First-of-a-kind drug approvals continued rise in 2015
The rising figures reflect an industry-wide focus on drugs for rare and hard-to-treat diseases, which often come with streamlined reviews, extra patent protections and higher price tags.
Health Care & Life Sciences
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Family keeps up legal fight against Indiana malpractice cap
A jury awarded $15 million in damages to Crystal and Jamie Bobbitt in their lawsuit against a doctor and a hospital. They’ve not yet received any of that money, and their attorneys are challenging the constitutionality of the state’s malpractice law.
IBJ’s most-read stories of 2015
Despite national attention paid to RFRA and Jared Fogle, most of IBJ’s top-read online stories this year were the result of deeply sourced reporting on people, issues and businesses specific to central Indiana.
Deal puts IU doctor’s research on path to market
A professor in the Indiana School of Medicine is hopeful that an antibiotic cocktail he invented will one day improve the lives of millions of people, thanks in part to the Indiana University Research and Technology Corp., formed in 1997 to make work done by IU faculty and researchers available for commercial development.
LifeLine expansion part of IU Health’s reform strategy
IU Health effectively started its own ambulance service in December by adding two ambulances to its long-standing LifeLine critical-care service and opening a call center to help other health care providers figure out what level of transport services a particular patient needs.
Longtime Riverview Health CEO planning retirement
Pat Fox, president and CEO of Riverview Health since 2004, plans to retire in May, the Noblesville-based health care network announced Monday.
Guyer Institute says Manning’s accuser not employed in 2011
The founder of an Indianapolis medical facility said Monday that a former unpaid student intern who claimed Peyton Manning used a banned substance in 2011 didn't even work at the clinic until two years later.
Peyton Manning strongly denies report he used HGH in 2011
The report from Al Jazeera claims the star quarterback received human growth hormone from the Guyer Institute, an Indianapolis anti-aging clinic.
Indiana health care execs focusing more on IT security
Even excluding the 78.8 million records stolen from health insurer Anthem, the number of patient records stolen from Indiana health care organizations spiraled to 4.3 million from about 69,000 in 2014.
Chipotle tweaking cooking methods in wake of outbreaks
The fast-but-fresh restaurant chain plans to change the way it handles its meats, vegetables and cheese to combat a hit to its image from incidences of foodborne illness.
Cash crunch forces large home health agency into bankruptcy protection
Carmel-based Nightingale Home Healthcare Inc., which serves nearly 900 Hoosier patients, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and won court approval to borrow $350,000 from its parent company to make payroll.
Battle looms over restriction on cold medicine used for meth
Indiana lawmakers have yet to gather for the 2016 legislative session, but a fight is shaping up over a proposed law that would require a prescription to buy a common cold medicine also used to make methamphetamine.
IU Health shuffles execs in advance of Evans’ retirement
The state’s largest hospital system will promote IU Health Arnett President Al Gatmaitin president to chief operating officer, replacing Dennis Murphy, who is set to become CEO in April.
Moms in Indy pay 50 percent more for C-sections than in Manhattan
Despite its low cost of living, Indianapolis is among the highest-priced areas for hospital services for patients with private health insurance—and is far more costly than Boston, Chicago, Manhattan and Los Angeles, according to a new study.
Dow’s merger plans with DuPont might hit antitrust roadblock
The proposed merger of Dow Chemical Co. and DuPont Co. would create the world’s largest agricultural-products company. But that’s bad news for farmers, according to some farm groups and antitrust experts.
FDA OKs once-a-day insulin that could be blockbuster for Lilly
The FDA said Wednesday it approved Basaglar based on data showing it is safe and effective and works similarly to Lantus, the world’s top-selling insulin.
House Republicans considering increase to state tobacco tax
The American Lung Association, American Heart Association and Tobacco Free Indiana all issued statements Wednesday applauding the possibility and calling for an increase of at least $1 per pack of cigarettes.
New psych hospital in Indy marks break with ‘failing model’
The Pence administration’s decision to spend $120 million on a new psychiatric hospital represents a stark shift from the state’s approach to mental health of the past 30 years.
Obamacare sign-up deadline extended by two days
As the Affordable Care Act enters its third year with enrollment well behind schedule, procrastinators are critical to its economic viability.
Autism likelier when antidepressants taken during pregnancy
A new study says women who took a common class of antidepressants during the second and third trimesters were more than twice as likely than other women to have children who later developed autism.