Three people died and three more were hospitalized after drinking milkshakes contaminated with listeria bacteria at Frugals, a restaurant in Tacoma, Washington, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from Florida, Pennsylvania, and Washington.
- Florida: Cano Health on Monday named Mark Kent as permanent CEO and elected Kent to the board of directors. Cano also announced Marlow Hernandez was stepping down from the board of directors, effective immediately. Kent previously served as Cano's interim CEO and the company's chief strategy officer. (Turner, Modern Healthcare, 8/21)
- Pennsylvania: The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday announced that Teva Pharmaceuticals has agreed to pay $225 million in criminal fines resolving charges that the company price fixed three drugs, including pravastatin, a generic cholesterol drug that Teva has agreed to divest. Glenmark Pharmaceuticals has also agreed to pay $30 million to resolve charges it conspired with Teva to fix prices for pravastatin and will also divest its version of the drug. In addition, Teva has agreed to donate $50 million worth of two generic drugs affected by the company's price fixing to humanitarian organizations providing medications to Americans in need. (Constantino, CNBC, 8/21)
- Washington: Three people died and three more were hospitalized after drinking milkshakes contaminated with listeria bacteria at Frugals, a restaurant in Tacoma, Washington. Investigators collected samples from ice cream machines at the restaurant, which had not been correctly cleaned, and found listeria in the machines. According to the state's health department, Frugals stopped using the ice cream machines on Aug. 8, but it's possible people can get sick up to 70 days after being contaminated with listeria. (Guzman, USA Today, 8/21)