About the public’s health
Yet more data support COVID-19 aerosol transmission: “Two studies published late last week in Clinical Infectious Diseases highlight the role of airborne spread of COVID-19 and the importance of efficient ventilation systems. One study found that patients can exhale millions of viral RNA particles per hour in the early stages of disease, and the second tied an outbreak affecting 81% of residents and 50% of healthcare workers at a Dutch nursing home to inadequate ventilation.”
House suppressed coronavirus reports and downplayed virus, House panel says:
“The House Select Subcommittee on Coronavirus published eight weeks of state coronavirus reports, which are prepared by the task force and sent privately to governors.
Each report contains data on confirmed cases, testing, the mobility of a state’s residents and more for every state.
The reports directly contradict optimistic messaging pushed by President Donald Trump and other administration officials over the summer, the Democrat-led committee said.”
How many people has the coronavirus killed?:”In times of upheaval — wars, natural disasters, outbreaks of disease — researchers need to tally deaths rapidly, and usually turn to a blunt but reliable metric: excess mortality. It’s a comparison of expected deaths with ones that actually happened, and, to many scientists, it’s the most robust way to gauge the impact of the pandemic. It can help epidemiologists to draw comparisons between countries, and, because it can be calculated quickly, it can identify COVID-19 hotspots that would otherwise have gone undetected. According to data from more than 30 countries for which estimates of excess deaths are available (see ‘Terrible toll’), there were nearly 600,000 more deaths than would normally be predicted in these nations for the period between the onset of the pandemic and the end of July (413,041 of those were officially attributed to COVID-19).”
Special Report: Six Months That Changed America: Excellent review by Harris Polls on the changing public opinions during the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, in the beginning, 54% of the public thought the national fear was irrational; now 75% think the fear is sensible. Also, 69% of respondents said they would get a vaccine as soon as it becomes available. Lots of other interesting opinions about work and consumer habits.
In a related Harris Poll: Americans see hospitals as more trustworthy than FDA or CDC on COVID-19 vaccine information, poll finds:”Nearly 9 in 10 (88%) said doctors and nurses were very or somewhat trustworthy sources of information.
They were immediately followed by nationally recognized health systems like Mayo Clinic or Cleveland Clinic, as well as scientists, with 84% of Americans indicating they saw both as trustworthy. Local hospitals are seen as highly trusted on the COVID-19 vaccine with 82% of Americans saying they were very or somewhat trustworthy sources.
Meanwhile, only 73% of Americans said they saw the CDC as somewhat or very trustworthy and 72% said they saw the FDA as highly trusted. That was just ahead of drug companies that work on vaccines in general, as well as those that are specifically working on COVID-19 vaccines (71%).
Meanwhile, 61% of Americans said their employers, as well as health insurance companies, were very or somewhat trustworthy.”
Most Americans believe the Covid-19 vaccine approval process is driven by politics, not science: “Seventy-eight percent of Americans worry the Covid-19 vaccine approval process is being driven more by politics than science, according to a new survey from STAT and the Harris Poll, a reflection of concern that the Trump administration may give the green light to a vaccine prematurely.
The response was largely bipartisan, with 72% of Republicans and 82% of Democrats expressing such worries…
just 46% of the public trusts the president or the White House to provide accurate information about the development of a Covid-19 vaccine, although views vary dramatically along partisan lines — with 71% of Republicans believing Trump and only 28% of Democrats believing him.
The public is not much more more confident in the media as a source of information on vaccine development, with 47% viewing national news outlets as trustworthy. Only social media fared worse as a source of information, with just 29% of respondents trusting information on the platforms.”
And in a related story to the three above:
HHS bids $250 million contract meant to 'defeat despair and inspire hope' on coronavirus: “As the presidential election fast approaches, the Department of Health and Human Services is bidding out a more than $250 million contract to a communications firm as it seeks to “defeat despair and inspire hope” about the coronavirus pandemic, according to an internal HHS document obtained by POLITICO…
The document also lists the goals of the contract: ‘defeat despair and inspire hope, sharing best practices for businesses to operate in the new normal and instill confidence to return to work and restart the economy,’ build a ‘coalition of spokespeople’ around the country, provide important public health, therapeutic and vaccine information as the country reopens, and give Americans information on the phases of reopening.”
About health insurance
U.S. Government Starts Making $12 Billion in ACA Risk Corridors Payments: Where the money goes depends on whether the insurers are still in business. One case was Land of Lincoln, “a small, nonprofit, member-owned, Illinois-based health insurer that failed in 2016, partly because it was unable to collect the ACA risk corridors program subsidy payments it was expecting to receive.
One document on the website of the Illinois Office of the Special Deputy Receiver shows that the Land of Lincoln liquidator needed an extra $69 million to meet all obligations.
The liquidator — the director of the Illinois Department of Insurance — used an open bidding process to sell some rights to the litigation proceeds to Juris Capital, a litigation finance company, in August 2019.
Under the deal between liquidator and Juris Capital, Juris Capital will get to keep $65 million of the litigation proceeds, and the estate of Land of Lincoln will get $64 million.”
Why the lawyers get the lion’s share is not clear since the state of Illinois needs the money and the federal government financed the startup of this organization.
Judge: Neither Anthem nor Cigna to receive damages in 'corporate soap opera' over failed merger: “A Delaware judge has ruled that neither Anthem nor Cigna can receive damages in the fallout from their failed $54 billion merger.”
Aetna launches new plan design that puts focus on CVS' health services: “The Aetna Connected Plan with CVS Health will be available to employers with 101 or more workers in three Missouri Counties and two in Kansas for the 2021 plan year. While the PPO plan will offer access to many regional providers, CVS' HealthHubs and MinuteClinics are deeply embedded in the plan design, Aetna said.
For instance, one of Aetna's care managers would book the member a HealthHub appointment to discuss their diabetes. They would then be referred to a provider through MinuteClinic, who will be able to consult with the member's primary care doc and prescribe medication.”
Is this plan more fragmented care?
About healthcare IT
Accurate patient matching is even more vital amidst the COVID-19 crisis, say industry groups: The article highlights the need for unique patient identifiers.
Nearly 800,000 health records breached in August: Those were only the ones reported to HHS.
HHS Appoints Perryn Ashmore Acting CIO After Arrieta Resignation: “Perryn Ashmore, currently Principal Deputy Chief Information Officer, will begin serving as Acting Chief Information Officer (CIO) following the resignation of Jose Arrieta.”
About pharma
GoodRx files to go public, boasting track record of profitability:”The startup, which helps consumers find deals on their prescription medications, is looking to raise up to $100 million in an IPO, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Friday.
The Santa Monica, California-based company, launched in 2011, said its stock will traded on Nasdaq under the symbol GDRX, according to an S-1 filing.”
Nestle gets peanut allergy treatment with $2 billion Aimmune buyout: “Nestle will pay $2 billion to buy the remaining stake in Aimmune Therapeutics Inc, gaining full ownership of the first U.S.-approved peanut allergy treatment which has struggled with a slow launch due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Mylan, Biocon undercut insulin competitors on price with launch of Lantus copycat: “Mylan and Biocon will launch Semglee, a copy of Sanofi's insulin injection Lantus, for a wholesale acquisition cost of $147.98 per package of five 3-milliliter pens and $98.65 per 10-milliliter vial, making it the lowest-priced basal insulin on the U.S. market, the partners said Monday.”
Assessment of Variation in State Regulation of Generic Drug and Interchangeable Biologic Substitutions: “In this cross-sectional study of all 50 states and Washington, DC, substantial variation was noted in generic substitution rules for small-molecule drugs, including whether substitution was mandatory or permissive, whether patient consent and notification were required before and after substitution, and whether pharmacists were protected from liability for substitution. Almost all states imposed heightened requirements for interchangeable biologic substitution.
The findings of this study suggest a need for optimizing state drug product selection laws to improve medication adherence and reduce drug spending.”