French Minister for Economic Affairs Emmanuel Macron recently introduced a bill proposing the recognition of legal privilege for in-house lawyers in France, which does not currently exist. However, this recognition was rejected by the Special Commission of the French National Assembly before the bill was passed by the lower chamber - a decision consistent with the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Justice's 2010 ruling in Akzo.… Continue Reading
Since January 21, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has been holding a public consultation on the new European Clinical Trial Regulations (CTRs), which are intended to streamline the application process for clinical trials and increase the availability of information and results. However, the CTRs have met with some concerns regarding commercial and patient confidentiality. As … Continue Reading
In “From Sea to Shining Sea: French and US Sunshine Laws,” (Law360 subscription required), Reed Smith attorneys Elizabeth Carder-Thompson and Daniel Kadar discuss recent legislation from both sides of the Atlantic designed to increase the transparency of relationships between drug and medical device manufacturers on one hand and physicians and teaching hospitals on the other. … Continue Reading
France has recently adopted the class action system. This system is, however, framed and - temporarily - excludes health- or environment-related litigation. An overhaul is already scheduled in 30 months.… Continue Reading
Significant Revisions to China’s Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Medical Devices (State Council Order No. 650) China’s State Council released its new Administrative Regulation on the Supervision and Administration of Medical Devices March 7, 2014, which will be effective June 1, 2014 (the New Regulation). The State Council Legislative Affairs Office worked more … Continue Reading
A new draft order to the French Sunshine Act may soon change some procedures in a way that may help with implementation of the rules, and provide a new timeline for pharmaceutical and medical device companies to disclose specified payments to health care providers.… Continue Reading
Drug and medical device manufacturers are often faced with difficult challenges in determining the country of origin for their products, which are often sourced, processed and manufactured in multiple countries. As detailed by the article "Origin of the Pieces: How to Determine a Pharmaceutical Product's 'Country of Origin,'" written by Reed Smith lawyers Jeffrey Orenstein and Lorraine Campos, there are a variety of factors that must be taken into consideration when answering the country of origin question for a pharmaceutical product - chief among which is who is asking the question. This article provides an overview of the principal regulatory schemes and their country of origin standards in order to help provide clarity to pharmaceutical companies in an often confusing and frustrating process.… Continue Reading
In April 2013, an independent review of the regulation of cosmetic interventions in the UK was published, highlighting an insufficient amount of regulation in this industry by the UK government, due in part to the rapid growth of cosmetic procedures in the United Kingdom. Cases such as unauthorized (and potentially defective) materials being used in … Continue Reading
This past year both the U.S. and France enacted substantial new reporting and disclosure requirements under their respective Sunshine Acts, which were designed to increase the transparency of the financial relationships between manufacturers and health care professionals and to allow patients to make more informed decisions regarding their health treatments. The U.S. and French Sunshine … Continue Reading
Reed Smith’s Global Regulatory Enforcement Law blog features two posts of interest to those in the life sciences industry, both written by Reed Smith partner Cynthia O’Donoghue. “EU Research Group Condemns EU Regulation for Restricting Growth in Life Sciences Sector” discusses the opposition of a lobbying group, led by the Wellcome Trust, to amendments to … Continue Reading
The UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has directed Marketing Authorisation Holders (MAHs) for medicines containing specified controlled drugs to update their Summary of Product Characteristics, patient information leaflets, and product labeling. These new warnings are designed to make it easier for the government to enforce a new law prohibiting driving under the influence … Continue Reading
This post was written by John Tan, Amy Yang, and Crystal Xu. In late December, China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC), the successor organization to the Ministry of Health, issued two sets of anti-corruption regulations for the health care industry: the 2013 Regulations on the Establishment of a Commercial Bribery Blacklist for the … Continue Reading
Reed Smith’s Global Regulatory Enforcement Law blog features a post on the recent launch of the new state portal in France. "The implementation of the French transparency regulation: first good news?," written by Reed Smith partner Daniel Kadar, discusses how the portal will allow health care companies to more easily disclose transparency information to the French government … Continue Reading
This post was written by John Wilkinson, Nicola Maguire and Adam Lewington. In November 2013, the Human Medicines (Amendment) (No.2) Regulations 2013 (the “Amendment”) came into effect, amending the Human Medicines Regulations 2012, which set out a “comprehensive regime for the authorisation of medicinal products for human use; for the manufacture, import, distribution, sale and … Continue Reading
Reed Smith’s Global Regulatory Enforcement Law Blog recently featured a post about the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control’s review of applications filed under the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000. Although restrictions on the export and re-export of some medical devices and medicines were lifted a year ago, license … Continue Reading
The regulatory enforcement environment in China remains tense, as both the Chinese government and media bring new actions and allegations against life sciences manufacturers in both the pharmaceutical and device sectors. We are seeing: Increased attention to medical device sector Enforcement actions spreading to smaller cities Continued pressure on pharmaceutical sector Reports of misconduct by … Continue Reading
On August 15, 2013, the local Beijing office of the Ministry of Health (MOH) of the People's Republic of China announced (Chinese link) that it has started a three-month review of the use of high-value medical consumables and large-scale medical equipment in Beijing. In its announcement, the Beijing MOH noted that prior inspections of hospitals had found continuing problems with the misuse and overuse of medical devices to increase profits. The investigation is intended to strengthen hospitals' management of the use of medical devices and to regulate the use of high value medical consumables.… Continue Reading
This post was written by Katherine Yang, Amy Yin, Vicki Lung, Gordon B. Schatz, Jay J. Yan, John J. Tan, Mao Rong and May Wong. Reed Smith’s China Life Sciences and Health Industry Client Briefing provides a summary of the monthly news and legal developments relating to China’s Pharmaceutical, Medical Device, and Life Sciences/ Health … Continue Reading
This post was written by Daniel Kadar. As a champion for the protection of personally identifiable information and with broad definitions for the concepts of personal and medical data, France has established a very specific set of policies requiring that all bodies hosting medical data must apply for official accreditation or work with an accredited … Continue Reading
Reed Smith’s Global Regulatory Enforcement Law blog features a post on the recent publication of the application decree to the “French Sunshine Act” by the French Ministry of Health. “A Brave New World? The ‘French Sunshine Act’ imposes online disclosure of contracts with HCPs, as well as of payments of ‘advantages’ to HCPs, dating back … Continue Reading
This post was written by Katherine Yang, Amy Yin, Vicki Lung, Gordon B. Schatz, Jay J. Yan, John J. Tan, Mao Rong and May Wong. Reed Smith’s China Life Sciences and Health Industry Client Briefing provides a summary of the monthly news and legal developments relating to China’s Pharmaceutical, Medical Device, and Life Sciences/ Health … Continue Reading
This post was written by Katherine Yang, Amy Yin, Vicki Lung, Gordon B. Schatz, Jay J. Yan, John J. Tan, Mao Rong and May Wong. Reed Smith’s China Life Sciences and Health Industry Client Briefing provides a summary of the monthly news and legal developments relating to China’s Pharmaceutical, Medical Device, and Life Sciences/ Health … Continue Reading
Reed Smith's Global Regulatory Enforcement blog features a post on a December 2012 French Supreme Court ruling in a case involving a French Director in a health care company who had been dismissed on the grounds of a clear breach of health care compliance obligations as set forth in the French Public Health Code. The outcome: even though a company is acting in a highly regulated environment such as health care, compliance breaches must be integrated in the employer-employee relationship if they are to justify termination in France. As Reed Smith Partner Daniel Kadar notes, this case serves as a reminder to any international health care organization that the worldwide adoption of compliance guidelines and of a Code of Conduct is not in itself a sufficient protection against compliance breaches - everything depends on how these tools are implemented locally.… Continue Reading
This post was written by Jay J. Yan, John J. Tan, Mao Rong, Katherine Yang, Amy Yin, Vicki Lung, May Wong and Gordon B. Schatz. Reed Smith’s China Life Sciences and Health Industry Client Briefing provides a summary of the monthly news and legal developments relating to China’s Pharmaceutical, Medical Device, and Life Sciences/ Health … Continue Reading