Health tech CEO convicted in $1B Medicare fraud scheme; a new vision for health care focuses on age-related diseases; popular TikTok pushes IBD misinformation – Morning Medical Update

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Health tech CEO convicted in $1B Medicare fraud scheme

A federal jury convicted Gary Cox, 79, CEO of DMERx, for orchestrating a massive fraud scheme that generated fake doctor’s orders to bill Medicare and other insurers over $1 billion. The scheme involved offshore call centers, illegal kickbacks and fraudulent prescriptions for unneeded braces and pain creams. Medicare paid out more than $360 million before the operation was exposed. He faces decades in prison.

New editorial calls for shift from disease care to healthspan extension

A new editorial in Aging-US advocated for a major health care overhaul focused on preventing aging-related diseases before they start. Marco Demaria, Ph.D., argues that targeting the biological mechanisms of aging — using tools like senolytics, lifestyle interventions and biological age diagnostics — could extend healthspan, reduced multimorbidity and transform preventive care. The piece calls for geroscience-focused medical education and policy changes to enable a more proactive, personalized and sustainable approach to aging.

TikTok videos on IBD rack up views but fall short on accuracy

A new study in Gastroenterology Nursing finds that the most-viewed TikTok videos about inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) often contain low-quality medical information, despite racking up 235 million views. Researchers say none of the top 86 videos were posted by health care professionals, and most lacked reliable sources. The study highlights a major opportunity for clinicians to engage with young audiences by providing accurate, educational content on social media platforms like TikTok.