About Covid-19
Cheap antidepressant shows promise treating early COVID-19: “The pill, called fluvoxamine, would cost $4 for a course of COVID-19 treatment. By comparison, antibody IV treatments cost about $2,000 and Merck’s experimental antiviral pill for COVID-19 is about $700 per course. Some experts predict various treatments eventually will be used in combination to fight the coronavirus.”
The impact of school opening model on SARS-CoV-2 community incidence and mortality: “After controlling for case rate trends before school start, state-level mitigation measures and community activity level, SARS-CoV-2 incidence rates were not statistically different in counties with in-person learning versus remote school modes in most regions of the United States. In the South, there was a significant and sustained increase in cases per week among counties that opened in a hybrid or traditional mode versus remote…”
Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Saliva-Based COVID-19 Test Gets EUA: “The saliva collection devices are self-contained systems that provide sample consistency and long-term stability. The samples can be shipped and stored at ambient temperatures with no degradation in quality, the company said.
Thermo Fisher’s SDNA saliva collection devices protect DNA and RNA transcripts postcollection to help ensure accurate test results from 2 mm of saliva.”
Tennessee lawmakers aim to protect physicians who use unapproved COVID treatments: “Tennessee state Reps. Debra Moody and Chris Todd have proposed legislation that would prevent punishment of physicians who recommend treatments for COVID-19 that have not been approved by the FDA to treat the disease…”
More Than 8 in 10 Unvaccinated Americans Don’t Want a COVID Vaccine: “New data from the COVID Behaviors Dashboard, developed by the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, show that 83 percent of those who remain unvaccinated against COVID-19 in the United States have little or no interest in ever getting a vaccine.
The findings, collected from more than one million people surveyed in the United States in September, suggest that many Americans have made up their minds, leaving them and those around them at higher risk of dying from COVID-19…”
Interim Clinical Considerations for Use of COVID-19 Vaccines Currently Approved or Authorized in the United States: The latest from the CDC. Among the recommendations is one that immunocompromised people may need a 4th dose.
Merck signs pact to broaden generic manufacturing of COVID-19 pill: “Merck & Co has signed a licensing agreement with the United Nations-backed Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) that will allow more companies to manufacture generic versions of its experimental oral antiviral COVID-19 treatment…”
About health insurance
Kaiser defrauded Medicare of $1B, Justice Department alleges: “Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente and various affiliates defrauded Medicare of about $1 billion by adding diagnoses to patients' medical records to increase reimbursement, the Justice Department alleged in a complaint filed Oct. 25.
The Justice Department alleges that Kaiser physicians submitted inaccurate diagnosis codes for Medicare Advantage beneficiaries from 2009 through 2018.”
Association of Expanded Health Care Networks With Utilization Among Veterans Affairs Enrollees: “Individuals who lived 40 or more miles away from a VA facility were automatically eligible for an expanded health care network through non-VA practitioners (VA community care); those living less than 40 miles away from a VA facility were not automatically eligible…
In this study, expanded network access was associated with increased total health care utilization among affected enrollees in the VA.”
The results are probably not a surprise, but gives the magnitude of the accessibility problem for veterans.
Aetna launches Gene-Based, Cellular and Other Innovative Therapies (GCIT) designated network: “Aetna , a CVS Health company (NYSE CVS), announced the launch of its designated Gene-based, Cellular, and Other Innovative Therapies (GCIT) network. This network is designed to enable members' access to new therapies that treat and potentially cure rare genetic diseases, while helping to manage the high cost of these therapies. Aetna's national GCIT network includes access to more than 75 designated GCIT service providers that have demonstrated quality and value in the delivery of GCIT services…
Beginning January 1, 2022, Aetna's designated GCIT network will provide three gene therapy services, including Luxturna, Spinraza and Zolgensma for the treatment of inherited retinal disease and spinal muscular atrophy. The GCIT network is included as a standard medical benefit in all Aetna fully insured plans and is also available to self-insured plans.”
If all pending treatments are FDA approved, Aetna expects these gene therapies will add an extra $45 trillion to healthcare prices between 2020 to 2024.”
In a related article: NIH, FDA and 15 private organizations join forces to increase effective gene therapies for rare diseases: “The newly launched Bespoke Gene Therapy Consortium (BGTC), part of the NIH Accelerating Medicines Partnership (AMP) program and project-managed by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), aims to optimize and streamline the gene therapy development process to help fill the unmet medical needs of people with rare diseases.
UnitedHealthcare alleges TeamHealth exaggerated ER care: “Health insurance company UnitedHealthcare is suing TeamHealth, a company that staffs hospital emergency rooms, alleging TeamHealth billed for more expensive ER services that didn't match the care doctors actually provided…
UnitedHealthcare analyzed ER claims and records from TeamHealth, saying they found 62% of TeamHealth's claims involving the highest-paying ER codes were unjustified by notes in medical records.”
Medicare Punishes 2,499 Hospitals for High Readmissions: “In its 10th annual round of penalties, Medicare is reducing its payments to 2,499 hospitals, or 47% of all facilities. The average penalty is a 0.64% reduction in payment for each Medicare patient stay from the start of this month through September 2022. The fines can be heavy, averaging $217,000 for a hospital in 2018, according to Congress’ Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, or MedPAC. Medicare estimates the penalties over the next fiscal year will save the government $521 million. Thirty-nine hospitals received the maximum 3% reduction, and 547 hospitals had so few returning patients that they escaped any penalty.”
Look Up Your Hospital: Is It Being Penalized By Medicare?
Drug pricing, most Medicare expansions are out of Biden's economic bill: A good summary of the latest compromises.
About the public’s health
HHS pledges more effort, resources toward harm reduction for drug users: “Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra outlined the Biden administration’s strategy for curbing drug overdoses Wednesday, committing more federal support for harm reduction techniques such as distribution of clean syringes and test strips used to check street drugs for hidden fentanyl.
The four-part strategy also includes measures to prevent drug addiction, in part by continuing to reduce the inappropriate prescribing of opioids; expanding medication-based treatment, which research has shown to be the most effective approach; and improving support for people recovering from substance use disorder.”
Phthalate and novel plasticizer concentrations in food items from U.S. fast food chains: a preliminary analysis: “A selection of popular fast food items sampled in this study contain detectable levels of replacement plasticizers and concerning ortho-phthalates. In addition, food handling gloves contain replacement plasticizers, which may be a source of food contamination. These results, if confirmed, may inform individual and regulatory exposure reduction strategies.”
Federal Trade Commission Cigarette Report 2020: Cigarette sales increased by 800 million units from 2019 to 2020, the first increase in twenty years. Advertising and promotional expenses also increased during that time. Of note is the report did not include vaping products.
About hospitals and health system
CHS sees profit rise, faces lawsuit over Quorum bankruptcy: “Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems, which operates 83 hospitals in 16 states, saw revenues decline in the third quarter of this year but ended the period with higher net income. The hospital operator released its third-quarter earnings two days after being sued over the 2020 bankruptcy of a company it spun off…
CHS released its quarterly earnings a few days after being sued over the 2020 bankruptcy of Quorum Health, a company it spun off in 2016. The complaint, filed Oct. 25, alleges actions by CHS and Credit Suisse Group burdened Quorum with more than $1.2 billion in debt. CHS tapped Credit Suisse as an adviser during the spinoff…”
About healthcare IT
TransUnion divests RCM unit in $1.74B deal: “nThrive, a healthcare revenue cycle management software-as-a-service platform, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire TransUnion Healthcare, the healthcare data and analytics business of TransUnion.”
About pharma
In the Midst of COVID-19 Crisis, 7 out of 10 Big Pharma Companies Spent More on Sales and Marketing than R&D: “The AHIP analysis examined the 10 largest pharmaceutical companies by revenue in 2020. Using pharmaceutical companies’ own annual reports and other financial filings…
Of the 10 drug manufacturers examined, 7 of them spent more on selling and marketing expenses than they did on research and development. For this group of 10 companies alone, selling and marketing expenses exceeded R&D spending by $36 billion, or 37%. Moreover, this use of dollars occurred during a year dedicated to the development of new treatments and vaccines to overcome the COVID-19 crisis.”
The article has some company specifics.