Articles by David McLaughlin and Robert Langreth

What CVS-Aetna Deal Could Mean for Pharmacy Benefit Managers

If Aetna Inc. is eventually swallowed by CVS Health Corp., an important part of the health-care business will be changed — perhaps for good. For years, pharmacy benefits were largely carved out from the rest of a medical coverage plan. …

CVS Health Reported in Talks to Buy Aetna

Aetna Inc. gained in New York trading after the Wall Street Journal reported that CVS Health Corp. is in talks to buy the insurer for more than $66 billion. Aetna jumped 12 percent to $178.60, closing at a record high, …

Prescription Benefit Managers Excluding More High-Priced Drugs

Steve Miller is waging war on high- priced medicine, guiding decisions to ban drugs from the health plans of millions of Americans and sending companies reeling in a $270 billion market. He and his colleagues at Express Scripts Holding Co. …

Dallas Hospital’s Care of Deceased U.S. Ebola Patient Questioned

Hours after Dallas Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan died, his family called for an investigation into his care as top infectious disease doctors said he may have survived if his treatment had begun earlier. The family cited his initial release …

Doctor Training Questioned in Wake of Robotic-Surgery Deaths, Injuries

A rising number of reports about deaths, injuries and malfunctions linked to the robotic surgery system made by Intuitive Surgical Inc. may pressure hospitals to bolster training for doctors using the $1.5 million device. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration …

Marketing, Not Medicine, Boosts Robotic Surgery, Misrepesents Safety

Porter Adventist Hospital in Denver announced last year that Warren Kortz, a general surgeon on the medical staff, was the first in the Rocky Mountain region to use a technique known as robotic surgery to remove gall bladders through one …