Earth, moon and sun; recovering from skin cancer; historic Medicare fraud – Morning Medical Update

It’s eclipse day today

April 8, 2024, is here – the day a total solar eclipse will be visible over 15 states and within driving range of 200 million people in the United States. What effects will it have on your patients’ eyes? Here are some perspectives on eye safety from ophthalmologists, including one who practices at the Cleveland Clinic, which is in the eclipse’s path of totality. (Friday’s Morning Medical Update also had additional pointers and eclipse information from NASA.)

Facing cancer

When you look in the mirror, you see you. What if you saw cancer? And what if treating it left you looking different? Read how one patient coped with the effect of basal cell carcinoma, and how a surgeon helped through reconstructive surgery.

Do the crime, do the time

The U.S. Department of Justice announced a nine-year prison sentence for a 48-year-old man charged for his role in $100 million scheme to pay kickbacks and bribes for ordering unnecessary durable medical equipment. The investigation involved more than 80 search warrants in 17 federal districts because defendant Andrew Chmiel of South Carolina operated at least 10 durable medical equipment companies around the country. The feds called it “one of the largest Medicare fraud schemes in history.”