Trending News Today: Drug Manufacturer Pays Multimillion Dollar Settlement in Bribery Case

Patients may not be doing all they can to avoid hospital readmission and have a speedy recovery, because they assume their needs match the needs of medical centers. Patient advocates have started to suggest that elderly patients and their families or caregivers ask questions and push for answers to make sure their needs are met properly, according to Kaiser Health News. Planning transitioning home, consulting a physical therapist and nutritionist, and researching next steps are all recommended actions to take before the patient leaves the hospital.

A recent analysis found that California taxpayers will be paying approximately 70% of the state’s healthcare costs this year. It is generally thought that healthcare is paid for by private funding, such as insurance premiums, but it has transitioned to mostly public funding in California due to the expansion of their Medicaid, according to California Healthline. The expansion was larger than expected, and now covers approximately one-third of the state’s population.

AstraZeneca recently agreed to pay $5.5 million to settle allegations of bribery in their Chinese and Russian units, The Wall Street Journal reported. It was alleged that the staff at those locations were providing payments, gifts, and additional benefits to state healthcare workers to increase prescriptions of their drugs. These payments were claimed for non-existing speaker events and expense claims.