‘Late Abortion’ Doc; Missed Warnings in Listeria Outbreak; $3.5B for Healthcare CEOs

Welcome to the latest edition of Investigative Roundup, highlighting some of the best investigative reporting on healthcare each week.

‘America’s Abortion Doctor’

Warren Hern, MD, PhD, MPH, one of the most high-profile abortion doctors in the country, began his career in reproductive medicine before Roe v. Wade and continues it today, after that precedent was overturned, according to a New Yorker profile of the Colorado physician.

Hern, who is 86, founded the Boulder Abortion Clinic and has long been one of the few physicians who openly perform abortion in the second and third trimester, the outlet noted.

“Late abortion is wildly misrepresented by politicians and misunderstood by the public; it is rare, but the need for it has increased as state bans make it harder for pregnant people to seek care,” the New Yorker reported. The outlet spoke with Hern about his new memoir, “Abortion in the Age of Unreason: A Doctor’s Account of Caring for Women Before and After Roe v. Wade.”

“There are situations where, in a desired pregnancy, a catastrophic event occurs in the middle of the third trimester,” Hern told the New Yorker. He recalled one instance in which a woman came to him at over 35 weeks, after her doctor sent her because “the fetus had a stroke that destroyed the brain.”

“The fetus was not going to be able to survive, and if it did it would not have a life,” Hern told the New Yorker. “She was terribly grieved about this. She came to me. I did the injection [that stops the heart of the fetus in utero]. Her fetus was delivered in her hospital with her doctor and her husband present.”

“There was no point in forcing her to carry for another month, and then have a dead baby,” Hern further told the outlet. “That is cruel. It may have been necessary two hundred years ago, but it is not necessary now.”

‘Blood in Puddles on the Floor:’ Missed Warnings at Boar’s Head Plant

In the wake of a Listeria outbreak in which 59 people were hospitalized and 10 died, there is growing evidence that conditions at a Boar’s Head plant in Jarratt, Virginia had been “building over time,” the Washington Post reported.

Such evidence comes from government reports and interviews the news outlet conducted with former employees, their families and lawyers, and others.

“Filthy work areas, aging equipment and haphazard cleaning at the Jarratt plant may have made some of its products microbial time bombs waiting to explode,” the article stated.

Federal food inspectors warned 2 years ago of “major deficiencies” at the plant that could pose an imminent threat, according to reports recently released by the United States Department of Agriculture, the outlet reported.

And in the year before the plant’s July closure, government inspectors notified managers of “noncompliances” on 57 separate days, according to the Post.

Issues included “‘dirty’ machinery, flies in pickle containers, ‘heavy meat buildup’ on walls and blood in puddles on the floor,” the Post noted.

Boar’s Head would not respond to the Post’s questions about issues outlined in inspection reports or recounted by employees, and provided a statement that it can’t comment due to ongoing litigation.

Healthcare CEOs Made $3.5B Last Year

As healthcare stocks stumbled in 2023, healthcare CEOs still made $3.5 billion, STAT reported.

Chief executives raked in $11 million on average, while median pay was $4.1 million, STAT noted. These figures compared to average pay of $13 million and median pay of $4.3 million in 2022.

The two highest-paid CEOs were Stephane Bancel of Moderna ($305 million) and Peter Gassner of Veeva Systems ($246 million).

“Even though healthcare executive pay stepped down in 2023, those at the top retained tens of millions of dollars while average workers made little progress on their own salaries,” STAT wrote. “Median worker pay in the industry stood at around $100,000, according to our analysis.”

In biotech and pharmaceuticals, the 10 highest paid CEOs made $760 million in 2023, equating to 22% of the entire sample, STAT reported. Among “eye-catching” names in this sector was David Ricks of Eli Lilly, who made $73.9 million. (Eli Lilly’s stock soared nearly 60% largely due to its weight-loss drug tirzepatide [Zepbound].)

As for health insurance companies, the highest earner was Joseph Zubretsky of Medicaid-focused insurer Molina Healthcare, who made $51.2 million. And for healthcare providers, HCA’s Sam Hazen topped the list, making $43.2 million in 2023.

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