DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Uber, Facing Sexual-Assault Litigation, Pushes Plan That May Curb Suits
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-12 | by ( Jessica Silver-Greenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

It has been a decades-long dream of corporate America: making it harder for aggrieved customers, workers and others to file lawsuits against companies seeking compensation for alleged injuries, mistreatment and other harms. Now Uber, the giant ride-hailing company that has been a magnet for such litigation, is pitching a plan that could fulfill that fantasy, at least in one state. The company is seeking to place a measure on Nevada’s ballot that would drastically limit the amount of money that lawyers could collect when they brought successful lawsuits. If the measure passes, it will make it less attractive — and in some cases financially impractical — for plaintiffs’ lawyers to file such suits.

Locations: America

☆ Pennsylvania Hospital Suspends Its Liver Transplant Program
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-29 | by ( Brian M. Rosenthal | Jessica Silver-Greenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A major Pennsylvania hospital shut down its liver transplant program last week, becoming the second medical center this month to take such an unusual step. The hospital, the Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, said Monday that it had closed the program and submitted to a review from federal officials. “The decision to inactivate comes after concerns about clinical processes and documentation were identified,” the hospital said in a statement. Hospital officials would not comment about those accusations. The Hershey closure comes just weeks after Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center in Houston suspended its liver and kidney transplant programs.

Persons: Penn State Health Milton, inactivate, Hershey Organizations: Penn State Health, Hershey Medical Center, New York Times, Hermann, Texas Medical Center, Times Locations: Pennsylvania, Houston

The New York Times is interested in the organ transplant system. Do you have a tip about irregularities in the system? If you are a doctor, nurse, technician or anybody else working on organ transplants, we’d love to hear from you. We are also eager to talk to from medical residents working in those transplant programs. And of course, we also want to hear from patients and their families.

Organizations: New York Times

☆ Texas Surgeon Is Accused of Secretly Denying Liver Transplants
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-11 | by ( Brian M. Rosenthal | Jessica Silver-Greenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For decades, Dr. J. Steve Bynon Jr., a transplant surgeon in Texas, gained accolades and national prominence for his work, including by helping to enforce professional standards in the country’s sprawling organ transplant system. But officials are now investigating allegations that Dr. Bynon was secretly manipulating a government database to make some of his own patients ineligible to receive new livers, potentially depriving them of lifesaving care. Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center in Houston, where Dr. Bynon oversaw both the liver and kidney transplant programs, abruptly shut down those programs in the past week while looking into the allegations. On Thursday, the medical center, a teaching hospital affiliated with the University of Texas, said in a statement that it had found evidence that a doctor in its liver transplant program had effectively denied patients transplants by changing records. Officials identified the physician as Dr. Bynon, who is employed by the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and has had a contract to lead Memorial Hermann’s abdominal transplant program since 2011.

Persons: J, Steve Bynon Jr, Bynon, Hermann Organizations: Texas Medical Center, University of Texas, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston Locations: Texas, Houston

A doctor who called himself the “leg saver” is shutting down his vascular clinics in Michigan, where he performed thousands of lucrative procedures that have come under scrutiny for being unnecessary and potentially dangerous. Earlier this month, patients received a letter from the staff of Dr. Mustapha’s clinic, Advanced Cardiac & Vascular Centers, informing them that the business, which has clinics in Grand Rapids and Lansing, was closing and advising them to find new doctors. Dr. Mustapha and Dr. Saab didn’t respond to requests for comment. Dr. Mustapha is a prominent player in a booming industry that targets the roughly 12 million Americans with peripheral artery disease, in which plaque builds up in arteries, clogging the flow of blood. He was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by device manufacturers to conduct clinical trials, train other doctors and speak about their products, according to a federal database of industry payments to doctors.

Persons: Jihad Mustapha, Mustapha’s, Dr, Mustapha, Fadi Organizations: New York Times, Vascular Centers, Fadi Saab, Saab Locations: Michigan, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Ocala, Fla, Dearborn, Mich

Nonprofit hospitals like Allina get massive tax breaks in exchange for providing care for the poorest, most vulnerable people in their communities. Allina Health owns 13 hospitals and more than 90 clinics in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Its nonprofit status enabled Allina to avoid roughly $266 million in state, local and federal taxes in 2020, according to the Lown Institute, a think tank that studies health care. But the federal rules are silent on how poor patients need to be to qualify for free care. “The industry needs to tell people they might be eligible for charity care,” Mr. Ellison said.

Persons: Allina, Ge Bai, Mr, Ellison, ” Organizations: The Times, Allina Health, Lown Institute, Internal Revenue Service, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Locations: Minnesota, Wisconsin

Kelly Hanna’s leg was amputated on a summer day in 2020, after a Michigan doctor who called himself the “leg saver” had damaged her arteries by snaking metal wires through them to clear away plaque. Her podiatrist referred Ms. Hanna to Dr. Jihad Mustapha. Over 18 months, he performed at least that many artery-opening procedures on Ms. Hanna’s legs, telling her they would improve blood flow and prevent amputations. They didn’t — for Ms. Hanna or many of his other patients. An insurance company told state authorities that 45 people had lost limbs after treatment at his clinics in the past four years.

Persons: Kelly Hanna’s, Hanna, Dr, Jihad Mustapha, —, Mustapha Organizations: Surgeons, The New York Times Locations: Michigan

☆ Nonprofit Health System Pauses Policy of Cutting Off Care for Patients in Debt
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Sarah Kliff | Jessica Silver-Greenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Allina Health, a large nonprofit health system based in Minnesota, announced on Friday that it would stop withholding care from patients with outstanding medical debt as it “re-examines” its policy of cutting off services for those who have accrued at least $4,500 in outstanding bills. The health system will now temporarily halt this practice but will not restore care for indebted patients who have already lost access. Although Allina’s hospitals treated anyone in emergency rooms, other services were cut off for indebted patients, including children and those with chronic illnesses like diabetes and depression, The New York Times reported last week. Patients weren’t allowed back until they had paid off their debt entirely. Allina’s chief executive, Lisa Shannon, called the move a “thoughtful pause” while the company re-examined the policy.

Persons: “, weren’t, Lisa Shannon Organizations: New York Times Locations: Minnesota

☆ This Nonprofit Health System Cuts Off Patients With Medical Debt
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Sarah Kliff | Jessica Silver-Greenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Nonprofit hospitals like Allina get enormous tax breaks in exchange for providing care for the poorest people in their communities. Allina has an explicit policy for cutting off patients who owe money for services they received at the health system’s 90 clinics. A 12-page document reviewed by The Times instructs Allina’s staff on how to cancel appointments for patients with at least $4,500 of unpaid debt. The hospital system cuts off patients only if they have racked up at least $1,500 of unpaid debt three separate times. “Allina Health’s goal is, and will always be, to have zero patients go without services for financial reasons,” Ms. Bergerson said.

Persons: Allina, Allina’s, ”, Matt Hoffman, Conny Bergerson, “ Allina, Ms, Bergerson Organizations: New York Times, The Times Locations: Vadnais Heights, Minn

☆ NYU's emergency room gave special treatment to donors and VIPs including Chuck Schumer, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Sarah Braner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The New York Times reports NYU Langone gave "VIPs" like donors and trustees preferential treatment. NYU Langone broadly denied the claims in a statement to Insider. Langone told the Times that he never asked for or was offered special treatment. Ambulance workers who brought these patients to NYU Langone were sometimes pressured to take them elsewhere, the report says. New York Senator Chuck Schumer once went into Room 20 with his wife, who was experiencing shortness of breath, the Times reported.

Search resuls for: "Jessica Silver-Greenberg"

10 mentions found