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We Read the News Today, Oh Boy

By Joe Consumer

It?s that old ?lining their pockets? thing again.  In Ohio, Christ Hospital has ?settled a federal whistleblower lawsuit accusing its acclaimed cardiac-care center of running an illegal kickback scheme.?  Christ Hospital insists it did nothing wrong, but the government says the hospital ?and the Ohio Heart Health Center cardiology practice, which Christ Hospital has since bought, ?devised a scheme that provided cardiologists improper financial incentives in exchange for generating revenue for the hospital.'??  Dr. Harry Fry, a cardiologist, blew the whistle.

In the Philadelphia case brought by breast cancer victim Connie Barton against Wyeth for manufacturing their cancer-causing hormone replacement drug Prempro, both sides are appealing a decision that 1. slashed her punitive damages award  from $78.7 million to $5.6, and; 2. became the first Philadelphia case ?to uphold a jury finding that drugmaker Wyeth failed to warn a plaintiff's prescribing physician of the dangers of breast cancer from using Wyeth's hormonal drugs.?  There are more than 1,500 similar cases pending.  (For more about that issue, see CJ&D?s report, The Bitterest Pill.)

And finally, some good news/bad news.  Good news first. The defense appropriations bill provision ensuring that rape victims have access to the courts hopefully won?t be a one-time thing, thanks to President Obama's 2011 defense budget proposal, which includes the same provision for 2011.  Meanwhile, the President is making nicey nice with the destructive U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which opposed this provision, saying they will just have to ?agreed to disagree on some issues.?   Oh boy.

Full post as published by ThePopTort on February 03, 2010 (boomark / email).