EPA Signs "Self-audit" Agreements With Three Hospitals
Client Alert | 1 min read | 03.26.04
The New England Region of the Environmental Protection Agency has signed "self-audit" agreements with three hospitals requiring them to conduct comprehensive environmental audits of their facilities. These agreements were reached using EPA's Healthcare Compliance Initiative, under which health facilities can assess their facilities for compliance under all major environmental programs, report and correct violations, and receive relief from penalties.
The agreements are with Columbia University Medical Center, Riverside Health Care System in Westchester, New York, and Alice Hyde Medical Center, in upstate New York. If the institutions correct all violations and abide by the other terms of their individual agreements, EPA will waive "gravity-based penalties," which are normally based on the seriousness of violations.
Environmental compliance by health care institutions is an increasingly important focus of EPA enforcement. Hospitals generate a wide variety of hazardous waste, such as chemotherapy and antineoplastic chemicals, solvents, formaldehyde, photographic chemicals, radionuclides, and waste anesthetic gases, as well as solid waste. Many hospitals have been penalized for air, toxic substances and water violations. The EPA is especially interested in hospital compliance actions regarding persistent bioaccumulative toxins ("PBTs").
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Client Alert | 4 min read | 12.04.25
District Court Grants Preliminary Injunction Against Seller of Gray Market Snack Food Products
On November 12, 2025, Judge King in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington granted in part Haldiram India Ltd.’s (“Plaintiff” or “Haldiram”) motion for a preliminary injunction against Punjab Trading, Inc. (“Defendant” or “Punjab Trading”), a seller alleged to be importing and distributing gray market snack food products not authorized for sale in the United States. The court found that Haldiram was likely to succeed on the merits of its trademark infringement claim because the products at issue, which were intended for sale in India, were materially different from the versions intended for sale in the U.S., and for this reason were not genuine products when sold in the U.S. Although the court narrowed certain overbroad provisions in the requested order, it ultimately enjoined Punjab Trading from importing, selling, or assisting others in selling the non-genuine Haldiram products in the U.S. market.
Client Alert | 21 min read | 12.04.25
Highlights: CMS’s Proposed Rule for Medicare Part C & D (CY 2027 NPRM)
Client Alert | 11 min read | 12.01.25
