Radiotherapy technologies developer Varian Medical Systems introduced its TrueBeam medical linear accelerator for image-guided radiotherapy and radiosurgery to clinicians at the 10th annual meeting of the Asia-Oceania Congress of Medical Physics (AOCMP) in Taipei, Taiwan last week.

While race and payor status may make patients more susceptible for a first hospital readmission, having a chronic condition such as heart failure or diabetes and an increased body mass index may also lead to additional hospital readmissions, according to two studies published online Oct. 12 in the Journal of Hospital Medicine.

Calypso Medical Technologies has received FDA clearance for its Calypso System, a technology that automates response to organ motion occurring during radiation delivery to prostate cancer tumors.

Seventy-three defendants, including a number of alleged members and associates of an Armenian-American organized crime enterprise, were charged with various healthcare fraud-related crimes in indictments unsealed Wednesday in five judicial districts. The allegations involve more than $163 million in fraudulent billing, announced Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary G. Grindler, FBI Assistant Director of the Criminal Investigative Division Kevin Perkins and Health and Human Services Inspector General Daniel R. Levinson.

Medtronic has entered into an agreement to settle existing U.S. lawsuits relating to its Sprint Fidelis family of defibrillation leads (Sprint Fidelis Models: 6930, 6931, 6948, 6949) that were the subject of a field action announced Oct. 15, 2007.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, recently sent a letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) Administrator Donald Berwick reiterating his concerns that CMS is not properly overseeing its contractors.

A large portion of patients diagnosed with terminal cancer continue to undergo regular screenings for other cancers, often with no clinical benefits and at high costs to Medicare, a study published in the October edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association found.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation has awarded healthcare technology firm TerraMedica a contract to conduct an assessment of fraud, waste and abuse in Medicare claims utilizing a pre-payment predictive scoring system.