Six charged in $20M health care fraud; hospitals urged to cut ultra-processed food; less scrolling, better sleep — Morning Medical Update

Six charged in $20M health care fraud scheme

Five of six defendants, including a physician and a pharmacy owner, have pleaded guilty in a New Jersey scheme that billed Medicare and Medicaid for medically unnecessary prescriptions.

Six people, including an emergency medicine physician and a pharmacy owner, have been charged in an alleged $20.7 million scheme to defraud Medicare and Medicaid through medically unnecessary prescriptions, prosecutors said. Pharmacy owner Sherif Elmasri paid kickbacks to providers who wrote prescriptions for high-reimbursement drugs he selected, then billed the programs for the resulting claims, according to the charges.

Boris Veysman, M.D., an emergency medicine physician, at times issued the prescriptions without examining patients, and two advanced practice nurses who worked for him allegedly received kickbacks as well. A neurology practice's office manager separately admitted taking about $3,000 a week to route unnecessary prescriptions to Elmasri's pharmacies. Five defendants have pleaded guilty; a sixth, charged by indictment, has pleaded not guilty and is presumed innocent.

Kennedy, Oz urge hospitals to cut ultra-processed food

The voluntary pledge asks hospitals to limit deep-fried and highly processed meals and favor whole grains and minimally processed proteins.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have launched a voluntary Make Hospital Food Healthier Pledge, inviting hospitals to reduce ultra-processed foods and serve meals that align with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The pledge asks participating hospitals to limit sugar-sweetened beverages and processed meats, use baking, broiling, roasting or grilling instead of deep frying, emphasize whole grains and prioritize minimally processed proteins, including plant-based options.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said patients “deserve better than ultra-processed and deep-fried junk foods,” and CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, M.D., said a healthy diet can help reduce comorbidities such as obesity and shorten recovery times. The commitments are voluntary; CMS noted that Medicare already requires hospitals to meet each patient's nutritional needs under existing rules.

Less scrolling, better sleep

Teenagers in a British trial who cut back on social media reported gains in sleep, focus and mood, though many found the limits hard to keep.

British teenagers who took part in a government-backed trial of social media restrictions reported improvements in sleep, concentration and wellbeing, Reuters reported Tuesday morning.

Researchers assigned participants aged 13 to 17 in 309 households to one of three month-long interventions: a 15-minute daily limit for each app, a 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew, or removing social media apps entirely. All three groups reported better sleep, mood, concentration, study time and family interaction, with the overnight curfew the easiest to maintain and the daily limit the hardest. A full ban produced the strongest reported gains in focus but the most social disruption, and some teenagers said they felt cut off from friends, particularly when Snapchat was their main means of communication.

The results are self-reported, and participants said the limits were often bypassed with tablets, laptops, old phones, VPNs or false age declarations. The trial was commissioned before outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced plans to restrict social media access for those younger than 16.