Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Cap May Allow Patients To Control Robotic Arms With Thoughts Alone
Bionic arms controlled wirelessly by people’s thoughts are coming closer to reality as the result of research at the University of Minnesota that seeks to eliminate the need for risky surgical brain implants in order to work. Researcher Bin He and colleagues reported on Wednesday the successful use of sensors in a cap worn on the head that interpret brain signals and instruct a robotic arm to make corresponding movements. (Olson, 12/14)
An Austin-based foundation supported by a retired oil executive and his wife has pledged $50 million to establish a neuroscience clinic at the University of Texas’ Dell Medical School for research and patient care involving Alzheimer’s disease, bipolar disorder, stroke and other maladies. The Mulva Family Foundation has also agreed to donate $25 million to the UT MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston to advance treatment for melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, and prostate cancer, the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in men. (Haurwitz, 12/14)
The University of Pennsylvania Health System said Monday that it signed a definitive agreement to acquire Princeton HealthCare System, which is anchored by the 305-bed University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro. The two tax-exempt systems announced a preliminary agreement in July. The deal won't be completed until a regulatory review is done, which can often take more than a year New Jersey. In 2015, Princeton HealthCare had an operating loss of $736,000 on total revenue of $437 million. It spent $522 million on its new Plainsboro hospital, which opened in 2012. (Brubaker, 12/13)
The lawsuit targets Robert Behringer, whose Texas-based Behringer Harvard investment firm is under contract to sell the 56-room Lodge & Spa at Cordillera and its surrounding acreage to the Concerted Care Group, a Baltimore company that wants to convert the lodge campus to a high-end, inpatient drug addiction treatment facility. The suit argues that Behringer and his team lied when they pursued a 2009 modification to Cordillera’s Planned Unit Development Guide, which detailed 34 potential uses of the lodge and so-called Village Center land, including office space, athletic facilities, an amphitheater and medical offices. (Blevins, 12/13)
