Have you been wondering how health reform implementation will affect children’s health care programs? Are you looking for information on when changes to CHIP and Medicaid go into effect? Do you want to learn more about the new provision allowing young ad

In the lead-up to passing the health reform law, Congress debated what to do about the Medicare physician payment problem.  Under current law, the formula for setting Medicare physician payment rates, known as the Sustainable Growth Rate, or SGR, will imp

A surprising decision in the Second Circuit has breathed new life into legal efforts to prevent drug makers from paying to keep generics off the market. Since 2005, the drug industry has increasingly used multi-million dollar ‘pay-for-delay’ settlements t

Instead of alerting the FDA and issuing a recall after discovering a quality problem with batches of Motrin, Johnson and Johnson hired contractors to go and buy up batches of the drug, instructing them to pretend to be regular customers and not to mention

Tomorrow the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hears from FDA and Johnson & Johnson officials on the May 1 recall of more than 40 types of popular brand-name children's medicines by McNeil, a division of the drug giant. The recall--wh

Ever been puzzled by bills from a doctor or hospital?  Not sure which services you were supposed to pay for and the amount owed?  Unclear on whether to pay the provider or wait for your insurance company to do so?  If you answered yes to any of these ques

New proposed rules from the NIH yesterday on preventing conflicts of interest in biomedical research improve public disclosure but leave the decision about what constitutes a financial conflict with an investigator's institution. The rule lines up with mu

LINK FIXED Last week, we likened the low-visibility conflicts over regulatory measures to trench warfare. This week, the military metaphor of choice is proxy war. Republicans in the Senate are using the nomination of Dr. Donald Berwick to head the Centers

Last week, we talked about the new requirements in national health reform for nonprofit hospitals to provide and make public charity care as a condition of their federal tax-exempt status: •    Having a written financial assistance policy that clearly sp