TOP STORIES
The U.S. Department of Justice has completed its “largest takedown ever” of suspected Medicare fraudsters, worth about $900 million and involving 301 defendants. That easily surpasses last year’s previous record of 243 defendants charged with defrauding Medicare out of a total of $712 million, DOJ said Wednesday.
About half the cases in this year’s takedown are related to home health fraud, while another 25 percent involve pharmacy claims. About a third of the defendants came from South Florida. — Reuters
As if to reinforce the idea that Medicare fraud is the unofficial state sport of Florida, federal officials on Wednesday also charged two Jacksonville brothers with conspiracy to defraud the Defense Department’s Tricare program. Details you can’t make up: “During the Simsirs’ arrests, federal agents seized about $344,000 in cash, seven firearms, including an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, a Lamborghini and a Porsche. Agents later seized $2 million from them. — Miami Herald
LIFE SCIENCES
IFM Therapeutics, a product of the Atlas Venture seed program, has raised a $27 Series A round from investors including Atlas, Abingworth and Novartis. — Business Wire
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Chiesi USA and parent company Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A. of Italy have completed the acquisition of three injectable drugs from The Medicines Company for $262 million in cash now and as much as $480 million more later, based on sales. — Marketwired
The FDA has sent a warning letter to Medtronic subsidiary Tyrx over manufacturing processes related to antibacterial envelopes used with implantable devices. — MassDevice
Russian drug-maker Biocad is accusing Roche of undercutting prices in Russia to “destroy” the latter’s chances of entering the U.S. biosimilars market. — STAT
Ions released by metal-on-metal hip implants can impede the formation of osteoblasts, according to a newly published study. — MassDevice
PAYERS/PROVIDERS
A replacement nurse brought in to replace striking regulars at Allina Health’s Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, has gone home to Georgia after complaining about patient safety. Allina said it asked her to leave and defended the quality of care at Mercy. — Minneapolis Star Tribune
Livio Health Group, a St. Paul, Minnesota-based startup operator of mobile and on-site care clinics, has closed an early-stage funding round led by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. — PR Newswire
Ascension Health has named Darcy Burthay CEO of Washington, D.C.-based Providence Health System. — Washington Business Journal
On the opioid front:
- Nearly 12 million Medicare beneficiaries received opioid prescriptions last year. — STAT
- “Nonmedical” — bureaucrat-speak for recreational — use of opioids more than doubled in the U.S. in a 10-year period. — National Institutes of Health
- Still, physicians, patients and insurers have been slow to accept alternative pain treatments. — The New York Times
Regenerative medicine pioneer Dr. Paolo Macchiarini, who was fired in March from the Karonlinska Institute in Stockholm, faces charges of involuntary manslaughter in Sweden over the deaths of two patients. — Associated Press via CBS News
TECHNOLOGY
The Eye Care Leaders Group, a health IT company in Raleigh, North Carolina, has launched a consulting division to serve ophthalmology and optometry practices. — Business Wire
New research from Brigham and Women’s Hospital suggests that too many breast MRIs are performed upside-down, often resulting in surgeons failing to remove tumors fully. — ScienceDaily
POLITICS
Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin unveiled his plan to roll back Medicaid expansion in the state. It still requires a waiver from CMS. — Louisville Courier-Journal
BIO has offered qualified praise to the House GOP’s new Affordable Care Act replacement plan. — Business Wire
A CDC advisory committee has recommended against using FluMist for the 2016-17 flu season. — CNN
A LITTLE BIT EXTRA
An artificially intelligent robot has tried to escape from a Russian research lab for a second time. — Daily Mirror
Photo: Chris Ryan/Getty Images
