DME Suppliers Spotlighted In OIG Joint Venture Kickbacks Advisory
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
The Bush Administration is accelerating efforts to block kickbacks arising from contractual joint ventures in the health care system, highlighting durable medical device manufacturers and dialysis supply centers as common violators
You may also be interested in...
OIG personnel shake-up
HHS Inspector General Janet Rehnquist decides to resign effective June 1. The move follows the receipt by Finance Committee Ranking Democrat Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Senate Finance Chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) of a draft GAO investigation on recent personnel changes at OIG and how they may compromise OIG's ability to police fraud. Rehnquist's departure is appropriate "under the circumstances," according to Baucus who was preparing to ask for Rehnquist's resignation before she announced her intention to step down on March 6, according to a Senate aide. A draft of the report will be available by the end of March...
FTC/DoJ Health Care Hearings To Evaluate Consumer Protection Mandate
The Federal Trade Commission will review the effect of its consumer protection mandate on the disclosure of costs, risks and benefits by device manufacturers at hearings scheduled to begin in February
EU Parliament Stricter Than Council On Medicines And Medical Devices Packaging
The EU Parliament's Environment, Public Health and Food Safety committee takes a compromise position with regards to the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive. Medicines and medical devices should be exempt, but only until 2035, at which point the European Commission should check whether the development of materials and the recycling process have progressed, and may adjust this exemption accordingly.