More veterans are able to get more care outside the VA system, but improper billing oversight has put thousands at risk for unanticipated hospital bills.
By the numbers: A report this week from the VA’s Office of Inspector General found that many veterans’ claims were improperly denied after they sought care in the emergency rooms of non-VA facilities.
The Food and Drug Administration is investigating 127 cases of people, particularly children and young adults, who experienced seizures after using e-cigarettes, CNBC reports.
What's happening: The FDA began this investigation in spring, but has recently received about 92 new reports of seizures after vaping. The agency says the evidence has has not established if e-cigarettes directly caused the seizures, and stressed that the 127 cases occurred over 10 years.
For years, death rates from drug overdoses surged in rural America. But now, overdose death rates are rising faster in cities, according to a newly released data analysis from the Centers for Disease Control.
What's happening: The opioid crisis has devastated many rural areas while heroin deaths are climbing in urban centers.
The stock prices of AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson plummeted yesterday after Bloomberg reported the drug distributors made an opening offer of $10 billion to settle their portion of the national opioids lawsuit.
Between the lines: That figure was a lot higher than Wall Street had expected for those companies, indicating that other defendants — including opioid manufacturers — likely would pay tens of billions of dollars to avoid going to trial.
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