Akin Gump Lawyers Talk Health Care Regulation in Trump Administration

In the interview “Amid Much Uncertainty, Hope for Medtech Innovation: New Administration and Congress positioned to drive innovation in medical technology,” Akin Gump health and life sciences partner Nate Brown and public law and policy partner Martha Kendrick share their insights with Metropolitan Corporate Counsel regarding potential changes for health care and medical innovation regulation under a Trump administration.

Among the topics covered, Brown and Kendrick discussed the following:

• The importance of bipartisanship in the Medtech community – “Kendrick: President-elect Trump’s updated transition website includes a couple of noteworthy priorities. One is to advance research and development in healthcare as well as to reform the FDA to put greater focus on the needs of patients for new and innovative medical products. This leads us to conclude that he probably is going to be supportive and likely will push for faster medical innovation, hopefully with business financial incentives, but also could come in the form of increased National Institutes of Health (NIH) and FDA funding. This, too, is a reflection of the bipartisan spirit that has been so apparent in the Medtech and innovative health industry.”
• The uncertainties surrounding medical devices – “Brown: What we’re advising clients now is that there is a great deal of uncertainty […] [I]t’s important for the Medtech community to consider their specific issues in the context of some of the larger policy issues that are likely to animate the new administration. One of those is the broader question about the future of the ACA, and the other is the issue of global trade agreements that President-elect Trump focused on during the campaign. When it comes to talking about how these specific issues affect the Medtech community, it’s important to consider them in light of the access issues that will be relevant in considering alternatives to the current approach to healthcare under the ACA. With regards to global trade, the Medtech industry is increasingly global and it will be important for the community to be prepared to discuss how potential changes in global trade agreements would affect the industry.”

To read the full interview, please click here.