Prosecutors allege the Johnson & Johnson subsidiary used a charity as a funnel to pay Medicare patients' copays for pulmonary arterial hypertension drugs.
John O'Brien, a pharmacist with experience in the private sector and government, will serve as HHS' point man on drug pricing policy. He replaces Dan Best, who died unexpectedly last month.
Ev3 Inc. will plead guilty to criminal misdemeanor charges and pay $17.9 million for distributing adulterated devices; Covidien LP has paid $13 million to resolve civil kickback allegations for a second device.
The award is based on several metrics, including; preventing infections, reducing C-sections, use of technology to ensure safer care, and leadership policies and practices.
The 119-page report is a rehash of ongoing administration efforts to deregulate the healthcare industry with the hope of fostering competition and lowering prices.
The magazine's renowned list of 50 top-ranked hospitals for cardiovascular care outperformed 3,500 non-ranked hospitals on key metrics, but saw similar or higher readmissions rates.
HHS shortens the 340B final rule implantation by six months after determining that it would not 'interfere' with the departments 'comprehensive policies' to address high drug costs.
