Information technology
Study: Web tool reduced medical missteps during hospital-shift changes | Kaiser Health NewsIts 4 p.m., and if you're a hospital patient, that could be one of the most critical times of the day. Your doctor's shift just ended, and someone new will take over your care. A research letter published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine suggests hospitals can avoid missteps by using technology to improve communication among the doctors, nurses and other healthcare providers at that vital point in care.
Drones will begin delivering blood and medicine in the U.S. | The Verge
A startup that uses drones to deliver medicine and blood to remote areas of Rwanda is launching a similar program in the U.S. California-based Zipline will bring its drone delivery program to rural and remote communities in Maryland, Nevada and Washington, including some Native American reservations.
Pharmaceuticals
Biogen draws takeover interest from rival drugmakers | The Wall Street JournalBiotechnology giant Biogen Inc. has drawn takeover interest from drug companies including Merck and Allergan, raising the possibility of another huge deal in the healthcare industry.
Q&A: Glaxo exec says bioelectronics venture with Verily is 'not science fiction' | STAT
STAT sat down with chairman of the new company Galvani Bioelectronics. The joint effort by pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline and Verily Life Sciences, which is owned by Google's Alphabet, will fight diseases by targeting signals in the body. Chairman Moncef Slaoui said “It's progressing quite well.”
Critics target institute that evaluates price, value of drugs | USA Today
Federal regulators have applauded the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review that compares the value and price of prescription drugs, and now the group is coming under attack from pharmaceutical companies and allied patient groups.
CVS drops Sanofi's diabetes drugs for biosimilars | Reuters
U.S. pharmacy benefit manager CVS will drop Sanofi's main insulin drug Lantus from the list of medicines it reimburses on behalf of health insurers, dealing a blow to the French drugmaker's key diabetes business.
Pfizer in $486 million settlement of Celebrex, Bextra litigation | Reuters
Pfizer has reached a $486 million settlement of litigation accusing it of causing big losses for shareholders by concealing safety risks associated with its Celebrex and Bextra pain-relieving drugs.
Safety, quality and clinical practice
Hospitals with most heart patients in ICU have worse results: study | United Press InternationalHospitals with less experience dealing with heart attack and heart failure patients send more of them to the intensive care unit, where they receive fewer tests and treatments known to be effective for the conditions, new research shows.
