Physicians say hantavirus headlines outpace actual risk; three sentenced in Moscow-based $2B telemedicine fraud; 1 in 10 surgeons leave the profession within 8 years – Morning Medical Update

Physicians say hantavirus media coverage is outpacing the actual risk

A Sermo survey of 104 doctors found 85% believe current coverage exaggerates the public threat, even as 62% report a rise in patient inquiries.

More than eight in ten physicians say media coverage of hantavirus is overstating the actual risk to the general public, even as patient anxiety climbs in the wake of recent headlines, according to a new Sermo survey of 104 U.S. physicians across infectious disease, internal medicine, pulmonology and emergency medicine. Seventy-seven percent of respondents rated the current risk to the general public as low or non-meaningful, consistent with CDC data showing fewer than 50 hantavirus cases are typically reported in the U.S. annually. Yet 62% of physicians said they have already seen an increase in patient inquiries about the virus.

Physicians described a familiar dynamic: heightened media coverage driving patient concern without a corresponding change in underlying disease risk. The most common clinical response was education on transmission, cited by 89% of respondents, followed by reassurance about low transmission risk and prevention guidance around rodent exposure.

Three sentenced in Moscow-based $2B telemedicine fraud scheme targeting U.S. insurers

The criminal organization ran ghost telemedicine visits, fraudulent prescriptions and remotely controlled pharmacies across more than 75 locations nationwide.

Three members of a Moscow-based criminal organization have been sentenced to federal prison for their roles in a nearly $2 billion health care fraud conspiracy that used sham telemedicine visits, fraudulent prescriptions and remotely operated pharmacies to defraud private insurers, with many patients never receiving the medications billed in their names. Anthony Santamaria received 10 years; co-defendants Hershel Tsikman and Hafizullah Ebady received 120 and 97 months, respectively.

Between 2017 and 2022, the organization used call centers in Utah and later Russia to contact insurance beneficiaries and generate prescriptions regardless of whether they agreed to receive medications, then submitted more than $1.97 billion in fraudulent claims through over 75 pharmacies acquired across New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, Michigan and Alabama. Private insurers paid out more than $758 million before the scheme was uncovered. The defendants concealed their involvement through aliases, encrypted communications, shell companies and straw owners, laundering proceeds internationally. The organization's alleged leader, U.S. citizen Brian Sutton, is believed to be living abroad and remains at large. Three additional co-defendants are awaiting sentencing.

Nearly 1 in 10 surgeons leave the profession within 8 years, study finds

Mid-career surgeons are most at risk, and attrition spiked sharply in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nearly 10% of surgeons left clinical practice within an eight-year period, with attrition highest among mid-career surgeons and in subspecialties including oral and maxillofacial surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, and plastic and reconstructive surgery, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. Researchers at Ohio State University analyzed data on more than 224,000 surgeons across 19 specialties from 2013 to 2023 and found overall attrition rates held steady until 2020, when they rose sharply, likely driven by pandemic-era retirements.

Five-year cumulative attrition was highest in oral and maxillofacial surgery at 25.1%, followed by obstetrics and gynecology at 23.2% and plastic and reconstructive surgery at 19.3%. The share of surgeons practicing in rural areas shrank from 10.5% to 8.5% over the decade, while the percentage of female surgeons rose from 21.2% to 28.6%.

"Surgical attrition is a real problem, and we need to address it in a nuanced and tailored way," said co-author Timothy Pawlik, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D., FACS, of Ohio State's Wexner Medical Center.