Lansing Lines is presented in cooperation with MIRS, a Lansing-based news and information service.

Cannabis Sales Set Record In July As Price Rebounds

Cannabis sales hit a record high in July, according to Cannabis Regulatory Agency (CRA) data, which also found prices for marijuana-related products on the rise after hitting an all-time low in January.

Total sales in July set a state record with nearly $271 million. Prices are still down year-over-year, but the CRA data showed the average per-ounce price of flower, known as bud, has increased steadily since the industry low of $80 in January to nearly $99 in July. The amount being sold and held in inventory also grew [Read More]

By CHERYL PLATZMAN WEINSTOCK

If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing “988,” or the Crisis Text Line by texting “HOME” to 741741.

Aimee Quicke has made repeated trips to emergency rooms, hospitals, behavioral health facilities, and psychiatric lockdowns for mental health crises — including suicidal thoughts — since she was 11.

The 40-year-old resident of Le Mars, Iowa, has bipolar and obsessive-compulsive disorders. “Some of the visits were helpful and some were not,” she said. “It was like coming in and going out and just nothing different was happening.”

Then she heard about Rhonda’s House, a rural peer respite program [Read More]

By BRAM SABLE-SMITH, DANIEL CHANG, JAZMIN OROZCO RODRIGUEZ & SANDY WEST

Hal Dempsey wanted to “escape Missouri.” Arlo Dennis is “fleeing Florida.” The Tillison family “can’t stay in Texas.”

They are part of a new migration of Americans who are uprooting their lives in response to a raft of legislation across the country restricting health care for transgender people.

Missouri, Florida, and Texas are among at least 20 states that have limited components of gender-affirming health care for trans youth. Those three states are also among the states that prevent Medicaid — the public health insurance for people with low incomes — from paying for key aspects of such care for patients of all ages.

More than [Read More]

By EWA MATUSZEWSKI
‘Dr. Smith’, a specialty physician, retired during the pandemic. His office lease was up and the thought of committing to another five-year lease amid ongoing uncertainty seemed unwise. Did he move onto a life of golf, travel, and other leisure focused activities? Hardly. He didn’t move on at all. As a matter of fact, he was bored silly. It was an opportunity to switch fields and take on a new position at a local hospital that crystallized his thinking on retirement. Namely, he didn’t want to be retired – at least not yet.

I have plenty of other anecdotal stories of physicians who retired too soon. What I’m beginning [Read More]

By JENNIFER COLAGIOVANNI, ESQ
Wachler & Associates, P.C.
The pandemic changed the relationship between patients and their healthcare providers, and telehealth use surged during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, Medicare beneficiaries used telehealth services 88 times more often during the first year of the pandemic than in the year prior.  Medicaid and private health plans saw similar growth in the use of telehealth.  With this growth came concerns about the risks of fraud, waste, and abuse. The Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently released a toolkit setting forth methods to analyze telehealth claims and identify risks associated with telehealth services in the wake of [Read More]

By ANDREW SPARKS
Dickinson Wright
A recent decision by the Supreme Court clarified the required intent for a defendant to be held liable under the False Claims Act.  According to the Court, the FCA’s scienter requirement refers to a defendant’s knowledge and subjective beliefs – not what an objectively reasonable person might have known or believed.  This ruling removes potential defenses for FCA defendants and makes the dismissal of FCA claims on the basis of scienter much less likely before discovery has been completed.

Background

The consolidated cases involved allegations that two pharmacies defrauded Medicare and Medicaid by selling drugs at a lower rate to the public, while receiving reimbursement at a [Read More]

Lansing Lines is presented in cooperation with MIRS, a Lansing-based news and information service.

Appellate Court Affirms Dismissal Of Suit Challenging MSU Vaccine Mandate

A federal appellate court affirmed this month the dismissal of a lawsuit challenging Michigan State University’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

In a published opinion from Circuit Judge John K. Bush, the court held that MSU’s policy “furthers a legitimate government interest of protecting public health.”

Bush added: “Thus, the policy passes rational basis review. Given that MSU’s policy satisfies rational basis review, no employee’s rights are violated, and thus the policy is not an unconstitutional condition on plaintiffs’ employment.”

The panel, including Judges Raymond M. Kethledge and Helene N. White, also rejected the plaintiffs’ argument [Read More]

Health departments, both state and local, learned many lessons from going through the COVID-19 pandemic. Communications, making friends and funding stood out as top of mind.

Michigan Association of Local Public Health Executive Director Norm Hess said the group was having a “high-level review” to look at the pandemic response and would release it in June or July.  He said there was one lesson that all areas of health quickly had to learn.

“The communication aspect is definitely something that we want to delve into and make sure that in the future we have really good processes for that,” Hess said.

He said in the beginning, the federal Centers for Disease Control had to get [Read More]

A nationwide shortage of cancer drugs cisplatin and carboplatin has Michigan hospitals asking state and federal government leaders for help.

Manufacturing delays at several pharmaceutical companies are causing the nationwide shortages of the two critical chemotherapy medications, which are used to treat several types of cancer, including bladder, lung, ovarian and testicular cancers.

As a result, Michigan hospitals and health systems are forced to find alternative treatments for patients, some of which may be less effective, the Michigan Health & Hospital Association said.

“The MHA is in communication with our members of Congress to make them aware of the extent of the drug shortage and any potential solutions,” said John Karasinski, MHA’s senior director [Read More]

By EWA MATUSZEWSKI

I get the sense I have written this column before. If I have, I approach this version with more vim and vigor and, admittedly, a bit of annoyance. The topic is physicians organizations, what they do, who they serve and what they are – and are not.

What they definitely are not, is new. I begin with this, because a respected Michigan business publication recently published an article about a physicians’ organization that formed to counter the efforts of large health systems trying to control their anesthesia specialty. Perhaps it was a beat unfamiliar to the reporter, but the article was written as if physician organizations were a new [Read More]