The FDA Is Broken
How the Food and Drug Administration messes up approval of new drugs including the new one, aducanumab, that supposedly helps Alzheimer’s disease patients. More
After company protest, FDA agrees to review controversial drug to prevent premature birth
“This drug needs to be pulled off the market — period," said Adam Uratro, the chief of maternal-fetal medicine at MetroWest Medical Center. More
Op-ed: Hospitals need to comply with price transparency
As a matter of simple economics, hospital price transparency will improve competition and encourage more equitable pricing. More
Conflicts of Interest and Authors of Commentaries in Medical Journals
og:description Medical journals are relied on as trusted sources of medical information. For years, authors’ conflicts of interest—both disclosed and undisclosed— have repeatedly undermined the credibility of the medical profession and the medical literature. More
Health care industry sues over another transparency rule
Health care groups don't want transparency that reveals true prices. More
National Academies’ Report Took Pharma-Friendly Stance After Millions in Gifts From Drugmakers
Congress tapped a national academies committee to examine a drug cost issue. It got a report that includes “egregious” failures to disclose conflicts of interest. More
Where Are The High-Price Hospitals? With The Transparency Rule In Effect, Colonoscopy Prices Suggest They’re All Over The Place
Although we examined only one common shoppable service in this post, the importance of identifying high-price hospitals is generalizable to a broad range of hospital services. More
Medicare has become more of a private marketplace — and it’s costly
Medicare Advantage is fundamentally altering Medicare's structure. More
Injuries Mount as Sales Reps for Device Makers Cozy Up to Surgeons, Even in Operating Rooms
Aggressive sales tactics have allegedly led surgeons to use defective or wrong-size implants, screws or other products on patients, including former Olympian Mary Lou Retton. More
Thousands of Patients Were Implanted With Heart Pumps That the FDA Knew Could Be Dangerous
Inspectors repeatedly found manufacturing and device quality problems with the HeartWare heart pump. But the FDA did not penalize the company, and patients had the device implanted on their hearts without knowing the facts. More
Higher Prices for Cancer Surgery at National Cancer Institute–Designated Cancer Centers
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) Cancer Centers Program, developed as part of the National Cancer Act of 1971, recognizes 71 cancer centers across the US that meet rigorous standards for transdisciplinary and innovative research to develop new and better approaches to preventing, diagnosing, and treating cancer. Although this program was developed to advance cancer research, these cancer centers have an important role in translating scientific knowledge into effective treatments for patients with cancer. Moreover, these cancer centers, nearly all part of academic medical centers, attract top clinician researchers and clinician educators who seek to advance both cancer research and clinical care. More
Private Equity Drills into the Dental Care Industry
DSOs are overwhelmingly owned by private equity firms. 27 of the top 30 DSOs are private-equity-owned. This amounts to approximately 84% of practice locations that contract with the top 30 DSOs. More
FDA allows drugs without proven clinical benefit to languish for years on accelerated pathway
Criticisms of the US Food and Drug Administration’s accelerated approval process have resurfaced after the recent approval of aducanumab (Aduhelm) for dementia. Elisabeth Mahase finds that the process is plagued by missing efficacy data and questionable evidence. More
Facing Headwinds on New Alzheimer’s Drug, Biogen Launches Controversial Campaign
Do you sometimes lose your train of thought or feel a bit more anxious than is typical for you? Those are two of the six questions in a quiz on a website co-sponsored by the makers of Aduhelm, a controversial new Alzheimer’s drug. But even when all responses to the frequency of those experiences are “never,” the quiz issues a “talk to your doctor” recommendation about the potential need for additional cognitive testing. More
Patient advocacy organizations and FDA drug approval: lessons from Aduhelm
Patient advocacy organizations need to shift their paradigm from "any drug at any cost" to "the best drug at the right cost." More
Speaking Out Against Aggressive Medical Debt Collection Practices
Medical debt and collection actions further perpetuate racial inequities by limiting economic opportunities and further contributing to the wealth divide. More
A Curious Union: Clorox, Cleveland Clinic, and the CDC Foundation
Disinfecting surfaces does little to curb Covid's spread. So why are two big health nonprofits working with Clorox? More
Fulfilling the Mandate of the US Food and Drug Administration’s Accelerated Approval Pathway
This Viewpoint discusses the US Food and Drug Administration’s accelerated approval pathway and proposes the need for reforms as well as the timely completion of postapproval trials. More
Characterization of US Hospital Advertising and Association With Hospital Performance, 2008-2016
This cross-sectional study uses data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to assess whether higher-performing hospitals are more likely to advertise their services directly to consumers. More
Hospitals Have Started Posting Their Prices Online. Here’s What They Reveal
Since January, hospitals were supposed to be disclosing true prices for their services, as a way to empower patients to shop around. Turns out, compliance is spotty and the data can be hard to find. More