Healthcare Law

Healthcare law governs the full range of activities carried out by healthcare professionals, healthcare institutions, and industrial stakeholders in the medical and pharmaceutical sectors.

Physicians, allied health professionals, healthcare facilities, laboratories, medical device manufacturers, and regulatory authorities operate within a highly regulated environment that entails significant legal exposure.

Whitefield advises healthcare stakeholders exclusively, assisting them in securing their operations, managing institutional relationships, and defending their interests in both advisory and litigation matters.

What Is Healthcare Law?

Healthcare law encompasses all legal rules applicable to:

• Healthcare professionals (both private practitioners and hospital-based physicians);
• Public and private healthcare institutions;
• Group practice structures;
• Pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers;
• Relations with health regulatory authorities.

It is a cross-disciplinary field combining civil, commercial, criminal, administrative, and disciplinary law.

Which Professionals Do We Advise?

We regularly assist:

• Physicians, dental surgeons, and radiologists;
• Pharmacists;
• Physiotherapists, nurses, and allied health professionals;
• Veterinarians;
• Ambulance service providers and medical transport companies.

What Are the Legal Challenges Facing Private Healthcare Practitioners?

Healthcare professionals practicing privately operate in a highly structured legal environment where the issues are not only ethical but also economic, regulatory, and patrimonial. These challenges become particularly significant in the context of transfers, acquisitions, or restructurings, especially in capital-intensive specialties such as radiology, medical imaging, laboratory medicine, and oncology.

Business Formation and Structuring

Choosing the appropriate practice structure is a strategic decision. Professional entities such as SEL, SCP, SCM, GIE, GCS, or SISA each involve distinct considerations in terms of governance, taxation, liability, and capital ownership.

Structuring must take into account:

• Capital allocation and voting rights;
• Entry and exit mechanisms for partners;
• Share valuation methods;
• Approval and pre-emption clauses;
• Allocation of powers and responsibilities;
• Compliance with professional regulatory rules and ownership restrictions applicable to regulated professions.

In capital-intensive technical structures (radiology centers, scanners, MRI units, imaging platforms), legal structuring must also consider administrative authorizations, equipment financing arrangements, and practice agreements with healthcare institutions.

Relations with Professional Bodies and Regulatory Authorities

Private practice requires ongoing interaction with professional regulatory bodies and, where applicable, Regional Health Agencies (ARS).

Key issues may include:

• Registration or transfer applications;
• Multi-site practice authorizations;
• Disciplinary proceedings;
• Tariff-related disputes or issues relating to professional conduct;
• Health insurance fund audits;
• Litigation before social security and professional insurance panels.

A proactive and strategic approach to these matters is essential to preserve both professional reputation and operational continuity.

Practice Transfers and Acquisitions

Transfers and acquisitions represent a major strategic and financial milestone for private practitioners, particularly in highly capitalized specialties such as radiology and laboratory medicine.

These transactions may take various forms, including:

• Transfer of patient lists (goodwill);
• Share or equity transfers;
• Internal restructuring prior to succession;
• Mergers or consolidation of practices;
• Integration into a group or technical platform.

They require thorough legal analysis, particularly regarding:

• Valuation of goodwill or equity interests;
• Administrative authorizations attached to the activity (notably in medical imaging);
• Practice agreements and hospital affiliations;
• Financial commitments related to equipment;
• Regulatory and contractual due diligence;
• Ongoing or potential litigation risks.

In medical imaging structures, transactions may involve complex arrangements combining bank financing, partnerships with healthcare institutions, and sometimes investors, requiring strong command of both healthcare law and corporate law.

A strategic and technically robust approach is essential to secure the transaction, protect the practitioner's patrimonial value, and ensure regulatory continuity.

For dedicated support with the transfer or acquisition of professional practice companies (SEL), see our Transfer and Acquisition of SEL page.

What Are the Key Issues for Healthcare Institutions?

We advise:

• Public and private healthcare institutions;
• Non-profit healthcare institutions (ESPIC);
• Nursing homes and long-term care facilities;
• Rehabilitation and post-acute care institutions;
• Specialized clinics (psychiatry, oncology, etc.).

Governance and Internal Organization

• Medical executive committees and internal bodies;
• Legal structuring;
• Relations between management and practitioners.

Relations with Health Authorities

• Regional Health Agencies (ARS);
• Ministry of Health;
• Licensing and operational authorizations;
• Administrative appeals and litigation.

Tariff and Reimbursement Disputes

• Recovery of alleged overpayments;
• Financial penalties;
• Tariff adjustment mechanisms;
• Litigation before the social divisions of judicial courts.

Counter-Examinations (Contre-Visite Médicale): What Is at Stake for the Healthcare Professional?

A counter-examination allows an employer to have a doctor of its choosing verify the validity of a sick-leave certificate issued to an employee. The physician who issued the original certificate may see their diagnosis challenged following this counter-examination, with direct consequences on the continuation of the employee's salary. Healthcare professionals facing a challenge to their prescriptions, as well as employers organizing a counter-examination, should make sure the procedure complies with the applicable rules before drawing any disciplinary or financial consequences from it.

How Is Medical and Hospital Liability Managed?

Liability in healthcare matters may be civil, administrative, and/or criminal, depending on the nature of the facts and the applicable framework.

We act in connection with:

• Proceedings before medical conciliation and compensation commissions (CCI);
• Cases involving ONIAM;
• Criminal prosecutions in healthcare matters;
• Complex compensation and damages claims.

An early, structured, and rigorous legal strategy is essential to limit financial exposure and safeguard the reputation of both professionals and institutions. For a detailed presentation of this support, see our dedicated medical liability page.

Medical Expert Assessments: Pitfalls to Avoid

The medical expert assessment — whether it takes place before a CCI, in judicial proceedings, or at an insurer's request — is often the decisive stage of a medical liability case. Yet patients and healthcare professionals alike frequently make the same mistakes, which can compromise the outcome of the proceedings:

• Showing up unprepared: the assessment is not a simple medical consultation; the medical file, the timeline of events, and the evidence must be gathered and analyzed beforehand.
• Not being assisted: assistance from a lawyer, where appropriate together with a medical advisor, helps ensure the assessment respects the adversarial principle and that all relevant questions are put to the expert.
• Overlooking the deadlines to challenge the report: the expert's report can be challenged, but the available remedies and time limits are strict and vary depending on the court or body seized.
• Underestimating how the questions put to the expert are worded: the assessment mandate strictly frames what the expert may examine; a poorly drafted mandate can leave out elements that are decisive for compensation or defense.

Legal support upstream of the assessment, rather than intervention after the fact to challenge its conclusions, remains the best guarantee of an outcome that reflects the reality of the case.

Recent Case Law in Healthcare Law

Two recent Cour de cassation decisions clarify concrete points for anyone involved in a medical liability or medical expert assessment matter:

• Cass. 1st civ., 16 October 2024, No. 22-23.433 — where the medical file does not make it possible to verify whether the treatment provided was appropriate, it falls to the healthcare professional, not the patient, to prove that the care given was suitable. This decision reinforces the importance of keeping a rigorous medical file.
• Cass. 2nd civ., 30 April 2025, No. 22-15.215 — a lawyer cannot assist their client during the clinical examination itself carried out by the court-appointed expert, since that examination is covered by medical confidentiality; the lawyer does, however, retain their role during the intake, the gathering of complaints, the medico-legal discussion, and the adversarial review of findings. A concrete point of vigilance for anyone preparing for a medical expert assessment.

Digital Health and Hospital Cooperation

The development of telemedicine and cooperative healthcare structures requires rigorous legal structuring tailored to regulatory requirements.

We advise cooperative entities such as GCS, GHT, and GIE, as well as healthcare networks, medical centers, and group practices. We also assist with telemedicine and e-health projects, and with the negotiation and drafting of hospital cooperation agreements.

How Can Legal Risks in Healthcare Be Prevented?

Healthcare law is fundamentally compliance-driven and requires constant vigilance and in-depth knowledge of the regulatory framework.

Proactive legal support makes it possible to anticipate regulatory inspections, secure legal and organizational structures, limit disciplinary and financial risks, and protect the liability of executives and practitioners.

Why Choose Whitefield in Healthcare Law?

Whitefield provides healthcare stakeholders with sector-focused expertise. The firm has extensive experience in disciplinary, administrative, and criminal proceedings and possesses in-depth knowledge of health authorities and regulatory requirements.

We advise both private practitioners and healthcare institutions strategically, in advisory and litigation matters alike, adopting a pragmatic and rigorous approach aimed at ensuring the long-term security of their operations.