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August 14, 2009
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Pulmonary Hypertension;
Health Law
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Cardinal Bank's Economic Update, featuring economist Steve Fuller, is Thursday, 9/17/09, at Cardinal HQ, 8270 Greensboro Drive. Registration and networking: 8:00 am. Program: 8:30–9:30 am.
Sign-up at 703-848-2182 or e-mail rsvp@cardinalbank.com. |
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| The Pulmonary Hypertension Association’s biennial symposium in Crystal City next month will attract 400 health professionals. Not bad considering when PHA formed in the 1987, only 187 people in the US were diagnosed with the disease. Yesterday, we sat down with prez Rino Aldrighetti for the latest. |
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Here’s a pulmonary hypertension (PH) refresher: it’s a blood vessel disorder in which “pressure in the pulmonary artery rises above normal levels.” If you want more serious lessons (we’re talkin’ CME/CEU credits), PHA is launching an online university next month. Far cry from when PHA was started by four patients. When the first oral drug was released in ’01, there were still only 3000 patients and 100 physicians familiar with it. Now: 30,000 patients and 6000 docs. Solitary reading, like the kind above, was a given 10 years ago, as Rino was the association’s sole staffer; it’s grown to 35 employees.
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Rino shared wonderful news: local biotech United Therapeutic has two new PH treatments ready for market: Remodulin is now inhalable (formerly, subcutaneous and intravenous only) and marketed as Tyvaso; the other, Adcirca, contains tadalafil; that should ring a bell as a component of Cialis. We would’ve mentioned the good news higher in the article, but mentioning an ED drug in the subject line of an e-mail might be counterproductive. Today¸ Rino leaves for Alaska for one of 30 nationwide medical education dinners, linking expert docs with those new to the subject. In the DC area? Check the PHA website for local dinners, or register for that September 24-26 symposium.
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| Breast Cancer and the Law |
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Arent Fox’s Linda Baumann, brand new chair-elect of the ABA Health Law Section, cautions that the treatise in her hands is a little dry. We doubt that; if you’re in the health care world, it’s quite famous and she admits people come up to her asking, “Not the Linda Baumann?” The Section has 9000 members, a couple in-person conferences a year, and about 100 teleconferences; the book’s first edition was in ‘02, second in ’07, and the movie—well, let’s just say it’d be perfect for Meryl Streep.
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Part of Arent Fox’s 30-attorney practice, Linda specializes in healthcare fraud and abuse topics, like the False Claims Act, the Anti-Kickback statute, RACS recovery (where government contractors get a percentage of recovery for discovering errors), and hospital and nursing home voluntary compliance programs. She even devised this board game to help teach associates about the immensely complex Stark Act, a strict liability statute that prohibits physician self-referral; on each space is a (usually very tricky) question.
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Together with the ABA and Women’s Bar Association of DC, Linda brought practitioners to AF in May for a three hour training session on legal issues that a breast cancer patient may encounter, eg, what to do if an insurance company doesn’t cover the type of treatment a doctor recommends, or a patient is terminated from a job due to prolonged therapy. Originally from Buffalo, she worked at HEW right out of law school, went part-time years back to raise three kids, and loves to ski. Despite her love of healthcare law, somehow she’s managed to avoid breaking any bones.
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| Send story ideas to curtis@bisnow.com |
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This newsletter is a journalistic news source which accepts no payment for featured interviews. It is supported by conventional advertisers clearly identified in the right hand column. You have been selected to receive it either through prior contact or professional association. If you have received it in error, please accept our apologies and unsubscribe at bottom of the newsletter. © 2009, Bisnow on Business, Inc., 1323 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036. All rights reserved.
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