Nearly three years after enacting many provisions of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (“HITECH”) Act, Congress passed the HITECH omnibus final rule, or “Mega Rule,” that finalizes many interim HIPAA Security and Privacy Rules for covered entities such as healthcare providers and health plans. 
          The 563-page pre-publication contains several important updates to patient privacy rules that affect your practice including finalizing several breach notification rules, changing the definition of a business associate, and strengthening enforcement rules for covered entities.

1. Breach
          One of the most significant changes by the Mega Rule is that

What a Great Time to be a Registered Caregiver

In the case of State of Michigan vs. McQueen, the Supreme Court effectively shut the doors on medical marijuana dispensaries.  Although one Supreme Court Justice, Michael Cavanagh, applied the correct rules of statutory interpretation that were also consistent with the purpose of the MMMA, the majority of Justices chose to disregard Justice Cavanagh’s reasoning to conclude that the MMMA’s immunity provision for medical use (§ 4) contemplates that a registered qualifying patient’s medical use of marijuana only occur for the purpose of alleviating his or her own debilitating medical condition or symptoms, and not for another patient’s conditions or symptoms.  As such, the Supreme Court held that § 4 does not authorize a registered qualifying patient to transfer marijuana to another registered qualifying patient, nor does it authorize a registered primary caregiver to transfer marijuana to anyone other than a registered qualifying patient to whom the caregiver is connected through the state’s registration process.  Since most dispensary models facilitate patient-to-patient sales, those transfers encompass marijuana-related conduct that is not for the purpose of alleviating the transferor’s debilitating medical condition.  Consequently, § 4 immunity does not apply and any such dispensaries can be declared a public nuisance pursuant to MCL 600.3801 and MCL 333.7104.

In People v. Green, registered patient Troy Green was arrested for giving less than 2.5 ounces of marijuana to another registered patient.  The Court of Appeals said “Unlike the sale of medical marijuana, the delivery or transfer of marijuana, absent exchange of compensation, is specifically included in the MMMA’s definition of ‘medical use.’”

What happens when a condominium project is left in an incomplete stage of development? What effect does it have upon those who have already purchased a condominium? These questions have become far more common since the economic downturn.

For nearly two decades, there has been a concerted effort by many in corporate America (and particularly in the insurance and pharmaceutical industries), with the help of the political right, to convince the public that “frivolous lawsuits” filed by “trial lawyers” are a pandemic.  Those trumpeting this charge want the public to believe that the vast majority of personal injury lawsuits are “frivolous” and that these “frivolous lawsuits” are responsible for many of the woes that we face in this country, including high insurance rates, sky-rocketing medical costs, and a civil justice system that is out of control and has run amuck.  These frivolous trumpeters contend that “frivolous lawsuits” are the cause of high automobile insurance, high medical insurance, and high malpractice insurance for doctors and other professionals.  Armed with little more than a few catchy slogans and buzzwords, the frivolous trumpeters have been amazingly successful in deceiving the general public.