Single-payer system for the US: you heard it here last

Today's New York Times has an article on the virtually unimpeachable argument in favor of a single-payer health-care financing system for the United States. All the arguments are there (except for one, which may be implicit in the others: we could provide universal coverage and still save a bundle). The article also recognizes that the great stumbling block isn't economics or logic: it's

CBO and tax-exempt hospitals

This month the Congressional Budget Office issued two reports on the tax-exempt hospital industry. Both are worth reading, as much for what they say about the mind-set on Capital Hill these days as for what they tell us about tax-exempt hospitals.1. Nonprofit Hospitals and the Provision of Community Benefits. How much tax benefit do nonprofit hospitals receive as a result of their exemption from

Drug wholesaler settles with New York

New York's AG, Eliot Spitzer, announced on Thursday that his office had reached a settlement with prescription drug behemoth Cardinal Health, Inc., in connection with that drug wholesaler's purchasing practices. Here are some of the salient features of the announcement:Cardinal -- based in Dublin, Ohio and ranked 19th on the Fortune 500 list of America's largest corporations -- is one of the

Middlemen redux

Following up on my earlier post about the role of middlemen in health care, yesterday's WSJ had a nice front-page article (link good for 7 days) on middlemen. After extolling the usual list of the virtues of a middleman --A lot of the money that goes to health-care middlemen is well spent. It allows employers to combine their purchasing power for leverage with hospitals and drug makers. It

When will this madness end?

The FTC put out a press release yesterday that announces a proposed consent decree in the case of "several organizations representing more than 2,900 independent Chicago-area physicians for agreeing to fix prices and for refusing to deal with certain health plans except on collectively determined terms. The FTC’s complaint charges that the actions of Advocate Health Partners (AHP) and other

The spine as profit center

Today there is yet another story from The New York Times about yet another opportunity for entrepreneurial docs (this time, spine surgeons) to combine with entrepreneurial manufacturers (this time, of medical devices) for mutual profit. Not, as Jerry used to say, there is anything wrong with that, unless the profit motive is warping medical judgment and leading surgeons to make decisions based

Viaticals -- something was rotten, indeed

From today's Modern Healthcare "Daily Dose":Florida physician Clark Mitchell pleaded guilty to participating in a securities fraud scheme with Mutual Benefits Corp. that robbed investors of $965 million and conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. According to the U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of Florida, MBC principals induced investors to purchase interests in the

DeBakey's surgery

It is sometimes said you should be able to teach an entire Bioethics course from the stories that appear in your local daily paper, but it is also sometimes the case that you could teach the course from a single article. Once such article is "The Man on the Table Devised the Surgery" in the Christmas-day edition of The New York Times.The gist of the story is pretty straightforward. Last Dec. 31,

Physicians' "verbal orders": who may authenticate them?

It probably isn't worth fighting this fight, so I won't, but I have to note in passing that all physicians' orders are verbal orders as long as they used words in some form or another (either written or oral), which pretty much includes everything except body language. (See, e.g., Columbia Guide to Standard American English.) But, by long-standing practice, "verbal orders" is the established

Nice news for the antitrust bar

Worth watching in 2007:Nurses filed a class-action antitrust lawsuit against Detroit-area hospitals and health systems, claiming that they colluded since before November 2002 to fix wages at below-market levels. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit, names Bon Secours Cottage Health Services, Detroit Medical Center, Henry Ford Health System, McLaren Health Care Corp., Oakwood

What ever happened to the bird flu pandemic?

AP ran a story this month ("Experts Puzzle Over Halt of Bird Flu") with a couple of interesting points:Bird flu may not be gone, but merely resting -- there are lots of potential hiding places, made difficult to find because of a combination of factors, including warmer weather, poultry vaccination programs, and the reluctance of academics and developing countries to part with virus samples.Cold

Talking about what doctors don't want to talk about

Death.Today's New York Times has an op-ed by Dr. Pauline Chen on "The Most-Avoided Conversation in Medicine" -- i.e., the one that includes the words "you're dying and we've run out of ways to slow it or stop it." Chen's useful suggestion, which probably amount to spitting into the wind but is worth repeating to every medical student and doctor you meet: "I think there is a simple way to change.

The Willie Sutton School of Healthcare Cost Management

Considering the incredible profits being earned by many of the middlemen in the health care industry, wouldn't you think there would be a more efficient way to deliver health care that didn't require the services of the paper-pushers, leaving more money on the table for goods and services that actually benefit real patients? That was one of the lessons, I thought, from the story involving United

Some folks have a head for business . . . .

The AP reports (courtesy of MyWay) on an interesting case that lies at the intersection of criminal procedure and a patient's right to refuse an unwanted medical procedure. Seventeen-year-old Joshua Bush has a 9mm bullet in his head. Its presence isn't life-threatening, and a procedure to remove it wouldn't be any more dangerous than other surgeries that require general anesthesia. He has refused

Piergiorgio Welby dies after respirator removed

The Italian poet who lost in his bid for court authorization to have his respirator removed (see earlier post), died after his physician removed the respirator without official permission (Reuters). Meanwhile, AP reports that prosecutors in Rome are looking into the details of Welby's death (AP/CBS News).The death came the evening after an expert medical panel ruled Wednesday "that the use of a

Italian poet pushes the law on his right to die

Today's New York Times has a story about Piergiorgio Welby, an Italian poet who apparently has entered the final chapter in his 40-year fight with muscular dystrophy. His breathing is supported by a respirator and he may have a feeding tube (the article isn't crystal clear on this point), and he has asked for permission to have his respirator removed. Italian authorities have so far said no:“I

Federal pre-emption of state-law claims medical-device manufacturers

This issue keeps turning up on SCOTUS' docket every few years like the proverbial bad penny. Most recently, it takes the form of Riegel v. Medtronic, No. 06-179. The petition for certiorari to the Second Circuit is pending, and after it was considered by the Court at its Nov. 3 conference, the justices invited the Solicitor General's office (on Nov. 6) to file a brief addressing the

It's been a long time . . .

. . . not just a long time, actually: It's been a of a long time since my last post, due mostly to conferences and speeches the past few weeks at the Maguire Center for Ethics, combined with some speechifying of my own, on top of teaching, cranking out a new poetry column for the Dallas Morning News (scheduled for this Sunday's paper), and a few other official chores PLUS(arthroscopic surgery on

Bones and tissue stolen by undertakers and sold illegally

This CNN story is just the latest in a long line of exposés of the apparently irremediably corrupt bones-and-tissue market. How long can this business go without significant regulation? USA Today had a good report on the situation in June 2006. The illustration to the right, by the way, shows an X-ray of a corpse whose leg bones were surreptitiously removed and replaced with household PVC pipe,

Porter & Teisberg's "Redefining Health Care" gets raked over the coals

I was impressed by Michael Porter's and Elizabeth Olmstead Teisberg's article-length adaption of their health-care policy book when the article appeared in the June 2004 issue of the Harvard Business Review. Now the book is out, and judging from the lukewarm (at best) response over on the Health Affairs blog, it is either not up to the standards one might expect from one of Harvard's 21

Widener seeking new director of health law program

Widener School of Law is looking for a director for their health law program. Here are the specs:Widener University School of Law (Wilmington, DE campus) is seeking an experienced teacher and scholar to direct our nationally prominent Health Law Institute. Administrative experience is also desirable, but not necessarily required. The Director will be responsible for working with other health law

Latest from AHLA's Health Lawyers Weekly (20 Oct 2006)

From the excellent Health Lawyers Weekly (AHLA member benefit), here's the table of contents from the October 20 issue:Top StoriesOIG Confirms Compliance Guidance Applies To Physician Investments In Medical Device Firms -- Compliance guidance on joint ventures involving physician investors applies to medical device and distribution entities, said the Department of Health and Human Services Office

If it could happen to Triad, it could happen to you

It's a sign of the times, I suppose: As health insurance becomes more expensive, more employers (especially small businesses and others that operate at the margins of profitability) drop health insurance, throwing more employees into the category of "self-pay" (unless they can afford coverage in the extravagantly priced individual-policy market), thus increasing the percentage of self-pay

Latest from AHLA's Health Lawyers Weekly (13 Oct 2006)

From the excellent Health Lawyers Weekly (AHLA member benefit), here's the table of contents from the October 13 issue:Top Stories CMS Reduces Improper Claims By $1.3 BillionImproper Medicare claims payments were reduced $1.3 billion between 2005 and 2006, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said October 12.The Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) error rate has declined from 14.2% in

"The Massachusetts Plan and the Future of Universal Coverage"

That's the title of an upcoming conference (click here) and law review symposium issue (click here) at the University of Kansas School of Law. (Do I see the fine hand of old pal Gail Agrawal in this topic and the great lineup of speakers?) Thanks to Professor Elizabeth Weeks for the heads up on this one.

AHLA, Matyas & Valiant score with new edition of fraud and abuse classic

I wouldn't want to guess how many thousands of health lawyers have turned to one of the first two editions of Legal Issues in Healthcare Fraud and Abuse by David Matyas (who joined in on the 2nd edition) and Carrie Valiant, both of the Washington, D.C., office of Epstein, Becker & Green. Since its publication by AHLA in 1994, LIHFA has served as a primer on fraud and abuse issues for the newly

Back to the world of the living

I've been away for a little work on my damaged left knee. Sorry for the break in communications. I'll try to make up for lost time tonight and tomorrow. . . .

Falling into Medicare Part D's doughnut hole

Good editorial in the Oct. 6 N.Y. Times about the Part D Medicare pharmaceutical benefit. It omits one fact and misleadingly states another.1. For some beneficiaries, the effect of the doughnut hole -- which leaves seniors paying 100% of their drug costs between $2250 and $5100 -- will be higher out-of-pocket costs after Part D became effective than before. For some, perhaps many or even most,

Rationing flu vaccine: WSJ considers the ethics

Good discussion in a FREE online article over at the Wall Street Journal: "If We Must RationVaccines for a Flu,Who Calls the Shots?," by Sharon Begley. Here's the teaser:You have 100 doses of a vaccine against a deadly strain of influenza that is sweeping the country, with no prospect of obtaining more. Standing in line are 100 schoolchildren and 100 elderly people.The elderly are more likely to

Latest from AHLA's Health Lawyers Weekly (06 Oct 2006)

From the excellent Health Lawyers Weekly (AHLA member benefit), here's the table of contents from the October 6 issue:Top StoriesIllinois Department Of Revenue Denies Nonprofit Hospital's Property Tax Exemption Renewal -- The nonprofit hospital, Provena Covenant Medical Center (Provena), does not qualify for the charitable institution tax exemption provided for under Illinois' property tax

GAO: CMS' medical data susceptible to hackers

Here are a few opening paragraphs that ought to startle even the most jaded government bureaucrat:Security weaknesses have left millions of elderly, disabled and poor Americans vulnerable to unauthorized disclosure of their medical and personal records, federal investigators said Tuesday. The Government Accountability Office said it discovered 47 weaknesses in the computer system used by the

SSRN roundup: public health law (September 2006 additions)

Governance, Microgovernance and Health - Temple Law Review, Vol. 77, p. 335, 2004Scott Burris, Temple University Beasley School of LawDate Posted: September 27, 2006Last Revised:September 27, 2006Accepted Paper Series3 downloads Regulatory Paradox in the Protection of Human Research Subjects: A Review of OHRP Enforcement Letters - Northwestern University Law Review, Vol. 101, No. 2, 2007, Temple

NLRB rules most charge nurses are "supervisors"

In a potentially far-reaching opinion on September 29 (and released today), the NLRB (by a 3-2 vote) ruled that permanently assigned charge nurses are supervisors -- and therefore are a part of managment -- and ineligible for union membership. Here's the "Daily Digest" version of the story from Modern Healthcare:The National Labor Relations Board ruled that certain full-time hospital charge

SSRN roundup: health law (September 2006 additions)

Consolidating Pharmaceutical Regulation Down Under: Policy Options and Practical Realities - Boston Univ. School of Law Working Paper No. 06-36, University of Queensland Law Journal, Vol. 26, No. 1, p. 111, 2006Frances H. Miller, Boston University School of LawDate Posted: September 26, 2006Last Revised:September 26, 2006Accepted Paper Series6 downloads Navigating the Social Safety Net: A

More on the Provena tax-exemption case

As previously noted here, Provena Covenant Medical Center last week lost its administrative appeal to the Illinois Department of Revenue of Champaign County's decision to revoke Covenant's tax-exempt status. The Department's September 29 ruling is available here (pdf).For an extremely helpful analysis of all the issues -- prepared by Linda Sauser Moroney, a partner in the Milwaukee office of

GAO report on emergency medical services post-Katrina

Hurricane Katrina: Status of Hospital Inpatient and EmergencyDepartments in the Greater New Orleans Area. GAO-06-1003, September29. Report; highlights.Summary findings:While New Orleans continues to face a range of health care challenges, hospital officials in the greater New Orleans area reported in April 2006 that a sufficient number of staffed inpatient beds existed for all services except for

Cancer treatment @ $4200 a pop: is it worth it?

Today's NY Times had an article in the Business section on Abraxane -- in the words of the author, "a new version of an old cancer drug has helped make Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong a billionaire":The drug, Abraxane, does not help patients live longer than the older treatment, though it does shrink tumors in more patients, according to clinical trials. And the old and new medicines have similar side

Ill. rules against Provena in property-tax case

From Modern Healthcare's Daily Dose:The director of the Illinois Department of Revenue [link] rejected an appeal by Provena Health, Mokena, Ill. [link], in a widely watched property-tax exemption case. [See previous posts here, here, and here.] In doing so, the director overruled an administrative law judge in the department who had sided with the not-for-profit system. Provena said it "will

Latest from AHLA's Health Lawyers Weekly (29 Sep 2006)

From the excellent Health Lawyers Weekly (AHLA member benefit), here's the table of contents from the September 29 issue:Top StoriesIOM Issues Recommendations For Improving FDA Post-Market Drug Surveillance -- The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA's) ability to oversee the safety of prescription drugs after they hit the market is undermined by a number of systemic deficiencies--including

Public hospital governance manual

From the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems comes this handy 94-page guide, authored by three Powell, Goldstein health lawyers: Legal Structure and Governance of Public Hospitals and Health Systems. Good stuff.

Health costs' rate of increase down, but still 'way ahead of inflation, family incomes

Two stories in the New York Times today, both well worth reading. (And I don't have a stable link to take you to them; as soon as I find one, I will insert it here. Until then, the links I do have require a free registration.)"Health Care Costs Rise Twice As Fast As Inflation," by Milt Freudenheim:A widely followed national survey reported yesterday that the cost of employee health care coverage

"Excited delirium": legitimate diagnosis or another name for "police brutality"?

Every so often -- as with the administration of the death penalty, for example -- medical science and law enforcement procedures overlap in interesting ways. So it is with this story -- dateline Dallas, Sept. 25, from the AP (courtesy of MyWay):Police found 23-year-old Jose Romero in his underwear, screaming gibberish and waving a large kitchen knife from his neighbor's porch. Romero kept

Universal access, universal coverage, universal pessimism

Two developments on the access-to-health-care front today:The Congressionally-created Citizens' Health Care Working Group released their long-awaited "Recommendations to Congress and the President." (There appears to be no link to the entire report, only to individual sections and appendices.) As reported by Modern Healthcare:The U.S. should work to ensure all Americans have access to affordable

Is teacher's suicide attempt "an immoral act"?

This is probably a little more of an employment law issue, but mental health lawyers may find interesting this story from the September 20 issue of CDC's Public Health Law News:“Teacher’s suicide attempt prompts morality debate”St. Petersburg Times (09/10/06) Mary Spicuzzahttp://www.sptimes.com/2006/09/10/Pasco/Teacher_s_suicide_att.shtmlNext month, the Pasco County, Florida, School Board will

Health policy redux

Our reading assignment in Health Law tomorrow is Chapter 7 in the casebook by Furrow et al. ("Health Care Cost and Access: The Policy Context"). The main focus of the reading is a comparison of various ways of expanding access and controlling costs. It's fortuitous that the invaluable journal Health Affairs, has just posted a new article ("U.S. Health System Performance: A National Scorecard") by

Change in organ allocation rules produce dramatic results

There's a good piece in today's N.Y. Times about the dramatic decrease in waiting times for patients on the lung-transplant waiting list, due in part by changes in allocation policies (from longest time on the list to a combination of medical need and ability to thrive after transplant). Technological advances have helped a lot, too, making it possible for more cadaveric lungs to be preserved for

Latest from AHLA's Health Lawyers Weekly (22 Sep 2006)

From the excellent Health Lawyers Weekly (AHLA member benefit), here's the table of contents from the September 22 issue:Top StoriesPhased-In Pay-For-Performance Program Would Encourage Healthcare Quality Improvement, IOM Finds: The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) should phase in a pay-for-performance system in order to promote improvements in the quality of healthcare, the

Medicare Part D: appeals process and regulatory oversight

The Kaiser Family Foundation released two issue briefs on the Medicare prescription drug benefit program (Part D) last week:Issue Briefs Examine Medicare Drug Benefit's Appeals Process and Regulatory OversightKaiser released two issue briefs related to the Medicare drug benefit. The first focuses on the appeals process and highlights issues that can affect beneficiaries' access to needed

Disasters and the law

I just received a copy of Disasters and the Law, the new book by Dan Farber and Jim Chen (Aspen 2006, ISBN 0735562288). It's an interesting read, obviously intended for teaching a course with the same title/focus as the book. It's a really different take on a lot of topics that would otherwise be found chopped up into pieces and distributed to different legal disciplines. To get a flavor of it,

From the JCT: a handy little black-letter primer on tax-exempt hospitals

For health-law students who are struggling, or who (like mine) are planning to struggle, to understand the federal law of tax exemptions as it applies to hospitals, life just got a whole lot easier. In connection with the Senate Finance Committee's Sept. 13 hearings on the same subject, the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation published "Present Law And Background Relating To The Tax-Exempt

Latest from AHLA's Health Lawyers Weekly (15 Sep 2006)

From the table of contents of the September 15 issue of AHLA's Health Lawyers Weekly, a free member benefit:Top StoriesGrassley Continues To Examine Nonprofit Hospitals' Provision Of Charity Care -- Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) took the next step in his effort to examine the nonprofit hospital sector by convening a hearing September 13, Taking the Pulse of Charitable

Tax-exempt hospitals & Sen. Grassley's Finance Committee

The Senate Finance Committee's web page for the Sept. 13 hearing on tax-exempt hospitals is fully populated with witness statements, as well as the Senator's opening and closing remarks, including the words on the subject of charity care:Turning now to charity care, particularly discounted care and free care for low-income uninsured, there actually seems to be some agreement that nonprofit

Latest from the law reviews

From the Marian Gallagher Law Library at the University of Washington:FOOD AND DRUGHareid, Jonathan A. Comment. Testing drugs and testing limits: Merck KGaA v. Integra Lifesciences I, Ltd. and the scope of the Hatch-Waxman safe harbor provision. (Merck KGaA v. Integra Lifesciences I. Ltd. [Integra II], 125 S. Ct. 2372, 2005.) 7 Minn. J.L. Sci. & Tech. 713-756 (2006). [L][W] Ma, Jonathan. Note.

Senate Finance Comm. hearings scheduled on nonprofit hospitals and community benefit

From AHLA's Tax and Finance Practice Group comes this e-mail alert:To: Tax and Finance Practice Group MembersFrom: Linda S. Moroney, Chair; John B. Beard, Vice Chair, Membership; James R. King, Vice Chair, Educational Programs; Stephen P. Nash, Vice Chair, Publications; Thomas J. Schenkelberg, Vice Chair, ResearchDate: September 8, 2006 Under the leadership of Chairman Chuck Grassley, the Senate

DEA and proposed controlled-substances rules

From the Federation of State Medical Board's weekly "BoardNet News" (Friday, September 8, 2006):DEA Seeks Comment on New Proposed Controlled Substances RulesThe Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is seeking comment on a policy statement and a proposed rule regarding the issuance of multiple prescriptions. The documents, “Dispensing Controlled Substances for the Treatment of Pain” and “Issuance

Latest from AHLA's Health Lawyers Weekly (8 Sep 2006)

From the table of contents of the Sept. 8 issue of AHLA's Health Lawyers Weekly, a free member benefit:Top Stories CMS Reports On Ongoing Improvement Of QIO ProgramThe Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) Program is an essential component of initiatives in transparency and performance-based payment of providers, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said in an August 31 report to

New article documents higher brain activity in vegetative patient

The N.Y. Times reports today that the journal Science has published an article [abstract; pdf (requires subscription)] in which British researchers performed a functional MRI (fMRI) scan on a post-traumatic-brain-injury patient diagnosed to be in a vegetative state and got back scans that would be indistinguishable from results obtained from subjects without brain injury. According to the Times

Health law positions at Georgia State

Georgia State is looking for a couple of good public-health law profs:Georgia State University’s College of Law seeks highly qualified applicants for three or more full-time faculty positions beginning with the 2007-2008 academic year.Areas of special interest include criminal law and procedure, and it is anticipated that a successful candidate would be hired at the rank of assistant or associate

SSRN roundup: health law (August 2006 additions)

Here are last month's postings to the ever-useful SSRN:Being Specific About Race-Specific MedicineHealth Affairs, Vol. 25, 2006Jonathan D. Kahn and Pamela Sankar, Hamline University - School of Law and University of Pennsylvania - School of MedicineDate Posted: August 30, 2006Last Revised: August 30, 2006 Accepted Paper Series Counterfeit Drugs: The Good, the Bad and the UglyAlbany Law Journal of

Krugman: Why is health policy malpractice a conservative disease?

You can't read today's (or any day's) op-ed piece by Paul Krugman (or any other columnist in the N.Y. Times) unless you are a TimesSelect subscriber, so this link to his column, "Health Policy Malpractice") won't work for many of you. More's the pity. He compares the VA health care system (which by most measures appears to be working well -- excellent outcomes, low costs per patient) with

Post-grad opportunity at Harvard

From I. Glenn Cohen, a fellow at the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics (Harvard Law School):The Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology and Bioethics at Harvard Law School2007-2009 Post-Graduate and Mid-Career Fellowship ProgramCall for Applications: Deadline October 16, 2006The Petrie-Flom Center is an interdisciplinary research program at

Will Christian Science health plan count in Massachusetts?

As recently reported by the AP (courtesy of the Portsmouth (NH) Herald), health care regulators in Massachusetts are beset by a bevy of difficult issues in the wake of the Bay State's passage of a universal health care law:When Gov. Mitt Romney signed the Massachusetts' health care law in April, it was hailed as a watershed moment. Under the new law, Massachusetts is the first state to require

AHLA's Health Lawyers Weekly (Sept. 1)

Here's the table of contents from Friday's "Health Lawyers Weekly," a free member benefit from the American Health Lawyers Association (and reprinted here with their permission):September 1, 2006 Vol. 4, Issue 34 Top StoriesSpecialty Hospitals Associated With Increased Utilization, MedPAC FindsPhysician-owned heart hospitals are associated with a significant increase in the rate of cardiac

U.S. research: running on empty?

Today's N.Y. Times has a piece ("The State of Research Isn't All That Grand") discusses the implications for the U.S. economy of reduced R&D expenditures in both the public and private sectors. The balanced conclusion:In global R.& D. rankings, the United States is still the clear leader in spending, with 34 percent of the total. In fact, about half of all such spending comes from just two

"Medically inappropriate treatment" - how do we decide?

There's a good piece in the NY Times today about dialysis, when and how it should be withheld, and who should decide: "Choosing a 'God Squad,' When the Mind Has Faded" by Barron Lerner, MD. Here's how it starts:Would you want your tax dollars to pay for dialysis for a patient with irreversible brain damage? In 1972, when Congress agreed to use Medicare money to finance dialysis for patients with

AHLA's Health Lawyers Weekly (Aug. 25)

Here's the table of contents from today's Health Lawyers Weekly, reprinted here with the kind permission of the AHLA:Top Stories Bush Signs Executive Order Requiring Federal Agencies To Increase Price And Quality TransparencyPresident George W. Bush signed August 22 an executive order directing federal agencies that administer or sponsor a healthcare program to increase price and quality

OTC sales of Plan B approved for adults

After years of hassling over whether to approve over-the-counter sales of the Plan B contraceptives, the FDA has finally relented and announced yesterday that the "morning after" pill would become available for purchase by adults by the end of the year. (NY Times; Wall Street Journal; Washington Post; AP/MyWay) Compared to the original application three years ago, which sought approval for

Why is 16% of GDP too much to spend on health care?

That will be one of my questions tomorrow in the first class in Health Law. I remember, back during the debate over the Clintons' plan, the tongue-in-cheek report that, at the then-current rate of health-care inflation, in 50 years 100% of our GDP would be health care ("every man, woman, and child would be in hospital beds administering IVs to one another"). Now, quite sensible people (e.g.,

New technique for deriving embryonic stem cells that doesn't destroy the embryo

You would think that a technique that allows lab techs to grow embryonic stem cell lines without destroying the embryo would be the ultimate answer to the principal objection to embryonic stem cell research. But you would be wrong.An on-line letter (1st paragraph only) at the journal Nature (requires subscription) describes the technique, as do articles posted this afternoon to the web sites of

Internet prescribing legislation introduced in U.S. Senate

From the Federation of State Medical Boards:New legislation designed to regulate the sale of prescription drugs and controlled substances over the Internet was introduced in the U.S. Senate on Aug. 10. The “Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2006” (SB 3834)would:Prohibit the distribution of controlled substances and prescription drugs via the Internet without a valid prescription issued

Latest from AHLA's Health Lawyers Weekly (18 Aug 2006)

Herewith, the table of contents of this week's American Health Lawyers' Health Lawyers Weekly (a free member benefit of AHLA):Top StoriesCMS Issues Final Quality Standards For DMEPOS SuppliersThe Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released August 14 its final quality standards for suppliers of durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, supplies, (DMEPOS) and other items and

It's a good time to be in cardiology

Two items from the print press, courtesy of Modern Healthcare's "Daily Dose":In Philadelphia, heart-transplant centers abound (Philadelphia Inquirer)After a massive heart attack last year, doctors told David Kaminstein that he needed a transplant. He had the choice of five hospitals in the Philadelphia area that could do the complicated operation. That's a lot of choices -- some say too many.

Medical liability insurers profiting handsomely in wake of Texas tort reform

Three years after tort reform hit the books in Texas, the state's medical liability insurers have lowered premiums somewhat and added enormously to their bottom line, according to a story in the August 11 issue of the Austin Business Journal. The largest of them all -- Texas Medical Liability Trust -- has shown the greatest gains:The state's largest medical malpractice insurer -- Texas Medical

More on emergency room practices

This from the East Bay Business Times in California . . . . Sutter Delta Medical Center, among others in the region, has cut waiting times in its ER from 4-6 hours to 1-2 hours. They've done it by being imaginative in their triaging of patients, getting noncritical patients to doctors faster than before, for instance. The hospital's director of emergency services says, "People are still using the

ER sends nonemergency patients packing

This might be a case of "dog bites man," but the Jacksonville Business Journal reports that area HCA hospitals have adopted the practice of screening emergency room patients (as required by EMTALA) and showing nonemergency patients the door (as permitted by EMTALA) with a brochure listing area clinics in their hands. Is this news, exactly? In my limited urban ER experience, you can sit in the

Kaiser fined for mismanagement of its kidney-transplant program

Considering how neurotic the organ-transplant industry is to maintain a squeaky-clean image, it's remarkable that Kaiser Permanente's been hit with a massive fine from California's Department of Managed Health Care [press release] for mismanaging its kidney-transplant program. Even more significant, for my money, is the lesson here.How many times has a health care provider tried to minimize the

Costly Drugs Force Life-Death Decisions

From the AP, a good story about the costly, high-tech armamentorium of drugs and devices that offer the promise of extending life-spans once deemed to be "terminal," but at a price that's so high, some patients simply opt out:More patients are confronting this wrenching decision, as the latest generation of pricier cancer drugs and heart implants stretches out the final months of advanced disease

More on non-heart-beating organ donors

"NHBD" is slowly being replaced by "DCD" ("donation after cardiac death"), but whatever name it goes by, these organ-donor protocols continue to get (deservedly) close scrutiny, most recently in the New Scientist. The move away from brain death and toward cardiopulmonary death is, contrary to the implications of this article, not evidence of a "new" standard for determining when death occurs, but

Latest from AHLA's Health Lawyers Weekly (11 Aug 2006)

With the permission of the American Health Lawyers Association, here's this week's Table of Contents for its Health Lawyers Weekly (free member benefit):Top StoriesCMS Projects 5.1% Reduction In Medicare Physician Payment Rates For 2007: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is projecting a negative 5.1% update in the Medicare physician fee schedule for 2007 under the Sustainable

Lawsuit Seeking to Discipline Georgia Physicians for Participation in Executions Dismissed

From the Federation of State Medical Boards:A lawsuit seeking to require the Georgia Composite State Board of Medical Examiners to punish physicians who participate in executions was dismissed last week by a Fulton County Superior Court judge. Lawyers for seven physicians, including three physicians in Georgia, had sought to have the medical board uphold American Medical Association guidelines

Should prisoners be enrolled in riskier drug studies?

The New York Times has an interesting article on this question, spurred by a recent report of the Institute of Medicine that recommends altering the "minimal risk" standard that now applies to prisoners as long as the greater risks are accompanied by the potential of some benefit to the prisoners themselves. The IOM's press release on the report and recommendations is here.

AHLA Health Lawyers Weekly (04 Aug 2006)

With the permission of the AHLA, here's the TOC for last week's HLW [members only] (which came in while I was on vacation); this week's TOC should be available tomorrow.Top Stories CMS Issues Final IPPS Rule That Phases-In Move To Cost-Based System The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued August 1 themuch-anticipated inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) final rule

FDA, Barr Pharmaceuticals, reach accord over Plan B contraceptive sales

In Wednesday's paper, the NY Times reports that the FDA and the manufacturer of the Plan B contraceptive have reached an agreement that may lead to OTC sales (at least to customers 18 years of age and up; under-18's will still need a prescription) within weeks. The story doesn't refer to an earlier report that the FDA offered the deal to Barr last week, on the eve of hearings on the nomination of

NH's medical board agrees: doc has 1st Amendment right to be a jerk

As reported here earlier, a local NH court ruled that Terry Bennett's rude and crude comments to his patients were protected by the First Amendment and couldn't be the basis of a disciplinary case against the doctor. Apparently the New Hampshire State Board of Medicine agrees. As reported by Modern Healthcare today, the Boardwill not appeal a court decision that blocked a disciplinary case over

Vacation: what a concept (Part Deux)

Now it begins . . . .

AHLA's Health Lawyers Weekly

With AHLA's permission, here's the Table of Contents of today's issue of Health Lawyers Weekly:I. Top Stories: House Clears HIT Legislation FDA To Improve Transparency Of Advisory Panel Conflicts, Official Says II. Articles & Analyses:A Discussion About Alternative Dispute Resolution In The Healthcare Field 2005-2006 In-House Counsel Year In Review 2005-2006 Labor And Employment Year In ReviewIII

Vacation: what a concept!

HealthLawBlog will be on vacation for the next two weeks. With random exceptions, don't expect anything new here before August 10th. Stay cool. Be happy.

Yates: Not guilty by reason of insanity

Finally . . . .

NOLA murder arrests: further reflections

Today's CDC Public Health Law Newsletter has a link to a Chicago Tribune article that explores the ethics of triage and its applicability vel non to the NOLA cases previously discussed (here, here, and here):“Disaster plan: Time to think unthinkable?”Chicago Tribune (07/19/06) Ronald KotulakLast week, two nurses and a doctor were arrested in New Orleans on charges that they gave lethal doses of

Further thoughts on the Senate abortion bill

As previously noted, the Senate has passed a bill that would impose criminal penalties on anyone who helps a minor travel across state lines from a state that has a parental-notification or -consent law in order to obtain an abortion in a state that has no such restrictions. As the map on my post illustrates, 6 states have no restrictions on minors: Washington, Oregon, Vermont, New York,

Senate passes prohibition on interstate travel for abortion

The Washington Post has the story. The Senate has passed a a bill (S.403) "to prohibit taking minors across State lines in circumvention of laws requiring the involvement of parents in abortion decisions [preamble]," thus (according to The Post) handing a long-sought victory to the Bush administration and abortion opponents":The bill would help about three dozen states enforce laws that require

Juvenile court orders teen to accept chemo, reversed by circuit court

Starchild Abraham Cherrix has Hodgkin's disease, and when the disease returned after his initial round of chemo, he refused a second round, opting instead for "a sugar-free, organic diet and take herbal supplements under the supervision of a clinic in Mexico" [Washington Post]:A social worker asked a juvenile court judge to require the teen to continue conventional treatment, and the judge on

The American Way of Death IV

While we're talking about patient and family perceptions of end-of-life care in the hospital -- we were talking about that, weren't we? just yesterday? -- Pamela Winnick's essay in the Wall Street Journal on July 21 is well worth considering. She talks about a resident nicknamed "Dr. Death" who pursues family members down the hall to harangue them about her father's alleged desire to be allowed

The HCA deal is done

The closing probably won't be till the 4th quarter, assuming the federal regulators bless it and the board doesn't get a better offer, but HCA's board has approved the sale of the company to an aglomeration of investment bankers and the founding Frist family. Of course, no one can quite agree whether the deal is worth $21 billion, $31 billion, or $33 billion, but what's a few billion here or

HCA close to $21 billion buyout

After coming oh so close to closing a deal last weekend, it looks like the board is on the verge of approving a $21 billion deal tonight. As reported by the NY Times, "HCA, the nation’s largest for-profit hospital operator, was close to a deal last night to sell itself to a consortium of private equity investors for about $21 billion, people involved in the talks said. The investors would also

Criminal Law III: More on the NOLA murder prosecutions

AP/Yahoo has an article today entitled, "Many see accused New Orleans MD as hero." State AG made much of the fact that both morphine and Versed were found in the the bodies of the four patients whose deaths were the basis for his order to arrest Dr. Pou and the two nurses. Contrary to his assertion that the two drugs together can mean only one thing -- that the health care workers' intent was to

The American Way of Death III

NPR's Studio 360 program has a wonderful item this week on Emily Dickinson and her iconic poem, "Because I Could Not Stop For Death." The program is available as an MP3 file here.We read this poem every year in Law, Literature & Medicine, where third-year law students from SMU and fourth-year medical students from UT-Southwestern wrestle with Dickinson's verses, among many others.Because I could

The American Way of Death II

Thanks to Joe Paduda's "Managed Care Matters" for pointing me to this story in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal about a recent article in Mayo Clinic Proceedings: "Adult Intensive Care Unit Use at the End of Life: A Population-Based Study," by Seferian and Afessa [abstract; full text available in 6 months]. As reported in the business journal:Intensive care costs comprise 30 to 40

The American Way of Death I

Back in the day, the phrase "The American Way of Death" invoked Jessica Mitford's classic expose of the funeral industry. In bioethics and law, however, it has a more immediate connotation. With 80% of all Americans dying in an insitutional setting, what is the meaning of "a good death"? And is it possible to achieve in a hospital? Palliative care services notwithstanding, the standard of care

Criminal Law II: follow-up on the Memorial Hospital case

Now that the Louisiana Attorney General has had his day (see my earlier post), the extent of AG Foti's grandstanding is starting to come to light. You'd never know it from his office's press release on this case, but consider the following:the state attorney general has no power to indict or prosecute for these alleged crimes;the physician and nurses involved have not been charged with any

Criminal Law I: promoting off-label uses of approved drugs

Today's New York Times has an article about the recent arrest and prosecution of Dr. Peter Gleason for promoting use of the drug Xyrem, which is approved by the FDA for the treatment of narcolepsy, for the off-label treatment of depression and pain.Now, it's horn-book law that physicians can use approved drugs for off-label uses. And it's equally well-settled, though perhaps a little less

Texas hospitals and immigration

There was a terrific article in The New York Times this past week on the different approaches taken by the public hospitals in Dallas County (Parkland) and Tarrant County (JPS), separated by about 40 miles and a river and a very different view of their missions. This country isn't close to figuring out a humane and sensible approach to immigrant health care, and the conflicts and contradictions

House fails to override presidential veto

The House failed to override Pres. Bush's veto of H.R.810 by a vote of 235-193, almost the identical vote when it was originally passed by the House in May. Not exactly earth-shattering news, but I offer it for the sake of closure if nothing else.

An excellent primer on the stem cell issue

Everything a reporter might need to know to cover this story intelligently -- and the rest of us will find helpful as well -- has been collected, organized, linkified, synthesized, and analyzed by Al Tompkins at the Poynter Center in last Friday's edition of Al's Morning Meeting. Thanks to AJOB's blog for the tip.

President signs fraudulent Fetus Farming Prohibition Act

The news stories on the president's veto haven't mentioned the other bill that was sent to him for his signature, but now that a transcript of the veto/signing ceremony is available from the White House, I can report that he has signed S.3504, the purpose of which is "to prohibit any person or entity involved in interstate commerce from: (1) soliciting or knowingly acquiring, receiving, or

President carries out veto threat on stem-cell measure

The AP's Mary Dalrymple reports that President Bush has vetoed H.R.810. Here are his reported remarks:"This bill would support the taking of innocent human life of the hope of finding medical benefits for others. It crosses a moral boundary that our society needs to respect, so I vetoed it," Bush said at a White House event where he was surrounded by 18 families who "adopted" frozen embryos that

Caplan on Bush's veto of stem-cell bill

Art Caplan is at his best today in his column about Bush's promised veto of H.R.810. Here are the opening and closing paragraphs:President Bush’s embryonic stem cell policy began with lies and has now ended with one. Bush reserved his first veto as president for one of the only valuable things this do-almost-nothing Congress has managed to actually get done. With a flourish of a veto pen that has

HCA nearly bought out in recent days

The Wall Street Journal reports (link good for 7 days) that a group of private investors, including members of the founding Frist family, nearly consummated a buyout of HCA over the weekend. With a market capitalization of $17.6 billion, HCA's sale would have been one of the largest in recent memory. It apparently cratered because of the size of HCA's debt ($11 billion), which left the parties

Stem cell minuet proceeding almost as planned; Bush set to veto the most meaningful of three bills

Congress' action on three stem cell bills yesterday and today's expected veto of one of them by President Bush are front-page stories in this morning's Washington Post and New York Times, as was the case in the Dallas Morning News and I suspect most of the dailies around the country. As previously discussed here, this has been a carefully choreographed performance by the Congressional leadership

Tenet physician and 2 nurses arrested for murder in Louisiana

According to the state's attorney in Louisiana, a physician and two nurses euthanized four patients in LifeCare Hospitals' long-term-care unit at Tenet's 603-bed Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans in the days after Hurricane Katrina devastated that city. (Modern Healthcare). The three were arrested, charged with four counts of second-degree murder, and released on personal recognizance

Union boss to Fortune 500 CEO's: let's reform health care together

Andy Stern is president of the Service Employees International Union and in today's Wall Street Journal (link good for at least 7 days), he makes the case for moving health care away from the employer-provided model and toward "a universal system that provides affordable coverage, choice of doctors and insurance plans, core benefits, and shared financing among employers, employees and government.

SSRN roundup: health law

The 5 top-downloaded health law articles on SSRN:Safe Storage Gun Laws: Accidental Deaths, Suicides, and CrimeYale Law School, Law & Economics Working Paper No. 237John R. Lott Jr. and John E. WhitleyAmerican Enterprise Institute (AEI) and University of Adelaide - School of EconomicsDate Posted:May 22, 2000Last Revised:June 10, 2002Working Paper Series 8966 downloads Abortion and Crime: Unwanted

Capital punishment and organized medicine: still a no-go in Mo.

As reported in this morning's New York Times, U.S. District Judge Fernando J. Gaitan, Jr., previously "had demanded an overhaul of the system after the doctor who now mixes the drugs for the state described an improvised process that Judge Gaitan found so chilling that he temporarily barred executions in Missouri."In a sworn deposition, the Missouri doctor, whose name is being withheld by the

Has the Texas legislature made performing abortions a capital offense?

That's the question raised by a recent request for an Attorney General's Opinion (RQ-0501-GA). The literal question posed by David Swinford (R) (chair of the House Committee on State Affairs) is a bit more technical than that, of course:Does a physician’s failure to comply with the requirements of either § 164.052(a)(18) (restricting third-trimester abortions performed on viable unborn children)

Pain control and end-of-life care are not simply their own reward

Excellence in end-of-life care and pain management are also sometimes rewarded by others, in this case by the AHA, which recently gave nurse practitioner Peg Nelson and St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Pontiac, MI, its Circle of Life Award (which includes $10,000). This article from the Detroit Free Press has the details of their approach to end-of-life care.

Senate votes to allow drug reimportation by individuals

On Tuesday, the Senate approved (68-32) S. Amdmt. 4548 to H.R. 5441 (Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2007): "To prohibit the United States Customs and Border Protection from preventing an individual not in the business of importing a prescription drug from importing an FDA-approved prescription drug." As reported by The New York Times on Wednesday, the House is unlikely to

NYC unveils pandemic preparedness plan

From today's CDC Public Health Law News:"City unveils a plan to identify, and contain, a flu pandemic" -- The New York Times (07/11/06) Diane Cardwell [link]New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and city health commissioner Thomas R. Frieden this week announced a new plan to address avian influenza preparedness. The plan details the steps for identifying and containing an outbreak and

Senate stem-cell vote set for next Tuesday

Laurie Kellman of The Washington Post has the story on the upcoming Senate vote on three stem-cell research bills, which were first discussed here two weeks ago:The Senate will vote next week on three bills related to stem-cell research, including a measure that would expand federal funding for a procedure that uses and destroys human embryos in the drive to cure diseases that afflict millions of

The current issue of Health Affairs is dedicated to public health. There are some terrific articles, but I particularly commend these:Can Public Health And Medicine Partner In The Public Interest? [link]J. Michael McGinnisAbstract: The dominant issues for health and health care today can be effectively engaged only if public health and medicine work together as better partners. Yet historical,

NH court: Doc has 1st Amendment right to be a jerk

As reported by the Associated Press, New Hampshire judge Edward Fitzgerald "has ordered the state Board of Medicine to stop disciplinary proceedings against a doctor accused of telling a patient she was so obese she might only be attractive to black men and advising another to shoot herself following brain surgery." The article reports that Terry Bennett, M.D., says "he planned to sue everyone

Many hospice patients live longer than expected

Terrific story (via Kaiser Family Foundation's Daily Health Policy Report) about hospice:McClatchy Newspapers/St. Paul Pioneer Press on Wednesday examined how some patients who check into hospices believing they are near death later go on to recover and leave hospice care. For Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries to cover hospice care, the patient's doctor and the hospice's doctor must agree that

HPV debate moves to the states

On June 30 Stateline.org published a useful summary of the issues surrounding the recently recommendation from the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices that all 11- and 12-year-old girls receive the vaccine for the most dangerous strains of human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes cervical cancer. As a public health matter, the advisory committee's recommendation is pretty

NEJM Perspective on Roe

There's an excellent (and free) article on Roe and partial-birth abortion in this week's New England Journal of Medicine. The authors leave no room for doubt as to their position on legal abortions, including late-term procedures, but their article is no more polemic: it's reasoned and supported by data and careful argument, ending with these four paragraphs:Watson Bowes, emeritus professor of

Health care costs going up by 9.6%

An article in today's Wall Street Journal (click here - link should be good for about a week) reports that "Americans should expect to pay more for medical costs whether they are employed or retired, according to two new studies. The reports, by Milliman Inc. and Watson Wyatt Worldwide, show that health-care costs are still rising at a fast pace -- despite slowing from double-digit rates in

Happy 4th of July

There's something really stirring about listening to the news-readers and commentators on NPR read the Declaration of Independence every 4th of July. If you missed it this morning, click here.For some Independence Day fun, check out the National Archives' Charter of Freedom exhibit, where you'll find some interesting information about the signers (for example, 24 of the 56 signers were lawyers) [

Garry Trudeau on creationism

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Senate to take up stem cell bills

Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist announced yesterday that he intends to bring up a three-bill package that would provide federal funding for stem-cell research for a vote before the Senate takes a break for the mid-term elections in October (according to the AP) or July (according to CNN, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal).AP (LA Times)CNNWashington PostWall Street Journal (

Is it legal to buy off manufacturers of generic equivalents?

The FTC thinks it's unlawful for the manufacturer of a patented drug or device to include in the settlement of its suit against the manufacturer of a generic equivalent a cash payment in return for the generic manufacturer's pledge to withhold its product from market. [In the Matter of Schering-Plough Corporation, Upsher-Smith Laboratories, and American Home Products Corporation, Docket No 9297]

Words of One Syllable Department

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Drug & device manufacturers and docs: a new twist on an old tale

Drug and medical device manufacturers have long struggled to devise ways to get tight with physicians who can promote, recommend, prescribe, or use their products. In recent years, PhRMA and the FDA have published guidelines to rein in marketing abuses. All that effort, and the reams of adverse news stories and other publicity, seems only to have intensified the industry's efforts to continue

HealthLawBlog is back

It's been an interesting, fun, and rewarding trip along the HealthLawProf superhighway, but it's time to return to the meandering blogpath I started down almost exactly three years ago. I wish über-blogger Paul Caron and my HLP co-blogger Betsy Malloy nothing but success. For my part, I will probably blog a little less often than every day, will focus on matters of interest to me without