Christine G. Savage
Christine Savage, co-chair of Choate’s Government Enforcement and Compliance Group, regularly collaborates with a diverse range of healthcare services and life sciences companies to help them satisfy compliance obligations, protect reputations, deliver value, and ultimately facilitate their ability to focus on their patients or customers. Christine’s 27 years of experience working internal investigations and managing government inquiries related to healthcare fraud help inform her approach to compliance and risk management projects.
As one of the few subject matter experts in the country, Christine is routinely called on to assist academic and clinical research institutions at all stages of the research cycle, from proposal to final close out. She provides legal counsel on contracting, ethical and human subjects protection oversight, effort reporting, and foreign influence issues, and helps craft investigative or disclosure plans in the face of identified problems or concerns. She had led multiple internal reviews related to conflicts of interest, foreign influence, and grants management concerns and resolved material findings with appropriate government agencies including NIH, NSF, OIG and DOJ.
Her work includes helping emerging life sciences companies develop and implement key compliance initiatives to put them on the right footing once they have a viable commercial product. She also collaborates with more established pharma and device companies to assess legal risks related to promotional activities, foundation and charity relationships, Open Payments requirements, and patient assistance programs.
Recognition
- Best Lawyers in America (2015-2025)
- “Litigation Star” by Benchmark Litigation
- Boston Magazine Top Lawyer in Healthcare Law (2022-2024)
- Acritas Stars multinational “Most Outstanding Lawyer” (2020)
- Best Lawyers in America: “Lawyer of the Year” for Health Care Law (2019)
- Massachusetts Super Lawyers
- Chambers USA (2005-2024)
- The Legal 500 (2021-2022)
- The Legal 500: Leading Lawyer (2023-2024)
- Mass Lawyers Weekly Top Women of Law
- Boston Business Journal 40-Under-40
Representative Engagements
- Assisted a hospital in assessing and refunding overpayments associated with a series of identified physician billing and coding errors.
- Assisting university and teaching hospital clients address "foreign component" and potential financial conflict of interest concerns surfaced internally and facilitating self-disclosures to agencies where appropriate.
- Responding to NIH inquiries regarding suspected faculty ties to foreign counties for universities and teaching hospital clients.
- Developing risk management and compliance program strategies for university and teaching hospital clients to address potential undue foreign influence issues.
- Coordination of response to law enforcement investigations and internal investigations related to foreign influence in research, conflicts of interest, and conflicts of commitment for universities and teaching hospital clients.
- Representing academic medical center in connection with attempted theft of biological specimens from research laboratory.
- Representing a university in the investigation and voluntary self-disclosure of time and effort reporting issues involving a faculty member to DOJ and NIH and successfully resolving the matter with no damages multiplier.
- Assisted major pharmaceutical company in identifying and resolving material legal impediments (in several states) to its ability to market an FDA approved product for its intended use.
- Created a compliance program timeline for a pre-commercial pharmaceutical company and helped develop an appropriate Code of Conduct, HCP engagement policies, and Investigator-Initiated Trials processes.
- Represented a global pharmaceutical company in a multi-year, multi-faceted government investigation regarding its voluntary withdrawal of a product.
- Counseled an academic medical center regarding potential False Claims Act implications of alleged scientific misconduct.
- Advised the board of a regional medical center in connection with an investigation into activities by members of its senior management team.
Publications and Presentations
- “Research (In)security: Preparation for the Elusive Final Rule(s) and the (Im)balance of Agency Implementations” webinar speaker, National Counsel of University Research Administrator (NCURA), July 2024
- “The View from Outside: Consultant and Counsel Perspective on the Latest Regulations, Enforcement Climate, and Emerging Best Practices,” speaker, National Counsel of University Research Administrator’s (NCURA) Pre-Award Research Administration Conference, March 2024
- “FTC Settlements Widen Efforts To Shield Health Data,” co-author, Law360
- “Maybe Forgotten But Not Gone – From the China Initiative, to the National Security Presidential Memorandum (NSPM) 33, CHIPS, and Beyond: Understanding and Responding to the U.S. Government’s Shifting but Continued Focus on Safeguarding Research,” speaker, Webinar with Huron Consulting Group, May 2023
- “Managing AdTech Risk When Capturing Sensitive Information,” co-host, Webinar presented by Choate & Secretariat, April 2023
- “Research Security and Foreign Collaborations: Navigating Increasingly Challenging Compliance Obligations and Enforcement Activity,” panelist, American Health Law Association Academic Medical Centers and Teaching Hospitals Law Institute, February 2022
- “Foreign Influence in Academic Research – The Changing Landscape and Forecast for 2022,” panelist, Boston Bar Association, January 2022
- “Trends in National Security Law,” panelist, Boston Bar Association, October 2021
- “Protecting Against Improper Foreign Influence on Campus Research,” webinar speaker, Boston Bar Association, May 2021
- “Undue Foreign Influence in Federally Funded Research,” presenter, The Consortium on Financing Higher Education membership, August 2020
- “50-State Fraud and Abuse Survey,” Massachusetts chapter co-author, American Health Lawyers Association
- “Providers Need to Face Patient Portal Challenges Head On,” author, Health Law360
- “Ending Physician Speaker Programs May Not Be a Good Thing,” author, White Collar Law360
- “Q&A With Choate’s Christine Savage,” featured, Law360
- “Mistakes, Misconduct or False Claims: Legal Risks and Potential Liability Involving Federally Funded Research,” speaker,Boston Bar Association
Professional and Community Involvement
- Vice-Chair, UMass Amherst Foundation Board of Trustees
- Immediate Past Co-Chair, Beacon Hill Nursery School Board of Trustees
- Chair Emeritus, UMass Amherst College of Social and Behavioral Sciences Dean’s Advisory Board
- Founding Member, UMass Club
- Former Co-Chair of Choate's Healthcare Group
Prior Civic Engagement:
- Member, BBA Health Law Steering Committee
- Trustee, Massachusetts Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation
- Member, Partners (now MassGeneral Brigham) Institutional Review Board
Education & Credentials
- Harvard Law School
- JD, 1995, cum laude
- University of Massachusetts Amherst
- BA, 1992, cum laude, Harry S. Truman Scholar
Admissions
Massachusetts
U.S. District Court, Massachusetts
U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit
Christine's Insights
Announcements 10.23.2024
Choate Ranks Highly in Benchmark Litigation 2025
Choate earned high rankings in Benchmark Litigation’s 2025 annual survey of the top attorneys and law firms in the United States.
Choate's Enforcement and Investigations Updates Podcast 08.20.2024
Rise in False Claims Act (FCA) Claims Against Federal Contractors and Grant Recipients
In this episode of the Enforcement & Investigations podcast series, Adam Bookbinder and Christine Savage discuss the new influx of False Claims Act (FCA) claims against federal contractors and grant recipients, such as colleges, universities, academic medical centers, and other research institutions for cybersecurity failures, leading to significant monetary and other restrictive penalties.
Choate's Enforcement and Investigations Updates Podcast 06.28.2024
Research Security Enforcement Updates
In this episode of the Enforcement and Investigations Podcast Series, Christine Savage and Mark McPherson discuss recent research security enforcement actions involving the University of Florida and Cleveland Clinic, as well as the biotechnology company Sigma-Aldrich.