Sarah Shepson

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Congress Increases Flexibility for Forgiveness under the Paycheck Protection Program, yet Uncertainty about Implementation Remains

By Tyler Evans, Jennifer Plitsch and Sarah Shepson on Posted in CARES Act, Coronavirus, COVID-19
The Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020 (the “Flexibility Act”) was signed into law on June 5, revising a number of key requirements for loan forgiveness under the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”).  The Program has provided support to a number of organizations negatively impacted by COVID-19 in the form of loans that can be … Continue Reading

The Defense Production Act and the Coronavirus Executive Order: Key Considerations

By Frederic Levy, Jennifer Plitsch, Tyler Evans, Carl Wiersum and Sarah Shepson on Posted in Biodefense, Commercial Items, Government Contracts Regulatory Compliance, Health Care Contracting, Independent Research & Development, Insurance & Indemnity, Procurement Policy, Public-Private Partnerships
Following up on our post earlier this week giving a general overview of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (“DPA”), 50 U.S.C. §§4501 et seq., this post comments on President Trump’s March 18, 2020 Executive Order on Prioritizing and Allocating Health and Medical Resources to Respond to the Spread of COVID-19 (the “COVID-19 E.O.”) and … Continue Reading

Expanding the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Response through Diagnostic Development

By Jennifer Plitsch, Tyler Evans and Sarah Shepson on Posted in Biodefense, Health Care Contracting, Independent Research & Development, Insurance & Indemnity, Public-Private Partnerships
In the latest World Health Organization daily situation report, as of March 11, 2020, the WHO reported 118,326 COVID-19 cases confirmed and 4,292 deaths worldwide, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 938 cases and 29 deaths in the United States.  The same day, WHO characterized COVID-19 as the first global … Continue Reading

A New Path to TAA Compliance: U.S.-Made End Products in Acetris

By Jennifer Plitsch, Michael Wagner and Sarah Shepson on Posted in Bid Protests, Buy American, Country of Origin, Domestic Preferences, Government Contracts Regulatory Compliance, Procurement Policy, Supply Chain, Trade Agreements Act
On Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued an opinion in Acetris Health, LLC v. United States, No. 2018-2399 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 10, 2020) (“Acetris”), that would permit pharmaceutical manufacturers to source a drug’s active pharmaceutical ingredient (“API”) from India, China and other non “designated countries” and yet still offer the … Continue Reading

U.S. Government Seeks Industry Solutions in Novel Coronavirus Response

By Jennifer Plitsch, Sarah Shepson, Tyler Evans and Alexander Hastings on Posted in Biodefense, Defense Industry, Government Contracts Regulatory Compliance, Health Care Contracting, Independent Research & Development
As of February 10, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that 40,554 cases of the Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) have been confirmed globally, with twelve cases confirmed in the United States.  The WHO has been issuing situation reports on a daily basis since January 21, and each report in February alone has identified more than … Continue Reading

How Much Is Enough? Federal Circuit Appeal May Decide Level of U.S. Manufacturing Required Under the TAA

By Jennifer Plitsch, Alexander Hastings and Sarah Shepson on Posted in Bid Protests, Buy American, Country of Origin, Domestic Preferences, Jurisdiction, Supply Chain, Trade Agreements Act
A long-standing dispute over the approach to country of origin determinations under the Trade Agreements Act (“TAA”) may soon be resolved, as the Federal Circuit recently heard oral argument in one of two cases presently examining key aspects of this statute.  Among other questions presented, the court may decide the standard for determining whether a … Continue Reading
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