high profile
Researcher challenges FDA approval process
A high-profile researcher has issued what is now one of many public challenges to the manner in which the FDA speeds approval of certain drugs. Researcher Dr. Clifford J. Rosen is concerned, in... Read more...
AMA promotes plan to cover the uninsured
The AMA has decided to put its stake in the ground on the issue of health reform, launching a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign promoting its approach to covering the uninsured. The trade... Read more...
Police consider L.A. patient dumping charges
City attorneys have gone on the warpath over allegations Los Angeles-area hospitals are dumping patients on the city's infamous Skid Row. Now, the police have gotten involved as well. The LAPD has... Read more...
The 'grateful patient' syndrome
When patients really, really like the care they receive, they often show it by making a contribution to the hospital. This happens so often the practice has a nickname, "grateful patient syndrome."... Read more...
HealthSouth's Scrushy going to jail
It's the end of the line for high-profile healthcare exec Richard Scrushy, who was sentenced to almost seven years in prison yesterday for his conviction on federal bribery charges. Scrushy, who now runs a church out of a television studio, continues to deny wrongdoing.
Unlike peers involved in similar scandals at Enron, WorldCom and Tyco, Scrushy actually managed to …
... Read more...Tenet execs detail turnaround progress
With its high-profile legal troubles in the past, Tenet Healthcare executives say that they're turning operations around, with a range of initiatives including physician sales and service programs, improvements efforts targeting under-performing facilities and a "targeted growth" program designed to restructure services within individual hospitals. Execs are also restructuring …
... Read more...SPOTLIGHT: NEJM gives reviewer the boot
It looks like high-profile cardiologist Dr. Martin Leon has been booted from the New England Journal of Medicine peer review panel for five years. His offense? He allegedly leaked results from COURAGE, a high-profile study comparing stents with drug therapy in treating stable heart disease. Article
Senator wants nonprofit hospital investigation
It looks like there's more trouble brewing on the charity care front. U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Finance, has asked the Government Accountability Office to conduct an investigation into whether nonprofits are meeting their community benefit obligations. He's also asked the GAO to investigate compensation for executives and board members at nonprofit hospitals. "We need to get a better handle on how nonprofit hospitals are fulfilling …
... Read more...SPOTLIGHT: Who should report on errors?
High-profile Boston hospital Massachusetts General made the news recently when a surprise Joint Commission inspection turned up numerous problems, including patient monitoring issues, lax medication procedures, hand-washing gaps and more. The news has spawned some soul searching at MGH and other hospitals over how such problems should be reported to the public. Editorial
VA faces more security criticisms
VA officials faced some severe criticism from members of Congress last week after admitting that the agency's IT security still leaves much to be desired. Under fire last week at a hearing of the House Veterans Affairs oversight committee, the officials confessed that they're basically not in control of the situation. Not only has the VA's data security been breached repeatedly, officials don't know how a recent breach in Birmingham, AL took place and still haven't informed all of the …
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