As corporations continue to grapple with economic issues surrounding COVID-19, global life sciences companies must start to determine how laws in each of the jurisdictions in which they operate will impact their contractual responsibilities and opportunities for remedies in their business relationships. Life sciences companies with operations in France must recognize that their COVID-19 response … Continue Reading
In France, transparency requirements are regulated by two main sets of laws: “The French Anti-Gift Law” regulates the provision of gifts, discounts and other incentives to health care providers by life sciences companies, while “the French Sunshine Act” imposes disclosure obligations on companies relating to benefits granted to, and agreements concluded with, health care providers. … Continue Reading
A February 25, 2016, decision by the French Supreme Court clarifies some conditions for the imposition of liability with respect to defective products in ways that may be surprising to those more accustomed to U.S. product liability law. In the case at hand, a patient was prescribed Mediator, an appetite suppressant, between 1998 and 2008. … Continue Reading
We’ve covered the French Sunshine Act, which requires French pharmaceutical companies to disclose their links to healthcare providers, extensively over the past few years and most recently here. France on the whole, however, has been lagging behind many other countries when it comes to anti-corruption laws. It looks like that’s about to change in ways … Continue Reading
Since the general disclosure rule for provider-manufacturer relationships in France was enacted into law on January 1, 2012, its compliance and enforcement have been a common point of discussion for health care professionals, pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, and government officials, among others. As Reed Smith partner Daniel Kadar points out in “The French Sunshine … Continue Reading
The French government issued a bill on March 17 for the extension of class actions to health-related claims in France. Starting today, March 31, the text will be discussed at the French National Assembly, particularly to address the issue of compensation for personal injury within the framework of the proposed class action.… Continue Reading
Reed Smith’s Global Regulatory Enforcement Law Blog features a post on a recent decision by the French Supreme Administrative Court (Conseil d’Etat) that expands the scope of the French Sunshine Act. “French Supreme Administrative Court Decision Significantly Broadens the Scope of the French Sunshine Act,” written by Reed Smith attorneys Daniel Kadar and Caroline Gouraud, … Continue Reading
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
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
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
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 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
Health care and cosmetic companies operating in France are subject to new transparency requirements, comparable to the U.S. "Sunshine Act," that were adopted in December 2011.… Continue Reading
This article, written by Reed Smith attorneys Paule Drouault-Gardrat and Juliette Peterka, was first published in Insights, the conference bleue newsletter. Reprinted with permission. Article 21 of the Regulation No. 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods of 20 December 2006 provides data protection for applicants who wish to register a nutritional or health claim … Continue Reading
Markets outside the United States are increasingly important for life sciences companies, and this post includes articles by Reed Smith lawyers regarding two developments in Europe.
The first is by Edward Miller, entitled "Sidestepping the Issue", republished with permission from the International Clinical Trials e-book (registration required). This article discusses a ruling by the European Court of Justice, holding that pharmaceutical companies can refuse to fill "unusual" orders from distributors who seek to profit by buying drugs for countries with low reimbursement prices, and shipping them for sale in countries with high prices - but falling short of the standard advocated by the pharmaceutical company defendant in that case.
The second article is by Paule Drouault-Gardrat and Julie Gottenberg regarding French Supreme Court rulings earlier this year on causation in product liability cases. First published in the August edition of Insights, the conference bleue newsletter.… Continue Reading
