Specialty Focus 1/17/23: U.S. Attorney’s Office Middle District of Florida nets $168M in battling fraud + American cancer death rate falls 33% since 1991

January 17, 2023 | Volume XII | Issue 3

U.S. cancer death rate falls 33% since 1991, report says

Jacqueline Howard reports for CNN:

The rate of people dying from cancer in the United States has continuously declined over the past three decades, according to a new report from the American Cancer Society.

The U.S. cancer death rate has fallen 33% since 1991, which corresponds to an estimated 3.8 million deaths averted, according to the report, published Thursday in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. The rate of lives lost to cancer continued to shrink in the most recent year for which data is available, between 2019 and 2020, by 1.5%.

The 33% decline in cancer mortality is “truly formidable,” said Karen Knudsen, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society.

The report attributes this steady progress to improvements in cancer treatment, drops in smoking and increases in early detection.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office Middle District of Florida Nets $168M in Battling Fraud in FY 2022

The U.S. Attorney’s Office Middle District of Florida collected $168,330,189 related to criminal and civil matters in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2022. Of that, $103,089,821 represents total collections in criminal and civil actions. The office further breaks it down stating that $43,048,067 was recovered in locally handled cases — $17,769,638 in criminal and $25,278,429.11 in civil cases.

The civil division recovered $85,181,948 on behalf of federal agencies and programs in affirmative civil enforcement cases during the last fiscal year. In addition to its efforts in local civil cases, the district also joins forces with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and with the Department of Justice Civil Frauds Section to address fraud schemes and illegal practices beyond district boundaries. As part of these jointly handled cases, the Middle District’s Civil Division recovered another $59,903,519.32.

The district’s Asset Recovery Division, working with partner agencies, forfeited $65,240,368 from criminal and civil asset forfeiture actions completed in fiscal year 2022. These assets are deposited into the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund.

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Study Assesses Endoscopist Learning Curve for Transition to Disposable Duodenoscopes

Changing to disposable duodenoscopes requires a training period but not a steep one, according to a study of a single experienced operator.

“I think all practicing advanced endoscopists who do endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography at some point have to consider doing this transition in one way or another,” said investigator Nasir Saleem, MD, an assistant professor of clinical medicine.

Ozempic shortage fueled by people using the drug for weight loss

Today

Ozempic, a drug developed to treat diabetes, has become known for its weight-loss side effects. This growing popularity has led to a shortage of the medication and outrage from people with diabetes.

NBC’s Kristen Dahlgren reports for Today, and Dr. Natalie Azar weighs in on how it works and what happens when you stop taking it for weight loss.

Watch the video HERE.

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