The cyberattack on UnitedHealth's Change Healthcare, which is struggling to restore paralyzed billing systems, is "the most significant and consequential incident of its kind" in history, according to the American Hospital Association.
Aside from the impact on U.S. pharmacies, the cyberattack was widespread and expected to grow, since Change Healthcare maintains health care's pipelines, including payments and requests for insurers to authorize care.
Providers are supposed to inform patients when the care being rendered is out of network, but that "informed consent" is often buried in a pile of consent forms that patients auto-sign, in rapid fire.
The picture is bleak for official institutions, such as the CDC and the FDA, as well as the Biden administration, however, by far the most highly trusted source of health information? One's own doctor.
Since many people don't use statins, vaccines, or COVID-19 therapies, and many choose to smoke cigarettes and eat the wrong food, life expectancy has dropped in the U.S., says the FDA commissioner.
Even as COVID-19 wanes, lawyers representing the health care sector predict their days in court aren't about to end soon, as lawsuits abound questioning public health policies and hospitals' authority on mask and vaccine use.
Looking for an at-home HIV or Plan B test on CVS' website is not as private an experience as one might think, and CVS is not the only pharmacy sharing this kind of sensitive health data, according to a KFF Health News investigation.
The new ChatGPT technology might help lighten administrative burdens but few in health care believe the latest form of AI is about to take their jobs (though some companies are experimenting with chatbots that act as guides to care).
While Wegovy is approved by the FDA for weight loss, Ozempic is not (only diabetes), so a burgeoning industry has developed for other "compounded" drugs like semaglutide, dispensed by telemedicine operators and spas.
Experts warn that simply claiming the benefits may create paper trails for law enforcement officials in states criminalizing abortion.
DebugScreen: mobile
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"summary": "Aside from the impact on U.S. pharmacies, the cyberattack was widespread and expected to grow, since Change Healthcare maintains health care's pipelines, including payments and requests for insurers to authorize care.",
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"title": "Which pharmacies are sharing sensitive health data with Facebook?",
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"summary": "While Wegovy is approved by the FDA for weight loss, Ozempic is not (only diabetes), so a burgeoning industry has developed for other \"compounded\" drugs like semaglutide, dispensed by telemedicine operators and spas.",
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