SEC targets CMS employees in insider-trading investigation
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has launched a series of investigations into whether employees at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) violated insider-trading laws by leaking information to traders, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
The report offered information on three concurrent SEC investigations. Citing sources familiar with the investigations, the paper says the SEC has interviewed CMS officials and issued subpoenas to Wall Street traders and other government officials.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the investigations are focused on the following:
- Determining whether information was leaked about a CMS review of Provenge, a prostate cancer treatment from Dendreon Corp;
- Investigating whether a former CMS employee, David Blaszczak, used inside information to predict Medicare payment rates; and
- Questioning whether a research firm, Height Securities, was given information about funding for health insurance firms.
CMS said it was cooperating with the investigation.
Evan joined TriMed in 2011, writing primarily for Health Imaging. Prior to diving into medical journalism, Evan worked for the Nine Network of Public Media in St. Louis. He also has worked in public relations and education. Evan studied journalism at the University of Missouri, with an emphasis on broadcast media.