Health Headlines for Thursday, January 28

Community groups worry about being left out of Medicaid reform

Capital New York

Anthony Feliciano is popular these days. He is the director for the Commission on the Public’s Health System, a Manhattan-based nonprofit that advocates for medically underserved populations.

Read the full article

Assemblyman proposes bill to defund Planned Parenthood (updated)

Albany Times Union/Blog

Assemblyman Steve Katz, R-Yorktown, is pushing legislation that would prohibit state funding for Planned Parenthood locations in New York.

Read the full article

Albany transit company will repay Medicaid over $1 million

Albany Times Union

An Albany company that provides taxi and limousine services as well as transportation to medical appointments will repay the state more than $1 million for Medicaid payments it received for services it did not provide, according to terms of a settlement with the state Attorney General’s office.

Read the full article

AG warns maker on hepatitis drug costs

Boston Globe

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, opening a new front in the push to boost access to life-saving drugs, has warned the country’s biggest biotech company that it faces possible legal action unless it lowers the price of two popular hepatitis C medicines.

Read the full article

Before arrest, U.S. sought Shkreli’s communications with lawyer

Reuters

Days before Martin Shkreli’s arrest for securities fraud, U.S. prosecutors obtained a secret court order ruling that communications between the former pharmaceutical executive and a corporate lawyer also under investigation were not protected by attorney-client privilege.

Read the full article

Scientists Move Closer to Understanding Schizophrenia’s Cause

New York Times

Scientists reported on Wednesday that they had taken a significant step toward understanding the cause of schizophrenia, in a landmark study that provides the first rigorously tested insight into the biology behind any common psychiatric disorder.

Read the full article

NY Health Information Exchange Awarded $2M in CDC Initiative

HealthIT Interoperability

Central New York health information exchange HealtheConnections has been awarded $2 million in grant funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under an initiative to prevent and control chronic disease in the Empire State.

Read the full article