Juvan's Seven Day Recap--9/17/06
Here's a look back at a few important headlines from last week:
- Stanford Bans Gifts from Pharmaceutical Companies. The New York Times reported that Stanford University has announced that it will, following the lead of Yale and the University of Pennsylvania, ban its physicians from accepting gifts from pharmaceutical sales representatives. The new policy prohibits not only the receipt of large gifts, but also the receipt of small gifts such as pens and mugs. Apparently, an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association prompted the creation of this new policy.
- Cleveland Clinic to Build Specialty Hospital and Clinic in Abu Dhabi. Modern Healthcare's Daily Dose reports that the Cleveland Clinic, which often works with medical centers in other countries, has recently revealed a new joint venture with an investment firm in the United Arab Emirates for the development of a new specialty hospital and clinic in Abu Dhabi. The Clinic plans to open the doors to the new facility in three years.
- Tenth Circuit Rules FDA May Enforce Ephedra Ban. The Tenth Circuit overturned a federal trial court ruling enjoining the FDA from implementing a ban on ephedrine-alkaloid dietary supplements (also known as "Ephedra"). The court rejected an argument presented by Nutraceutical Corporation that the FDA acted outside of the scope of the authority granted to it under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act when it banned the supplement. The Tenth Circuit also stated that the FDA was not arbitrary or capricious in determining that any dose of ephedra poses an unreasonable risk.
posted by Jayne E. Juvan at 11:01 PM
2 Comments:
Juvan, two other stories from the weekend. First, very interesting article by Evelyn Pringle at http://world.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/35414 regarding litigation against nursing homes. Apparently, Consumer Reports, a popular ratings and recommendation publication, recently released a report over the weekend entitled “Nursing homes: Business as usual, Two decades after the passage of a federal law to clean up the nation’s nursing homes, bad care persists and good homes are still hard to find.” You can view the report at http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/health-fitness/health-care/nursing-homes-9-06/overview/0609_nursing-homes_ov.htm I think that it’s interesting because the report comes off the heels of (1) an Office of Inspector General report released in July 2006 that found that CMS did not properly apply mandatory remedies against nursing homes that failed to comply with Federal and State regulations (see http://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-01-04-00340.pdf); and (2) increased State law enforcement efforts (such as Attorney General Elliot Spitzer’s recent crackdown on nursing homes in New York see http://www.oag.state.ny.us/press/2006/jan/jan05a_06.html). Do you think that we’ll see greater regulatory action against Ohio nursing homes from the Ohio Attorney General’s office?
Second, interesting article from your neighbors down south in the Akron Beacon Journal http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/living/health/15546813.htm
Apparently, Akron General Medical Center and Summa Health System each recently launched efforts to persuade doctors to more closely align with them. In some cases, physicians are agreeing to give up their practices altogether and become hospital employees. Kind of reminds me of the efforts by hospitals in Toledo, Akron and Canton (all of which turned out to be busts). I wonder what physicians can learn from the past to protect themselves this time.
We may see increased scrutiny by the Ohio Department of Health and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, as both ODH and CMS have very broad sanction authority. They may be the first line of attack.
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