About the public’s health
The Health 202: The Trump administration is pulling Medicare and Medicaid levers to combat coronavirus: The federal government is relaxing some requirements so more people can get care. Two notable actions: 1. Patients do not need an established relationship with a physician to be eligible for telehealth services. 2. Medicaid waivers can be easily expanded to cover more beneficiaries.
The Joint Commission suspends regular surveys: “The Joint Commission is suspending all regular surveying beginning Monday, March 16, 2020. In some cases, there may be a small number of surveys that will need to continue, such as high-risk situations. We will provide more details soon on what surveys are proceeding.
At this time, we do not have an anticipated restart date.”
The Workers Who Face the Greatest Coronavirus Risk: The article provides an interactive chart quantifying risk for various professions. Riskiest- dental hygienist. Loggers are the safest.
Estimated Worldwide Mortality Attributed to Secondhand Tobacco Smoke Exposure, 1990-2016:”Although the number of pack-years and the number of individuals who smoke associated with the death of 1 individual who did not smoke favorably changed over the study period, as of 2016, 52.3 individuals who smoked were associated with the death of 1 individual who did not smoke.”
Cigarette packs and ads to include graphic warnings starting next year, FDA says: “Beginning on June 18, 2021, the new cigarette health warnings will be required on cigarette packages and in advertisements, occupying the top 50% of the area on the front and back panels of packages and at least 20% of the area at the top of cigarette ads, according to the FDA.” See the article for examples of the graphics and messages that must be displayed. Other countries have required such labeling for years.
About pharma
Teva launches Herceptin biosimilar in U.S.: “The Wholesale Acquisition Cost (WAC) is $1,402.50 for the 150 mg product and $3,927.00 for 420 mg, a 10% discount to the WAC of Herceptin.
For comparison purposes, Pfizer launched its Herceptin biosimilar, Trazimera, on February 19 at a 22% discount to the original while Amgen… and collaboration partner Allergan…launched Kanjinti, their Herceptin biosimilar, in July 2019 at a 15% discount.” It is interesting to see different pricing strategies for these biosimilars- particularly a decreasing discount with each successive entrant.
Prescription Drug Pricing Act would save more than $94 billion in the first decade, CBO says: “The savings are due in part to strict price-reporting controls on pharmaceutical companies and the continuance of drug manufacturer rebates.” However, the Act has been sitting in the Senate for months and now has moved to the back burner with COVID-19 issues.