About the public’s health
California pushes back school start times for middle and high school students: Teens have their own biological clocks, which have not been in synch with early school starts. California is making some changes to re-align school starting times.
Canada Opens the Door to Public Scrutiny of Clinical Drug Trials: This article explains that Canada and the EU make the application information for drugs and devices open to public review. The FDA treats that information as confidential.
Three drug distributors in negotiations to settle opioid litigation for $18 billion: report: “McKesson, AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal Health are in discussions to collectively pay $18 billion over 18 years to resolve multiple US opioid lawsuits…” The article updates the status of other settlement offers.
About health insurance
Elizabeth Warren takes heat for evasive answers on Medicare-for-all: Nothing new about healthcare from last night’s Democratic debate. Warren and Sanders still favor Medicare for All; Warren will not say anything about taxes for middle income people, while Sanders says taxes will go up; Biden wants to build on “Obamacare;” and others are for expanding solutions like Medicare for those who want it. We will need a much narrower debate field before we can nail down operational specifics. Also, read this story of a pre-debate poll of the public’s opinion of healthcare proposals and what candidates are not discussing: “58% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents believe the candidates are not spending enough time talking about women’s health, including access to reproductive health services, for instance. And more than half said the candidates were spending too little time discussing surprise medical bills and ways to lower the costs people pay for care.”
“From Incremental to Comprehensive Health Reform: How Various Reform Options Compare on Coverage and Costs: READ THIS STUDY! The Urban Institute and Commonwealth Fund explain the cost and coverage of the major insurance proposals. Bottom lines for the two “extremes”: For expansion of the current system to achieve near-universal coverage: “Federal government spending would increase by $122.1 billion in 2020, or $1.5 trillion over 10 years.” For a single payer system with no out of pocket costs: “National spending on health care would grow by about $720 billion in 2020. Federal government spending would increase by $2.8 trillion in 2020, or $34.0 trillion over 10 years.” For the detailed analysis of eight proposals see: Urban Institute site or Commonwealth Fund site.
Federal judge overturns ObamaCare transgender protections: Remember Federal Judge Reed O’Connor of the Northern District of Texas? He was the one who ruled that the ACA is unconstitutional because there is no longer a penalty for not having health insurance. Yesterday he “overturned ObamaCare protections for transgender patients, ruling that a 2016 policy violates the religious freedom of Christian providers.” Undoubtedly, this decision will also be appealed.
House progressives plot overhaul of Pelosi drug pricing bill (Statnews- limited access): Some progressive House members are trying to tweak Speaker Pelosi’s drug pricing bill. It is a classic case if the perfect (or at least as they see it) being the enemy of the good. This action will only delay possible passage and implementation.
About diagnostics
Genealogy company Ancestry launches consumer genetic health testing as a rival to 23andMe: The headline explains the message. For more background on the regulation of such testing, see Chapter 7, Technology.
About healthcare quality and safety
Child dies in Cuba after receiving vaccine made in India. It’s not the first time: It is unclear if the problem was in the vaccine (MMR) or the liquid needed to prepare it for injection. Both are supplied by Serum Institute of India, which “produces 26 vaccines distributed in 80 countries, most of them with low or medium levels of income.” Investigation is underway.
About pharma
UK Bans ‘Parallel Export’ of 24 Drugs to Protect Supply: White House proposals to lower drug costs depend on importation of less costly medication from abroad. However, some countries face the same shortages as we do and they will limit their export to other countries. This example from the UK is one such instance.
FDA Clears First Transdermal Patch for Schizophrenia: This announcement is a great marketing case discussion. Assuming drug effectiveness, what was is the most important problem that needs to be addressed in medicating this population? (Hint: it is not needle injection avoidance.) Will the patch form of medication solve this problem?
About healthcare professionals
MGMA19: 7 predictions for what lies ahead in healthcare in 2020: What’s on the minds of Medical Group Management leadership? This article provides insights from the 2019 annual meeting. Those priorities are good marketing opportunities.