A dozen federal agents stormed a South Florida office Feb. 11, 2008, to arrest a drug suspect. The alleged culprit was a state-licensed physician, charged with prescribing medication that caused the death of a man from Palm Beach County. When the case goes to trial in Miami federal court, it will fall to jurors to decide whether Ali Shaygan, MD, was a compassionate doctor looking out for his patients or a drug dealer peddling prescriptions to addicts for easy cash. His case is part of a national debate over who should set the standards for medical practice and how much responsibility doctors bear when they prescribe potentially deadly drugs.
Although the UAW said that it has reached tentative deals with each of the Detroit Three to modify its 2007 labor contract, the union acknowledged that it does not include an agreement on how to fund a critical healthcare trust—commonly called a VEBA. UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said in a statement that "the UAW is withholding the terms of the tentative understanding pending completion of the VEBA discussions and ratification of the agreements." In its 2007 contract talks, the UAW agreed to manage and operate the VEBA, a healthcare fund for its retirees.
The St. Bernard Parish Council again put off a decision on whether to remove the five-member board overseeing construction of a new parish hospital, after the council chairman pulled the measures from the agenda. Council Chairman Frank Auderer said he put two resolutions on the agenda "in error" that would have removed the Hospital Service District board and appointed new members. Hospital Service District board Chairman Daniel Dysart asked at the meeting whether the measure had been taken permanently off the table or would be reconsidered at a future meeting. Auderer said the matter would be deferred "until we can come into counsel with you all as a group."
Brookwood Medical Center has asked a Montgomery County, AL, Circuit Court judge to throw out Trinity Medical Center's application to relocate and to require Trinity to go through an extra regulatory process before seeking state permission to move. Brookwood says in its court filing that Jefferson County, AL, has too many unused licensed hospital beds and Trinity should go first through the process of altering the State Health Plan before applying for a Certificate of Need. Brookwood says the State Health Planning and Development Agency should not have allowed Trinity's application to be deemed complete and start through the regulatory process before Trinity won an adjustment to the State Health Plan.
Greenville Hospital System University Medical System hopes to close on the Palmetto Health Baptist Easley (SC) deal by the end of May, CEO Michael Riordan told trustees. GHS and Palmetto Health recently formed a new corporation to run the Pickens County, SC, hospital. The plan calls for GHS to pay $45 million for a 50% interest in the Easley facility. GHS general counsel Joseph J. Blake Jr. said the closing date depends on whether any third-party approvals are required and whether they can be completed by May 30. The corporate structure still must be determined as well, he said.
Three Miami-Dade County doctors are among those indicted in connection with an alleged $10 million Medicare fraud scheme, according to a press release from the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida. The doctors were all indicted by a grand jury in Miami for conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. The scheme allegedly was operated out of Midway Medical, a Miami infusion clinic that claimed to specialize in treating HIV/AIDS patients.
University Medical Center officials are expected to present new contracts with medical groups and healthcare providers that would save Clark County, NV, about $1.3 million per year.
The hospital has been renegotiating the contracts to help ease its $39 million in debt, and hospital officials say the new contracts would save the hospital $9.5 million over the lives of the contracts.
Two of California's largest insurers have been selling health coverage intended to be a safety net for the state's sick and jobless at premiums that exceed state-issued rates. Two other companies uniformly adhere to the state-issued rates. But a Los Angeles Times investigation found that Blue Shield of California's premiums are as much as 55% higher. And those charged by Anthem Blue Cross have been as much as 36% higher.
A debate over who has the most "top docs" in South Jersey, Virtua Health or Cooper Health System, remained unresolved after the first of what could be several sessions before Camden County Superior Court Judge Mary E. Colalillo. Colalillo lifted a temporary restraining order that barred Virtua from boasting in an advertising campaign that it had the most top doctors. The campaign can continue, as long as Virtua eliminates the claim that the findings were based on an "independent study." Virtua also agreed to drop a claim that it had "twice as many" top physicians as any other health system.
Drug-resistant staph infections are more common in Illinois hospital patients than previously thought, according to new data from the Illinois Hospital Association. But the overwhelming majority of hospital patients with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, were already infected before being admitted, the data suggests. The findings highlight how prevalent the drug-defying bacteria have become in Illinois communities as well as the importance of measures to stem the spread of infections.
