The American Board of Internal Medicine is moving against nearly 140 doctors who it says cheated on the organization's certification exams by seeking out, sharing, and in some cases purchasing actual test questions from a board-review company. In suits filed in US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the ABIM alleges that five physicians infringed the organization's copyright on test questions. The suits also accuse them of misappropriating trade secrets and breach of contract, the Wall Street Journal reports.
After a year of debate, the two parties are still arguing about healthcare reform, the Washington Post reports. One point of contention is a newly released brochure to Medicare recipients. Democrats say it explains how the new law works, but Republicans cast it as government-funded propaganda. Republican congressmen talk regularly about trying to repeal the law, while Democrats accuse them of being tools of the health insurance industry. Lately, Republicans have been attacking the nomination of Donald Berwick to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, reports the Post.
An early look at Pennsylvania's experiment in delivering better and, in the long run, less-expensive healthcare underscores the challenges and potential benefits of one idea being explored as part of the health overhaul, the Wall Street Journal reports. Pennsylvania is carrying out the largest state pilot program in the U.S.—called the Chronic Care Initiative—which involves more than one-million patients, 800 doctors, and 16 insurers across seven regions of the state. Insurers are providing $30 million over three years in extra payment to doctors who are involved, and the state is contributing $3.4 million to run the program.
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II told a federal judge that he should let a suit challenging the constitutionality of the federal healthcare law proceed and deny a request by the Obama administration that the case be dismissed. In 41-page memorandum, Cuccinelli argued that federal lawyers acting on behalf of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius were off base when they contended that Virginia has no standing to sue over the law, a key claim of the government's motion that the case be dismissed, the Washington Post reports.
This article from USA Today asks: What happens if a patient's care choices, or their doctor's, clash with the ethical dictates Catholic hospitals must heed? The article cites the case of an abortion at a Catholic hospital in Phoenix that prompted an angry bishop to rebuke the hospital that allowed a surgery to save the mother's life.
Medical school officials have long said they want a broad range of backgrounds among their students, yet they have had trouble attracting more students from traditionally underrepresented groups. Today, about 7% of 77,722 medical students nationwide are African American and about 8% are Hispanic, according to the Web site of the Association of American Medical Colleges. In 2008, the association issued a "roadmap to diversity" to help medical schools broaden their applicant pools and student bodies while steering clear of potential legal problems. The Liaison Committee on Medical Education, which accredits medical schools, has also weighed in, saying the schools must make "ongoing, systematic and focused efforts" to attract students from demographically diverse backgrounds.