The Philadelphia Inquirer: Phila. Jury Orders Pfizer To Pay 3 Women $72.6 Million In Damages Over Menopause DrugsA Philadelphia jury Tuesday said pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. must pay three women $72.6 million in compensatory damages because the menopause drugs they took gave them breast cancer. The Common Pleas Court jury will begin the punitive phase Friday and could last two weeks, but it might mean even larger awards for the women, who live or had lived in Pennsylvania. Jury awards in such cases can be reduced by judges or changed by appeals courts (Sell, 12/7).
(St. Paul) Pioneer Press: Feds Backing Minnesota Whistle-Blower's Suit Against Kentucky-Based Rehabilitation CompanyThe complaint alleges RehabCare Group Inc. paid kickbacks to a contract rehabilitation services provider, Rehab Systems of Missouri, in order to gain access to a lucrative stream of referrals involving beneficiaries covered by Medicare and Medicaid, according to a news release issued Tuesday by the U.S. attorney's office. RehabCare has contracts to provide therapy with approximately 50 skilled nursing facilities in Minnesota (Snowbeck, 12/6).
Kaiser Health News: Florida Grappling With Questions About Taxes For Indigent CareA special panel appointed by Florida Gov. Rick Scott has been meeting to figure out a way to scale back what taxpayers at the local level contribute to hospital costs in some parts of the state (Hatter, 12/6).
Georgia Health News: The Big Picture: Med Students Get Option Of Public Health DegreeGHSU/UGA Medical Partnership and the UGA College of Public Health have joined forces to create a new option for medical students who want to earn a master of public health degree along with their medical degree. ... Georgia appears to be part of a national trend, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. At least 75 U.S. medical schools now make public health education available to future doctors (Smith, 12/6).
This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.