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Former NY Hospital Employees and Telco Company Plead Guilty to Bid Rigging

The Department of Justice announced that Anthony Spadola, a former IT manager at Mount Sinai Hospital, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Manhattan to one count of conspiracy to rig bids and allocate contracts for the supply of telecommunications equipment and services to Mount Sinai from approximately January 2001 through October 2004. He also pleaded guilty to other charges including mail fraud and tax evasion. Stephen Cogliano, another former Mount Sinai employee, conspired with Spadola to get kickbacks from telecommunications installation company Broadcom Voice & Data Inc. and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to rig bids and allocate contracts, as did Broadcom. more...

September 29, 2006 Related topics: Legal & legislative, Ethics & Scandals, Policies & Procedures

Observers Argue About Whether FDA Found Teeth in Drug Approval Process

The New York Times reports conflicting opinions on the Food and Drug Administration's attitude to drug approvals since Merck's Vioxx painkiller had to be withdrawn from the market two years ago because of increased risk of cardiovascular events. On one end, some pharmaceutical manufacturers and patient advocacy groups complain about slower reviews. Only one out of 14 drugs submitted to the agency were approved on first try dyring fiscal year 2005. Some drugs approved in Europe receive "approvable" letters from the FDA which requires more information before aggreeing to sales in the U.S. 90-day delays are also more common. On the other hand, in a recent report the Institute of Medicine funded by the FDA and other government agencies recommends that Congress puts more emphasis on post-approval safety monitoring in the FDA's mission and powers. For now the drug industry's user fees contribute to funding the approval process, not efficacy and safety studies once medication is used in the "real world." more...

September 29, 2006 Related topics: Legal & legislative, Pharmaceuticals

Study Ascribes Positive Impact to Light

The Center for Health Design published a paper funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and written by...

Vendor Survey Finds Nurses Care About IT

IT firm CDW Healthcare ran an online survey of 559 nurses working in a wide range of settings,...

JCAHO Shares Power Failure Risk Reduction Strategies

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) is advising hospitals on a number of steps to...

Senate, CDC Worry about ER Readiness

The Subcommittee on Bioterrorism & Public Health Preparedness of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions...

Private Equity Firm Reviews State of the GPO World

Private equity and research firm HealthpointCapital recently released a report on GPOs based on the assumption that the...

Healthcare Is a Big Driver in U.S. Economy, Jobs

In this week’s cover story, BusinessWeek is attributing most of the job growth in the U.S. for the...

Trade Union Sets Dates for Strikes against NHS Logistics Privatizaton

The Unison trade union is announcing a 24-hour strike later this year to protest the British governement’s recent...

Finance Committee Head Calling for Charity Care Standards

Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa is following up on the issue of whether nonprofit hospitals deserve their...

N.Y. Hospitals to Provide Translation

The Associated Press reports that the state of New York now requires all hospitals to provide translators to...

New FDA Guidance Assigns Subcontractor Responsibility to Tissue Establishments

Following recent violations of FDA 21 CFR Part 1271.150(c)(1) regulation about human tissues, the administration is publishing guidance...

NHS Confirms DHL+Novation Contract

According to the BBC and The Guardian, the UK National Health Service (NHS) is going through with its...

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