Podcast: Impact of COVID-19 on Pharmacist Scope of Practice: Before and After the PREP Act - Diagnosing Health Care
What Health Care Providers and Facilities Should Know About the PREP Act's "Covered Countermeasures"
COVID-19 Hospice How-To Series: The Latest on Testing and Vaccinating Employees
A Federal Court has denied a nursing home’s Motion to Dismiss a claim brought by the daughter of a resident who passed away in April of 2020 due to complications from COVID-19. The facility in Pennsylvania allegedly had...more
On February 22, 2022, the Ninth Circuit ruled a COVID-19 wrongful death suit brought against a nursing home is not preempted by a federal health emergency law. The court affirmed a district court’s remand order which stated...more
Why It Matters - This is the first federal circuit court ruling to address federal removal jurisdiction based on PREP Act immunity. Although the nursing home lost its removal argument, the Third Circuit’s opinion may...more
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's ("FDA") approval of the Pfizer vaccine under a new brand name, Comirnaty, created a cascade of legal and regulatory issues for prescribers, pharmacies, and other vaccine administrators....more
Vaccine mandates are the subject of much discussion and controversy in nearly every industry, both in America and abroad. As protests rage across the country, many workers question the ability of employers to mandate...more
To account for legal developments since our last FAQ concerning employer COVID-19 vaccination policies, we provide updated answers to questions and address additional questions about discrimination, wage and hour, collective...more
The recent rollout of various COVID-19 vaccines has raised many questions around their availability, distribution, and requirements for employers and other groups, including essential insurance, liability, and enforcement...more
Given the significant push to vaccinate the public since the start of 2021, the increasing availability of vaccines, and the need to recruit additional personnel to administer vaccinations, the secretary of the US Department...more
As many businesses and those in the health care industry wonder what protections, if any, they have against COVID-19-related litigation claims, Jackson Walker's Healthcare practice chair, Virginia Mimmack, and healthcare...more
On January 28, 2021, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a Fifth Amendment to HHS’s Declaration under the Public Health Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act) that provides liability immunity...more
As the United States races to deliver safe and effective coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines under the Biden administration, employers, healthcare providers, and many others are assessing what it means for their industries and...more
The executive and judicial branches do not see eye-to-eye on the scope of PREP Act immunity. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), under the current administration, has taken umbrage at how lower courts have...more
In this episode, Husch Blackwell's Meg Pekarske is joined by colleagues Jenna Brofsky, Erica Ash and Wakaba Tessier who provide an update on the legal landscape related to COVID-19 testing and vaccinations. Their conversation...more
The US Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) issued an Advisory Opinion (“21-01”) Friday, reinforcing how the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (“PREP Act” or the “Act”) (1) provides complete...more
This week, the EEOC approved employers requiring employees to receive COVID-19 vaccination, subject to limitations. How limiting are the limitations? Case law applying them is thin, but generally treats them as narrow. In...more
Why It Matters - Businesses should begin to address these issues now so that when COVID-19 vaccines are ready for distribution, they will be too....more
With coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines on the horizon amid the surging pandemic, critical extensions expand the scope of liability immunity under the PREP Act....more
On December 3, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued another groundbreaking amendment to the Declaration under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act). ...more
On December 3, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) amended its Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act) Declaration for Medical Countermeasures Against COVID-19 in order to clarify...more
The Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act, Public Law 109-148, Div. C, § 2 (2005) (PREP Act), as amended, authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to limit legal liability for losses relating to...more
Join us as we celebrate the 25th Anniversary of ACI’s Annual Flagship Conference on Drug & Medical Device Litigation! ACI’s Drug and Medical Device Litigation has united the greatest minds of the pharmaceutical and medical...more
As the world awaits a successful COVID-19 vaccine, employers are beginning to consider the implications a new vaccine will have on their workplaces. Although much remains speculative, employers can look to the regulation of...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently issued two new advisory opinions dramatically illuminating the wide scope of the PREP Act and its immunities for organizations using covered countermeasures in...more
Earlier this year, we published various articles breaking down the March 10, 2020 Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act) Declaration (the Declaration) related to COVID-19....more
After exploring some of the ethical questions involved in allocating and distributing a potential COVID-19 vaccine and the basic tenets of bioethics, we continue by delving into the ethical issues relating to the vaccine...more