Current medical news and unique business news for anyone who cares about the healthcare industry.
Genzyme’s investor bubble. The Sanofi-Genzyme deal has investors searching for the Next Big Thing and mid-sized biotechs may benefit from the search. “”This deal forces you to look for new opportunities, and there are many companies with valuations that aren’t too bad,” Rajiv Kaul, a fund manager of Fidelity’s Select Biotechnology Portfolio, said.
Vinson healthcare ruling, Part II. The federal court decision in Florida invalidating federal healthcare reform has confused the states to the point the government is returning to the same judge, Roger Vinson. The federal government wants him to clarify that his ruling “does not relieve the parties of their rights and obligations under the Affordable Care Act while the declaratory judgment is the subject of appellate review.”
With the Rise of AI, What IP Disputes in Healthcare Are Likely to Emerge?
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
Pharma-friendly nurse practitioners. There’s always so much talk about doctors and their relationships with the pharmaceutical industry. But it turns out 96 percent of nurse practitioners have contact with pharma reps and 61 percent of nurse practitioners say its OK to get small gifts and free meals. And, of course, few think there’s any chance they’ll be influenced by such things.
What doctors tweet about. About half of surveyed tweets by physicians are healthcare related, 12 percent were self-promotional (surprisingly low) and 3 percent were “unprofessional.”
I’m all for physicians using social media to effect positive change in public health, advocacy, health literacy, professional collaboration, etc (and have personally found it immensely helpful in getting information in my field — medical education), but very concerning is the potential patient privacy violations and conflicts of interest (“buy product A and cure fibromyalgia!”) which clearly violate ethical codes and can hurt patients/the public.
Medicare fraud sting. More than 100 medical professionals were caught in the Medicare fraud sweep. But was it more show than go? “We can arrest and charge people every day and it still won’t make a dent until changes are made to Medicare,” said FBI special agent in charge John Gillies.
A Personalized Approach to Medication Nonadherence
At the Abarca Forward conference earlier this year, George Van Antwerp, managing director at Deloitte, discussed how social determinants of health and a personalized member experience can improve medication adherence and health outcomes.
