Today Barack Obama announced his new Secretary of Health and Human Services, former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle. With his cabinet appointee at his side, the president-elect promised health insurance reform within his first year in office. It’s a promise that, if kept, …
Articles By kpark
No consequences for bad hospitals?
by Kristi Park, December 8, 2008, 1:59 pmThe New York Times has an interesting piece about the difficulty of shutting down bad hospitals, taking as its example University Hospital in Syracuse, New York. The hospital, which is owned by SUNY Upstate Medical University, has had its quality issues over the …
Baucus takes the reins on health care reform
by Kristi Park, November 13, 2008, 7:00 amMax Baucus sure doesn’t waste any time. While Sarah Palin is still returning her $150,000 wardrobe and President-Elect Obama is measuring the White House drapes, the Democratic senator from Montana made a play for leadership on health care reform with a policy paper outlining his …
Big Pharma goes bargain-hunting
by Kristi Park, November 3, 2008, 7:00 amAs cash-strapped consumers these days are trading in Neiman Marcus for the discount stores, big pharmaceutical companies flush with cash are looking to spend some of that money on bargain-bin acquisitions. Several drugmaking giants have indicated their intentions to use the economic downturn to snap …
JAMA stands up to drug companies over patients’ right to sue
by Kristi Park, October 22, 2008, 7:00 amFirst the Bush administration gave us the doctrine of preemptive war. Now they want to give us the legal precedent of preemption. But they’re going to have to shout down the Journal of the American Medical Association before they can get their way.
Preemption …
Former biopharma employees get energized about clean technology
by Kristi Park, October 10, 2008, 7:00 amIf you’ve been wondering what the hot new hangout for biopharmaceutical researchers is (and face it, who hasn’t?), here’s the scoop: According to BusinessWeek, scientists and executives are fleeing the biopharma industry for the trendier environs of “clean technology” — the catchall term for efforts …
The FDA hires a PR firm, creates a public relations nightmare for itself
by Kristi Park, October 3, 2008, 7:00 amYou’ve almost got to feel sorry for the FDA. After several public relations embarrassments — tainted heparin from China and salmonella in the tomato supply, not to mention years’ worth of Congressional frustration over its stewardship of government funds …
Prognosis for AIG? Wait and see
by Kristi Park, September 16, 2008, 6:00 amSure, everybody likes to feel needed, but the folks at the Fed could probably do with fewer cries for help these days. In one crazy, nightmarish Monday for US financial markets, the Fed not only refused help to flailing Lehman Brothers (which subsequently …
Have illness, will travel: the growth of domestic medical tourism
by Kristi Park, September 15, 2008, 7:00 amThe phenomenon of medical tourism (the practice of traveling outside one’s own community for medical care) has been much talked of but also maybe a little overhyped. It’s usually discussed in the context of Americans going abroad — say to Mexico or Singapore — for cheaper surgeries …
