About hospitals
Best Children's Hospitals 2020-21: Honor Roll and Overview: The latest rankings from US News.
About the public’s health
Parental Hesitancy About Routine Childhood and Influenza Vaccinations: A National Survey: The need for social marketing is still great: “Almost 1 in 15 US parents are hesitant about routine childhood vaccines, whereas >1 in 4 are hesitant about influenza vaccine. Furthermore, 1 in 8 parents are concerned about vaccine safety for both routine childhood and influenza vaccines, and only 1 in 4 believe influenza vaccine is effective.”
U.S. airlines threaten to ban passengers who refuse to wear masks: “U.S. airline passengers who refuse to wear face coverings during the novel coronavirus pandemic could have their flying privileges revoked under tougher enforcement policies, the industry’s main lobby group said on Monday.”
Internal CDC memo forbids staff from speaking with Voice of America: “The April 30 internal email, which was made public in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by the Knight First Amendment Institute, stated that the CDC would not respond to interview requests from ‘anyone affiliated with Voice of America.’The email specifically cited the White House’s disapproval with the network as a reason for the decision. In April, the White House issued a statement condemning the broadcaster and accusing it of spreading Chinese propaganda…” Voice of America Director Amanda Bennett resigned today.
Individualizing Risk Prediction for Positive COVID-19 Testing: Results From 11,672 Patients: “Prediction of a COVID-19 (+) test is possible and could help direct healthcare resources. We [Cleveland Clinic researchers] demonstrate relevance of age, race, gender, and socioeconomic characteristics in COVID-19-susceptibility and suggest a potential modifying role of certain common vaccinations and drugs identified in drug-repurposing studies.”
About pharma
FDA warns hydroxychloroquine may weaken effectiveness of coronavirus drug remdesivir: Another reason to stay away from hydroxychloroquine, especially for prevention.
“In one study, the drug cut the risk of death by a third for Covid-19 patients on ventilators and by a fifth for those on supplemental oxygen.
The underlying data from the study has yet to be published, but the U.K. researchers who led the trial described the results as a ‘ground-breaking.’”
3 charged in $180M scheme to fraudulently bill federal, private payers for compounded drugs: “According to the indictment, the three defendants conspired to submit the fraudulent bills between September 2011 and January 2016. Of the $180 million, $50 million was defrauded from government payers, namely Medicare and TRICARE, the DOJ said.” Note the fraud involved federal programs. It is rare that such actions involve private insurance.