The neurons that make us feel hangry

Neuroscientists think a cluster of cells in the brain that stimulate appetite could be a target for eating disorder therapies Maybe it starts with a low-energy feeling, or maybe you’re getting a little cranky. You might have a headache or difficulty concentrating. Your brain is sending you a message: You’re hungry. Find food. Studies in mice have pinpointed a cluster of cells called AgRP neurons near the underside of the brain that may create this unpleasant hungry, even “hangry,” feeling. They sit near the brain’s blood supply, giving them access to hormones arriving from the stomach and fat tissue that indicate energy levels. When energy is low, they act on a variety of other brain areas...

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Rule Temporarily Extends Flexibilities in Prescribing Controlled Substances Via Telemedicine Created During Public Health Emergency

Just days before the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) was about to expire on May 12, The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) issued a temporary rule that extends flexibilities for prescribing controlled substances via telemedicine. The rule was issued more than 38,000 public comments were made in response to a proposed rule issued on March 1 that no longer would allow telehealth providers to prescribe controlled substances if the patient never had an in-person examination, subject to limited exceptions. Another proposed rule would expand the instances in which doctors could prescribe buprenorphine, used in pain...

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Denials of Health Insurance Claims Are Rising — And Getting Weirder

Millions of Americans in the past few years have run into this experience: filing a health care insurance claim that once might have been paid immediately but instead is just as quickly denied. If the experience and the insurer’s explanation often seem arbitrary and absurd, that might be because companies appear increasingly likely to employ computer algorithms or people with little relevant experience to issue rapid-fire denials of claims — sometimes bundles at a time — without reviewing the patient’s medical chart. A job title at one company was “denial nurse.” It’s a handy way for insurers to keep revenue high — and just the sort of thing that provisions of the Affordable Care Act were...

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The Hidden Healthcare Compliance Risks in Cash Pay

Increasing concerns about underpayment and non-payment by insurance companies have providers focused more than ever on cash services. Many of the active and emerging players in the med spa, IV hydration therapy, and concierge medicine spaces are misguided on the issue of compliance, however. Both legal exposure and health care regulatory compliance create real risk, even in the cash pay space. Medical Malpractice & Negligence It is well established law that a cash health care business which does not seek reimbursement from insurance carriers does not require a Health Care Clinic License granted by AHCA if owned by non-providers. However, not being overseen by Florida’s health care...

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