Since developing an interest in healthcare more than two years ago, I’ve come to appreciate the industry is rife with very bad people who do very bad things. The New York Times revealed last week that McKinsey & Company deserves a special place in hell for its critical role facilitating the opioid crisis that killed nearly 500,000 Americans.
Fortunately for McKinsey, the best penalty multistate attorneys general could collectively muster was a paltry $573 million settlement.
While the FDA last year was promoting a certain drug as intended for horses, U.S., Chinese, and Japanese researchers were studying the supposed veterinary medicine as a possible cure for cancer. The results so far have been promising, with City of Hope Medical Center, in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute, scheduled to begin a Phase II trial on June 10.
Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, the Houston ENT doc who dared challenge the government, the medical establishment, and the media with her refusal to stop prescribing a controversial drug, has a formidable legal ally hoping to turn her defiance into a landmark legal ruling. His name is Boyden Gray, and his myriad accomplishments include serving as White House Counsel to President George H.W. Bush and spearheading significant clean energy legislation.
A primer on why Americans must drive defective cars and pay the highest healthcare costs in the western world so the rich can get richer.
A story by an intrepid young reporter named Suzy Weiss about the cancellation of Dr. David Sabitini should serve as a Rosa Parks moment in combating the cancer of cancel culture. The cancer reference is especially apropos because Sabatini was possibly well on his way to finding a cure for the disease but now finds himself unemployed and without purpose.
Weiss made a compelling case that Sabitini got a raw deal. Regardless, the allegations against him didn’t merit canceling a gifted scientist who many believe was destined for a Nobel Prize.
Given Houston Methodist’s public trashing of ENT doc Mary Talley Bowden for allegedly practicing medicine “not based in science,” it’s notable the Texas hospital, ranked among the best in the country, has been cited by a healthcare think tank for being the national leader performing stent surgeries on the elderly in the first year of the pandemic. The “science” is conclusive that most stent surgeries are unnecessary and potentially harmful.
Cleveland Clinic, another top-rated hospital whose CEO is a world-renowned cardiac surgeon, tied Houston Methodist for its dubious distinction.
Throughout the pandemic, Americans were assured that public policy was “following the science.” Information revealed by a government watchdog group this week suggests that as always with politics, it’s critical to follow the money.
BuzzFeed this week published a disturbing expose about KKR’s involvement with BrightSpring, which operates more than 600 nationwide residential facilities supposedly “caring” for disabled persons, some of whom can’t speak, bathe, or feed themselves. According to BuzzFeed, BrightSpring residents have routinely been subjected to neglect and abuse, sometimes resulting in death.
Only persons with ice in their veins could read BuzzFeed’s story and not be saddened and outraged.
The U.S. Constitution guarantees “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” Private equity firms are increasingly denying Americans their inalienable rights.
Here’s a clickbait idea for U.S. business publications: The annual Corporate Cowardice Awards. Although it’s only March, this year’s recipient is a no brainer – The American Hospital Association. Wright L. Lassiter III, the trade group’s 2022 chair and CEO of Detroit’s Henry Ford Health System, is most deserving of accepting the award on behalf of his industry’s executive colleagues.