Information technology
Tech firm aims to unzip healthcare data | The TennesseanA Franklin, Tenn.-based tech firm is looking to unlock troves of healthcare data – an effort that's won a key relationship with industry heavyweight HCA.
Pharmaceuticals
Once promising obesity drug scrapped after patient deaths | STATDrugmaker Zafgan announced it will lay off one-third of its workforce, about 16 people, as it scraps efforts to develop an obesity drug that was tied to two patient deaths.
Valeant drug should be approved with risk plan, FDA advisers say | Bloomberg.com
Valeant Pharmaceuticals won the backing of regulatory advisers for its experimental psoriasis treatment but the company must take extra steps to help mitigate possible suicidal risks associated with the drug.
Companies try new ways to attract patients to drug trials | The Wall Street Journal
Drug companies are testing new ways to get more people to participate in clinical trials for promising medicines. Some companies look through laboratory-test records to identify people with certain diseases while other monitor patient responses in online forums.
Safety, quality and clinical practice
Maryland switches opioid treatments, and some patients cry foul | NPR.orgMaryland Medicaid officials have made what appears to be a small change to the list of preferred medications to treat opioid addictions. The agency used to pay for the drug in a dissolvable film form. Now it's steering patients to tablets, which some doctors say are not as effective for their patients.
With uptick in home births, midwives seek to practice in more states | The Pew Charitable Trusts
Midwives say that by not allowing midwives to lawfully perform in some states they are impeding on a mother's right to choose her desired method of delivery.
