In the Media

Matching crime with punishment: The sentencing process, NECC Pharmacy, and Michelle Carter

WGBH -- 06/27/2017

A trial is the key phase of a criminal case. But, after conviction, the parties go back to work to prepare for sentencing — the moment of truth, when a judge determines the appropriate punishment. New England Compounding Pharmacy CEO Barry Cadden was sentenced Monday for his role in the 2012 meningitis outbreak. And in August, Michelle Carter will receive her sentence for her manslaughter conviction from earlier this month. WGBH’s Morning Edition host Bob Seay discussed the sentencing process and its application to these two particular cases with Northeastern law professor and WGBH Legal Analyst Daniel Medwed.

From free lunches to housing, children’s hospitals provide a wide array of community benefit services

U.S. News & World Report -- 06/27/2017

“Most hospitals get paid for filling beds,” says Gary Young, director of the Northeastern University Center for Health Policy and Healthcare Research in Boston. “Certainly, there’s more motivation for tax-exempt hospitals to do more, and under the Affordable Care Act, they’re required at least every three years to conduct a community health care assessment and develop plans to address those needs. For-profit hospitals are not required to do this.”…

Medicaid expansion had a ‘close to zero’ net effect on nonprofit hospital finances, report finds

Becker's Hospital Review -- 06/26/2017

While the ACA’s Medicaid expansion lowered uncompensated care costs for nonprofit hospitals, those savings were counteracted by Medicaid payment shortfalls, according to a recent report by Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan research institute AcademyHealth. The study, “State Medicaid Expansion and Hospital Financial Status,” took place between 2009 and 2015, which included two years of post-Medicaid expansion. Gary Young, JD, PhD, director of the Northeastern University Center for Health Policy and Healthcare Research at Boston-based Northeastern University, and colleagues studied IRS filings for more than 1,700 nonprofit hospitals including information on charity care, bad debt and Medicaid payment shortfalls.

After meningitis outbreak, insurers are reportedly reluctant to cover compounded medications

WGBH -- 06/26/2017

“Insurance companies have really clamped down on the coverage of compounded medications,” said Todd Brown, a pharmacy professor at Northeastern University and executive director of the Massachusetts Independent Pharmacists Association. Brown says the reduction in coverage came after the meningitis outbreak at the New England Compounding Center. Brown says insurers saw the headlines and they saw other compounding pharmacies taking advantage of lax rules, so they tightened compounding coverage across the board.

At East Boston High School, a voice to raise up other young immigrants

Boston Globe -- 06/24/2017

Maybelline Pérez Villatoro’s senior year at East Boston High School included a full schedule of advanced placement classes, multiple hours of homework each night, the presidency of the school’s National Honor Society chapter, and a job on weekends. But as Pérez Villatoro did the hard work that would make her a valedictorian and earn her a full scholarship to Northeastern University, she wasn’t thinking only of herself.

Police searches drop dramatically in states that legalized marijuana

NBC News -- 06/23/2017

The overuse of traffic stops can damage the public trust in police, particularly when searches disproportionately involve black and Hispanic drivers. “Searches where you don’t find something are really negative towards a community,” said Jack McDevitt, director of Northeastern University’s Institute on Race and Justice in Boston. “Have a police officer search your car is really like, ‘Why are they doing this to me?’ And you get more pissed off. If you’re trying to do relationship building, it’s not a good thing to do a lot of searches.”…

Beyond the duck: The man who saved slaves from George Washington to forge Canada’s legacy of human rights

National Post -- 06/22/2017

Given Carleton’s close connection to Canada, plus the fact that many of those former slaves ended up in Halifax, his bold defence of their human rights in the aftermath of war seems deserving of a far more prominent place in the Canadian pantheon. What respect he garners today, however, comes largely from the U.S. rather than Canada. William Fowler, a noted historian at Northeastern University in Boston, calls Carleton’s defence of the slaves “an extraordinary moment in history” delivered by “a man of great integrity.” Harvard’s Maya Jasanoff similarly praises his “clarity of conviction” in a time of crisis.

Defense claims missing evidence in seeking new trial for Avery

Post-Crescent -- 06/22/2017

If Zellner can prove at least one “Brady violation” occurred, the judge will typically overturn the conviction and order a new trial, said Daniel Medwed, a law professor at Northeastern University in Boston. “It’s a rule that’s designed to even the playing field because prosecutors typically of course have all the power in having access to information,” Medwed told USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin this week.

How Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods highlights the hybrid, ‘omnichannel’ future of higher ed

EdSurge -- 06/22/2017

The strategy is that the online and offline commerce worlds are converging in unprecedented ways, not just in selling groceries but in all kinds of areas. There’s a lesson for higher education, about the importance of offline channels in a digitally-driven economy—and a moment to reflect on the impactful trends that have materialized in the online education market.

GOP health bill would make the world’s worst drug crisis even worse

Vice -- 06/22/2017

There’s an abundance of research that shows medically assisted treatments (MAT) such as the administration of methadone and Suboxone are the best way to help people get clean, but there’s still a stigma surrounding these methods because they’re seen as swapping one addictive substance for another. It’s extremely difficult for opioid users to get access to MAT in some conservative states, and that won’t change under the Republican plan. “Just spending money on treatment is not enough,” said Leo Beletsky, associate professor of law and health sciences at Northeastern University. “You have to spend it on treatment that actually works.”…

Texas made attacking cops a hate crime; these states could be next

Newsweek -- 06/21/2017

But it is unusual for a hate crime law to cover a person’s profession, according to Jack McDevitt, who has written books on hate crimes and is associate dean of the College of Social Sciences and Humanities at Northeastern University and director of the school’s Institute on Race and Justice. “Hate crime laws were created for individuals who are with a particular characteristic—obviously race, ethnicity, religion, other kinds of status issues,” he says. “The idea that occupational groups will be singled out for hate crime protections,” he adds, “seems to be a reach.”…

Complex merger remedies ‘may not be worth it,’ official says

Bloomberg BNA -- 06/21/2017

The issue is also front and center in the Walgreens-Rite Aid deal, as questions loom about whether Fred’s Inc. is capable of buying the stores that the merged entity would be required to sell. “It’s everyone’s hope that merger remedy policy is not being used as an indirect method of avoiding the hard decisions about challenging mergers,” John Kwoka, an economics professor at Northeastern University, said at the event.