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Colleges & Universities | Debt
Financing | Health
Care | Hedge Funds
Intellectual
Property & Rights Management | International | Investment Management
Life
Sciences | Private
Equity | Private
Investment Funds | Real
Estate | Securities & Public
Companies
Sports Law |
Technology
Companies | Venture
Capital
& Emerging Companies
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| How
big is our practice group?
64 lawyers (18 partners, 3 counsels, 42 associates).
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Erin Fuse Brown (Georgetown University Law Center '06) joined the San Francisco office in early 2008 after completing a clerkship with the Honorable Alan C. Kay at the U.S. District Court in Hawaii. Erin obtained a joint degree in law and public health from Georgetown and the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Erin has counseled clients on a variety of health care regulatory and transactional matters, including the acquisition of a major teaching hospital, hospital-physician alignment efforts, joint ventures, tax-exempt bond financing, managed care contracting and clinical research compliance. She has been advising clients regarding various aspects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act and anticipates the challenges and innovations required to assist clients with the implementation of health reform.
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What
do we do?
As one of the leading health care practices in the country, Ropes & Gray
helps its clients navigate a broad range of complex regulatory
and business demands. Our more than 60 professionals represent
virtually every sector of the global health care industry, including
health care investors & financial institutions, academic & community
hospitals, medical schools, pharmaceutical companies, pharmacy
benefit managers, medical device companies, insurance companies, health care provider organizations, physician
practice groups, health care technology companies, biomedical companies,
and long-term care and nursing home providers.
The breadth of Ropes & Gray’s Health Care Practice coupled
with the individual lawyers’
unparalleled depth of expertise explains why 13 of our Health Care
Group partners were recognized in the 2009 edition of Chambers
USA’s “America’s Leading Lawyers for Business.” Chambers
USA also ranked our health care practices in Boston, California, New York and Washington, as well as our “Pharmaceutical/Medical
Products Regulatory” practice in Washington.
Ropes & Gray’s Health Care Practice provides a comprehensive
range of services:
Regulatory & Compliance
- Medicare, Medicaid and third-party reimbursement
- Federal health care regulatory issues (e.g., FDA, Stark, Antikickback, HIPAA,
IRB)
- Clinical research
- Fraud and abuse
- Privacy
- Antitrust
- Licensure
- Public health oversight
- Intermediate sanctions
- Government enforcement
Transactional & Capital Finance
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Disaffiliations and separations
- Joint Ventures and partnerships
- Affiliations, research collaborations, and licensing agreements
- Revenue development
- Complex commercial agreements
- Tax exempt bond financing
Strategic Counseling
- Governance and fiduciary standards
- Health plan representation
- Payor contracting
- System network and design
- Public policy initiatives
- Government relations
- Strategic positioning
- Organizational structure
- Physician integration
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Sarah
Trautz (University
of Virginia School of Law '05) joined the Boston office
in 2005 and has focused primarily on health care regulatory
issues for hospitals and academic medical centers. Sarah
also works on tax-exempt bond financing deals for universities
and hospitals and has been involved in a variety of other
types of transactions, for both health care clients and
other types of clients. Sarah’s
practice currently focuses on advising clients on medical
education accreditation issues, researching and advising
on regulatory issues such as HIPAA and fraud and abuse laws,
and drafting and negotiating a variety of contracts for health
care clients. Sarah has also participated in three
different pro bono projects and specifically tries to seek
out pro bono projects involving environmental or conservation
groups. |
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Sarah Mutinsky (George Washington University Law School ’06) joined the Washington office as a lateral associate in February 2008. Sarah obtained a joint degree in law and a masters in public health from George Washington University Law School and School of Public Health and Health Services. Sarah focuses her practice on assisting hospitals and other providers with a variety of federal and state health care regulatory programs, including Medicaid and Medicare. She also assists clients with legislative and administrative advocacy, and much of her recent practice has been devoted to tracking and analysis of federal health reform prior to and since passage. In addition, Sarah has assisted in representing hospital client interests in appeals of reimbursement-related matters before the Department of Health and Human Services and in federal judicial litigation. |
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Brett
R. Friedman (George Washington University
Law School ’07) joined Ropes & Gray in 2007
as an associate in the Health Care Group after spending
his summer at the firm in 2006. As an associate in the
Health Care Group, Brett has the opportunity to work
on a wide range of transactional, regulatory, and government
enforcement matters affecting hospitals, pharmaceutical
manufacturers, academic medical centers, physician groups,
and other organizations touching on the health care sector.
Recently, Brett has helped a hospital respond to government
allegations of improper charge setting practices; advised
hospitals on the appropriate reasons to terminate a medical
staff physician; helped draft a policy whitepaper on the
legal impediments to value-based purchasing in health care;
worked on corporate acquisitions involving health care
companies, such as dialysis providers, mail order pharmacies,
and pharmacy benefit managers; and provided ongoing support
to a large pharmaceutical manufacturer in the assessment
and improvement of its compliance policies and procedures.
During his first two years at the firm, Brett’s work
in the Health Care Group allows him to build on past matters
and develop areas of expertise, while providing him with
the opportunity take on new and challenging assignments
in the rapidly evolving health care field. |
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Jennifer
Santos (George Washington University Law School '06)
joined the Boston office in the fall of 2006 after working
at a major academic medical center in Boston as a research
analyst. Jennifer has focused on health care regulatory
issues for hospitals and health systems. Jennifer
has also worked on various transactions, including a joint
venture between two non-profit institutions; the sale of
a continuing care retirement community; the sale of a physician
practice to a community hospital; and tax exempt and taxable
bond financing deals for universities and health care clients.
Jennifer's work has afforded her the opportunity to develop
strong relationships with clients and partners in the group
and across the firm. |
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Margaret
Campbell (Harvard Law School '02)
joined Ropes & Gray in 2005 as an associate in the health
care practice. Prior to joining the firm, she worked
at the Lewin Group, a health care policy research and consulting
firm in Washington, D.C. and another law firm in California
before relocating to New York in 2005. Since joining
Ropes & Gray, she has expanded upon her prior experience
and worked on a wide variety of health care projects, including
the affiliation of two not-for-profit hospitals, joint ventures,
a private placement offering, various internal and government
investigations, and the provision of regulatory advice on
diverse topics including Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement,
Stark and fraud and abuse, and state licensing and certification.
Margaret has also had the opportunity to take on significant
responsibility in these projects, negotiating with opposing
counsel and working directly with clients as a valued member
of each client team. |
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| What
have we done lately?
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- For more than two decades, we have represented the University of Southern California (“USC”), a major research and teaching institution with a nationally recognized medical school and clinical faculty. In furtherance of USC’s vision to operate a fully integrated health system on campus, USC acquired its two teaching hospitals, USC University Hospital and Norris Cancer Hospital, from Tenet Healthcare Corporation. We advised USC on the health care regulatory, tax, employee benefits and environmental aspects of the $275 million acquisition, which included 471 inpatient beds and 1,600 hospital employees. We also provided advice to USC regarding the restructuring of the University’s relationship with its 20 faculty practice plans.
- We served as health care regulatory and litigation counsel to Express Scripts in connection with its 2009 acquisition of Wellpoint, Inc.’s NextRx pharmacy benefits management (“PBM”) division for $4.68 billion in cash and stock. The acquisition represents a major development in the PBM industry as it combines the businesses of the third and fourth largest PBMs in the country and boosts Express Scripts’ client base by about 25 million people.
- Advised the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science
and Community Development in connection with the establishment
and organization of a specialty teaching hospital to be located
in Doha, Qatar. The facility, a state-of-the-art, all-digital
medical and research complex, will serve as the principal teaching
hospital for Weill Cornell Medical College’s branch campus
in Doha. Weill Cornell established its branch campus
in Doha as part of an agreement with the Qatar Foundation.
Our work for the Qatar Foundation involves advice on organizational
structure; corporate governance matters; institutional policies
concerning clinical care; medical staff relations; human subjects
research and research compliance and intellectual property
ownership and commercialization; complex vendor relationships;
and the teaching affiliation agreement being negotiated with
Weill Cornell Medical College. We also advise the Qatar
Foundation on its relationship with Cornell University and
with several of the other universities that have established
or are considering establishing branches campuses in Qatar.
- Represented the Plaintiffs — Association of American Medical
Colleges, American Hospital Association, National Association of
Public Hospitals and Health Systems, and Alameda County Medical
Center in a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human
Services challenging a federal Medicaid rule that would have resulted
in cuts of billions of dollars for the impacted hospitals. The
rule aimed to restrict Medicaid payments to public providers and
dramatically narrow the definition of units of government for purposes
of Medicaid financing. The District Court for the District
of Columbia granted summary judgment for our clients, ruling that
HHS had issued the rule in violation of a Congressional moratorium.
In issuing its opinion, the court emphatically embraced our characterization
of the rule: “In this case, the Court is asked to decide
whether a maneuver by the Executive Branch deliberately designed
to outfox a clear directive of Congress was successful….
The answer is no.” Alameda County Medical Center,
et al. v. Leavitt, 559 F.Supp.2d 1.
- We advise major pharmaceutical manufacturers on compliance with
federal and state Antikickback statutes, the Pharmaceutical
Research and Manufacturers of America “Code on Interactions
with Health Care Professionals,” state laws on pharmaceutical
marketing such as the California Drug Marketing Law, and the
companies' own policies. For one client, we have been asked
to conduct a legal review of virtually every educational grant
request submitted to its largest divisions. In addition,
we have detailed several attorneys to serve as in-house counsel
for up to six months to assist our clients in reviewing materials
and policies to ensure regulatory and fraud and abuse compliance.
- Represent numerous clients in response to government investigations
of client operations, Medicare and other health care program billing
procedures, reimbursement for clinical and scientific research,
business practices and contractual relationships with physicians
and other referral sources.
- Assisted Stanford Hospital and Clinics, part
of Stanford University, in the organization and establishment
of a joint venture with Emanuel Medical Center in Turlock, California,
known as the Stanford Emanuel Radiation Oncology Center (SEROC).
SEROC provides radiation therapy services to the communities served
by Emanuel Medical Center and provides physician staffing through
faculty members from the Stanford Department of Radiation Oncology.
- Assisted health care clients regarding preparation for the response
to natural disasters, including the development of policies,
procedures and agreements to ensure the continuity of health
care services and the security of health care information in
the event of disaster.
- For more than two decades, we have represented the University of Southern California (“USC”), a major research and teaching institution with a nationally recognized medical school and clinical faculty. In furtherance of USC’s vision to operate a fully integrated health system on campus, USC acquir ed its two teaching hospitals, USC University Hospital and Norris Cancer Hospital, from Tenet Healthcare Corporation. We advised USC on the health care regulatory, tax, employee benefits and environmental aspects of the $275 million acquisition, which included 471 inpatient beds and 1,600 hospital employees . We also provid ed advice to USC regarding the restructuring of the University’s relationship with its 20 faculty practice plans.
- We served as health care regulatory and litigation counsel to Express Scripts in connection with its 2009 acquisition of Wellpoint, Inc.’s NextRx pharmacy benefits management (“PBM”) division for $4.68 billion in cash and stock. The acquisition represents a major development in the PBM industry as it combines the businesses of the third and fourth largest PBMs in the country and boosts Express Scripts’ client base by about 25 million people.
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When do we meet?
The group has a monthly lunch meeting the first Thursday of every
month.
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