The “Sunshine Act,” a transparency clause in the Affordable Care Act, allows the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to publicly post all payments and other valuables given by Big Pharma to physicians and teaching hospitals. Eric Campbell, professor of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, and Michael Weinblatt, the John R. Riedman Professor of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, are quoted.
The mounting scrutiny of prescription drug prices in the U.S. reached fever pitch when a new drug for hepatitis C was priced at about $1,000 a day. Jerry Avorn, professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Lowell Schnipper, the Theodore W. and Evelyn G. Berenson Professor of Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, are quoted.
Daniel B. Kopans, professor of radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital, authored this opinion piece about the importance of breast cancer screening.
The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, a hub of genetics research in Kendall Square, will open a new 15-story research tower Wednesday, bringing together hundreds of scientists who previously worked across four scattered locations. David Altshuler, professor of genetics at Massachusetts General Hospital, is quoted.
Michelle Holmes, associate professor of medicine and Wendy Chen, assistant professor of medicine, both of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, authored this op-ed about the use of aspirin to treat breast cancer.
The Centers for Disease Control reports an alarming number of toddlers are given medication for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Experts say it’s not only appalling, it’s irresponsible. Nancy Rappaport, associate professor of psychiatry at Cambridge Health Alliance, is quoted.
Half a million Americans should consider taking Truvada, a pill that prevents HIV infection. This is the upshot of updated clinical guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other public health bodies released last week. Kenneth Mayer, professor of medicine at Fenway Community Health Center, is quoted.
A group of legal experts called the Death Penalty Committee of the Constitution Project recently recommended that doctors or other medical personnel supervise all medical aspects of executions, even when barred by their governing bodies. This week, several Harvard Medical School doctors responded with a scathing article in which they recommended that medical boards revoke such doctors’ certification. Robert D. Truog, professor of anaesthesia (pediatrics) at Boston Children’s Hospital, and Mark A. Rockoff, professor of anaesthesia at Boston Children’s Hospital, were coauthors of the article.
The piece features cautionary tales of Facebook fails, Twitter traps, and Insta-gaffes. Don S. Dizon, instructor in medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, is quoted.
The race set off late in the afternoon on Friday at Massachusetts General Hospital: 15 competitors from across the world gathered for a neck-and-neck journey through a twisting maze, with a long straightaway that was the perfect setup for a sprint finish. It was the World Dicty Race, a competition that unfolds on a microscope slide carved with tiny channels for a track. Daniel Irimia, assistant professor of surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, organized the contest. Michael Myre, instructor in neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital, won fourth place.
