In the summer of 2003, just weeks after an outbreak of monkeypox sickened about 70 people across the Midwest, Mark Slifka visited “the super-spreader,” he told me, “who infected half of Wisconsin’s cases.” Chewy, a prairie dog, had by that point succumbed to the disease, which he’d almost certainly caught in an exotic-animal facility that he’d shared with infected pouched […]
AstraZeneca plunked down $200 million to share in the development of an Ionis Pharmaceuticals drug in late-stage clinical testing for a rare disease affecting the nerves. Preliminary data from a pivotal study are now lending some justification for the 2021 deal, and the partners are planning to file a regulatory submission with the FDA later this year. The drug, […]
BY KIM BELLARD I find myself thinking about the future a lot, in part because I’ve somehow accumulated so much past, and in part because thinking about the present usually depresses me. I’m not so sure the future is going to be better, but I still have hopes that it can be better. Two articles recently provided some good […]
An employer health plan didn’t violate federal law by limiting outpatient dialysis benefits for policyholders, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday. The 7-2 decision holds that Marietta Memorial Hospital Employee Health Benefit Plan in Ohio followed Medicare statute because its plan doesn’t differentiate benefits for participants with end-stage renal disease. The hospital’s health plan offers low reimbursement rates for outpatient dialysis […]
Stare off into a clear blue sky or at any blank surface for long enough, and you’ll notice them creeping across your vision. Translucent black or gray squiggles—sometimes shaped like rods or crescents, hooks or threads—that seem to drift on the surface of your eye, even changing position if you move your eyeball. Firstly, relax: yes, they’re really there (kind […]
Dive Brief: Inaccuracies and other limitations in Medicare enrollment data on race and ethnicity are hampering the agency’s ability to assess and combat health disparities among its 66 million beneficiaries, according to a new report from the HHS Office of Inspector General. The data contain more inaccuracies for people identified as American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian/Pacific Islander or Hispanic than for […]
June 21, 2022 Cindy Powers needed 19 surgeries over the course of five years for abdominal problems and life-threatening infections. “I knew of at least three times where she died on the operating table and they had to restart her heart,” her husband, Jim Powers, told investigative consumer correspondent Anna Werner on the CBS Evening News. Cindy’s illnesses led to […]
Medicare could have saved up to $3.6 billion in 2020 if it bought generic drugs at the prices paid by billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban’s drug company, according to a new study. The study from researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, suggests inefficiencies in the way Medicare currently pays for […]
On-the-ground implementation Insurers on the forefront of the accreditation process speak to its operational requirements, especially where data collection is concerned, and the shifts in programming it can prompt. CalOptima, an Orange County insurer that provides coverage through Medi-Cal and serves 150,000 dual-eligible members, is working toward earning the health equity accreditation and has hired an outside consultant to help […]
From memorizing facts about illnesses to learning how to perform procedures, every medical and health science university offers curricula and opportunities to ensure that its students hone their hard skills. But as our world moves past the pandemic and patient populations increase in diversity, those skills should only be part of a healthcare professional’s education. “A complete and competent physician […]