‘Tip of a Billion-Dollar Claims Iceberg’: What We Heard This Week

— Quotable quotes heard by MedPage Today‘s reporters

by
MedPage Today Staff

February 4, 2024

“This is just the tip of a billion-dollar claims iceberg as there are hundreds of U.S. clinics that have fraudulently billed Medicare for these birth tissue products to treat pain.” — Chris Centeno, MD, who manages a network of interventional orthopedic clinics, on birth-tissue product companies promoting their products for unapproved indications.

“Doctors aren’t given the tools they need” — Christina Mangurian, MD, of the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, about why some physicians don’t prescribe nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (Paxlovid) for people at high risk for severe COVID-19.

“It’s like a political election.” — Ellis Lai, MD, of Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, describing the physician unionization process.

“It’s rare that you’ll find guys who are highly satisfied and continue using it for a long period of time.” — Ryan Terlecki, MD, of Wake Forest University School of Medicine, commenting on penis pumps.

“How do you make a decision to hire security guards when you’re still struggling to have nurses at the bedside?” — Mark Boucot, MBA, president and CEO of Garrett Regional Medical Center in Maryland, on the struggles some hospitals have to keep workers safe.

“This kind of falls in the intersection.” — Caitlin Donovan, of the National Patient Advocate Foundation, on the pros and cons of separate billing when a patient raises a concern beyond the original scope of a clinic visit.

“It’s not just about living longer, it’s about living better, as well.” — Amit Bahl, MBBS, MD, of University Hospitals Bristol in England, on quality-of-life differences with different prostate cancer drugs.