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Study finds Medicaid, Medicare not vigilant
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Published: August 4, 2008
WASHINGTON -- The government is putting millions of Medicare dollars at risk by authorizing fictitious sellers of wheelchairs, prosthetics and other medical supplies to submit reimbursement claims with only limited review, congressional investigators say.
The study by the Government Accountability Office obtained by The Associated Press sought to follow up on oversight gaps that have plagued the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services since at least 2005. About $1 billion of the $10 billion in annual Medicare payments the government makes for medical equipment are later deemed improper.
The fictitious suppliers, which the GAO set up in Maryland and Virginia, won privileges even though investigators provided the government with sketchy information and false documents that offered little assurances that the companies were legitimate.
Bombings target scientists who experiment on animals
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- The FBI is investigating two bombings that targeted university scientists, the latest in a rash of attacks against biomedical researchers who experiment on animals, authorities say.
Both scientists work at the University of California, Santa Cruz. One of them and his family were forced to escape from a second-story window early Saturday when a firebomb was lit on the home's porch, Santa Cruz police said.
Police Capt. Steve Clark called the bombing "an attempted homicide."
Also that morning, a firebomb destroyed a car belonging to another researcher.
DNA was used to track anthrax to Army scientist
WASHINGTON -- DNA taken from the bodies of people killed in the 2001 anthrax attacks helped lead investigators to Bruce Ivins, who oversaw the highly specific type of toxin in an Army lab, a government scientist said yesterday.
Using new genome technology, researchers looked at samples of cells from the victims to identify the kind of anthrax Ames strain that killed them, the scientist said. They noticed very subtle differences in the DNA of the strain used in the attacks from that in other types of Ames anthrax.
Investigators linked the specific type of anthrax back to Ivins' biological weapons lab at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Md., where he oversaw its use and handling for research.
SpaceX engineers look for cause of rocket's failure
LOS ANGELES -- SpaceX engineers are investigating the cause of Saturday's failed flight of the Falcon 1, a low-cost, light-lift rocket developed by the Southern California company.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said in a news release that a problem occurred causing the rocket's two stages to stay together instead of separating after the launch from a Central Pacific atoll.
SpaceX is developing the single-engine Falcon 1, the nine-engine Falcon 9, the 27-engine Heavy Falcon and the Dragon cargo-crew capsule to fly to the International Space Station when the current space shuttle fleet retires in 2010.
Two children drown in hole at construction site of house
SUMMERVILLE, S.C. -- Two young boys drowned in a water-filled hole at the construction site of a new home, authorities said.
The nearly 6-foot-deep hole was about 100 feet behind the house, said Dorchester County sheriff's 1st Sgt. Mike Miller. The boys, between 3 and 5 years old, drowned Saturday afternoon. Miller said he didn't know if they were swimming in the hole or fell in.
Dr. Chris Nisbet, the county coroner, said yesterday that he was still working to identify the children's names and ages, a process complicated by a language barrier because their mother is from Mexico.
Forecasters expect new storm to hit Texas, Louisiana
NEW ORLEANS -- Tropical Storm Edouard formed in the Gulf of Mexico yesterday, and forecasters expected it to bring high winds and several inches of rain to the coasts of western Louisiana and eastern Texas.
Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center made Edouard, packing 45-mph winds, the fifth tropical storm of the 2008 season. They expected the storm to strengthen and said it could reach hurricane strength by the time it makes landfall Tuesday in Texas.
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