Current medical news and unique business news for anyone who cares about healthcare.
EHR privacy breach. Data for more than 21,000 emergency room patients at Stanford Hospital in California was posted online for nearly a year in a major medical privacy breach, offering proof that even the most sophisticated of institutions aren’t immune to this type of risk.
Data including patient names, diagnostic codes and billing charges were posted online through a website called Student of Fortune and were reported on Aug. 22. The hospital has been investigating how the data made its way from a vendor to the website.
Looming Medicare cuts. To fight off more cuts to Medicare, the American Hospital Association has a new strategy: lobby Congress to up the age for Medicare eligibility from 65 to 67.
J&J and Bayer trek on. Despite receiving a less-than-stellar review from FDA advisers earlier this week, Johnson & Johnson and Bayer got the nod from an FDA panel that endorsed its stroke prevention drug Xarelto.
Speaking of trekking on… Let’s put healthcare aside for a moment. Trekkies and techies can unite in celebration of 45 years of Star Trek with this list of 8 Star Trek gadgets that no longer exist only in the world of sci-fi. (Star Trek thought up the iPad?)
PerkinElmer acquisition. Massachusetts life science company PerkinElmer Inc. will purchase Caliper Life Sciences Inc. for $600 million, expanding its portfolio to include molecular, cellular, animal and tissue imaging and technology to grow in other areas.
