About the public’s health
Scientists uneasy as Russia approves 1st coronavirus vaccine: “Russia on Tuesday became the first country to approve a coronavirus vaccine, a move that was met with international skepticism and unease because the shots have only been studied in dozens of people…
However, scientists in Russia and other countries sounded an alarm, saying that rushing to offer the vaccine before final-stage testing could backfire. What’s called a Phase 3 trial — which involves tens of thousands of people and can take months — is the only way to prove if an experimental vaccine is safe and really works.
By comparison, vaccines entering final-stage testing in the U.S. require studies of 30,000 people each. Two vaccine candidates already have begun those huge studies, with three more set to get underway by fall.”
Over 100 bln USD to be needed to ensure access to COVID-19 vaccines: WHO chief: “World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom said Monday that for the vaccines alone, over $100 billion will be needed to ensure everyone everywhere can access the tools to fight the COVID-19 outbreak, as reported Xinhua.”
By comparison, “$10 trillion that have already been invested by G20 countries in fiscal stimulus to deal with the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic so far.’”
Citrus Flavoring Is Weaponized Against Insect-Borne Diseases:”Adding a new weapon to the fight against insect-borne illnesses like Lyme disease and malaria, the Environmental Protection Agency on Monday approved a new chemical that both repels and kills ticks and mosquitoes.
The chemical, nootkatone, an oil found in cedar trees and grapefruits, is so safe that it is used by the food and perfume industries.”
Low-cost measurement of facemask efficacy for filtering expelled droplets during speech: Duke researchers have come up with a method to test facemask performance. In short, N95 masks are very effective for the wearer but vented N95 masks do not protect others.. Handmade cotton masks were about as effective as surgical masks. Finally, neck fleece, bandanas and breathable neck gaiters were found to emit a higher droplet count than control tests involving no masks.
Filtration Efficiency of Hospital Face Mask Alternatives Available for Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic: “When new N95 respirators are unavailable, N95 respirators past their expiration date; sterilized, used N95 respirators; and other less common respirators can be acceptable alternatives.” Also, see the accompanying editorial here.
‘A Smoking Gun’: Infectious Coronavirus Retrieved From Hospital Air: “Skeptics of the notion that the coronavirus spreads through the air — including many expert advisers to the World Health Organization — have held out for one missing piece of evidence: proof that floating respiratory droplets called aerosols contain live virus, and not just fragments of genetic material…
A research team at the University of Florida succeeded in isolating live virus from aerosols collected at a distance of seven to 16 feet from patients hospitalized with Covid-19 — farther than the six feet recommended in social distancing guidelines.”
U.S. COVID-19 deaths drop for first time in four weeks:” The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 fell 16% to about 7,200 people last week, the first decline in deaths after four weeks of increases…”
Trends in Adiposity and Food Insecurity Among US Adults:”In this cross-sectional study, the estimated prevalence of food insecurity appeared to increase from 1999 to 2016 and across all levels of adiposity. These results suggest the need for multidisciplinary approaches to address the association between food insecurity and obesity in the US.”
About health insurance
Inadequate Edits and Oversight Caused Medicare to Overpay More Than $267 Million for Hospital Inpatient Claims with Post-Acute-Care Transfers to Home Health Services:”Medicare improperly paid most inpatient claims subject to the transfer policy when beneficiaries resumed home health services within 3 days of discharge but the hospitals failed to code the inpatient claim as a discharge to home with home health services or when the hospitals applied condition codes 42 (home health not related to inpatient stay) or 43 (home health not within 3 days of discharge). Of the 150 inpatient claims in our sample, Medicare properly paid 3; however, it improperly paid 147 with $722,288 in overpayments. Medicare should have paid these inpatient claims using a graduated per diem rate rather than the full payment. Based on our sample results, we estimated that Medicare improperly paid $267 million during a 2- year period for hospital services that should have been paid a graduated per diem payment.”
Humana sues Teva over recalled blood pressure drugs:”Humana filed a lawsuit against Teva Pharmaceuticals over its sale of since-recalled blood pressure medication that contained carcinogenic substances.
In 2018, the FDA said it was recalling valsartan medications because of their contamination with cancer-causing substances. Teva voluntarily recalled its valsartan drugs in 2018 for products distributed as early as October 2015.
In its lawsuit, filed Aug. 7 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, Humana aims to recover ‘substantial’ costs the insurer said it incurred from recalling and replacing Teva's generic blood pressure medication for members.”
Costs higher for those who enroll on the ACA's exchanges during special enrollment periods: study:”Researchers at Harvard examined claims data from 2015 and 2016 on about 1.5 million individual marketplace enrollees and found that 20% signed up for plans during a special enrollment period [SEP]. Those people were more likely to be younger, and their costs were 34% higher, according to the study.
Members who enrolled in an SEP had inpatient care costs that were between 69% and 114% higher, and emergency care costs that were between 11% and 19% higher.”
About pharma
CVS, Walgreens & Costco sued for not filling opioid prescriptions: “A Florida mother filed a class-action lawsuit Aug. 6 against CVS, alleging its pharmacies have been wrongfully refusing to fill legitimate opioid prescriptions.
Edith Fuog’s lawsuit alleges that numerous CVS pharmacies have denied the opioid prescriptions she uses to manage the pain from her chronic conditions since 2017.
The lawsuit claims CVS’ refusal to fill her prescriptions violates the American with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Affordable Care Act. The case was filed as a class-action lawsuit on behalf of the millions of legitimate opioid users nationwide….Ms. Fuog’s case comes after a similar one was recently filed against Walgreens and Costco by California mother Susan Smith.”
About healthcare IT
Fraudulent HIPAA Communications: An Alert from the Office for Civil Rights: The Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) “sent an alert to its listservs regarding fraudulent communications that are being sent to health care organizations around the country. OCR states that it became ‘aware of postcards being sent to health care organizations disguised as official OCR communications, claiming to be notices of a mandatory HIPAA compliance risk assessment.’ The postcards have a Washington, D.C., return address, and the imposter uses the non-existent title description of ‘Secretary of Compliance, HIPAA Compliance Division.’ OCR further explains that these postcards are being addressed to HIPAA Privacy and Security Officers and indicates that recipients should visit a website link, call or email to take immediate action on HIPAA requirements. Importantly, the website link directs individuals to a non-governmental website.”