MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Healthcare lawsuit swells to 26 states. Six more states said Tuesday they would join the lawsuit in Florida over the healthcare reform legislation’s individual mandate, meaning more than half of the country will challenge the law, reports the Associated Press.
Repeal vote could be the climax of health reform debate. Popular opposition to reform seems to be weakening, insurers are backing away from their opposition, and the healthcare industry itself, right now, is one of the major sources of job growth in the U.S. economy, 10 months after the Affordable Care Act became the law of the land, writes Slate’s Andrew Leonard.
One out of every 16 surgeons contemplates suicide. A Mayo Clinic study found that more than 6 percent of surgeons had thought about committing suicide within the past year. Among those aged 55 to 64, the number was three times higher than national levels for that age group, reports Reuters.
Friends could be genetically linked. A new study suggests friendships may be formed among people who share some genes, reports WebMD.
Healthcare reform: The last word (for now). A quick thought ahead of the vote today to repeal healthcare reform (YouTube):“There’s no free-market solution for the health-care system, at least not insofar as “free-market solution” means the government stays out of it. In a free market, people who are sick, or have previously been sick, can’t get health-care insurance. Many, many more can’t afford it. And a solution that leads to 40 percent of the country being uninsured is no solution at all,” writes The Washington Post‘s Ezra Klein.
Hospital building binge grows. More than two-thirds of hospitals are undergoing construction — as much as a 40 percent increase over last year.
FDA approvals and rejections. Cook Medical received FDA approval for two renal stents and the FDA approved Natroba, a head lice treatment. Meanwhile, the FDA told Eli Lilly its Alzheimer’s drug florbetapir was not ready for approval.
Retraction Watch: Something to watch. Retraction Watch, a hub for announcements of retracted medical and scientific information in academic journals and the popular press, continues to get positive reviews.
Dr. Oz’s betrayal of medicine? Popular medblogger Orac accuses the Oprah regular of joining “the dark side” against medicine: “As 2011 dawns, there is no doubt in my mind that Dr. Oz has now inevitably crossed the Woo-bicon, gone over to the Dark Side, betrayed the cause, gone woo, or whatever you want to call it. I say again: Stick a fork in him. He’s done, as far as science-based medicine goes. That’s because he featured one of the biggest promoters of quackery on the Internet on his show in one fawning segment after another.”
Dealflow and more. Emerus Hospital Partners has raised $30 million; breast ultrasound imaging company TechniScan raised $10 million; Pfizer has struck a $632 million collaboration deal with Theraclone Sciences; Ironwood Pharmaceuticals will collaborate on drug discovery with Protagonist Therapeutics.
Material from MedCity News was used in this report.
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