Current medical news and unique business news for anyone who cares about the healthcare industry.
Healthcare reform: The last word (for now). A quick thought ahead of the vote today to repeal healthcare reform: “There’s no free-market solution for the health-care system, at least not insofar as “free-market solution” means the government stays out of it. In a free market, people who are sick, or have previously been sick, can’t get health-care insurance. Many, many more can’t afford it. And a solution that leads to 40 percent of the country being uninsured is no solution at all.”
Top 7 Modern AI-Powered EAP Providers for Global Workforces in 2026
Discover the top AI-powered EAP providers for 2026. Compare platforms like Kyan Health and Spring Health on triage speed, global reach, and clinical quality to transform workforce wellbeing.
Hospital building binge grows. More than two-thirds of hospitals are undergoing construction — as much as a 40 percent increase over last year.
FDA approvals and rejections. Cook Medical received FDA approval for two renal stents and the FDA approved Natroba, a head lice treatment. Meanwhile, the FDA told Eli Lilly its Alzheimer’s drug florbetapir was not ready for approval.
Retraction Watch: Something to watch. Retraction Watch, a hub for announcements of retracted medical and scientific information in academic journals and the popular press, continues to get positive reviews.
Dr. Oz’s betrayal of medicine? Popular medblogger Orac accuses the Oprah regular of joining “the dark side” against medicine: “As 2011 dawns, there is no doubt in my mind that Dr. Oz has now inevitably crossed the Woo-bicon, gone over to the Dark Side, betrayed the cause, gone woo, or whatever you want to call it. I say again: Stick a fork in him. He’s done, as far as science-based medicine goes. That’s because he featured one of the biggest promoters of quackery on the Internet on his show in one fawning segment after another.”
The Healthcare Payments Industry Has a Perception Problem
Healthcare payments are no longer about transactions. It’s about controlling the revenue cycle. And increasingly, that control is not sitting with ISOs.
Medscape jumps to iPad, Android. The WebMD platform is now available for iPad and Android.
Dealflow and more. Emerus Hospital Partners has raised $30 million; breast ultrasound imaging company TechniScan raised $10 million; Pfizer has struck a $632 million collaboration deal with Theraclone Sciences; Ironwood Pharmaceuticals will collaborate on drug discovery with Protagonist Therapeutics.