The CARES Act, enacted on March 27, 2020, makes notable changes to federal law governing the disclosure of substance use disorder records. The Act amends 42 U.S.C. 290dd-2, the governing statute of the regulations at 42 C.F.R. Part 2 to better align certain of its confidentiality requirements with HIPAA.
To read the full text of this post by Duane Morris attorney Melissa Sobel Snyder, please visit the Duane Morris Health Law Blog.
The UK government recently announced a package of measures to provide liquidity to UK businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two schemes are particularly useful for financing needs: the HM Treasury and the Bank of England COVID-19 Corporate Financing Facility and the British Business Bank Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme.
To read the full text of this Duane Morris Alert, which provides summaries of the financing schemes, eligibility requirements and the application process, please visit the firm website.
Yesterday, federal prosecutors in the District of New Jersey charged a Georgia man for his alleged role in a conspiracy to defraud federally funded and private health care benefit programs by submitting fraudulent testing claims for COVID-19 and genetic cancer screenings. It follows a criminal complaint announced last week by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California against a Southern California man on a federal fraud charge alleging he solicited investments in a company he claimed would be used to market pills that would prevent coronavirus infections and an injectable cure for those already suffering from COVID-19. These cases are among the first criminal actions in the ongoing public health crisis and come on the heels of the first civil enforcement action by the Department of Justice against a COVID-19 related fraud.
Continue reading “Federal Prosecutors Begin Charging COVID-19 Fraud in California and New Jersey”
Millions of stockholders of Delaware corporations are currently under some form of “stay-at-home” restrictions, and applicable guidelines from health officials limit gatherings to no more than 5-10 people, each of which have to be at least 6 feet away from one another. These safety protocols, while necessary, make it essentially impossible to convene annual stockholders’ meetings as has been traditional–in person.
To read the full text of this post by Duane Morris partner Richard Renck, please visit the Duane Morris Delaware Business Law Blog.
Since our previous two Alerts, on March 13 and 20, describing actions taken in recent weeks by the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to exclude numerous medical products imported from China from Section 301 tariffs, the USTR has announced it will accept new Section 301 exclusion requests relating to other products that can be used in the battle against the coronavirus (COVID-19). Such exclusion requests can be submitted for any product that can be used to address the COVID-19 pandemic that has not yet been granted by the USTR, including products with previously denied or currently pending exclusion requests, as well as for products for which requests have not been filed.
To read the full text of this Duane Morris Alert, please visit the firm website.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, federal, state and local governments are ushering in an array of programs and tax relief measures to help mitigate the adverse economic impact of COVID-19 on business and nonprofit entities.
In addition to the economic incentive provisions and programs that are available through the new federal CARES Act, including the $350 billion Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Emergency Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, Maryland has offered a number of new economic assistance programs, tax relief measures and deadline extensions to help businesses and individuals impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
To read the full text of this Duane Morris Alert, please visit the firm website.
Employers the world over are facing unprecedented issues brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Vietnam employers are no different. They need to be able to both respond rapidly and decisively to actual facts and formal and information government direction as it arises and simultaneously comply with legal obligations set out in law and statute. What trumps what?
To read the full post from Duane Morris Vietnam partner Giles Cooper, please visit the Duane Morris Vietnam Blog.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act includes wide-ranging provisions that will have direct and indirect impacts on the banking and finance industry.
The unprecedented $2 trillion stimulus package includes, among other things, provisions for the removal of the cap on the FDIC’s guarantee of insured deposits; waiver by the OCC of single-borrower lending limits for national banks; reduction of the minimum leverage ratio for community banks; favorable accounting treatment for loan modifications; and authority for a guarantee program for the U.S. money market mutual fund industry.
To read the full text of this Duane Morris Alert, please visit the firm website.
On Wednesday, French Laundry and Bouchon Bistro, two high-end Michelin star Napa Valley restaurants, filed the first California coverage suit for COVID-19-related losses including lost business income. Plaintiffs, represented by the same firm that filed the first COVID-19 coverage lawsuit in New Orleans two weeks ago, allege that the Napa County stay-at-home order related to COVID-19 caused them to lose business and furlough over 300 employees.
To read the full text of this post by Duane Morris attorneys Dominica C. Anderson, Philip R. Matthews, and Gina M. Foran, please visit the Duane Morris Insurance Law Blog.
The crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic has affected virtually every sector of the international economy including transnational companies with a large presence in Mexico.
Companies with employees in Mexico are subject to the Mexican Federal Labor Law (FLL), which provides in certain situations for the temporary suspension of employment relationships. This entails the possibility for the employee to refrain from providing their services, and consequently, the possibility of the employer to refrain from paying the respective salary.
To read the full text of this Alert, which contains a summary of important provisions of Mexican labor law that should be considered in light of the current situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, please visit the firm website.
