Bill on Bankruptcy: Complaint Claims Judge Is a Bigot
This week, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the Student Lifeline Act amending the New York Education Law to require that degree-granting higher education institutions educate students, faculty and staff about New York’s 9-8-8 Suicide...more
In a previous blog on the use of psychedelics to treat mental health disorders, we reported that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted breakthrough therapy designation to MDMA (a.k.a., ecstasy) in 2017 as part of...more
Voters in San Francisco and California will again confront a formidable ballot during the election on March 5, 2024, with an array of qualified City measures and one state proposition to consider....more
Introduction- The UAE has recently taken a groundbreaking step in mental health care with the implementation of Federal Law No. 10/2023 on Mental Health. The Mental Health Law prioritizes the rights of individuals...more
In Phillips v Aneurin Bevan University Local Health Board, the Cardiff Employment Tribunal ("ET") held that work related stress can amount to a disability, as defined by the UK Equality Act 2010 ("EqA"), in a decision that...more
Healthcare systems are facing significant challenges in recruiting and retaining talent within the burgeoning field of behavioral health services, primarily due to competition from telehealth providers and inconsistent...more
As we have previously covered in EmployNews, companies are facing an increasing number of accommodation requests and claims from employees who allege they were discriminated against based on mental issues. Many of these...more
One in five U.S. adults experienced mental illness in 2021. This represents 57.8 million people. However, only 47.2% of U.S. adults with mental illness received treatment in 2021. The country is deep in a behavioral health...more
On December 12, 2023, the MAPS Public Benefit Corporation (MAPS PBC) announced the submission of a marketing application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for MDMA (midomafetamine capsules) in combination with...more
On January 18, 2023, CMS issued a Quality, Safety & Oversight Group memorandum announcing its initiative to improve nursing home safety and transparency. Specifically, CMS will conduct audits to determine whether nursing...more
When an employer presents a separation agreement and release to an employee out of work for medical reasons, questions sometimes arise regarding that person’s ability to understand and competently execute the document. If an...more
The off-label use of ketamine to treat anxiety, depression, and other behavioral health disorders —coupled with the COVID-19 telehealth era—has spurred the opening of virtual ketamine clinics nationwide. Some clinics offer a...more
On September 28, 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued approval letters for Section 1115 Medicaid demonstration applications previously submitted by Oregon and Massachusetts. Section 1115 waivers...more
The Federal Circuit has affirmed a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) finding that claims to a computer system for identifying eligibility for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits are invalid as patent...more
As parents age, their children may notice certain physical and behavioral changes. The most common physical decline is a parent falling more often, typically while walking up and down stairs or in the bathroom. Physical...more
In celebration of Pride Month, all MoFo employees were given the opportunity to watch CURED, an award-winning documentary that recounts the battle to remove homosexuality from the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic...more
Colleges and universities are grappling with the proliferation of mental health issues among their student populations in the wake of COVID-19 as they deal with the effects of burnout, limited support resources, and social...more
A recent EEOC case involving an executive who was fired after having an episode of depression underlines the importance of accommodating mental disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). In Equal...more
Employers implementing mandatory COVID-19 vaccination requirements are facing a slew of requests for medical and religious exemptions. Most of these exemptions are based on things like a long-held religious belief or medical...more
The nation’s nursing homes, battered by the coronavirus pandemic, are under more fire for their resurgent reliance on powerful and risky psychiatric drugs and shaky diagnoses of mental illness to treat elderly residents, as...more
On May 27, 2021, in Todd v. Fayette County School District, a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the propriety of a school district’s decision to end a mentally ill...more
In Gill v. Unum Life Ins. Co. of Am., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 219416 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 23, 2020), a California federal court held that an ERISA claim administrator properly limited benefits to 24 months under the plan's mental...more
Beginning July 1, 2022, New Mexico will require private employers to provide up to 64 paid sick leave hours to their employees each year. The Healthy Workplaces Act (“HWA”) was signed by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham on...more
Beginning on July 1, 2022, New Mexico will join 15 other states (and Washington, D.C.) in requiring private employers to provide paid sick leave to their employees. On April 8, 2021, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan...more
The pandemic has prompted the reallocation of hospital beds from psychiatric care to treatment of COVID patients. This has occurred as mental illness has been on the rise. To cope with the insufficient number of psychiatric...more