The president of Arrayit, a publicly traded medical testing company, has been charged with securities fraud and conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud after it was revealed he had directed the company to submit false claims for allergy and COVID-19 tests. These charges include the company allegedly paying kickbacks to doctors who participated in the scheme. The charges are the first in the country against a medical company accused of exploiting the coronavirus crisis for their personal gain. Continue reading “Lab Executive Charged with Fraud in COVID and Allergy Testing”
Tag: healthcare
CMS Proposes Cuts for Hospital-Owned Outpatient Services
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have proposed changes to Medicare payments that would significantly reduce payments to many physicians and hospital outpatient healthcare services. The changes in policy would also increase the wage index (the degree to which payments are adjusted based on regional average wages) for low-income hospitals, like those found in many rural areas, while decreasing the wage index for higher-income hospitals. The move is set to gradually reduce the payments to hospital-owned, off-campus clinics over the course of two years, which CMS predicts will save Medicare more than $800 million per year. Continue reading “CMS Proposes Cuts for Hospital-Owned Outpatient Services”
The Rights of a Terminally Ill Patient to End His or Her Own Life
When doctors notify patients of a grave prognosis, they typically do their best to ensure that the patient is as comfortable as possible and lives out the rest of his or her days according to their wishes. Many of those who have suffered from a terminal illness for so long welcome death, and, sometimes, even wish to speed up the process with life-ending medication. This practice is controversial in that some view it as murder, or going against nature, while others believe it to be showing mercy by ending the patient’s suffering.
There are three broad categories related to end-of-life decisions, including euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide, and the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment.
Continue reading “The Rights of a Terminally Ill Patient to End His or Her Own Life”
