Highlights of the important and interesting in the world of healthcare:
States’ health reform challenge marches on. A federal judge in Florida decreed Thursday that a legal challenge to the Obama administration’s healthcare law by officials from 20 states could move forward and warned that he would have to be persuaded that its keystone provision — a requirement that most Americans obtain insurance — is constitutional, reports the New York Times.
Age, social class in health makes Americans squirm. At the recent Health 2.0 Conference, an unusual session highlighted the health importance of such “unmentionables” as job stress, marital worries and sexual dysfunction. The truly unmentionable subject is not sex but the link between social class and health, writes the Health Care blog.
As Healthcare and Biopharma Companies Embrace AI, Insurance Underwriters See Risks and Opportunities
In an interview, Munich Re Specialty Senior Vice President Jim Craig talked about the risk that accompanies innovation and the important role that insurers play.
New York beats Boston for startup investments. A new generation of angel investors is making New York City the hip place to be a startup, according to the New York Observer. Meanwhile, venture capital activity fell in the third quarter, but nobody’s blaming the angels, reports Thomson Reuter’s peHUB blog.
A spoonful of sugar. Data from a new study by drug maker Eli Lilly & Co. shows that some patients might better absorb an oral anticancer drug when it is taken with lemon-lime Sprite and another additive, according to the Burrill Report.
Hospitals see more malpractice suits. People are suing hospitals for malpractice at an increasing rate, according to the Wall Street Journal’s Health blog. Why? Not sure. But plausible answers range from weakening tort reform and the recession, to community hospitals employing more physicians, which shifts some liability to the hospitals.
CVS fined for selling meth ingredient. Drug store retailer CVS will pay a $75 million civil fine for selling cough and cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine to “smurfers” who used the ingredient to make illegal methamphetamine, reports the WSJ’s Health blog.