Current Events

One in 12 doctors has received money from drug companies marketing prescription opioid medications, according to a study released Wednesday afternoon.

Researchers at Boston Medical Center found that from 2013 to 2015, 68,177 doctors received more than $46 million in payments from drug companies pushing powerful painkillers. Researchers believe it is the first study to look at the practice of pharmaceutical companies marketing opioids to physicians.

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The District of Columbia and 16 states are pushing the Trump administration to protect nursing home residents’ right to take facilities to court over alleged abuse, neglect and sexual assault.

D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine and state attorneys general for California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Washington sent comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) opposing its proposal to reverse coarse on an Obama-era rule that banned nursing homes from putting language in resident contracts that require disputes to be settled by a third-party arbitrator rather than a court.

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(CNN)There were 206 cases of cyclospora infections reported by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from the first of May to the beginning of August, a 134% increase from the 88 cases reported over the same time period in 2016.

Cyclospora infections or cyclosporiasis are caused by ingestion of the parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis in food or water. Cyclospora infect the small intestine and most commonly cause watery diarrhea; other symptoms include abdominal cramping, nausea and weight loss.

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Endo International Plc said it agreed to set aside $775 million to resolve the last batch of lawsuits alleging the company’s vaginal-mesh implants eroded in some women, leaving them incontinent and in pain.

Endo’s settlement of the remaining 22,000 mesh suits means the company has now set aside more than $2.6 billion to wipe out cases over the flawed medical devices, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Consumer groups are making a last ditch effort to stop the Trump administration from stripping nursing home residents and their families of the right to take facilities to court over alleged abuse, neglect or sexual assault.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services (CMS) announced plans in June to do away with an Obama-era rule that prohibited nursing homes that accept Medicare or Medicaid funds from including language in their resident contracts requiring that disputes be settled by a third party rather than a court.

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Two of the greatest sources of frustration for Medicare recipients and their families are hospital observation status and the government’s incredibly complex appeals process. On Monday, a federal judge in Hartford, CT certified a class action lawsuit aimed at addressing both. The judge’s eventual decision in the case (Alexander v. Price) could have far-reaching effects on both the burgeoning use of observation status in hospitals and the rights of people getting Medicare to dispute decisions about their care.

Observation status is intermediate hospital-based care between the emergency department and admission.
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Honda has issued a recall for more than 24,000 of certain CR-V models due to the risk of the fuel supply pipe leaking or disconnecting leading to a fire.

The recall includes certain AWD and 2WD models of Honda's 2017 CR-V crossover, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration documents. Dealers were notified of the issue on July 14, and owners should be tipped off by Aug. 25.

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Daiichi Sankyo on Tuesday said it has agreed to pay up to $300 million to settle some 2,300 U.S. cases accusing the Japanese drugmaker of failing to warn that its blood pressure medication Benicar can cause gastrointestinal illness.

The settlement will become finalized if at least 95 percent of all claimants agree, or opt in, Daiichi Sankyo said in a statement. The company said the settlement fund was capped at $300 million.
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Several months ago I developed a stomachache after taking an over-the-counter medication for symptoms suggesting acid reflux.

When I told the doctor about my reaction, she said the medication, which she had prescribed, should not have caused my stomachache.

But the Food and Drug Administration lists stomach pain and upset stomach as among the drug’s possible side effects. The episode reminded me that physicians rarely counsel me on side effects when they tell me to take a medication.

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Reuters Health - The United States needs to curb excessive opioid prescribing and improve access to pain management techniques, suggests a new government study.

Researchers found that more than one third of U.S. adults were prescribed the medications in 2015 and many also misused the drugs.

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The physician running the U.S. Food and Drug Administration stunned tobacco companies when he said the agency had plans for rules to slash cigarettes’ nicotine content. Maybe they should have seen something like that coming.

Scott Gottlieb has shaken things up in his 81 days on the job.
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