Month: January 2013

The state's high risk pool could be coming to an end sooner than expected after the federal government changed the way it will handle its reinsurance program. (WHN, 1/30)

After the Wisconsin Medical Examining Board suspended Dr. Frank Salvi in 2009 for fondling four female patients, the Madison-area doctor won a circuit court ruling throwing out the sanction.Then, the medical board won an appeals court decision restoring it. Salvi failed to get the state Supreme Court to take the case. But he succeeded in making the medical board spend about $200,000 to fight him, said Dr. Sheldon Wasserman, board chairman. (WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL, 1/29)

The Wisconsin State Journal reviewed all 218 cases leading to medical board discipline from 2010 to 2012, along with dozens of cases in which the board didn't take action. More than half of the doctors disciplined received reprimands, warnings that go on their records but don't limit their practices. (WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL, 1/28)

Michael Perry, a diabetic since childhood, has been uninsured for two years. To keep his diabetes in check, Perry, 45, who works part time as a maintenance man, has relied on patient-assistance programs for his medication and free clinics for his care. He was among the patients seen at the Angel of Hope Clinic on a weekday last November...Whether many of the clinic's patients have health insurance a year from now hinges on whether Gov. Scott Walker decides to expand the state's Medicaid program through the Affordable Care Act. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 1/28)

Mayo Clinic Health System and its insurance provider are asking an Eau Claire County judge to dismiss them from a medical malpractice lawsuit filed by a former patient, claiming he was sexually assaulted by Dr. David Van De Loo. (EAU CLAIRE LEADER TELEGRAM, 1/25)

As politicians consider ways to use state money to fund high-potential start-ups, the former director of the National Institutes for Health discussed the "very challenging" fundraising environment in life sciences with state biotech companies Tuesday. Elias Zerhouni, who is now president of research and development for the large pharmaceutical firm Sanofi, said the system for developing new drugs is broken and requires a more open, smarter innovation network that includes scientists and others from industry and academia. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 1/23)