On October 15th, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted out S. 369 (here is the bill), the ban on pay-for-delay settlements between brand-name pharmaceutical manufacturers and generic-drug companies.  The purpose and result of these settlements is that the

Insurance Industry Takes the Gloves Off While the insurance industry has been using “guerrilla” tactics behind the scenes to undermine aspects of health reform all along – opposing strong Exchanges, a decent minimum benefit standard and eliminating discri

So now we wait. The hurry-up-and-wait that has characterized Congress’s movement on health reform is par for the legislative course, especially a bill such as important and many-parted as health reform. But much of that waiting wasn’t on deliberations of

By now you’ve probably read it: a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine today found that 3 in 10 orthopedic surgeons did not disclose financial arrangements they had with medical device makers – relationships that five device companies we

From the under-the-radar-screen department: While we noted Medtronic’s support of the Physician Payments Sunshine Act at its annual shareholders meeting back in August, we didn't note a question from a shareholder on the scale of company payments to physi

Despite the support of many Senators, led by Sens. Rockefeller and Schumer, the effort to add a public option to the Senate Finance bill fell short.  Significant opposition from conservative Democrats both on and off the committee makes it hard to see how

Minorities and immigrants in America are disproportionately hurt by a lack of health insurance, poor access to care, low quality treatment and gaps in service. This results in deadly symptoms. For example, 14 of every 1,000 African American babies in the

Despite threats to take medical industry conventions elsewhere and full-page ads in the Boston Globe last year warning of the “chilling effect” of the Massachusetts gift restrictions and disclosure law on the states convention industry and greater economi

The Senate Finance Committee returns to its mark up today, and for health reform junkies, the number one spectator sport of the moment has become watching committee member Sen. Olympia Snowe’s every move like they were tea leaves to her votes. Over the co