Highlights of the important and interesting in the world of healthcare:
On the road to rationing. Unequal access to healthcare is hardly a new phenomenon in the United States, but the country is moving toward rationing at an unprecedented pace. The underlying problem is that doctors are reimbursed at different rates, reports the New York Times.
Prodded by activists. The FDA is reviewing the evidence used to declare that the amount of mercury in dental amalgam is “not high enough to cause harm” to patients, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Pfizer ends Thelin studies. Pfizer has ended worldwide clinical trials of blood pressure medicine Thelin, pulling the drug off shelves in the European Union, Australia and Canada because the drug poses a serious liver damage risk.
Pittsburgh angel fund looks for more money. Pittsburgh Equity Partners, an angel fund formed four years ago to fund early stage companies in western Pennsylvania, has retained Trustmont Financial Group to help it raise as much as $50 million through a private offering, reports the Pittsburgh Business Times.
ObamaCare oops. Drug companies Genentech and Allergan are discontinuing orphan drug discounts for children’s hospitals, another unintended consequence of helth reform law that failed to extend the discounts, according to the New York Times.
