Trending News Today: Prototype System Can Produce 1k Pills in 24 Hours

A prototype machine the size of a kitchen refrigerator can produce 1000 pills in 24 hours, a speed that manufactures a faster product than a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant, reported Kaiser Health News. The device is held in a lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the leader of the project, Allan Myerson, believes the machine could eventually be used for manufacturers that make medications that require a lengthy and complex process of crystallization. “We’re giving them an alternative to traditional plants and we’re reducing the time it takes to manufacturer a drug,” Myerson said. Currently, the project is being funded by the US Department of Defense because the machine could go to field hospitals for troops, hard-to-reach areas with disease outbreak, or be placed in strategic areas around the United States. This prototype could provide the possibilities for pharmacies and hospitals to make their own pills and help lower drug costs, according to the report. “If it can done at lower cost, here’s one way at least that we could reduce the exorbitant cost of medications and that could a social good as well as an economic good,” said James McQuivey, analyst at Forrester Research.

Yesterday, a federal judge granted the Justice Department’s request to join in the lawsuit against Prime Healthcare Services. According to The Wall Street Journal, the lawsuit was first filed in 2011, alleging that Prime hospitals improperly admitted patients for care and submitted false claims to Medicare. In a statement by Troy Schell, general counsel for Prime Healthcare Services, he said that the company’s officials believes it will be exonerated.

In a 3-0 decision on Wednesday, an appeals court affirmed the 45-year prison sentence for Farid Fata, an oncologist in the Detroit area who put hundreds of patients through needless treatments. The primary focus of the appeal was based on how the judge calculated the sentencing guidelines and if it was proper to allow many of the victims to speak in court. However, the appeals court stated that the arguments lacked merit, reported The New York Times.