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Rivkin Rounds Staff

The Delta variant, which increased COVID cases and hospitalizations, also prompted new federal and local COVID rules and mandates, and required employers to revisit their existing COVID policies.

OSHA announced a new COVID Emergency Standard for health care employers to take effect in July 2021. This new Emergency Standard requires health care employers to address

An article in the August issue of Healthcare Risk Management, “Healthcare Employers Can Mandate Vaccines, but Some Caution Necessary,” discussed recent federal guidance and court decisions that allow hospitals and other healthcare employers to require COVID-19 vaccines for their employees. Rivkin Radler’s Brian Conneely was quoted in the article.

“Based on recent

The New York Department of Labor has issued Model Safety Plans and Standards for airborne infectious diseases. All employers, regardless of size and with a worksite in New York, must adopt a safety plan by August 5, 2021, and must post, distribute and include the plan in their handbooks to all employees and new hires

An article in the July issue of Hospital Peer Review, “NPDB Reporting Protected by Law in Some Cases, Gray Areas Problematic,” discussed hospitals’ obligations to report doctors to the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) and their protection against liability for doing so. Rivkin Radler’s Chris Kutner was quoted extensively in the article.

Rivkin Radler partners Evan Krinick and Michael Sirignano authored an article, “Compounding the Fraud: Questionable Billing by Pharmacies,” in the July 6 issue of the New York Law Journal. The article discussed the U.S. Department of Justice’s continued concern over fraudulent claims for reimbursement to federal healthcare programs for compounded prescription drugs.

New York and New Jersey recently legalized recreational marijuana within less than 6 weeks of each other. While both acts prohibit employers from taking action against employees at least 21 years old who use marijuana recreationally and restrict employers from denying these employees’ employment rights and privileges based solely on marijuana use, it begs the

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on April 13 that James Spina, a licensed chiropractor and the unlawful operator of Dolson Avenue Medical, P.C. (DAM), was sentenced to nine years in prison and three years of post-release supervision. DAM, a multi-disciplinary medical practice in Middletown, New York, purported to provide a variety of pain

On April 6, Rivkin Radler’s Ben Malerba gave a presentation to members of the Coalition for Behavioral Health. The presentation was entitled “HIPAA in an Evolving Health Care Environment: Proposed Changes for 2021 and Response to COVID-19.”

The Coalition for Behavioral Health provides policy, advocacy, training and technical assistance to more than 100 community-based behavioral

A March 24 article in Wolters Kluwer’s Health Law Daily, “STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVES: Pandemic response, fraud and abuse top Biden’s enforcement priorities,” quoted healthcare industry experts who predict increased enforcement in the areas of fraud and abuse, False Claims Act (FCA) cases, and pandemic-related waivers. Rivkin Radler’s Robert Hussar was quoted in the