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By adamg - 8/5/10 - 10:19 am

Xconomy reports the CIA's venture-capital arm (yes, of course it has one), has put some money into Seventh Sense Biosystems, which is working on a bandage-like thing to suck blood out of your arm for testing without the need for needles - along with add-on gizmos that could then monitor that blood for various substances:

By adamg - 8/3/10 - 9:28 am

No, not the "bags fly free" part, at least, not directly. Paul Levy, CEO at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, writes hospital staff he was struck by the differences in the way Southwest and American Airlines handle luggage - and the passengers who own it - and began to wonder if Southwest had the right idea by giving passengers more of a say in the way they fly:

By adamg - 7/20/10 - 11:25 am

The Supreme Judicial Court ruled today that people suing over injuries can still use medical bills as evidence for trying to set damages, even though those bills rarely reflect what they - or their insurers - actually pay for medical services:

By adamg - 7/20/10 - 8:39 am

So we just have to content ourselves with the thought that there were plenty of red faces at whatever data-destruction company South Shore Hospital hired to destroy records on 800,0000 people when they instead had to report they lost the files.

By adamg - 7/18/10 - 7:43 am

The Globe reports.

Given the political risks of raising the penalties in a recession, Paul Levy, CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, can't figure out if this is something just happening at the margins - health insurance being a benefit employers use to lure and keep workers - or something far more significant that could affect the national health-insurance system, which is based on ours.

By adamg - 6/25/10 - 12:09 pm

Tinker Ready went down to Harvard Gardens near Mass. General last night to watch the new Boston-based show. She reports the bartender had it on - but without sound:

By adamg - 6/24/10 - 10:59 am

The Massachusetts Appeals Court today dismissed a lawsuit against Children's Hospital by a man who claims he was abused by a psychiatrist between 1967 and 1969 because the law at the time granted charitable organizations immunity from any liability.

The legislature abolished "charitable immunity" in 1971, but the court said that claims against institutions had to be considered under the laws in place at the time the alleged offenses took place, rather than under the laws in effect when the lawsuit is filed.

By adamg - 6/23/10 - 8:05 am

Ray Vaillancourt, who has paramedic training himself, writes the entire refresher system is something of a failure:

... The fact that hundreds of EMT's blowing off the classes had no apparent effect on patient care is evidence of the irrelevance of the training. Very few EMT's statewide received meaningful refresher training, whether they spent the time in the classroom or not.

By adamg - 6/16/10 - 5:39 pm

Yummy Mummy reports on the latest thing you're probably best off not knowing about unless you have a kid with it: Hand, mouth and foot disease. Symptoms include painful blisters in the throat, fever, rashes all over the body, refusal to eat, drink and sleep and serious fussiness:

... The doc gave us a few tricks to ease the pain, and basically told me that there is a mini epidemic of this going around Boston right now ...

By adamg - 6/10/10 - 11:38 am

The FBI reports Richard Webb, 42, will spend the time in the graybar hotel after pleading guilty to stealing more than $1 million by diverting checks to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center's Ear, Nose and Throat department and by obtaining fradulent rebates for hearing aids he never actually bought.

By adamg - 6/2/10 - 2:58 pm

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center CEO Paul Levy reports Massachusetts health-insurance companies will soon tell hospitals they will pay less for services, which he predicts will lead to widespread layoffs and service cuts.

Levy, who supports Charlie Baker for governor, blames the Patrick administration for "arbitrary price caps" (except for rival Partners Health Care, he says).

By adamg - 5/15/10 - 10:04 am

Look for Levy interviews in local media through next week as he goes public and says he won't resign as CEO at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He links to three interviews so far; the Herald has the most details on the woman in question and her role at Beth Israel (more specifically, its Needham hospital).

By adamg - 5/7/10 - 11:04 am

The Supreme Judicial Court today upheld a state board's decision to strip a male nurse of his license for repeated inappropriate behavior with drunk women in the emergency room at what is now Tufts Medical Center.

By adamg - 5/4/10 - 2:31 pm

That was a real fight, Boston Police report.

Police say Oscar Torres, 31, entered the emergency room around noon and began punching hospital workers and other people. Police say he was taken down by an off-duty officer visiting somebody at the hospital, who noticed people yelling and screaming in and near the ER:

By adamg - 5/3/10 - 6:27 pm

The Boston Business Journal reports the board of trustees at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has censured CEO Paul Levy over that inappropriate relationship with an underling and fined him $50,000. Also, one trustee resigned, although he wouldn't say why.'

Levy posts his apology.

By adamg - 4/29/10 - 12:23 am

The Globe reports on federal attention to the way the holding company - think Mass. General and Brigham and Women's - dominates the health care market in eastern Massachusetts.

By adamg - 4/26/10 - 10:46 pm

Exactly what, we don't know, but the "lapses of judgment in a personal relationship" were serious enough to warrant a daylong meeting of the hospital's board of trustees, at which Paul Levy apologized, the Herald reports. The Globe also reports.

By adamg - 4/17/10 - 2:32 pm

Garrett Quinn tweets from the Republican state convention in Worcester:

Mildred Jefferson just compared passage of HCR to 9/11. Got standing O from 2/3 of arena.

Christy Mihos followed up by kvetching about "PatrickCare," which you oldtimers may recall was actually passed under Romney.

By adamg - 4/13/10 - 4:13 pm

The Supreme Judicial Court ruled today the state could refuse to help a couple pay for health insurance even if they couldn't afford insurance offered by their employers.

Although Daniel and Diane Provencal met the income requirements for subsidized insurance, the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority denied their request because Daniel Provencal's employer offered its own insurance plan - under which it would pay 33% of the premiums. The SJC noted the law establishing the health connector said it "may" waive that condition, which the court ruled means the the connector could also refuse to waive it.

By adamg - 4/12/10 - 6:36 pm

Go back and go through an administrative appeals process - with the state insurance division, which just rejected the rate hikes - the judge told the insurers, WBUR reports.

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