Friday Five: Top 5 healthcare business news items from the MCOL Weekend edition

Friday Five: Top 5 healthcare business news items from the MCOL Weekend edition

Every business day, MCOL posts feature stories making news on the business of health care. Here are five we think are particularly important for this week:

Purdue Pharma’s Sales Pitch Downplayed Risks Of Opioid Addiction

Two decades ago, Purdue Pharma produced thousands of brochures and videos that urged patients with chronic pain to ask their physicians for opioids such as OxyContin, arguing that concerns over addiction and other dangers from the drugs were overblown, company records reveal.

Kaiser Health News

Friday, August 17, 2018

Best Buy to buy a provider of health devices for the aging

Consumer electronics retailer Best Buy is pushing more into the health field, acquiring a company that provides emergency response devices for the aging.

ABC News

Thursday, August 16, 2018

Google parent invests $375M in ObamaCare startup Oscar

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, is investing $375 million in Oscar Health, a startup health insurance company seeking to redefine the industry by using technology and data.

The Hill

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Icahn Drops Fight to Block Cigna's Express Scripts Takeover

Activist investor Carl Icahn has dropped his fight to block Cigna Corp.’s $54 billion acquisition of Express Scripts Holding Co. after two prominent shareholder advisory firms came out in support of the deal.

Bloomberg

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Employers drive healthcare change through direct contracting, ACOs, combatting opioid epidemic

With the cost of ensuring employees sharply on the rise, employers are innovating now and planning for the future because they are frustrated with the pace at which the industry itself is driving change.

Healthcare Finance News

Monday, August 13, 2018

These and more weekly news items on the business of healthcare are featured in the MCOL Weekend edition, along with the MCOL Tidbits, and more, for MCOL Premium level members.