Your phone knows you’re at the doctor, and data brokers do, too
(Oona Zenda/KFF Health News) ~~~~~ Chris McQueen finished treatment for leukemia a year and a half ago, but the ads for fake cures never stopped. Juice cleanses to cure cancer, “natural” cancer treatments, clinics in Mexico promising full recovery with little chemotherapy — all appeared on McQueen’s mobile phone during routine oncologist visits and monthly bloodwork. McQueen and others have taken to social media to vent about companies known as data brokers tracking their whereabouts via their smartphones’ location data, connecting it with other data gathered about them, and then drawing inferences about their health struggles to sell to companies hawking unproven treatments. “It makes me...
SSJ Health Foundation names Tara Auclair Executive Director
Auclair steps into executive leadership following a year of growth and expanded fundraising efforts for St. John Bosco Clinic SSJ Health Foundation, the philanthropic arm of St. John Bosco Clinic, recently announced the appointment of Tara Auclair as Executive Director, following her successful tenure as the organization's Director of Development. Auclair joined SSJ Health Foundation in October 2025 as Director of Development, bringing extensive experience in nonprofit development, strategic communications, relationship building and community engagement in various healthcare settings. In that role, she led the Foundation's fundraising and donor development efforts while strengthening its...
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Statistical bamboozlement with shingles vaccines
In this skill-testing question, tell me which of these statements is true: The shingles vaccine is 90% effective in preventing shingles. The shingles vaccine prevents shingles in ONE in every 32 people vaccinated. The other 31 people see no benefit. Answer: both are true. Guess which statement dominates the marketing of Shingrix, the most popular shingles vaccine in America? 90% effective. 90% effective. 90% effective. That’s the main marketing message coming from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discussing the efficacy of the vaccine. So common is this sort of statistical sleight of hand that the CDC doesn’t even seem to see any real problem in how those effects are...
The new enforcement net: How CMS is catching non-compliant providers via expanded exclusion checks
Historically, the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) acted as the sole gatekeeper for excluding bad actors from federal health care programs under Section 1128 of the Social Security Act. That dynamic has fundamentally shifted. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. officially delegated independent Section 1128 exclusion authority directly to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Working alongside broadened revocation powers under 42 C.F.R. § 424.535, CMS is no longer just processing enrollment forms, it operates as a primary enforcement agency with “force multiplier” authority to cut off billing privileges and exclude entities entirely. The mechanics of how providers are...
