Trending News Today: Declining Generic Drug Prices Hit Health Care Giant

Theranos, Inc reached a settlement that includes a payment of $4.65 million to cover full refunds for every Arizona customer that used the company’s blood testing services, according to The New York Times. Theranos was sued by the Arizona state attorney’s office under the Consumer Fraud Act. The settlement will cover more than 175,000 Arizona residents who paid for blood tests between 2013 and 2016. The company has agreed to pay $200,000 in civil penalties and $25,000 in attorney fees. Additionally, Theranos will be subject to civil penalties for future violations, the NY Times reported. “I wanted to make sure that every single Arizonan who purchases a blood test received a refund, period,” said Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich in a statement reported by the NY Times. “Because there was a big question about how many results were accurate, how many were inaccurate. They said approximately 10.5% were inaccurate, and it didn’t matter. To me, on behalf of consumers, I know that I would be worried.”

Distribution giant Cardinal Health is feeling the heat from declining prices of generic drugs, according to the Wall Street Journal. Tuesday morning, the company told investors that business would not pick up until mid-2018, and that they have lowered earnings expectations. The cost of generic drugs is expected to decline by a percentage in the low double digits for the fiscal year ending in June, the WSJ reported.

The Surgical Safety Checklist created by the World Health Organization reduced post-surgery deaths, a new study suggests. Investigators examined 14 hospitals in South Carolina that implemented the checklist-based program, according to The Washington Post. The results of the study showed that 3 years after the program was implemented, there was a 22% decrease in post-surgery deaths. Other hospitals in the state that did not participate in the program saw no reductions. The study is one of the first to show the large-scale impact of the checklist on the general population.