Latest news with #delaTorre
Boston Globe
06-05-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
One year after Steward bankruptcy, Warren, Markey demand criminal probe
Related : Advertisement 'Prosecution of Dr. de la Torre is now in the hands of DOJ, which has the power to hold him accountable for his failure to appear before Congress,' said the letter. 'As evidenced by the unanimous contempt finding, the Senate believes this matter is serious, meriting a criminal investigation by the Department. We urge DOJ to give appropriate weight and consideration to the bipartisan and unanimous nature of this referral.' St. Elizabeth's Medical Center, now operated by Boston Medical Center, was one of Steward Health Care's hospitals in Massachusetts. Steven Senne/Associated Press The criminal contempt charge, the first by the committee in over 50 years, was referred to the US Attorney for the District of Columbia, who would decide whether to prosecute de la Torre. If found guilty, de la Torre could spend up to 12 months in prison. Shortly after he was charged, Advertisement A spokesperson for the US Attorney was not immediately available for comment. In the letter, Warren and Markey said the contempt filing is an important measure of accountability given the destruction of the health care company under de la Torre's leadership, which saddled the hospitals with massive amounts of debt, while making large payouts to Steward's executives and private equity owners. At the same time, patient care suffered. The Boston Globe 'Ralph de la Torre needs to know that he's not off the hook for looting Steward Health Care and leaving patients, workers, and communities out to dry,' Warren said in a statement. 'I will not forget what private equity did to Steward Health Care and I will not give up the fight.' In addition to the contempt referral, the Department of Justice has also been In addition to the letter to the Department of Justice, Warren and Markey sent a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission, requesting that the agency open an investigation into Medical Properties Trust, the firm that paid Steward over $1 billion to buy its real estate in 2016. Advertisement MPT then leased back the property back to Steward, but rather than operating at arms length, a Boston Globe investigation found that the two companies often instead worked in concert, funneling money to each other to perpetuate an appearance of financial stability. Carney Hospital in Dorchester was one of two Steward hospitals to shutter last year amid the health care system's financial struggles. Lane Turner/Globe Staff Experts and analysts who spoke to the Globe said that the companies' dealings, including MPT hiding Steward's ailing financial health from investors, 'This arrangement has all the hallmarks of a Ponzi scheme, raising serious questions about whether MPT — a publicly traded company — misled its investors and violated securities laws,' the letter states. 'By hiding Steward's financial health from investors for over half a decade, MPT may have deceived investors and broken securities laws. We are therefore asking the SEC to open an investigation into MPT to determine if this was the case.' Jessica Bartlett can be reached at
Los Angeles Times
31-03-2025
- Health
- Los Angeles Times
The Graceful Mind: How Women Can Rewire Their Brains in Midlife
Let's start with a truth bomb: your brain is not broken. If you've ever found yourself wandering into a room and forgetting why or rereading the same paragraph for the fourth time, you're not alone. For many women navigating perimenopause and menopause, brain fog and forgetfulness aren't failures — they're part of the hormonal shift. According to Respin Health Clinical Lead Dr. Sarah de la Torre, 'Sixty million American women are navigating menopause symptoms at this very moment.' But here's what's often left out of the conversation: this isn't a story about decline — it's about evolution. Because within the hormonal noise is a powerful scientific truth that's often overlooked: neuroplasticity. We tend to reduce menopause to hot flashes and night sweats, but the brain is undergoing just as many changes as the body. According to findings published in New Scientist, perimenopause alters brain energy levels, white matter connectivity, and estrogen activity in the hippocampus — the part of the brain that helps us learn and remember. These neurological shifts influence sleep, decision-making, and emotional regulation. Dr. de la Torre explains that these hormonal shifts typically include progesterone dropping first, which can lead to sleep issues, mood swings, increased anxiety, and changes in a woman's period. She further notes that fluctuating estrogen levels follow, impacting mood, sleep, joint pain, and yes — cognition. Research from the National Institutes of Health also notes that estrogen plays a protective role in memory and learning. As estrogen levels decline, some women experience temporary dips in mental clarity. Neuroplasticity is your brain's built-in ability to adapt, reorganize, and form new connections throughout life. 'Neuroplasticity offers a way for maintaining or even improving cognitive health during perimenopause and menopause and beyond,' says Dr. de la Torre. 'The brain has a lifelong ability to reorganize itself and form new neural connections and strengthen existing ones as it responds to new experiences.' That means your brain isn't simply enduring menopause—it's responding to it. And with the right tools, you can actively support that process. Let's start with movement. Physical activity stimulates the release of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein that promotes the growth and protection of brain cells. A brisk walk or morning stretch may feel simple, but it's helping your brain rewire and stay sharp. 'Exercise increases blood flow to the brain, which keeps the neurons healthy, and can even promote the growth of new neurons,' says Dr. de la Torre. Next up: sleep. It's more than just rest; it's neurological restoration. 'Sleep is essential for memory consolidation and overall brain function,' she says. During deep sleep, your brain cleans out toxins, strengthens synapses, and builds memory. And while menopause may interfere with that rest, establishing sleep hygiene habits — like screen-free evenings or mindful wind-down routines — can help you reclaim it. Nutrition also plays a starring role. Omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, healthy fats, and leafy greens all nourish your brain. 'Nutrition is the foundation of all our health, and that includes our brain health,' notes Dr. de la Torre. But brain support isn't just physical; it's mental and emotional, too. Challenging your brain with new skills, books, or even brain-training apps builds resilience. And staying socially connected protects cognitive function just as powerfully. People with good social connections are more likely to have enhanced cognitive function and better emotional well-being, Dr. de la Torre explains. And when it comes to stress? It's a memory killer. Chronic stress shrinks the hippocampus, but mindfulness, breathing exercises, and small daily rituals can help buffer the brain from burnout. Aging isn't a neurological sentence, it's a new chapter. One where you get to rewire your mind for clarity, curiosity, and strength.
Boston Globe
27-03-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
As Steward empire crumbles, federal probe plods along and Ralph de la Torre attends horse festival
He had resigned as CEO last October amid the implosion, bankruptcy, and distress sale of the chain. But the spillover from his tenure was still evident two hours up the Florida coast, where a former Steward hospital is making plans to close, leaving a city of nearly 30,000 people without its only hospital and hundreds of employees scrambling for jobs. It has stretched to Boston and Washington, D.C., where federal prosecutors have been mulling next steps in a sprawling fraud and corruption probe. The legal reverberations have also reached London, where federal investigators recently interviewed a whistleblower of Steward's global arm, and the island of Malta, where criminal proceedings against de la Torre and other Steward executives inch along in court. Advertisement Outside the stables on a warm Florida morning, de la Torre, who remains in contempt of US Congress for ignoring a subpoena, lounged under a blue sky and awaited his wife's next performance in the dressage ring. When a Spotlight Team reporter introduced herself, de la Torre mouthed an exclamation of surprise and then sped away in a pickup truck. The next day at the competition, through an intermediary, he declined an interview. Later, his attorneys made it clear he would not be commenting for this story. De la Torre was at the helm of Steward during its meteoric rise, as it grew from a handful of Massachusetts hospitals into the nation's largest private, for-profit hospital chain. But, by many accounts, his leadership also hastened Steward's calamitous downfall, which has left a lasting bruise on the American health care system. In Massachusetts alone two hospitals have shuttered and Advertisement And despite it all, the man who helped make — and break — Steward has carried on with the life of a very wealthy man. Ralph de la Torre (left) watched his wife, Nicole Acosta, compete in the Global Dressage Festival in Wellington, Fla. Last fall, when federal agents served him with a search warrant and seized his phone, de la Torre was just returning from a scuba vacation on the Dutch Caribbean island of Bonaire, according to a person familiar with the matter. Since then, the federal probe has plodded along. There are at least two lanes of inquiry that make up the investigation, several people close to the matter have told the Globe. Prosecutors have examined potential fraud and embezzlement in the United States, homing in on executive compensation, travel, and spending. Another prong of the probe has focused on That prosecutorial possibility was put in limbo last month when President Trump issued an executive order freezing new prosecutions and enforcement actions under the act. Six legal experts told the Globe that a pause of the antibribery law doesn't mean investigators can't lean on domestic charges in their pursuit of former executives of the health care system. Michael Harper, a former federal prosecutor who left the Foreign Corrupt Practices unit in 2023, said nothing in the executive order prohibits using evidence collected in a probe by the unit from being used to advance other charges. Advertisement A spokesperson for Steward and a spokesperson for the US attorney's office in Boston both declined to comment. The One example recently uncovered by the Spotlight Team underscores an additional avenue that investigators could explore. According to emails reviewed by the Globe, de la Torre in 2023 made a $100,000 donation to amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research and to the Dallas Museum of Art. De la Torre made the transaction via his personal credit card. And what seemed like an act of philanthropy secured him, his wife, Nicole Acosta, and a posse of acquaintances a so-called Diamond Table at the foundation's famous TWO x TWO for AIDS and Art gala, placing him among Lone Star state royalty; Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Deedie Rose, the widow of the former Texas Rangers owner, were seated nearby. In emails obtained by the Globe, de la Torre's assistant at the time asked who should receive credit for the donation. 'Mr. & Mrs. de la Torre? Steward Health Care?' she wrote. De la Torre replied that he'd think about it. In the end, an entity called the 'de la Torre Foundation' was named in the gala's Nicole Acosta attended amfAR's TWO x TWO For AIDS Art Gala on October 21, 2023 in Dallas, Texas. Kevin Tachman/amfAR/Getty Images for amfAR A few days after making the donation, de la Torre filed for a reimbursement of the $100,000 charge from Steward Health Care, according to documents reviewed by the Globe. Come October of 2023, de la Torre and Acosta were watching R&B star Jason Derulo croon away at the gala as Steward Health Care was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. Advertisement Experts say that such transactions — made in de la Torre's name, but funded by Steward's coffers — could expose the former executive to fraud charges, including one called criminal conversion. Under this provision, the government can prosecute those who embezzle or steal from an organization that receives more than $10,000 in federal funds each year. 'Even if he only had the money temporarily, he spent it,' said former longtime federal prosecutor Philip Urofsky, though he noted that fraud charges can take many forms. 'When you read the scope of everything that's happening at Steward, and the fallout from this kind of activity… there's got to be something wrong here,' said Karen Woody, a law professor at Washington and Lee University who focuses on white collar crime. 'None of this passes the smell test.' More traditional health care-related charges are also avenues for prosecutors to potentially sidestep Trump's blockade of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. 'It wouldn't surprise me if they're going to just refocus their energies,' said lawyer David Schumacher, who previously supervised health care prosecutions in the US attorney's office in Boston. De la Torre in recent weeks has been living in Florida and regularly attending dressage events in which his wife competes, according to people familiar with his travels. Competition records show Acosta, who was also employed by Steward, has been riding in Wellington since January, regularly winning aboard her three horses. One of those horses, Dante, Advertisement Acosta is listed as an 'Employee — Relative of Insider' in corporate bankruptcy filings. Internal emails show she held a role titled 'system director of facilities and real estate for Steward Health Care System.' But people familiar with her employment say her material contributions to the company were minimal. Still, Acosta regularly took advantage of corporate perks. The Globe Acosta declined to comment when approached at the equestrian event. She initially denied she was 'Nicole,' but later competed in the event, where an announcer identified her several times as 'Nicole Acosta.' As de la Torre watched her compete over the weekend, scores of nurses and doctors at Steward's former Rockledge hospital were phoning lawmakers and local officials in a bid to delay the hospital's shutdown. The 298-bed hospital, which has been open for eight decades, struggled after Steward bought it in 2017. The building fell into disrepair so severe that some upper floors became infested with thousands of bats. The sewage systems on one occasion overflowed into the sinks, nurses said. A group, including some staff members from Orlando Health Rockledge Hospital, participated in a rally on March 21 to protest the announced upcoming closing of the hospital. The rally was held across U.S. 1 from the hospital. MALCOLM DENEMARK/FLORIDA TODAY/MALCOLM DENEMARK/FLORIDA TODAY / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images 'It was a sigh of relief when they declared bankruptcy, and we thought we were done with them,' said Dr. Saima Abbas, an infectious disease doctor at Rockledge. After Steward's bankruptcy filing, the hospital was sold to the local chain Orlando Health, which promised 'a new day in healthcare for residents of these communities.' The new owners made some improvements and overdue repairs to the infrastructure, said employees. But last month, Orlando Health abruptly announced it was shuttering the hospital April 22, asserting that 'years of neglect had left the facility in such poor condition that it did not meet the system's standards for patient care environments.' 'The cost to repair and renovate Rockledge Hospital far exceeds the cost of a new, state-of-the-art hospital,' the statement added. The news blindsided thousands of patients as well as the hospital's more than 900 employees, said Michael Bramson, a lieutenant paramedic at Brevard County Fire Rescue and president of the firefighters' union. The county's fire rescue, which is responsible for EMS transports, takes on average 40 people to Rockledge's emergency department daily, he added. Existing hospitals in the region — the nearest of which is at least 20 minutes away — are ill-equipped to take on the additional load. Abbas was blunt about the consequences: 'Patients are going to die in the ambulances.' Ralph de la Torre walked back to the paddock after watching his wife, Nicole Acosta, compete in Wellington, Fla., March 7. Orlando Health said in a statement that it is working on plans to build another hospital in the region, though it has not provided details on when or where. It also said that all Rockledge employees in good standing have been guaranteed positions elsewhere at Orlando Health, though many employees say relocating or commuting to the chain's other hospitals Many employees set to lose their jobs blamed Steward. 'I just really can't believe the actual hubris of him,' said Nora George, a longtime ICU nurse, when she learned de la Torre was nearby at the equestrian event. 'I'm out here working on my days off, which will soon be every day, and he's gallivanting around.' Hanna Krueger can be reached at
New York Times
05-03-2025
- Science
- New York Times
Trove of Ancient Axes Shows Early Humans Made Tools From Bones
Humans, unlike most other species, have a knack for making tools. Six million years ago, our apelike ancestors probably smashed nuts with rocks or caught termites with sticks. Around 3.3 million years ago, hominins began using flakes of stone, perhaps to cut flesh from carcasses or chop plants. And by 1.5 million years ago, they were using more sophisticated tools made of bone, according to a new study published in Nature, which dates the systematic use of bone tools to a million years earlier than archaeologists had previously thought. Ignacio de la Torre, an archaeologist at the Spanish National Research Council who led the research, said the discovery made him wonder what is left to be discovered. 'We may be missing a whole world of tools made by early humans,' he said. Dr. de la Torre has spent years exploring Tanzania, in East Africa, to investigate the early stages of human tool-making. Before 1.8 million years ago, hominins simply knocked one rock against another to split off a sharp-edged flake. But after that point, they crafted a diverse array of stone tools. One type, known as a hand ax, is a large, teardrop-shaped stone with a double-sided edge. Hominins also made cleavers and scrapers from bone. These tools — known as Acheulean technology — suggest that hominins gained an ability to conceptualize the shape of a complex tool and then sculpt a rock to bring it into existence. In 2015, Dr. de la Torre and his colleagues began digging a trench in a gully known as the T69 Complex, where they had previously found Acheulean stone tools on the ground. They hoped to find more of them embedded in the rock below, perhaps alongside bones and other clues to how hominins were using those tools. They indeed found thousands of fossils of hippopotamuses, crocodiles and fish — animals that had lived in a pond or lake some 1.5 million years ago. The researchers discovered cut marks on the hippo bones as well as more than 10,000 stone tools. They did not find any fossils of the hominins who scavenged the animals, but judging from similar sites nearby, they suspected Homo erectus — a tall, bipedal hominin — was responsible for the butchering. Then, in 2018, the scientists unearthed a surprise in their trench. As described in the new study, they found a hand ax, made not from stone but from elephant bone. To create the hand ax, hominins must have found an elephant carcass and smashed one of its massive limbs. Then, after breaking off a bone fragment, they gave it a sharp cutting edge. Before this discovery, researchers had only found a few bones at other sites in East Africa. In 2020, for example, researchers reported finding a hand ax in Ethiopia dating back 1.4 million years, made from a hippo's femur. Compared with thousands of stone tools that had been found, bone tools were so rare that it was hard to know what to make of them. 'We were not expecting at all that these humans were making bone tools,' Dr. de la Torre said. 'It led us to think there might be others.' So the researchers dug a much bigger trench and found more bone tools, some from elephants and others from hippos. The researchers then looked back at pieces of bones they had previously unearthed, which they had assumed were just fragments broken open by hominins to eat the marrow inside. On closer inspection, they could see that some of those remains were tools as well. In total, Dr. de la Torre and his colleagues found 27 bone tools, some as long as 15 inches. They were not rarities that hominins created once every 100,000 years: The scientists found all the tools in the same 20-inch-thick layer of sandstone, suggesting they were all used in a period of 'dozens of years,' he said. 'One of the genuinely exciting things about the paper is that there are so many of these things in the same site, and that is genuinely unusual,' said James Clark, an archaeologist at the University of Cambridge who was not involved in the study. The hominins living there, he said, 'clearly are very comfortable working with bone, and they're clearly very familiar with doing it.' They also seemed to plan how to use them in advance. Eight of the tools came from elephant bones, and yet the researchers found no trace of an elephant carcass. Dr. de la Torre said it was likely that the hominins had crafted the elephant-bone tools somewhere else. He speculated that the brains of hominins in this era were already so sophisticated that they could do more than just apply the image of a particular tool to any rock lying around. They went to extra lengths to obtain the bones and then turn them into tools. Dr. de la Torre said it was likely that other troves of bone tools await archaeologists at other ancient sites in Africa. 'It may be the case that we archaeologists have not looked hard enough, with the right eyes,' he said.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Scouted: I Tried Bon Charge's $2,000 Red Light Therapy Blanket—Here Are My Thoughts
Scouted selects products independently. If you purchase something from our posts, we may earn a small commission. Red light therapy is one of wellness' trendiest, buzziest modalities at the moment, but unlike a lot of viral products, it's the furthest thing from a gimmick or flash-in-the-pan trend. In fact, the multi-faceted benefits of red light therapy to humans are supported by decades of scientifically significant research, thanks to early experiments conducted by NASA in the '80s and '90s. From accelerated wound healing to reducing fine lines and wrinkles, red light therapy has a lot to offer. Red light therapy face masks have been clinically proven to address a number of skincare issues due to their regenerative and collagen-boosting properties, but what if you could extend those facial benefits to the entire body? Thanks to Bon Charge, you can. Bon Charge's Red Light Therapy Blanket is basically like a full-body LED mask. Imagine a fancy sleeping bag lined with 660nm red light and 850nm near-infrared light (NIR) inside. If you've ever used an infrared sauna blanket, this is a similar design, but its operation doesn't employ heat, so you will not be sweating (or, at least, not from any artificial heat sources). As I've enthusiastically told anyone interested, uninterested, or just standing nearby or moving too slow to escape my spiel, some of the myriad benefits of red light therapy include improved recovery post-workout, improved sleep, increased energy production, glowing skin, and even weight management. 'For decades, [light] has been researched by scientists who discovered that light in a narrow band of red and near-infrared can safely produce health benefits. The authors of thousands of published peer-reviewed papers believe that this band of light stimulates the mitochondria in your cells to create the energy we need,' Dr. Sarah de la Torre, double board-certified functional medicine practitioner, previously told The Daily Beast. 'Light energy is now being used in various health applications—from wrinkle reduction, hair growth, and wound healing to a reduction of pain and inflammation, as well as an improvement in vaginal wellness and perineal recovery after childbirth,' Dr. de la Torre said. My primary goals in using red light therapy are to improve my skin (lifting redness, softening fine lines, and preventing sagging), reduce inflammation, and accelerate recovery post-workout. Red light therapy sessions in fitness and wellness studios are usually very pricey, and while I love my red light therapy face mask lineup (Omnilux and CurrentBody's are my current go-to's), they obviously only offer benefits to the face. So naturally, when I got the opportunity to try a sample of Bon Charge's Red Light Therapy Blanket, I was and unpacked it before the delivery driver made it back to his truck. My biohacking tech lineup is growing on the daily—I've tried several infrared sauna blankets and domes, along with compression boots and vibration (all of which I love and use at least a few times a week). All that was missing was my championed red light modality. I've been using the blanket for over a month, and while it's certainly a budget killer, spoiler alert, I am obsessed with it. Read below for my full, no details spared, review. The red light therapy blanket, while admittedly quite heavy and a little unwieldy, requires basically zero installation or setup. It's on the rigid side of things, so keep that in mind when considering storage options; you won't fold it up and throw it in your home's comically full closet or corner of unorganized shame. In terms of using the actual red light tech, it couldn't be more fool-proof. You can just slide in like you would into a sleeping bag and power it on with the control. But, despite being so user-friendly, it might be truly idiot-proof this is one powerful red light device. I love that this device can be unzipped and used as two separate mats with a partner if you so choose—though I prefer to keep my sessions solo as a self-care, mindfulness, relaxation, and generally vibing ritual. On my first use, I was extremely sore from an intense leg-day workout. One of the fitness instructors at my gym mentioned that she absolutely swears by red light therapy to accelerate recovery and prevent/reduce post-exercise pains, aches, and soreness. It turned out, she was spot on. After a few hours of lying in the blanket for 20-minute intervals (the manufacturer's recommended time is between five and 20 minutes), I felt significantly better and was able to make my workout the following day despite severe 'jelly legs' when I first laid down. Now that I've been using the blanket consistently for over a month, I've noticed how much the quality and duration of my sleep have improved. In fact, I have the Oura Ring and Eight Sleep stats and graphs to prove it. Unsurprisingly, I've also noticed my skin looks more even and less flaky. I look forward to seeing an improvement in the discoloration, fine lines, and crepey skin on my neck and decolletage as I continue to use it.
