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Federal health officials are calling on manufacturers of heart-zapping defibrillators to fix long-standing problems with the emergency devices that have triggered dozens of recalls and led to injuries and death.
The Food and Drug Administration said Monday that the devices have been plagued by design and manufacturing flaws for years, occasionally failing in life-and-death situations. Get the full story »
Chicago-based Accretive Health, a health care financial services company, will open a new processing facility at 231 S. LaSalle Street, adding 650 jobs over 10 years, the company announced this week.
The company currently employs 175 people at its headquarters at 401 N. Michigan Ave. and said the new offices will be home to a B2B center, offering employees full-time jobs with benefits and an average salary of $35,000 per year. Get the full story »
San Francisco has become the first major American city to prohibit fast-food restaurants from including toys with children’s meals that do not meet nutritional guidelines.
The city’s Board of Supervisors voted 8-3 in favor of the measure Tuesday after giving it preliminary approval last week. That’s enough votes to survive a likely veto by Mayor Gavin Newsom.
Health care information technology company Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions Inc. said Monday that its third-quarter net income plunged on a boost in costs and charges. Get the full story »
The American Medical Association unleashed its latest salvo Monday in its campaign against cuts in Medicare payments to doctors with a survey that finds overwhelming concern among Americans.
The physician’s group did an online survey of 1,000 Americans aged 18 and older and found 94 percent of them said they are concerned about the cuts to doctors who treat elderly patients.
The group released the findings at a meeting in San Diego to kick off a new advertising and lobbying push to convince lawmakers to block payment cuts — set to take effect Dec. 1 — before they recess for the Thanksgiving holiday later this month. Get the full story »
The president of the nation’s largest doctors’ group says upcoming cuts in Medicare physician payments will be catastrophic for seniors. Dr. Cecil Wilson, president of the American Medical Association, says Medicare payments will drop by more than 20 percent by January unless Congress takes quick action. Get the full story »
(State Farm photo)
Setting your house on fire is sure way for your Thanksgiving Day to end up a turkey. But it happens every year.
Bloomington-based State Farm alone says that during the past five years it has received more than 160 damage claims related to Thanksgiving cooking accidents. Of the 10 states with the most claims, Texas ranks first, with 33 claims in that time period, while Illinois and Ohio round out the top 3, with 22 and 18, respectively. Get the full story »
The chief executive officer of the American Medical Association will step down when his contract expires next June as the Chicago-based national doctor group embarks on an uncertain political environment for physicians under the health care overhaul law.
Dr. Michael Maves, who is 62 years old, has served as the organization’s top administrator since 2001, working under the direction of the AMA’s board of trustees. Maves said in a statement that the end of his contract presents an opportunity to transition to new leadership for the AMA, the nation’s largest doctor group with more than 200,000 member physicians. Get the full story »
WellPoint Inc. and Aetna Inc. raised their profit forecasts for the year as members avoided doctor visits or delayed care to save money, while the large U.S. health insurers stand to see an improved political climate for their business under the new Congress.
Both reported higher-than-expected quarterly profits Wednesday, saying they benefited from having to pay out less in medical costs. Get the full story »
The chief of drugmaker Eli Lilly & Co. said Wednesday that he expects the bulk of this year’s U.S. health care overhaul to remain intact despite Tuesday’s election victories by anti-overhaul Republicans.
But with Republicans taking control of the House of Representatives from the Democrats, Chief Executive John Lechleiter said he will lobby to overturn at least one provision of the overhaul: the creation of an independent payment advisory board tasked with controlling growth in spending by Medicare. Get the full story »
U.S. health regulators say a recalled Medtronic Inc. tissue device could cause more problems than originally thought, the company said Friday.
The device maker recalled its Octopus Nuvo Tissue Stabilizer in September because part of it could break, leading to fragments falling into patient chests and damaging the heart. Get the full story »
Northwestern University said Dr. Jeffrey Glassroth has been named interim dean of the Feinberg School of Medicine, effective Jan. 1.
Glassroth is president and chief executive of the Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation, a 700-member doctor practice affiliated with Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He is also vice dean of Feinberg School of Medicine. Get the full story »
Managed care company Cigna Corp. said Friday its third-quarter profit fell 6.7 percent on higher medical costs and losses from the company’s reinsurance segment. The Philadelphia insurer says it earned $307 million, or $1.13 per share, in the three months that ended Sept. 30. That’s down from the $329 million, or $1.19 per share, in the same period last year. Get the full story »
Vivus Inc.’s weight-loss drug candidate Qnexa failed to win over U.S. health regulators, who declined to approve the diet pill, asking for evidence related to heart risk and other information.
The Food and Drug Administration told Vivus on Thursday that its new drug application for Qnexa could not approved in its present form. Get the full story »
A new kind of test that finds evidence of colon cancer in the stool can also detect pre-cancerous growths and could potentially be an alternative to colonoscopies, researchers reported Thursday.
Exact Sciences’ new test detected 87 percent of stage I, II and III colon tumors, which can be surgically removed, and found 64 percent of the biggest pre-cancerous growths, the researchers told a meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. Get the full story »
