February 2016

The House and Senate have full agendas this week, with Senate floor activity focused on bipartisan legislation aimed at tackling drug addiction and the House activity centered on delaying an EPA rule and addressing issues with health care providers terminated from Medicaid programs.

The Senate will resume legislative business on Monday, with a vote expected

Over the past few weeks, there has been a growing movement to promote local production and consumption in Nigeria as a way to address some of the economy’s woes.  One of the leading proposals is to amend the domestic Procurement Act along the lines of the US Buy American Act (BAA), the domestic preference law

On Tuesday, February 9, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) published a proposed rule to update regulations at 42 C.F.R. Part 2 that protect the confidentiality of alcohol and drug abuse patient records.  The regulations were originally promulgated in 1975 and last substantively updated in 1987.  SAMHSA intends for these updates to

The FTC has cautioned that a recent settlement holds lessons for companies involved in the Internet of Things.  The settlement, announced on Tuesday, was reached with  hardware manufacturer ASUS over concerns that its router products carried certain security vulnerabilities.  Notably, in addition to alleging that ASUS’s actions violated promises to consumers, the FTC alleged that

Today, a German law to strengthen the private enforcement of certain data protection provisions that aim to protect consumers (the Law) entered in to force, following its publication in the Official Journal yesterday. We previously reported on the draft law here.

The Law empowers certain qualified associations to seek injunctive relief against companies or

Congress returns from its one-week President’s Day recess this week.  The President’s budget request for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 remains a focus of committee activity this week.  In floor activities, the Senate will consider the nomination of the Food and Drug Administration Commissioner, while the House will focus on a number of suspensions and a

The UK has enacted new legislation to address the issue of so-called ‘legal highs’ following a number of cases of paranoia, seizures, hospitalisation and even death after consumption of certain psychoactive substances.  The Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 (the “Act”) was granted Royal Assent on 28 January 2016.  It is expected to come into force on

By Hannah Lepow

Maryland is poised to become the second state in the country to ban businesses from contractually prohibiting customers from posting bad reviews online.  The Nondisparagement Clauses in Consumer Contracts bill passed the state House on February 19 by an overwhelming majority and now goes on to the state Senate.

Maryland’s law substantially