A correction has been added to this story. THE STATE BOARD OF REGISTRATION in Medicine has disciplined a New Jersey-based physician for prescribing prescription drugs over the internet without ever […]
Health Care
Posted inOpinion
Hail to the Harm Reduction Commission
THE GOVERNOR’S HARM REDUCTION COMMISSION’S endorsement of supervised drug consumption sites is a game-changing step towards effective drug policy, especially concerning problematic drug use. Government commissions often serve as convenient […]
Posted inOpinion
A pitch for socializing corporate health insurance premiums
LAST WEEKEND I attended the memorial service for Rob Restuccia, a longtime and pioneering advocate for a more just and consumer responsive health care system in Massachusetts, and really across […]
Posted inHealth Care
Nursing home industry sounds alarm
THE MASSACHUSETTS NURSING HOME INDUSTRY says inadequate state funding caused 20 facilities to close last year and is putting another 39 at risk of going out of business this year. […]
Posted inHealth Care
Expanding our view of health
WHEN IT COMES TO the state of our health, there is a glaring disconnect in the US, says Sandro Galea. We spend far more on health care per capita than […]
Posted inOpinion
Partners is like a shark – always on the move
Second of two parts AS A BIG, COMPLEX SYSTEM that pursues diverse missions of clinical care, research, teaching, and community benefit, Partners HealthCare has an almost insatiable need to significantly […]
Posted inOpinion
Cost of drugs in the US is an outrage
THE HIGH COST OF PHARMACEUTICALS in the United States is an embarrassment. Americans don’t consume more prescription medications than their counterparts in other developed countries but, on a per capita […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Commission torn over supervised injection sites
MEMBERS OF A STATE COMMISSION see some theoretical benefits from establishing supervised drug injection sites, but when it comes to the feasibility of actually establishing such programs, consensus was harder […]
Posted inOpinion
Are the Partners hospitals really partners?
First of two parts PARTNERS HEALTHCARE has been in the news a lot lately. First, on January 22, Partners started to spread the word about a plan for Massachusetts General […]
Posted inHealth Care
Worcester man can’t believe doctor removed kidney in error
ALBERT HUBBARD of Worcester said he woke up from kidney-removal surgery in 2016 with his doctor sitting about a foot away from him with a “god-awful look on his face.” […]
Posted inOpinion
Baker’s Orwellian drug pricing policy
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION recently released its budget proposal for one of their most high-profile issues: drug prices in the Medicaid program. To the surprise of many in the biopharmaceutical industry, there are […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Pharma faces different type of drug trial
WHITE-COLLAR CRIME may be conducted in executive suites or empty speaking halls, but its victims can all too quickly wind up in the same place as those killed by a […]
Posted inThe Download
Pharma faces different type of drug trial
White-collar crime may be conducted in executive suites or empty speaking halls, but its victims can all too quickly wind up in the same place as those killed by a […]
Posted inHealth Care
Bio folks cool to Baker drug proposal
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER’S proposal to rein in the cost of high-priced drug treatments got a cool reception on Wednesday at a MassBio policy breakfast, but most industry officials didn’t appear […]
Posted inHealth Care
Trying to avoid falling off the cliff
TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE for Mary Napolitano. The Somerville resident starts each month with $900 in Social Security income. Subtract $545 for rent and heat. Subtract a little more […]
Posted inOpinion
40,000 Mass. seniors badly need health care help
MASSACHUSETTS IS AT the vanguard of nearly every measure of health care excellence, from medical research to patient care. But the Commonwealth has turned its back on an important demographic […]
Posted inTransportation
Cambridge Street could be in for lots of changes
CAMBRIDGE STREET in Boston is starting to look a lot like a public policy war zone. As it runs from Bowdoin Street down toward the Longfellow Bridge, Cambridge Street passes […]
Posted inHealth Care, Politics
Baker backs rate-setting for high-cost drugs
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION is seeking legislative authority for MassHealth to negotiate prices directly with the manufacturers of high-cost drugs that have little or no competition and, if that effort fails […]
Posted inHealth Care
Dreyfus highlights Blue Cross experiments
ANDREW DREYFUS, the CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, is excited about a series of initiatives the state’s largest health insurer is pursuing to improve care while simultaneously […]
Posted inThe Download
The Codcast: Dreyfus highlights Blue Cross experiments
Andrew Dreyfus, the CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, is excited about a series of initiatives the state’s largest health insurer is pursuing to improve care while simultaneously […]
Posted inHealth Care
Perfect storm led to healthy kidney removal
ANKUR PARIKH, a 37-year-old urologist, logged into the medical records system at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester and examined what he thought was a CT kidney scan that had […]
Posted inOpinion
Four reasons medication-assisted treatment may not help inmates
IN DECEMBER, a federal district court judge in Massachusetts ordered the Essex County jail to provide an entering inmate methadone so that he could continue his successful methadone treatment of […]
Posted inOpinion
Pharmacy middlemen manipulating the system
A RECENT FEDERAL LAW allows pharmacists to inform patients when the price of their medication is less than the copayment they would pay using their insurance. This is helpful to […]
Posted inOpinion
Track care providers who commit abuse
IN EARLY NOVEMBER, the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Children and Families heard compelling testimony from families, caregivers, and state agencies about the need to pass Senate bill 2606, an act […]
