Cost of specialty drugs now exceed median US household income; Socio-economic factors influence who most likely to have pancreatic cancer surgery;

News From Around The Web

> A new report by the AARP Public Policy Institute concludes that the average annual retail cost of specialty drugs used to treat complex diseases like cancer now exceeds the median U.S. household income. Report

> Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was ordered to pay $10 million to the mother of a boy whose bacterial meningitis wasn't promptly diagnosed despite multiple emergency room visits, The Legal Intelligencer reports. Article

> Social and economic factors may influence who is most likely to get surgery for early-stage pancreatic cancer, according to a new study in JAMA Surgery. Study

Health Finance News

>  Seventeen hospitals in New Jersey have taken legal action this week to stop one of the state's biggest insurers from unveiling a tiered provider network they claim excludes them unfairly. Article

> A new federal government initiative will hold hospitals accountable for the quality of care they deliver to Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries for joint replacements. Article

And finally… Lovebirds. Article