New data released by the Department of Veterans Affairs on Monday shows suicide rates for veterans have increased over the last decade. The report comes just weeks after the issue of suicide gained renewed attention as a public health concern following the release of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data showing stark increases in suicides among civilians.
According to the analysis , which is part of the VA’s comprehensive examination of more than 55 million death records between 2005 and 2015, the average number of veterans who died by suicide each day remained unchanged at 20.
The suicide rate increased faster among veterans who had not recently used Veterans Health Administration healthcare than among those who had, officials said. (Release )
Theranos executives hit with criminal fraud charges
On Friday, a federal grand jury indicted Holmes alongside the company’s former president and chief operating officer Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani on two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and nine counts of wire fraud.
In an unsealed indictment (PDF), federal prosecutors alleged Holmes and Balwani not only defrauded investors but encouraged patients and doctors to use the Theranos blood testing device despite no evidence that it could produce accurate results.
Specifically, prosecutors allege the executives purchased ads in California and Arizona to convince consumers to buy Theranos blood tests at Walgreens stores, indicating the tests were cheaper than conventional labs. Patients, and sometimes insurers, purchased the device and then brought the “inaccurate, unreliable and improperly validated” results to their doctor.
“This indictment alleges a corporate conspiracy to defraud financial investors,” FBI Special Agent in Charge John F.Bennett said in a statement . “This conspiracy misled doctors and patients about the reliability of medical tests that endangered health and lives.” (FierceHealthcare )
Leapfrog pushes against quality reporting changes
Hospital safety reporting company The Leapfrog Group is arguing against a proposed Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services rule that would curtail public reporting of infection rates and rates of accidents and injuries in hospitals.
The CMS proposed rule for the Inpatient Prospective Payment System would remove the meaures from the Inpatient Quality Reporting Program, under which hospitals are paid by Medicare to report on errors, injuries, and infections to be publicly reported for patients and others.
Those measures include catheter-associated urinary tract infections, C. Diff infections, central line-associated bloodstream infection, surgical site infections and postoperative sepsis rates. The rule change would also remove reporting measures such as pressure sores and in-hospital falls with hip fracture rates.
The reasons for the proposed rule is to reduce the cost of reporting which is estimated to add up to 2 million hours annually. The Leapfrog Group points to studies which suggest infections cost the economy $147 billion a year. (Release )
