Selling body parts without consent and billing desperate parents $97,599 for air transport were contenders for the annual Shkreli awards.
The 10 winners of the 2024 Shkreli awards, given annually to the worst examples of profiteering and dysfunction in US healthcare, have been announced by the Lown Institute, a non-profit US think tank, reports the British Medical Journal.
‘All these stories paint a picture of a healthcare industry in desperate need of transformation.’ — Lown Institute
The winners include an oncologist who subjected a healthy patient to cancer treatment for profit, a hospital accused of demanding upfront payments from patients with cancer, and UnitedHealth, the insurance company that has faced a storm of public indignation after one of its executives was murdered in New York.
Lown Institute president Vikas Saini said: “All these stories paint a picture of a healthcare industry in desperate need of transformation.”
One of the contenders for top spot was the case of Sara England and her three-month-old son who experienced severe respiratory distress two months after open-heart surgery. His doctors had him transferred via air ambulance from Salinas, California to a medical centre in San Francisco. Health insurer Cigna later deemed the service “not medically necessary”. The family was given a $97,599 bill.
In a highly competitive year, the top spot went to Steward Health Care, whose CEO, Ralph de la Torre, is accused of prioritizing private equity profits over patient care. His financial scheming led to bankruptcy, leaving hospitals in shambles, employees laid off and communities with less healthcare access.