Private and Commercial Interests Raise More Dander, but Here's a Salve

What raises more of our dander in these pages than anything else? Recent posts, occasionally mine but especially those from FIRM's President and blogueur extraordinaire Roy Poses MD, suggest the answer's a no-brainer: shareholder-favored large-scale commercial interests in health care. Not even creeping disruption. Galloping. So much so, maybe the take-over's now complete and fold our tents. But

Who Advocates For Surprise Medical Billing? - Private Equity Hides Behind Physicians' White Coats

Background: Mysterious Advocacy of Surprise Medical Bills

The issue of surprise medical bills has gotten a lot of public attention in the last year or so.  Surprise medical bills are consequences of the complex US system for financing health care through private, usually commercial insurance.  Insurance companies typically have networks of hospitals, physicians, health care facilities etc. 

Broken Trust: the Adulteration of Ranitidine Revealed

Adulterated Ranitidine, and Before that, Valsartan, Irbesartan and Losartan

Another case of drug adulteration has just been made public.  Per the New York Times, Sept 13, 2019,


The Food and Drug Administration said on Friday that it had detected low levels of a cancer-causing contaminant in samples of heartburn medicines containing the drug commonly known as Zantac.

Zantac, the brand-name

"Overshadowed by the Large Amount of Money in Play" - Sale of Hahnemann Residency Program as a Financial Asset Approved by Bankruptcy Judge

Introduction: the Bankruptcy of Hahnemann, the Selling of the Residency Program, Including Residents, as an Asset

As we discussed here, the storied Hahnemann University Medical Center was recently declared bankrupt by the private equity firm that bought it.  Staff were left jobless. Patients, including many who were vulnerable or chronically ill, were set adrift. Nearly 600 medical house-staff