Focus

Feds Warn of Remote Patient Monitoring Fraud: Patients and Healthcare Providers Beware

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) is alerting the public about a remote patient monitoring fraud scheme. According to the watchdog agency, “unscrupulous companies are signing up Medicare enrollees for this service, regardless of medical necessity.” They may do it through phone solicitation, ads on the Internet or even television commercials....

read more

FDA’s latest warnings about eye drop contamination put consumers on edge − a team of infectious disease experts explain the risks

This is the second FDA alert this year on contaminated eye drops. eternalcreative/iStock via Getty Images Plus ~~~~~~~~~ The Food and Drug Administration issued a warning in late October 2023 urging consumers to avoid purchasing and to immediately stop using 26 over-the-counter eye drop products because of risk of eye infection that could result in partial vision loss or even blindness. More...

read more

People Who Used Recalled Philips Breathing Machines Face Painful Choices

ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. Philips Respironics received thousands of complaints about a dangerous defect in its breathing machines but kept them secret for years as stock prices soared. The devices, including the popular DreamStation for sleep apnea, went to children, the...

read more

New devices could change the way we measure blood pressure

Embedded in a cell phone or in accessories such as rings, bracelets or watches, the novel tools aim to make it easier to manage hypertension. But they must still pass several tests before hitting the clinic. If just by looking at our watch or cell phone we can know, in real time, our heart rate, the number of steps we take, the calories we burn and the hours of sleep we got the night before, why...

read more

Feds Rein in Use of Predictive Software that Limits Care for Medicare Advantage Patients

Judith Sullivan was recovering from major surgery at a Connecticut nursing home in March when she got surprising news from her Medicare Advantage plan: It would no longer pay for her care because she was well enough to go home. At the time, she could not walk more than a few feet, even with assistance — let alone manage the stairs to her front door, she said. She still needed help using a...

read more

What You Need to Know about the Philips Respironics CPAP Recall

ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. Series: With Every Breath - Millions of Breathing Machines, One Dangerous Defect Philips Respironics received thousands of complaints about a dangerous defect in its breathing machines but kept them secret for years as stock prices soared. The...

read more