Boston Scientific Corp., the world's biggest maker of heart stents, has agreed to pay $22 million to settle allegations the company's Guidant unit reportedly used clinical studies to pay kickbacks to doctors for using its products. Guidant paid physicians $1,000 to $1,500 each to participate in one of four studies it said were designed to assess the performance of pacemakers and defibrillators, the US Department of Justice said in a prepared statement. In reality, the company was paying doctors to select Guidant devices over competing products, the government said. Boston Scientific will enter into a corporate integrity agreement, which requires its cardiac rhythm management unit to disclose payments to doctors on its Web site.
Healthcare providers are rolling out a different sort of stocking stuffer: gift cards that can be used to pay bills and insurance premiums or for specific services at eye doctors and dentist offices. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida might have the largest program, selling cards at more than 1,000 Winn-Dixie and CVS stores in the state. The providers selling them say they can make a good gift, but industry observers contend some cards may not be right for many consumers. In the BCBS program, with a $19 card, recipients save 10% to 50% on braces, dentures, crowns, fillings, oral surgery, and cosmetic dentistry; 20% off brand name and generic medications through most major pharmacies; and 10% to 60% on eye exams, glasses, and contacts. Its $59 card can be used to help pay a premium or toward access to health insurance.
Vaccine maker MedImmune has voluntarily recalled 13 lots of vaccine against the pandemic H1N1 influenza because they have lost some potency since they were manufactured, the company said. The 13 lots recalled involved 4.7 million doses of the intranasal vaccine, which is based on a live, weakened virus, but officials believe most of them were administered in October and November when the product would have still been at full potency. The company still has 3,000 doses of the vaccine affected by the recall, but no one knows how many are in warehouses around the country. This is the second recall of a swine flu vaccine. Just a week ago, Sanofi-Aventis recalled 800,000 doses of vaccine for children because it too had lost some potency.
An Alabama commission headed by the governor took action this week that could clear the way for the state to sell the almost 150-year-old Bryce Hospital in Tuscaloosa to the University of Alabama. The Amendment 666 Bond Commission voted to authorize the state Finance Department to sell up to $139 million in state bonds for economic development. Commission members did not say what projects might be funded with the money, but part of the funds could be used to help fund the building of a new mental hospital if the Bryce property is sold.
The costs of healthcare reform being pushed through Congress by Democrats will be felt long before the benefits. Proposed taxes and fees on upper-income earners, insurers, even tanning parlors, take effect quickly. So would Medicare cuts. Benefits, such as subsidies for lower middle-income households, consumer protections for all, and eliminating the prescription coverage gap for seniors, come gradually. Most of the 30 million uninsured helped by the bill won't get coverage until 2013 at the earliest, well after the next presidential election. More than two-thirds of Americans get their coverage through large employer plans and their premiums won't go up because of the legislation, according to number crunchers at the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. But Congress can't abolish medical inflation, so don't expect premiums to drop. For people who buy their own insurance policies, about one of every six Americans, premiums will go up. But that's for better benefits prescribed under the legislation. And about half of them would get tax credits to substantially lower their costs.
As the Senate lumbers toward passage of its healthcare bill, Democrats are looking ahead to the potentially difficult process of reconciling its substantial differences with the more liberal House version—the last major obstacle before President Obama can sign landmark legislation into law. Democrats are hopeful that the momentum generated by the long-awaited Senate vote—and the high political stakes involved in finishing the job—will grease the wheels of negotiations with the House. But after lawmakers enjoy what is left of the holiday season in their home states, they will return to wide and deeply held differences between the House and Senate bills on federal funding for abortion and the liberals' dream of establishing a "public option"—a government plan that would compete with private insurers—to guarantee access to affordable insurance. Negotiators also will have to hammer out disagreements that will determine how quickly the bill takes effect, what taxes will be raised, and other items that reach deeply into every hospital, doctor's office, and home medicine cabinet.