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10 healthcare names get Shkreli Awards for bad behavior

The 7th Annual list contains the "most egregious examples of profiteering and dysfunction in healthcare," decided by a panel of 19 judges who are patient activists, clinicians, health policy experts and journalists. The awards are organized by Lown Institute, a nonpartisan think tank that measures hospitals' and health systems' social responsibility. "When you see all these stories in one place, they stop being anecdotes and start to tell a bigger story," Vikas Saini, MD, president of the Lown Institute, said. "The need for more fairness and integrity in U.S. healthcare couldn't be clearer." More

US Taxpayers Spend Over $800million A YEAR On Unnecessary Heart Stents, Report Finds

Stents are small mesh tubes inserted into weak or narrow arteries and other passageways to keep them open in patients with coronary artery disease, widen arteries clogged with plaque, and keep blood flowing.

The new report estimated that one in five stents implanted between 2019 and 2021 were unnecessary because the patient was not at high risk for a heart attack, the Lown Institute, an independent research firm, found.

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‘More dangerous than useful’: 1 in 5 coronary stents implanted by cardiologists are unnecessary, wasting $800M per year

“When physicians continue a practice despite the evidence against it, it becomes more dangerous than useful.” cardiologist Vikas Saini, MD, president of the Lown Institute, said in statement. “The overuse of stents is incredibly wasteful and puts hundreds of thousands of patients in harm’s way.” More