Nicholas Meza

Collegial, responsive, relationship-driven health care counsel

Nick Meza advises health care businesses, including retail, independent, mail-order and specialty pharmacies, pharmacy benefits managers (PBM), pharmacy hubs, wholesale drug distributors, and drug and device manufacturers. Nick's clients also include hospitals, physician/oncology groups and integrated behavioral health practices. With a master’s degree in public health, policy and administration and prior clinical work experience, Nick brings broad knowledge of the health care industry to the legal advice he provides. He focuses on:

• Health care regulatory compliance
• Health care transactions
• Representing licensed professionals and entities before administrative boards

Clients rely on the responsiveness and collegiality that Nick and his team bring to the legal solutions they develop. Nick is known for providing practical legal and business solutions for health care clients. He is effective at building meaningful relationships with business partners and regulators to arrive at creative and compliant business solutions.

• Advising pharmacy clients on practice of pharmacy compliance, automated dispensing systems, supply chain, controlled substance (both DEA and state controlled-substance acts) and business licensing, including change of ownership (CHOW), change of location (CHOL) and change of officer (CHOO) requirements.
• Providing strategic advice and contractual support to pharmacy clients seeking to enter into complex shared services arrangements, including central fill, prescription order processing and remote pharmacy models.
• Advising behavioral health entities on regulatory compliance and transaction matters.
• Counseling wholesale drug distributors, drug and device manufacturers, and repackagers on regulatory compliance, including assisting drug wholesalers with the development of federal and state-controlled substance monitoring and suspicious order reporting programs.
• Providing state regulatory and licensure advice for entities engaged in the dispensing and distribution of investigational drug products.
• Advising software and technology companies both currently operating in and entering the health space on scope of practice compliance and related operational business needs.
• Assisting national oncology and specialty physician practices with the development of specialty drug programs and in-office dispensing (IOD) operations.
• Defending health care facilities and licensed health care professionals against regulatory and licensing board investigations and complaints.

• Secured regulatory approval for a client’s innovative service delivery model not contemplated in statutes and regulations. Nick and the Quarles team successfully presented before multiple regulatory boards, winning approval for the new model.

• Represented a diverse group of pharmacy industry stakeholders before boards of pharmacy and rulemaking authorities to advocate for the modernization of pharmacy regulations allowing for expanded scope of practice, modern delivery models and technology-assisted modalities.