INSIDE COMPLIANCE

Nurse for Hire Services, the Next Uber?

February 22, 2022Micaela EngerUncategorized

The pandemic overloaded hospitals with increased patient volume, and after almost two years of battling COVID-19, health care worker burnout is at an all-time high. As a result of burnout, the healthcare industry is suffering from worker shortages, especially among nurses. Nursing shortages are straining hospital profitability, care delivery, and efficiency. Competition for labor will likely continue even after the pandemic. The healthcare labor shortage has attracted significant interest from venture capital. Venture capitalists are pouring millions into new healthcare worker staffing platforms. This week, a proposed measure was filed with the California attorney general’s office that could be on the ballot for the state’s voters this fall. The proposal seeks to classify certain healthcare workers as independent contractors, so that workers can find work online or through apps. The proposal to include health care in the gig economy presents the question of whether nurse staffing platforms will be the next Uber.

EmploymentHealthcare IndustryLabor and Employmentprivate equityRegulation

Expanding Generic Approval Benefits Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Patients

February 21, 2022Andrew ThompsonUncategorized

Prescription drug consumers are often left frustrated when confronted with limited generic versions, if any are available, and must resort to paying out-of-pocket for their prescriptions. This is due in part to how the FDA evaluates and approves new drug products prior to market entry. Applications for FDA approval of a drug product reach the FDA by pathways established under the federal Food Drug & Cosmetics Act (FDCA).

Journal of Regulatory Compliance

Stablecoins: Tying Cryptocurrencies to Other Assets

February 19, 2022Todd DegerFinance & Banking1 Comment

Cryptocurrency has an air of mystery about it. It seemingly burst onto the scene a decade ago, and while some of the stories about it may seem outlandish, many of them are true. The first known Bitcoin purchase was for two pizzas and prices can fluctuate wildly based off of tweets. With the origins of such a thing being the subject of internet humor and its value being so volatile, what level of attention and care is due to it?

BitcoincryptoCryptocurrencycryptocurrency regulationDepartment of the TreasuryetherethereumfinanceIRSSECstablecoinstablecoinstaxtether

2022: U.S. Privacy Chaos, Continued?

February 17, 2022Marisa PolowitzUncategorized

Conversation surrounding the hodgepodge of state data privacy legislation in the U.S. has long been a subject of frustration within the U.S. and abroad. 2021 saw a drastic uptick in awareness and a need for meaningful comprehensive consumer privacy laws. With both data privacy and cybersecurity repeatedly making front page news over the last year, and even becoming high priority within the Biden Administration, it has become one of the few issues on which people across the political spectrum can agree. But will 2022 be the year that comprehensive federal privacy legislation becomes a reality? Don’t count on it.

Congressdata privacydata privacy lawsfederal data privacy lawsFTCJournal of Regulatory ComplianceprivacyPrivacy & Security

The ATF Has Become Too Weak to Do its Job

February 16, 2022Giuliano StefanuttiUncategorized

On January 19, 2022, a searchable database of inspection reports from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) became publicly accessible. The ATF carries out firearms compliance inspections to ensure that federal firearms licensees (FFLs) are complying with federal gun control regulations, as well as local laws. Brady, the organization responsible for compiling the inspection database, reports that even when FFLs have violated regulations, the ATF only rarely revokes their licenses.

atfcomplianceenforcementfirearm regulationGovernment OversightguncontrolJournal of Regulatory ComplianceRegulation

Flawed Repatriation Legislation Receives Long Overdue Reform

February 15, 2022Annalisa KolbUncategorized

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) was passed on November 16, 1990, to protect the rights of indigenous descendants, Indian tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations to indigenous human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony. Thirty-one years later, the federal government is finally taking steps to improve the outdated and flawed legislation. But is it really enough to fix the problem, or is it just a Band-Aid on a broken system?

Indigenous JusticeNAGPRARegulation

NATO Membership and the Rising Tensions Between Ukraine and Russia

February 11, 2022Jason OrringerUncategorized

Russia has recently been assembling their troops along their shared border with Ukraine in what is seemingly amounting to a planned invasion of the country. While Ukraine is warning that Russia is attempting to destabilize and invade the country, Russia denies any potential plans to attack and insists that NATO support for Ukraine is a threat on Russia’s border. As the world watches in suspense, the United States and other NATO members are at a crossroads as to whether Ukraine may join the pact.

BidenInternational AffairsJournal of Regulatory ComplianceNATOPutinrussiaUkraineUnited Nations

Insider Trading Isn’t Illegal if You Are a Member of Congress

February 11, 2022Cora LeeuwenburgFinance & Banking, Fraud & Abuse

Jon Ossoff, the freshman Senator from Georgia, has made it clear that he intends to put forth a bill that would ban members of Congress from trading individual stocks. This is a policy that seems likely to fail, but that doesn’t make it any less necessary. It is estimated that members of Congress and their families bought and sold over $500 million worth of assets. That’s not to say that all these trades were based on information not available to the general public, but it is clear that there is a massive conflict of interest in allowing law makers to trade stocks when their job is intrinsically tied to making decisions that affect the price of stocks.

complianceenforcementfinancefinancial regulationJournal of Regulatory ComplianceRegulation

Blacklisting – the Modern Diplomat’s Weapon of Choice

February 10, 2022Jack McBreenUncategorized

Throughout the end of 2021, the Biden administration intensified its crackdown on civilian organizations believed to be supporting China’s military. As a result, the U.S. Commerce and Treasury departments, acting pursuant to the president’s June 3 Executive Order, recently unleashed a barrage of economic sanctions by effectively blacklisting more than forty Chinese companies, tech firms, and research institutes. Such far-reaching measures have ensnared prominent businesses across a variety of industries, including facial recognition specialists, artificial intelligence companies, and the world’s largest producer of commercial drones, DJI Technology Co. Those targeted were added to either the Commerce Department’s entity list, which blocks trade with U.S. exporters of software and other technologies, or to a Treasury list restricting access to American investment. Placement on the Treasury’s list can be especially damaging to an organization’s financial stability because the agency’s policies not only bar those sanctioned from transacting with domestic businesses but also prohibit American investors from taking stakes in companies on the list. Unsurprisingly, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry quickly denounced the sanctions as an “unwarranted suppression” of Chinese enterprises. Some of the listed companies themselves also publicly criticized their presence on the blacklists, including the artificial-intelligence start-up SenseTime Group which called the accusations against it “unfounded.” U.S. officials, however, defended the decision – citing both national security threats and human rights violations as causes for the sanctions.

International AffairsRegulationtechnologyTrade

The Wave of Pay Transparency Laws: Why We Should Discuss Our Salaries

February 9, 2022Jamal AzizUncategorized

Your employer may discourage you from discussing your compensation with your co-workers, but did you know it’s not actually illegal? For example, some managers may portray to you that if you ask about your coworker’s pay, you might as well start packing up your belongings. In addition, most of us are uncomfortable with broadcasting our salary, but what if this secrecy is the reason for the conflict? If we removed that secrecy, it would allow for salary transparency to be standard in the workplace, eliminating the economic marginalization of workers and closing the wage gap.

Department of LaboremployersEmploymentsalary disclosure