Healthcare orgs praise Supreme Court decision | Beverage taxes work | New data on cancer & AFib

The American Heart Association was one of dozens of healthcare organizations that shared its support of the Supreme Court's 7-2 ruling. 

Philadelphia's new tax led to a significant decline in the purchase of sugar-sweetened beverages such as soft drinks and lemonade, according to new data published in JAMA Network Open. The ACC, AHA, CDC and other organizations have all recommended against drinking too many of these beverages.

The study's authors examined data from more than 816,000 patients who were diagnosed with cancer from 2009 to 2016.

The new collaboration is designed to help clinicians reach and treat AFib patients in communities that don't always receive the most attention. 

The study's authors used more than 34,000 ECGs to train and test their model, publishing their findings in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

In fact, financial distress appears to be more closely associated with heart disease than cancer. 

Researchers reported a technical success rate of 100%, but they did urge caution if the patient's coaptation gap size exceeds 8.4 mm. 

Pressures from the pandemic will undoubtedly drive health systems and hospitals to merge—with unfortunate consequences for patients, Bloomberg’s editorial board recently wrote in an opinion article.