What if a virus could reverse antibiotic resistance?
In promising experiments, phage therapy forces bacteria into a no-win dilemma that lowers their defenses against drugs they’d evolved to withstand Peering through his microscope in 1910, Franco-Canadian microbiologist Félix d'Hérelle noticed some “clear spots” in his bacterial cultures, an anomaly that turned out to be viruses preying on the bacteria. Years later, d'Hérelle would come to use these viruses, which he called bacteriophages, to treat patients plagued with dysentery after World War I. In the decades that followed, d'Hérelle and others used this phage therapy to treat bubonic plague and other bacterial infections until the technique fell into disuse after the widespread adoption...
Drug prices improved under Biden-Harris and Trump − but not for everyone, and not enough
Negotiations to reduce drug prices can sometimes shift costs onto consumers. rudisill/iStock via Getty Images Plus ~~~~~ When it comes to drug pricing, the Trump and Biden-Harris administrations both have some very modest wins to tout. As director of the Health Outcomes, Policy, and Evidence Synthesis group at the University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy, I teach and study about the ethics of prescription drug prices and the complexities of drug pricing nationally. Delving into the presidential candidates’ successes on a number of drug-pricing policies, you’ll see a continuation of progress across the administrations. Neither the Trump administration nor the Biden-Harris...
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Marketer Pleads Guilty in DME Healthcare Fraud Scheme
A Miami Beach, Florida, man admitted his role in a $4.2 million durable medical equipment (DME) healthcare fraud scheme that took place in New Jersey. Christopher Vehovec, 31, pleaded guilty in New Jersey federal court to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. According to court documents, the DME healthcare fraud took place between February 2020 and April 2021. Vehovec and an unidentified co-conspirator struck a deal with Alexander Schleider, who owned and operated DME companies in New Jersey. How the Scheme Worked Vehovec would provide Schleider with completed doctors’ orders for orthotic braces, prosthetics and other medical equipment in...
Donation supports the Fort Lauderdale Sharks to expand wheelchair basketball in south Broward
Memorial Rehabilitation Institute’s Sharks Wheelchair Basketball team received a surprise check valued for $25,000 at an event held by Memorial Regional Hospital South. The generous donation was made by Hollywood resident, Kyoko Harigaya Brogdon, after Amaury Cifuentes, a board member of Memorial and Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital Foundations, who also serves on Memorial Legacy Leaders, shared the inspiring story of the Sharks. This contribution will significantly enhance the wheelchair basketball program by funding the addition of a new National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA) team. Initially started with a single adult team, the Sharks have grown over the past 11 seasons with...
