The Future of Health Policy in a Partisan United States-Insights From Public Opinion Polls: This summary of polls over the past year highlights how Democratic and Republican views are diverging on a number of healthcare issues. Addressing the economic consequences of Covid-19 seems to be the only point of agreement.
About Covid-19
Growing Share of Americans Say They Plan To Get a COVID-19 Vaccine – or Already Have: The latest Pew Foundation poll reveals that overall, “19% of adults say they have already received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine. Another 50% say they definitely or probably plan to get vaccinated. Taken together, 69% of the public intends to get a vaccine – or already has – up significantly from 60% who said they planned to get vaccinated in November…”
One important difference is that a “majority of Black Americans (61%) now say they plan to get a COVID-19 vaccine or have already received one, up sharply from 42% who said they planned to get vaccinated in November. Differences in intent to be vaccinated among Black, White, Hispanic or Asian adults are generally smaller now than they were three months ago.”
WHO Investigators to Scrap Plans for Interim Report on Probe of Covid-19 Origins: “A World Health Organization team investigating the origins of Covid-19 is planning to scrap an interim report on its recent mission to China amid mounting tensions between Beijing and Washington over the investigation and an appeal from one international group of scientists for a new probe.
The group of two dozen scientists is calling in an open letter on Thursday for a new international inquiry. They say the WHO team that last month completed a mission to Wuhan—the Chinese city where the first known cases were found—had insufficient access to adequately investigate possible sources of the new coronavirus, including whether it slipped from a laboratory.”
No need for lengthy trials of vaccine modifications, UK regulator says: “The UK regulator will not require ‘lengthy’ clinical studies to assess Covid-19 vaccine modifications to tackle new variants, it announced on Thursday, with approval possible in as little as two weeks after final data is received from manufacturers. The decision, which was taken by Access, a consortium of regulators from the UK, Australia, Canada, Singapore and Switzerland, states that vaccine manufacturers would need to demonstrate that their modified jab produces a robust immune and antibody response using blood samples in the lab.” You can also access the story here.
US picks up vaccination pace, averaging 2M doses per day: “The average is up from one month ago, when the daily average was about 1.3 million doses.”
Outcomes and Mortality Among Adults Hospitalized With COVID-19 at US Medical Centers: “Among 192 550 adults hospitalized with COVID-19 who were discharged from 555 US medical centers, 101 089 (52.5%) were men, 83 567 (43.3%) were White, and 125 543 (65.2%) had Medicare or Medicaid insurance. The most common comorbidities included hypertension (118 418 [61.5%]), diabetes (73 939 [38.4%]), and obesity (52 759 [27.4%]).
Of patients in this cohort, 55 593 (28.9%) were admitted to the ICU, 26 221 (13.6%) died during the index hospitalization, and 5839 (3.0%) were transferred to hospice care…”
Americans are getting fewer coronavirus tests. Here’s why that’s bad.: “The average number of tests being conducted every day in America has plummeted by 33.6 percent since January, according to the Covid Tracking Project. That statistic has many experts deeply concerned because it comes just as America’s recent decrease in infections and deaths is stalling at a worrisome high level. Testing is a key tool to stopping coronavirus transmission. Without it, the virus has the potential to spread unchecked…
Some of those declines can be attributed to the overall improvement of the pandemic in the United States. With decreased cases and less transmission, fewer people have been experiencing symptoms. But there are other factors at play as the U.S. pandemic now drags on for a year: Getting tested is time-consuming. Some people also do not want to quarantine or miss work because of a pending or positive test, according to testing coordinators and experts.”
China approves sale of traditional medicine products to treat Covid-19: An interesting read. The “hard science” is still lacking.
FDA Alerts Public about Improper Use of Thermal Imaging Devices; Warns Firms for Illegally Offering Thermal Imaging Systems for Sale: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration “alerted consumers, health care providers and other users of thermal imaging systems intended to measure human body temperature—also known as telethermographic systems, infrared thermographs, thermal cameras, and ‘fever cameras’—that improper use of the systems may provide inaccurate temperature readings due to a variety of factors. Additionally, the FDA issued several Warning Letters to certain firms offering unapproved, uncleared, and unauthorized thermal imaging systems for sale.”
Scream, not swab: Dutch inventor hopes he discovered new COVID test: “Instead of unpleasant nasal swab tests, [inventor] Peter van Wees asks participants to step into an airlocked cabin and to scream, or sing. An industrial air purifier collects all the particles emitted, which are then analysed for the virus.”
About pharma
Blue Cross MN files price gouging suit against 'pharma bro' Martin Shkreli, Vyera: “In the suit, filed Thursday, the insurer says Vyera intentionally monopolized the market so it could increase prices on Daraprim—a drug used to treat infections in immunocompromised patients such as those with HIV—by more than 4,000%.
The suit names Vyera, which was formerly Turing Pharmaceuticals, alongside its parent company Phoenixus AG.”
New approaches to treating cancer with off-the-shelf immune-stimulating bispecific antibodies: “Bispecific antibodies—engineered drugs that can bind to two different tumor antigens—inhibit cancer growth by hitting multiple targets at the same time. Now three Johns Hopkins research groups are describing promising early evidence that designing bispecifics so they simultaneously bind to tumor antigens and T cells could offer a viable approach to creating off-the-shelf immuno-oncology drug treatments.
One Hopkins team zeroed in on p53, a well-known tumor-suppressor gene that becomes inactivated in some cancers, but that has proven exceptionally difficult to re-activate with drugs. The Hopkins researchers designed a bispecific antibody that could target the mutant p53 protein without interfering with intact p53 in normal cells, they explained in the journal Science.”
AstraZeneca cashes in on Moderna, collecting $1B-plus as COVID-19 added rocket fuel to the mRNA biotech's shares: “AstraZeneca cashed in its entire 7.65% take in Moderna for about $1 billion, the British pharma disclosed in its annual report (PDF). It wasn’t clear exactly when in 2020 AZ made the sale.
The revelation came weeks after Merck & Co. disclosed that it had sold off its direct Moderna holdings in the first half of the fourth quarter.”
CVS Health to invest $12.4 million in affordable housing and expand no-cost preventive health screenings in Phoenix: CVS Health “announced it will invest $12.4 million to build 60 new units of affordable housing in south Phoenix and expand the company's no-cost preventive health screening program, Project Health, in the greater Phoenix area as part of CVS Health's commitment to provide $600 million over five years to address racial inequity and social determinants of health in Black communities.”
Congress questions drug companies on opioid settlement tax deductions: The Yiddish word “Chutzpah” has been operationally defined as someone who kills his parents and then pleads for mercy because he is an orphan. This article gives pharma’s definition of this concept- companies that were penalized for their contributions to opioid abuse plan to take those payments as a tax deduction.
Walgreens expands digital services with Hinge Health, Abbott: “Walgreens is expanding its digital health partnerships so consumers can try on glasses virtually, take an at-home COVID-19 test and access mental health services.
The pharmacy retail giant is broadening offerings on the Walgreens Find Care platform to include 15 new or expanded collaborations with providers, offering easier access to care during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
About healthcare IT
Amazon’s Halo fitness tracker is getting Alexa integration: “Amazon has announced a new feature for its Halo fitness-tracking gadget: Alexa integration. With this new feature, Halo owners will be able to ask Alexa devices for various health stats, such as their sleep score or activity points obtained during the day. The integration will be off by default and owners will need the latest firmware on their Halo bands and the latest version of the iOS or Android app to enable it. Amazon says the feature rollout is starting…March 4th, and will be continuing over the next week or so.
The Halo band is Amazon’s first fitness-focused product and it’s had a less than stellar reception since it was announced last fall. Aside from the standard fitness things of tracking your movement and sleep patterns, the $99.99 Halo also has the ability to police the tone of your voice and tell you when you’re being dismissive or condescending with your words. The companion Halo app also has a feature to 3D scan your body through your phone’s camera and measure your fat composition.”
About hospitals and health systems
Sutter Health starts major financial review after posting $321M loss in 2020: “Northern California-based hospital system Sutter Health posted a $321 million operating loss for 2020, the second year in a row the system ended in the red.
The system said Thursday that it is going to start a ‘sweeping review’ of its operations and finances that will include restricting and closing some programs and services as well as seeing fewer patients.”
9 hospitals planning upgrades, expansions: This monthly update shows capital projects are continuing despite the economy.
100 top critical access hospitals, by state: “The Chartis Center for Rural Health recently released its annual list of the top 100 critical access hospitals in the U.S.
To determine the 2021 list, the Chartis Center used the Hospital Strength Index, which assesses performance in eight areas: inpatient market share, outpatient market share, quality, outcomes, patient perspective, cost, charge and financial efficiency.”