"Health & Medical News"

When revelers rang in the New Year, Robert Jarvik, MD, was the star of a massive Pfizer Inc. advertising campaign for Lipitor (atorvastatin). By the end of February, Pfizer had ended the campaign, under the pressure of a U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee probe.

The committee’s chair, Rep. John Dingell (D, Mich.), charged that the ads misled the public because they created the impression that Dr. Jarvik is a practicing physician, when he is a biomedical engineer not licensed to practice medicine. The committee disclosed that Dr. Jarvik received $1.35 million under a two-year contract set to expire this month, according to media reports.

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: unranked [?]

A California appeals court ruling may bode well for physicians and patients in their fight against alleged illegal policy cancellations by health insurance companies.

A three-judge panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal unanimously ruled that the practice of reviewing individuals’ applications after they have submitted claims and then pulling the coverage based on alleged errors “is flatly prohibited” under state insurance laws. The Dec. 4, 2007, decision gave the green light to a patient’s class-action lawsuit alleging that Blue Shield of California tried to dodge claims by looking for supposed misstatements or omissions on patients’ policy forms after approving treatment.

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: unranked [?]

The movement to align patient safety and payment seems to be picking up a full head of steam. Hospitals and payers are coalescing around the idea that no one should get paid for so-called never events — serious reportable events, such as wrong-site surgery, that kill or maim patients.

Perhaps most significantly, the BlueCross BlueShield Assn. announced in November 2007 that its plans will work toward ending payment for never events. The change will be phased in over several years as the Blues alters its coding and claims processes. A spokesman said adoption will vary among the 39 Blues plans, which insure more than 100 million people, because the change requires renegotiating contracts and securing agreements from local physicians and hospitals.

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: unranked [?]