Why Do Some Hospitals Make the Big Bucks?

Here's what we're checking out today:

Hospital Charges: BNET's Ken Terry explains the complexities behind a new study showing "why some hospitals make the big bucks." (Hint: It's market power, not excellent care.)

Kid Health: So it appears that taking cough syrup for very young children off the market was a really good idea: ER visits for bad reactions to the medicines have dropped by more than half, CDC researchers have found. Kids are still winding in the ER, however, for taking OTC cold medicines that still may be lying around the house.

Health Reform: Lots of chatter today about HHS' new and controversial medical loss ratio rules that require insurers to spend 80 percent of your premium payments on actual health care. The New York Times' Reed Abelson has a good roundup of the context and coverage so far.

Infections: From the gross-but-effective files: fecal transplantation to cure C. difficile infections when antibiotics fail. You know you're going to click on this link to find out more.

Health Fraud: Bad news for pharma, good news for American taxpayers: Health fraud settlements and judgments netted the federal government about $2.5 billion in the last fiscal year, according to Pharmalot's Ed Silverman. More than half of that money came from pharma and medical device companies.