About the public’s health
Coronavirus Treatment Acceleration Program (CTAP): “The FDA has created a special emergency program for possible therapies, the Coronavirus Treatment Acceleration Program (CTAP).” This site provides information about how the FDA is streamlining its review and advice processes to expedite studies and implement results as quickly as possible.
Moderna's potential coronavirus vaccine gains FDA's 'fast track' status: “Moderna Inc said on Tuesday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted ‘fast track’ designation to its experimental coronavirus vaccine, a move that speeds up the regulatory review process…
A vaccine or treatment that gets the ‘fast track’ designation is eligible for the agency’s ‘priority review’ status, under which the FDA aims to take a decision on approving the drug within six months…
Moderna expects to start a late-stage study of the vaccine in early summer and says there is potential for a marketing application approval in 2021.
The vaccine works on the messenger RNA (mRNA) technology…”
UV light robot destroys coronavirus in 2 minutes: “A machine that uses ultraviolet light to disinfect hospitals has been shown to deactivate the novel coronavirus in just two minutes, providing a potentially effective method of removing the virus from public spaces.
Texas-based Xenex Disinfection Services recently announced a successful test of its LightStrike robot against the virus. The robot, sold in Japan by medical equipment maker Terumo, emits light of wavelengths between 200 and 315 nanometres to decontaminate beds, doorknobs and other surfaces.”
How Coronavirus Spreads through the Air: What We Know So Far: A good summary of the evidence so far…lots of “it depends” conditions.
Association Between Prenatal Exposure to Alcohol and Tobacco and Neonatal Brain Activity: Results From the Safe Passage Study: Even low levels of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) and prenatal tobacco exposure (PTE) are associated with changes in offspring brain development. In other words, there is no safe level of consumption.
About pharma
How Civica Rx has responded to drug shortages caused by COVID-19:”Civica Rx was formed to combat drug shortages, which have become a prominent issue as the COVID-19 pandemic exhausts hospital supplies around the country.
The nonprofit generic drug company was formed in 2018 by seven major health systems with the goal of preventing drug shortages. Today it works with U.S. 1,200 hospitals.
Civica has launched 20 drugs that it supplies to hospitals, and it plans to add another 20 drugs to the list this year. By 2023, the company hopes to provide 100 drugs…
Hospitals tell Civica which drugs they need, and Civica then works with generic drugmakers to manufacture and stock up on the drugs, which it keeps in warehouses. It keeps about six months' worth of drug inventory in warehouses for its hospital partners to access whenever needed…” Filling shortages is particularly important now. See: Pandemic exposes drug supply shortages doctors have grappled with for "more than two decades"
About hospitals
17 states where hospitals are largest employers: This article emphasizes the economic importance of hospitals in addition to their essential provision of healthcare.
About health insurance
More than 20M of newly unemployed could qualify for ACA tax credits: “As unemployment continues to skyrocket due to COVID-19, a new analysis shows that more than 20 million people losing job-based insurance could get a tax credit on the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA's) insurance exchanges.
But nearly 6 million people will not be eligible for such credits and must pay the full cost of coverage, according to the analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation released Wednesday.”
Proportion of Racial Minority Patients and Patients With Low Socioeconomic Status Cared for by Physician Groups After Joining Accountable Care Organizations: “In this cohort study, there were no changes in the proportions of vulnerable patients cared for by ACO-participating physician groups after joining an ACO compared with changes among nonparticipating groups.” The participating ACO patients were in a Medicare Shared Savings Program.
While the results seems to be “good news,” it would be surprising if they were otherwise. Recall patients are assigned to primary care physicians by the last Evaluation and Management codes billed to Medicare. In many, if not most, cases, physicians do not know if a patient belongs to an ACO. Further, physicians may not have any financial incentives to care for lower risk patients.