May - Healthcare Headlines

Health policy and industry actions bombard us from every direction. Sometimes, we can regain real-world perspective on individual healthcare freedom from a mile-high view.

https://www.medpagetoday.com/primarycare/dietnutrition/110040

Health news and commentary gathered by MedPage Today staff

May 9, 2024

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A 30-year study found ultra-processed foods were linked with a 4% increase in all-cause mortality, with ready-to-eat meat, poultry, and seafood-based products, sugary drinks, dairy desserts, and breakfast foods as the biggest contributors. (BMJ)

Reimbursement hasn't kept up with inflation or hospital costs for patient care, escalating economic pressures on hospitals, an American Hospital Association report detailed.

The city of Long Beach, California declared a public health emergency following a local, deadly outbreak of tuberculosis. (NBC News)

A BMJ investigation raised red flags about financial conflicts of interest between FDA chiefs and the drug and medical device companies.

Pfizer agreed to settle over 10,000 Zantac lawsuits after it was pulled from the market in 2020 for cancer concerns. (Reuters)

The FDA advised healthcare providers and facilities to transition away from using Getinge's heart devices.

Kenya's public hospital doctors union reached an agreement with the government ending a near 2-month strike. (ABC News)

An estimated 127 chemicals in vapes may be acutely toxic when heated and inhaled. (Scientific Reports)

Customers of the online therapy platform BetterHelp will receive notices soon about refunds stemming from a 2023 privacy settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.

The number of U.S. children who lost a parent to a drug overdose from 2011 to 2021 totaled 321,566. (JAMA Psychiatry)

Houston Methodist hospital patients now get a BioButton attached to their chests so nurses can monitor vitals virtually. (Fortune)

Milton Diamond, a sexologist who advocated for intersex babies, died at the age of 90. (New York Times)

A rapid approach to starting people with opioid use disorder on extended-release injectable naltrexone was superior to the standard method of starting within 10-15 days. (JAMA Network Open)

Equinox's $40,000 per year longevity program claimed it will help you live longer. (New York Times)

A large percentage of cow milk was found to have genetic traces of H5N1, but that doesn't mean it's causing disease in the cow. (STAT)

The NIH plans to launch clinical trials to find long COVID treatments for sleep disturbances, exercise intolerance, and post-exertional malaise.

HHS proposed a new model to boost kidney transplant access, CMS said.

Some women on GLP-1 receptor agonists are becoming pregnant after struggling with infertility. (CNN)

A new Florida law will put outdoor workers' health at risk, saying cities can't require employers to provide heat or shade breaks. (USA Today)

Healthcare behaving badly, and getting nabbed for it, in May.

Including a Michigan nurse. 🙁

Plus more.

MedPage Today's Legal Break of May 23, 2024

https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/features/110288

A jury awarded oncologist Lauren Pinter-Brown, MD, formerly of Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, $14 million in a re-trial of a gender discrimination case. (Daily Bruin)

A New York appeals court reinstated a $10 million malpractice award against Staten Island physician Theodore Strange, MD. (silive.com)

Cape Cod Hospital in Massachusetts will pay more than $24 million to resolve allegations that it submitted claims for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedures that weren't compliant with Medicare cardiac procedure rules, federal prosecutors said.

A Michigan woman was charged for practicing as a nurse without a license. (ABC 12)

And an Indiana man has been accused of practicing nursing without a license -- and with failing to register as a sex offender. (FOX 59)

Finally, a Texas woman who impersonated a nurse was sentenced to 18 months in prison, according to federal prosecutors.

A federal judge has tossed a class-action lawsuit against the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and its maintenance of certification (MOC) program. (Cook County Record)

Doctors in Kansas have filed a lawsuit challenging a state law that would require them to report patients' reasons for seeking abortion care. (ABC News)

A family in Washington state has sued Seattle Children's Hospital, alleging that the death of a 16-year-old girl from myocarditis was caused by racial discrimination. (Seattle Times)

A diagnostics lab will pay $2.5 million to settle claims that it paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to more than 100 physicians in the form of sham "rent payments" in exchange for patient referrals, according to federal prosecutors.

The Cleveland Clinic Foundation will pay $7.6 million to settle claims that a primary investigator on some of its NIH grant awards didn't disclose financial ties to foreign institutions, federal prosecutors reported.

Magellan Diagnostics will plead guilty and pay $42 million to resolve claims that its lead testing devices produced inaccurately low results for potentially tens of thousands of children, according to federal prosecutors.

Kristina Fiore leads MedPage’s enterprise & investigative reporting team. She’s been a medical journalist for more than a decade and her work has been recognized by Barlett & Steele, AHCJ, SABEW, and others. Send story tips to k.fiore@medpagetoday.com.