The FTC filed suit Wednesday to block Edwards Lifesciences Corp. from acquiring medical device maker JenaValve Technology Inc. In a complaint filed in Washington federal court, the FTC said the deal would hinder innovation for medical devices used to treat a serious heart condition known as aortic regurgitation, where blood pumped from the heart leaks back into the chamber. JenaValve's medical device was approved in the European Union and is expected to receive approval from the FDA later this year.
Baptist Health South Florida confirmed on Tuesday that some of its patients' protected health information that was overseen by Oracle Health was accessed by an unauthorized third party. Baptist Health said it became aware of the data breach on March 7 and Oracle Health believes the information was compromised as early as Jan. 22. Some of the information exposed may have included Social Security numbers and information from patient medical records. Baptist Health said none of its computer systems were affected in the breach as the breach was limited to Oracle Health.
OpenAI wants ChatGPT to stop enabling its users' unhealthy behaviors. Starting Monday, the popular chatbot app will prompt users to take breaks from lengthy conversations. The tool will also soon shy away from giving direct advice about personal challenges, instead aiming to help users decide for themselves by asking questions or weighing pros and cons.
On the same day last week that CMS rolled out plans to ease the flow of health information, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT made two fairly significant announcements at an event in the Eisenhower building. 'The first was that we were going to continue our work on certification, and that this was going to include certification of APIs to improve interoperability,' Tom Keane says. 'The other thing I talked about is how we were going to enforce the information blocking.' Keane did not specify a timeline for when the agency would start certifying what are known as APIs, which are the means by which information is sent and received between applications. He also didn’t provide information about when or how that the ONC would start enforcing information blocking, the practice of preventing payers, patients, and providers from accessing electronic health information. The agency hasn't yet penalized companies that unreasonably limit access to health data.
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) today announced the public availability of Thorium, an open-source platform for malware and forensic analysts across the government, public, and private sectors.
This issue, linked to calcification, can make the devices less effective over time, and the company has received multiple reports of failed shock therapies. Early lead replacement will be required for some patients, and adverse outcomes such as death or cardiac resuscitation due to a sustained ventricular arrhythmia are possible in more extreme situations.