On February 13, 2004, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott issued an open records decision that addressed the interplay between the HIPAA Privacy Rule and the Texas Public Information Act (the "PIA"), and determined that a Texas governmental entity may not assert the HIPAA Privacy Rule as a basis for withholding protected health information in response to a PIA request.

V&E Climate Change Report is a report concerning recent developments, issues, and matters of interest in climate change law and policy. To

In a notice posted on its internet site on Wednesday, July 7, 2004, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ("CMS") admitted that its prior statement regarding the treatment of Medicare Part A exhausted days for the disproportionate share hospital ("DSH") payment calculation was incorrect.

Certain businesses have enjoyed an immunity from the antitrust laws because they are acting with state approval to displace competition. This immunity derives from the State Action Doctrine. The staff of the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") recently issued the Report of the State Action Task Force (the "Staff Report") clarifying the State Action Doctrine. This development is important because the FTC is urging courts to narrow that immunity.

On December 2, 2011, the Federal Circuit asserted mandamus power to order the District of Delaware (Judge Robinson) to transfer a pending patent litigation to the Northern District of California under 28 U.S.C. § 1404 (a).

On September 10, 2012, the Ministry of Land and Resources of the People’s Republic of China announced the commencement of China’s second round of shale gas bidding.

On July 11, 2012, President Obama issued an Executive Order, and the Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) issued two General Licenses (GL-16 and GL-17), authorizing both the export of financial services to Burma and "new investment" in Burma, both of which were previously prohibited by the Burmese Sanctions Regulations.

On May 21, 2012, Aland (Jiangsu) Nutraceutical Co., Ltd, agreed to pay USD 10.5 million to settle price-fixing allegations against the company related to its sales of Vitamin C in the United States.

In July 2012, the Federal Trade Commission withdrew its July 2003 policy statement on monetary equitable remedies in competition cases.

With the elections behind us, we can begin looking at possible changes at the top of the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued a no-action letter (CFTC Letter No. 12-68) on December 21, 2012.

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held that an asset purchaser can be responsible for the employment-related liabilities of a company whose assets it has purchased, even if it did not purchase the stock of that company and even if it expressly disclaimed the assumption of those liabilities.

As part of its 2013 budget proposal, the White House is allocating $45 million among three federal agencies to study the effects of hydraulic fracturing on health, safety, and the environment.

Private fund managers should take note of a recent speech by Bruce Karpati, Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Asset Management Unit.

The standard for patent eligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101 remains amorphous despite the Federal Circuit's recent decision in Classen Immunotherapies, Inc. v. Biogen IDEC (Fed. Cir. No. 2006-1634,-1649) (August 31, 2011).