Respironics Settlement and Corporate Integrity Agreement
One more False Claims Act case has been settled; this time Respironics, Inc., who allegedly violated the False Claims Act by paying kickbacks to durable medical equipment suppliers that bought its services. Respironics, who makes breathing masks for people who suffer from sleep apnea, allegedly provided free customer support through its medSage call center to suppliers whose customers used Respironics masks. Medical product suppliers that sold masks made by Respironics' competitors had to pay for the call center services based on the number of patients who used masks manufactured by other companies. Such a setup essentiall...
Source: Policy and Medicine - March 27, 2016 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
Sleep And Health/Tech – It’s National Sleep Awareness Week
The post below originally ran on Health Populi on March 9.
One in three people suffer from some form of insomnia in the U.S. With sleep a major contributor to health and wellness, we recognize it’s National Sleep Awareness Week.
As a health economist, I’m well aware of sleep’s role in employee productivity, absenteeism and presenteeism. U.S. companies lose 11.3 days of lost work performance per person who suffers from insomnia, according to research from a Harvard-based team published in the journal Sleep. The cost of this to U.S. business is about $63 billion annually.
Science writers at the BBC developed a long lis...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - March 11, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Consumer Health Care Source Type: blogs
DM / DNB Cardiology Entrance Mock Test 7
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Source: Cardiophile MD - January 23, 2016 Category: Cardiology Authors: Prof. Dr. Johnson Francis, MD, DM, FACC, FRCP Edin, FRCP London Tags: Cardiology MCQ DM / DNB Cardiology Entrance Featured Source Type: blogs
AF Ablation Update – 2016
I do AF ablation. But, similar to my 2015 update, I continue to do fewer of these procedures.
What is new in 2016 is more confidence that this is the right approach.
My technique for ablating AF has not changed. I do pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) with point-to-point RF. Each burn takes 10-30 seconds, and at the end, the machine counts about 60-80 burns. If the patient has had atrial flutter, or previous heart surgery, or if I can induce atrial flutter, I will do a CTI ablation for flutter in the right atrium during the 45-min period of waiting to see if the veins reconnect. (CTI = cavotriscupid isthmus). I then check for ...
Source: Dr John M - January 23, 2016 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr John Source Type: blogs
Nocturnal pauses in Holter monitoring : How significant is it ?
Holter monitoring is the Initial test for all those with documented syncope (or Pre syncope ) with suspected cardiac arrhythmia .It is a 24 hour ambulatory ECG monitoring , expected to pick up any electrical abnormality and its correlation with the resultant symptom if any. Though the test looks attractive , the diagnostic yield is far less. (About 10%) .The reason being the episodes can be rare to be missed by 24hr sample time. We have extended Holter (48hr) , Event monitors , Loop recorders and implantable devices that can record ECG for extended periods.(18 Months ,Reveal Plus Medtronic) that improve the yie...
Source: Dr.S.Venkatesan MD - December 11, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: dr s venkatesan Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
What Killed Scott Weiland?
By JOSEPH KRAININ, M.D.
His voice had the unusual ability to convey both aggressive muscularity and profound vulnerability. Scott Weiland and Stone Temple Pilots were icons of my adolescence. Personally, my memory of Mr. Weiland will always be inextricably linked with “Plush,” that initial hit single which, upon first listen, instantly captivated me and thousands of other kids like me. During my high school days, “Plush” was elevated to the highest sonic status possible, joining Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” and Pearl Jam’s” Black” as an essential component of our f...
Source: The Health Care Blog - December 7, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: John Irvine Tags: THCB Pain Scott Weiland Stone Template Pilots Source Type: blogs
Clay no longer skinny-fat, but skinny-skinny
Clay shared his 3-month Wheat Belly photos.
“This was from August 1st, 2015 to November 1st, 2015: 3 months. I also exercised by walking about 26 miles per week.
“I have more energy and stamina. I no longer have to use nasal strips to prevent snoring. I sleep better, my food tastes better, my acid reflux has improved, my LDL amd HDL are headed in the right direction, as is my blood glucose. Also my blood pressure is now easily managed.”
You can see the dramatic reduction in tummy fat, the visceral fat that drives inflammation, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and increased risk for heart disease, ...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - November 11, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Wheat Belly Success Stories abdominal acid reflux blood pressure blood sugar cdl diabetes Fat gluten grains heartburn hypertension insomnia LDL sleep sleep apnea visceral Weight Loss Source Type: blogs
Sleep Apnea Is Tied to Gout - NYTimes.com
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Source: Dr Portnay - October 22, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr Portnay Source Type: blogs
Dee freed of sleep apnea, restless legs, joint pains, and A. fib
Dee provided photos and a detailed description of her Wheat Belly journey, an excellent example of how this lifestyle is not just a matter of cutting calories or carbs:
“My body betrayed me, at least that’s how I felt. I later learned that I’m the one who betrayed my body. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t lose weight and keep it off. Even if I could keep them at bay for 3-4 months, the cravings always won and I’d stay in my cycle of lose, gain back all that I lost plus more. The weight wasn’t the worst of it, though I’m certain it contributed to my misery.
“Sleep has always been elusive for me. Al...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - October 20, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Wheat Belly Success Stories a fib allergy facial change gluten grains joint pain skin health Weight Loss Source Type: blogs
“Stop Calling Us Mid-Levels,” Cry the NPs
Nursing is an honorable profession, neither superior nor inferior to medicine, but distinct from it. I learned this from nurses! Then last night I saw a commercial on TV for “Nurse Practitioners,” who are:
…leading the charge and growing the nation’s access to patient-centered, accessible, high-quality health care.
They’ve also got a chip on their collective shoulder over the term “Mid-level” provider. Can’t call them “Physician extenders” or “non-physicians” either. Fine. I’ll just call them “arrogant doctor-wannabes”. I was just bei...
Source: Musings of a Dinosaur - October 20, 2015 Category: Primary Care Authors: notdeaddinosaur Tags: Medical Source Type: blogs
Right Care Action Week — rational care
I wrote yesterday about how a broken healthcare system favors overuse of procedures.
Today I will discuss rational care. Remember the goals of the Lown Institute: We think healthcare should be affordable, effective, rational and available to all.
Rational means in accordance with reason or logic.
Hardly a day goes by that I don’t see irrational care. Why it happens is complicated. Patients may expect irrational care. Doctors and nurses can get pushed into delivering it. Then, insidiously, unreasonable and illogical care become normal; and rational care stands out as an outlier.
Some examples:
It’s not rational ...
Source: Dr John M - October 19, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr John Source Type: blogs
The people who changed the world may surprise you
Patients are cool. I did a colonoscopy on a hospitalized man who was saddled with the ravages of obesity, diabetes, sleep apnea and respiratory disease. My partner had performed the initial consultation, and it was my task to bring light into a dark place by performing a colonoscopy. I engaged in some conversation prior to the procedure, not simply to acquire relevant medical facts, but also to establish some rapport with a man I hadn’t met before, who I was poised to violate. I learned that he was a Navy SEAL decades ago during the Vietnam war, and enjoyed some leisure time in Cambodia then. He mentioned tha...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - October 13, 2015 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Michael Kirsch, MD Tags: Physician GI Source Type: blogs
A cautionary note on AF ablation in 2015
It’s time to write an update on AF ablation. Things have changed.
The major change is that I am doing many fewer ablations for AF.
The reason is we have a better understanding of the disease, or should I say, condition? In the last 2-3 years, good science has changed the way specialists see AF. The old-thinking had AF in its own silo. Your ECG showed AF so you had the disease AF. And if you had a disease, we had a fix–say drugs or ablation.
My partners would say, “John, we are sending you this patient with AF; please fix him.” And by fix, they meant drugs or ablation. Like a blockage–make it g...
Source: Dr John M - September 12, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr John Source Type: blogs
District Court Holds Corporate Integrity Agreement Obligations May Create "Reverse" FCA Liability in Cephalon Case
Last week, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas O’Neill of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania denied Cephalon’s motion to dismiss False Claims Act allegations brought by three former employees. Bruce Boise, Keith Dufour, and Andrew Augustine, joined by the United States, alleged that Cephalon promoted two drugs, Provigil and Nuvigil off-label (view the third amended complaint here). The complaint had additional weight due to the fact that Cephalon was under a Corporate Integrity Agreement during the alleged illegal conduct, which outlined “Stipulated Penalties for Failure to Comply” with a variety of comp...
Source: Policy and Medicine - July 27, 2015 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs
Sharon’s astounding Wheat Belly update
Sharon provided an update of her results in following the Wheat Belly lifestyle:
“Want to share continued success with Wheat Belly. Holding steady at an 80 pound loss.
“First time to Hawaii this month without meds for blood pressure, cholesterol, diuretics, and CPAP machine [for sleep apnea]. I actually bought two swimming suits in Maui!
“Thank you so much for revealing the truth. Truth may hurt, but it also sets you free.”
Following the Wheat Belly lifestyle has freed Sharon from several chronic conditions, all of which previously “required” medications to manage, none of which era...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - July 19, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Wheat Belly Success Stories blood pressure cholesterol gluten grains hypertension Inflammation sleep apnea Weight Loss Source Type: blogs
