suit alleges that United engaged in an “up-coding” scheme to receive higher payments than they should have under MA’s risk adjustment program. Assuming these allegations of United’s false claims are true, then United billed and received hundreds of millions of dollars in improper payments from Medicare.

Golden State Warriors Run Afoul to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act

The 2016 National Basketball Association Champions, the Golden State Warriors, have been accused of wiretapping and listening in to fans’ conversations without consent or knowledge in violation of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (“ECPA”), also referred to as the Wiretap Act. A new amended complaint alleges the warriors recorded fans’ oral dialogue via a phone application typically used to keep fans up-to-date on team scores, schedules, news, and statistics.

HIPAA Punctuality: Always Insist On It In Your Subordinates

In an unprecedented act, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) entered into a settlement agreement with Presence Health Network based on the healthcare system’s failure to timely report a breach of unsecured protected health information (PHI). Under the Breach Notification Rule of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) a covered entity must notify affected individuals, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the media for breaches affecting 500 people or more. Presence Health will pay $475,000 and implement a corrective action plan (CAP) to address misunderstandings in workforce member roles and responsibilities relating to the notification process.

OCR Audits Subject To Phishing Hack

Christine Bulgozdi Associate Editor Loyola University Chicago School of Law, JD 2018   Back in November, the Department of Human Services (HHS) Office of Civil Rights (OCR) released an alert stating that a phishing scam masquerading as an OCR Audit had been spotted being sent out to Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) covered …
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State Legislature Proposes New Bill to Ensure Athlete Safety

Meghan Murphy Associate Editor Loyola University Chicago School of Law, JD 2018   In January 2017, Connecticut joined the list of states seeking to implement new safety protections for their student-athletes by proposing a new bill, No. 6870, establishing an athletic protection commission.  While the law might be appealing on paper, both the NCAA and …
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When Policies and Procedures Are Just Not Enough: Memorial Healthcare System Settlement

Alexander Thompson Associate Editor Loyola University Chicago School of Law, JD 2018   On February 16, 2017, the HHS Office of Civil Rights Acting Director, Robinsue Frohboese, announced the second largest HIPAA settlement fine ever. At $5.50 million, Memorial Healthcare System’s fine was just behind the $5.55 million given to Advocate Healthcare in 2016. Memorial …
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Curing the Risk of Improper Social Media Use Amongst Health Care Professionals

Mary H. Carlson Associate Editor Loyola University Chicago School of Law, JD 2018   Social media has emerged as a preferred platform for the expression of personal opinions, a means of gathering new information, and as an important networking tool. However, health care profs subject themselves to particular dangers health care professionals (HCPs) subject themselves …
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