Announcing the annual winners of the most egregious profits in US health care | Healthcare in the United States

The 2024 winners of the annual Shkreli Awards, given each year to the perpetrators of the most egregious examples of profiteering and dysfunction within the healthcare industry, have been revealed by the Lown Institute, an independent healthcare think tank.

Recipients are chosen by a committee comprised of health policy experts, clinicians, journalists and advocates. The awards are named after Martin Shkreli, the famous pharmaceutical brother who gained international notoriety after raising the price of the life-saving anti-parasitic drug Daraprim 50-fold.

All of these stories paint a picture of a healthcare sector in desperate need of transformation. In 2024, care practices have been put in the spotlight, said Vikas Saini, president of the Lown Institute, during the ceremony.

But handing out these awards every year shows us that this is nothing new. We hope these stories will illuminate needed changes.

10th place this year went to the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth for allegedly failing to notify next of kin before selling body parts of deceased people.

An NBC News investigation found that the school did not properly receive consent from the deceased or their family members before dissecting and distributing the unclaimed bodies, despite the network's findings that family members were fairly easy to identify and contact.

Ninth place went to the outdated practice of cutting out babies' tongues, which continues to be falsely touted as a cure for several illnesses, from sleep apnea to breastfeeding problems, according to the New York Times.

The questionable billing practices of Zynex Medical, a company specializing in nerve stimulation devices used for pain management, took 8th place. Patients received Zynex devices knowing the expenses would be covered by insurance, according to a Stat News report. Users then received unsolicited supplies of items such as batteries and electrodes (in often excessive quantities), for which they were ultimately charged. The report said nearly 70% of Zynex's $184 million in revenue in 2023 came from batteries and electrodes.

This is simply classic overcharging. It's a fraud, said Patricia Kelmar, senior director of the US Pirg research group and a judge on the panel. Patients feel they owe money because they have already received the supplies. We see a lot of this type of abuse in the area of ​​pain management.

Seventh place went to Sara England and her grandson, Amari Vaca. After the three-month-old suffered severe respiratory distress two months after open-heart surgery, doctors at Natividad Medical Center in Salinas, Calif., opted to have him transferred by air ambulance to a medical center from San Francisco. He recovered and Cigna later deemed the service not medically necessary. The family received a bill for $97,599.

This happens everywhere, Kelmar said. The insurance denial here is that it should have been a ground ambulance instead of an air ambulance, but how is the patient supposed to know that? This is a mother who follows the advice of doctors.

At number 6 was Medicare's massive billing for urinary catheters. As many as 450,000 beneficiaries had catheter bills submitted on their behalf in 2023, representing an 800% increase from previous years. Just seven vendors were responsible for $2 billion of these suspicious charges.

Fifth place goes to Memorial Medical Center (a former nonprofit turned for-profit) in Las Cruces, New Mexico, over allegations of denying patients cancer treatment or demanding upfront payments , even from those who have insurance.

ProPublicas' discovery of a once-famous pattern of oncologist malpractice and traces of suspicious deaths came in at No. 4. Dr. Thomas C Weiner of Helena, Montana, allegedly subjected a patient to unnecessary cancer treatments for more than 'a decade, among a myriad of others. shocking revelations.

Lumakras, an anticancer drug from Amgen that gained accelerated approval from the FDA at a daily dose of 960 mg, despite findings that a dose of 240 mg provided similar effectiveness with toxicity and risk of side effects reduced, took third place.

Pharmaceutical companies also have an incentive to get a return on their profits, Kelmar said. The healthcare industry is a business and companies will try to achieve the highest profits possible.

At number 2 was the giant that is UnitedHealth and how it became the fourth largest company in the country. United doctors reported pressure to reduce time spent with patients and make them as sick as possible through aggressive medical coding tactics.

In a highly competitive year, the top spot went to Steward Health Care, whose CEO, Ralph de la Torre, is accused of prioritizing private equity profits over patient care. His financial intrigues led to bankruptcy, leaving hospitals in ruins, employees laid off and communities with less access to health care.

I mean this is our backyard, Saini said.

What was happening here had been planned for many years. And if we knew that, then we should ask ourselves: where are the regulators? Where are the people who should have known better?

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos