A doctor in Delhi fell victim to a sextortion racket and lost Rs 8.6 lakh. The scam involved the perpetrator threatening to leak private and sensitive information unless the victim paid a large sum of money. This incident highlights the dangers of online extortion schemes and the importance of being cautious while interacting with strangers…
Blue Shield of California is making changes to lower prescription drug prices by cutting CVS Caremark as its pharmacy benefit manager, partnering with other companies for various services. CEO Paul Markovich predicts that these changes will become the norm in the industry. He believes the current system is problematic, with multiple players in the middle…
The Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital in Dublin is seeking a Senior Audiologist for a full-time maternity leave locum position. Interested candidates must submit a full Curriculum Vitae, cover letter, provide three named referees (one current), and evidence of current registration with a regulatory body. Applications must be sent to the Medical HR Department…
A study published in the JAMA Health Forum found that disparities in mental telehealth availability in the US are not significantly influenced by patients’ mental health conditions or demographics. Instead, access to telehealth services was associated with facility-, county-, and state-level characteristics. The study, conducted through a secret shopper method, found that 80% of mental…
Nuance Communications, a Microsoft company, announced that WellSpan Health in Pennsylvania is adding Dragon Ambient eXperience (DAX) to their patient experience solutions. DAX automates clinical documentation during visits for immediate entry into electronic health records to reduce provider burnout. WellSpan initially partnered with Nuance in 2020 for this purpose. Microsoft emphasizes innovation in AI solutions…
President Joe Biden is working on his health agenda, while Congress tackles overdue spending bills. Alabama lawmakers are fighting to reopen fertility clinics, and pharmacy giants CVS and Walgreens are set to sell the abortion pill mifepristone. Julie Rovner hosts the KFF Health News podcast, discussing these topics with panelists Sarah Karlin-Smith, Alice Miranda Ollstein,…
Valisure tested 99 acne products containing benzoyl peroxide and found that when exposed to higher temperatures, they can develop high levels of benzene, a potentially cancer-causing chemical. This was not seen in products containing salicylic acid or adapalene. Valisure has submitted a citizen petition to the FDA to recall BPO-containing products and suspend sales, as…
Several pharmaceutical industry giants, including Bristol Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, and Novo Nordisk, brought a team of lawyers to a courtroom in Trenton, New Jersey, to challenge Medicare’s new drug price negotiation program. The program, part of the Inflation Reduction Act, allows Medicare to negotiate drug prices starting in 2026. The lawyers argued…
Illness trajectories are a useful tool for understanding how individuals with progressive illnesses will likely experience decline over time. There are three established trajectories: rapid for cancers, intermittent for declining organ function, and gradual for frailty or neurological conditions. A new trajectory for multimorbidity is now proposed. The complexity and unpredictability of these trajectories make…
Research presented at the European Congress on Obesity found that individuals are six times more likely to have obesity in middle age if both parents had obesity at the same age. Having one parent with obesity triples the odds. The study, based on the Tromsø Study, showed a strong association between parents’ BMI in middle…
