Video Teaser for Lown Presents: Hospital Cooperation
Watch and share this video sneak peek of what Shannon, Vikas, and our guests will be talking about at Lown Presents: The Promise of Hospital Cooperation on January 27th. More
Departing CEO paid $5.2 million ‘retention’ bonus by nursing home chain that lost 2,800 residents to covid
Nearly 3,000 residents of Genesis Healthcare nursing homes have died from covid-19. The company's CEO got a $5.2 million "retention" payment in October, then announced he was retiring in January. More
Azar’s ‘Sunset Rule’ will bring a dangerous new dawn for health regulation
The Sunset Rule would force HHS to accomplish a herculean task: reassess the impacts of its 17,000-plus regulations every 10 years. More
The Shkreli Awards for health care dysfunction and greed
Each year the Lown Institute calls for nominations from health care experts, journalists and others. This year an outstanding panel of judges selected 10 egregious examples of profiteering. More
Shkreli Awards: “Dishonorable Mentions”
In case you missed it, the 2020 Shkreli Award winners, the top ten examples of profiteering and dysfunction in health care, were released earlier this month. But what about nominations that didn't make the top ten? More
Problematic Promotion of Medications by Nurse Ambassadors—Legal and Ethical Issues
In August 2020, the pharmaceutical company AbbVie agreed to pay California $24 million to settle a whistleblower case that involved its nurse ambassador program for adalimumab (Humira), while not admitting any wrongdoing. More
Unsupported Price Increases (UPI) of prescription drugs in the United States
Out of 10 identified drugs that had substantial 2019 price increases on top of already high current spending, seven were not supported by new clinical evidence; the net price increases on these seven drugs alone cost Americans an additional $1.2 billion in annual drug spend. More
One Ambulance Ride Leads to Another When Packed Hospitals Cannot Handle Non-Covid Patients
A Kansas woman thought she’d find help at her local emergency room. What she found instead was a packed hospital and an ambulance ride to someplace else. More
And the Shkreli Awards go to …
Should pharma charity contributions be publicly disclosed, just like doctor payments? Senators say yes
Pharma companies have inked a series of federal settlements over payments to charity organizations, which the federal government argues are a “conduit” to boosting drug sales. Now, after an opioid investigation, two Senators want all those charity payments disclosed publicly. More
Northwell’s 2,500 lawsuits against patients made headlines; hours later, they were rescinded
New York City-based Northwell Health will rescind thousands of lawsuits filed against patients for unpaid medical bills amid the pandemic, the system told Becker's Hospital Review. More
‘Shkreli Awards’ Shame Healthcare Profiteers
Greedy corporations, uncaring hospitals, individual miscreants, and a task force led by Jared Kushner were dinged Tuesday in the Lown Institute's annual Shkreli awards, a list of the top 10 worst offenders for 2020. In third place: four California hospital systems that refused to take COVID-19 patients or delayed transfers from hospitals that were out of beds. "In the midst of such a pandemic, to continue that sort of behavior is mind boggling," said Saini. "This is more than the proverbial wallet biopsy." Connecticut internist Steven Murphy, MD, ran COVID-19 testing sites for several towns, but conducted allegedly unnecessary add-ons such as screening for 20 other respiratory pathogens. "As far as I know, having an MD is not a license to steal, and this guy seemed to think that it was," said Brownlee. More
Brigham CEO, Moderna earn ‘Shkreli awards’ for profiteering in pandemic
A local health care watchdog group has bestowed its annual dubious distinction on vaccine maker Moderna Inc. and the president of Brigham and Women’s Hospital for what it calls "greed and profiteering" during the pandemic. More
VIDEO: 2020 Shkreli Awards countdown!
If you missed the live Shkreli Awards countdown on January 5th, don't fret! You can watch the full recording below. More
“Shkreli Award” goes to Moderna for “blatantly greedy” COVID vaccine prices
Award judges cited Moderna’s pricing of its COVID-19 vaccine, which was developed with $1 billion in federal funding. Still, despite the tax-payer backing, Moderna set the estimated prices for its vaccine significantly higher than other vaccine developers. The Lown Institute’s judges wrote that, “given the upfront investment by the US government, we are essentially paying for the vaccine twice.” More
Covid-19: “Shkreli Awards” go to pandemic’s top profiteers
The Shkreli Awards for profiteering and dysfunction in healthcare, an annual tribute to the worst actors of the US health system, have unsurprisingly focused this year on misconduct during the covid-19 pandemic, with the place of dishonour taken by the Trump administration’s federal personal protective equipment (PPE) task force. “What was even worse,” said award judge Patricia Gabow, “was that Moderna ‘selected’ Brigham and Women’s Hospital for the vaccine trial and Dr. Nabel sold Moderna stock, after it quadrupled in price with the vaccine development.” More
Biden can lower drug prices without Congress doing anything
The Biden administration could fix our patent system, making it easier for generics to reach the market. More
Hospital Prices Just Got a Lot More Transparent. What Does This Mean for You?
Hospitals face the new year with new requirements to post price information they have long sought to obscure: the actual prices negotiated with insurers and the discounts they offer their cash-paying customers. More
PRESS RELEASE: Top-ten pandemic profiteers, health system malfunctions take spotlight in 2020 Shkreli Awards
The crisis of Covid-19 created new opportunities for exploitation by this year’s greedy and misguided “winners.” More
The Federal Health Authority, a Federal Reserve System for Health Care: COVID-19 Has Exposed a Need for Change
The current COVID-19 pandemic shares many of the same causes as the Panic of 1907: lack of a coordinated federal response, lax state-level regulations, and absence of clear strategies to respond and recover from the initial outbreak. Therefore, we propose a new entity paralleling the Federal Reserve —the Federal Health Authority (FHA)—to anticipate health shocks, coordinate future responses, and address longer-term problems in the nation’s health and health care. More