A Jan. 28 report on Medicare spending on lab tests indicated that spending on many types of tests flattened between 2022 and 2024, but spending on genetic tests rose 20% between 2023 and 2024 to $3.6 billion. While the report does not specifically call out fraud as a driver of spending, the U.S. Department of Justice posted a Jan. 26 press release identifying a case of Medicare gene testing fraud that amounted to $52 million, just one of several recent examples of this kind of fraud.
Third-party litigation funding in Europe has created enough of a stir that several trade associations issued a joint statement making the case that the unregulated nature of these funding agreements is increasing the cost of doing business in a region that is already quite expensive.
The U.S. FDA’s October 2025 draft guidance for quality management system information in premarket filings may have struck some observers as an example of regulatory overreach, given the robust opposition to several key aspects of the draft on the parts of the Advanced Medical Technology Association and the Medical Device Manufacturers Association.
The U.S. FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research posted four warning letters to makers of HIV sample collection kits, an example of a shift in FDA enforcement in the IVD space that is still allowed after a historical loss in court.
The U.S. FDA’s device center posted a report on the TAP program, stating that the metrics available to date suggest the program is a rousing success. Still, there are a few key indicators that have not yet had time to emerge – such as product approvals and clearances, but those data points won’t emerge for another year or two at the inside.
The U.S. Department of Justice reported that it has indicted two executives with Zynex Inc. for Medicare fraud, but in one of the stranger twists in recent fraud cases, one of the executives allegedly attempted to interfere with the personal lives of members of the media who were reporting on the company’s legal problems.
Cryoablation for Barrett’s esophagus is something of a novelty, and the U.K. National Institute of Health and Care Excellence is considering an endorsement of the treatment.
The FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health posted two important guidances just in the first week of the new year. The agency seems determined to sustain that pace with a new draft guidance for cuffless blood pressure monitors, apparently in response to sales of unauthorized over-the-counter devices for this indication.
The European Commission recently published the results of a study of the impact of the EU regulatory environment, which confirmed the worst fears of some observers about the situation in the EU. The report said that the associated challenges are prompting small and medium companies to pull at least one product out of inventory for the EU market, with some companies abandoning the EU altogether.
The U.S. FDA’s final rule for regulation of lab-developed tests is now a part of regulatory litigation history, but Scott Whitaker, CEO and president of the Advanced Medical Technology Association, said that while Congress is still considering LDT legislation, any new legislation may differ substantially from previous bills.
