September News Update

Social Security Data Errors Can Turn People Into The Living Dead READ

In 2011, an audit found that about 1,000 people a month in the U.S. were marked deceased when they were very much alive. Rona Lawson, who works in the Office of the Inspector General at the Social Security Administration, says that number has gone down. It’s now around 500 people a month… Lawson says 90 percent of the time, the cascade of misinformation starts with an input error by Social Security staff — a regular mistake on a regular office day that just happens to kill a person off, at least on paper.

Behind the stealth ad campaigns for the EpiPen and other drugs READ

Welcome to the world of unbranded ads, a stealthy and lightly regulated form of drug marketing focused on educating the public about a health condition — which the pharma company just happens to sell a product to treat. The ads aren’t required to disclose side effects. Instead, they often direct patients to a website about the disease. Click on a few links and you’ll likely land on a page promoting the branded treatment.

Pediatricians urge states to get tough on parents who don’t want to vaccinate their kids READ

The nation’s pediatricians are pushing back against parents who resist having their children vaccinated against a broad range of dangerous diseases by calling on states to stop offering waivers to those with non-medical objections to the practice.

Information provided by David Stott, MedBridge Senior Contracts Consultant.