About the public’s health
Scientists develop hand-held rapid test that can diagnose bacterial infections in less than ONE HOUR: If the technology pans out, it could be a huge public health benefit- cutting down on unnecessary antibiotics and the consequent drug-resistant bacteria.
The test “uses specially-designed molecules that can detect specific proteins, unique to a particular bacteria.
The molecules are embedded in a microchip - making for a test that's small and easy to use.
The microchip is part of a handheld device, similar to a blood glucose monitor. Users can plug the device - which is about the size of a USB stick - into a smartphone to see their results.”
Helping Drug Users Survive, Not Abstain: ‘Harm Reduction’ Gains Federal Support: “Overdoses have surged during the pandemic. Now, for the first time, Congress has appropriated funds specifically for programs that distribute clean syringes and other supplies meant to protect users.”
Juul agrees to pay North Carolina $40 million to settle vaping accusations: “E-cigarette company Juul agreed to pay North Carolina $40 million to settle allegations that the company aggressively marketed its products to young people, leading to addiction to its high-nicotine vapes, Attorney General Josh Stein announced Monday.”
About Covid-19
WHO recommends masks -- even for vaccinated people -- because of delta variant: “‘Vaccine alone won’t stop community transmission,’ Dr. Mariangela Simao, WHO’s assistant director-general for access to medicines and health products, said during a briefing in Geneva… ‘People need to continue to use masks consistently, be in ventilated spaces, hand hygiene ... the physical distance, avoid crowding. This still continues to be extremely important, even if you’re vaccinated when you have a community transmission ongoing.’”
Why Are People with Obesity More Vulnerable to COVID?: “In a healthy body, adipose tissue plays a positive role, serving as reservoir of energy in times of food scarcity. Fat tissue is also full of immune system cells. And in lean, healthy individuals, it secretes factors that are anti-inflammatory and protective.
If, however, the fat tissue becomes unhealthy, as often happens in people with obesity, it can become dysfunctional and secrete hormones and other chemical signals that promote chronic low-grade inflammation. This constant simmering state—often present in elderly as well as people with obesity—is not the same as normal inflammation, which is self-limiting and part of the body’s response to infection, damaged cells and other threats. Chronic inflammation raises the risk of a number of conditions, including autoimmune diseases, certain cancers and ailments of the heart, pancreas, lungs, stomach and reproductive system. It may also be the reason a high body mass index (BMI) is associated with poorer outcomes from infectious diseases, including COVID-19.
Researchers are still working out the mechanisms by which this inflammation occurs.”
OSHA Updates N95 Mask FAQs: “Internet rumors have been circulating for a while now that assert the N95 masks do not protect wearers from COVID-19 transmission. The main reason given is that the fabric used blocks few, if any, of the smallest virus particles.
OSHA’s addition to its COVID-19 FAQs regarding respirators and particle size posits states: “Will an N95 respirator protect the wearer from the virus that causes COVID-19?” OSHA’s answer is that yes, an N95 respirator is in fact effective in protecting workers from the virus that causes COVID-19.”
AstraZeneca kick-starts new COVID variant-busting vaccine test: “AZD2816 has been built using the same adenoviral vector platform as its existing vax, with minor genetic alterations to the spike protein based specifically on the so-called beta (B.1.351, South African) variant.”
About health insurance
Supreme Court upholds site-neutral pay cuts: “The U.S. Supreme Court on June 28 declined to hear an appeal challenging HHS' site-neutral payment policy, allowing reimbursement cuts to move forward…
In its final Outpatient Prospective Payment System rule of 2019, CMS made payments for clinic visits site neutral by reducing the payment rate for evaluation and management services provided at off-campus, provider-based departments.”
This decision will have a profound impact on hospital finances. One result will be a halt or slowdown in hospital purchases of physician practices. These acquisitions were heavily subsidized by the hospital’s ability to charge a higher rate for the same services the physicians provided while independent.
Few adults are aware of hospital price transparency requirements: About 10% of survey respondents were aware that price transparency was required. About 15% of respondents said they searched for hospital prices in the past year.
Kaiser, Molina, HealthNet accused of running 'ghost networks' in California: “San Diego's city attorney sued three health insurers June 25, accusing Kaiser Permanente, Molina Healthcare and HealthNet of misleading members with inaccurate provider directories.
In her lawsuit, City Attorney Mara Elliott claimed that the provider directories of Kaiser and HealthNet, a subsidiary of Centene, have error rates of at least 35 percent. Molina's provider directory had an error rate as high as 80 percent, Ms. Elliott alleges.”
HHS Revokes Medicaid Work Requirements in Arizona, Indiana: “The Department of Health and Human Services continued its attack on work requirements in state Medicaid programs, informing Arizona and Indiana that it is withdrawing approval for must-work provisions approved during the Trump administration.
Requiring poor adults to work as a condition of receiving health care would likely decrease Medicaid enrollment without increasing employment, and would be especially inappropriate during the Covid-19 pandemic, the HHS said in the Thursday letters to Arizona and Indiana.”
About healthcare IT
Telehealth use falls 37% from pandemic highs, while demand for healthcare services projected to flatten: report: A report from Trilliant Health is well worth perusing, if not reading in detail. With respect to telehealth, it comment that the myth is everyone loves it. The truth is that less than 15% of the US population used it last year.
Calming Computer Jitters: Help for Seniors Who Aren’t Tech-Savvy: “A recent survey from AARP, conducted in September and October… found that older adults boosted technology purchases during the pandemic but more than half (54%) said they needed a better grasp of the devices they’d acquired. Nearly 4 in 10 people (37%) admitted they weren’t confident about using these technologies…
Before the pandemic, Generations on Line provided free in-person training sessions at senior centers, public housing complexes, libraries and retirement centers. When those programs shut down, it created an online curriculum for smartphones and tablets (www.generationsonline.org/apps) and new tutorials on Zoom and telehealth as well as a ‘family coaching kit’ to help older adults with technology. All are free and available to people across the country.”
Ohio health system employee snooped 7,000+ patients' EHRs for 11+ years: “Canton, Ohio-based Aultman Health Foundation recently began notifying around 7,300 patients that their protected health information had been inappropriately accessed by a former health system employee over the past decade..
The former employee accessed patient information outside the scope of their job responsibilities between Sept. 14, 2009, and April 26, 2021. The employee has not been identified but has been fired and no longer has access to patient data, the health system said.
The employee accessed patients' names, Social Security numbers, health insurance information, addresses, birthdates and treatment information, according to the report.”
About pharma
J&J agrees to pay $230M to settle New York opioid claim: “Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay $230 million to New York state to settle claims that the pharmaceutical giant helped fuel the opioid crisis, Attorney General Letitia James said on Saturday.
The drugmaker also agreed to permanently end the manufacturing and distribution of opioids across New York and the rest of the nation, James said in a statement announcing the settlement.”
3 Pharmacies Cut From NY Opioid Trial, CVS Reaches Deal: “Walmart, CVS and Rite Aid have been severed from New York state and two Long Island counties' swiftly approaching opioid trial, a spokesman for plaintiffs firm Simmons Hanly Conroy LLC told Law360 on Friday, while a CVS representative confirmed the counties had reached a deal with the pharmacy. The CVS representative did not state the amount of the deal with Suffolk and Nassau counties but said the settlement reflected the company's position that ‘opioid prescriptions are written by doctors, not pharmacists, and that opioid medications are made and marketed by manufacturers, not pharmacies.’”
Crispr gene-editing ‘revolution’ treats internal organ for first time: Crispr gene-editing has been performed on cells removed from the patient’s body and then re-infused. This new technique directly injects the gene-altering material.
“The Boston-based start-up, working with biotech company Regeneron, treated transthyretin amyloidosis, a devastating disease in which a build-up of a problematic protein hits a patient’s heart and nervous system, cutting their life expectancy…
In its phase 1 trial, a Crispr treatment was inserted in a lipid nanoparticle, which was picked up in the blood by the same tissue that grabs cholesterol globules, and transported to the liver. There, the one-off treatment inactivated the TTR gene and reduced the problematic protein 87 per cent in patients on the highest dose. There were no serious side effects by day 28.”
Novartis says it overpaid Roche's Genentech nearly $210 million in a licensing deal—and it wants its money back: “For years, Novartis said it dutifully shelled out tens of millions to Genentech as part of a patent licensing deal that dated back to 2005. Later, the Swiss pharma discovered it accidentally overpaid by nearly $210 million.
Those are the central arguments in a lawsuit filed by Novartis against its Swiss pharma counterpart seeking $209.5 million. In the suit, which recently made its way to California federal court, Novartis says Genentech isn't coughing up the dough.”
Sanofi offloads 16 consumer health brands to Stada amid CEO Hudson's refocusing effort: “As part of its quest to streamline consumer healthcare—and eventually spin off the unit as a standalone business—Sanofi will offload 16 consumer health products to Germany’s Stada Arzneimittel, the companies said Monday.”
About hospitals and health systems
Key hospital metrics showing recovery, Kaufman Hall says: “Hospitals across the U.S. have seen gains across key metrics in the first five months of 2021 when compared to last year, according to a new report from healthcare consulting firm Kaufman Hall.
In particular, volumes, margins and revenues were up compared to 2020 levels. The volumes also are starting to approach pre-pandemic levels…
Not including federal relief payments, the median operating margin for hospitals in May was 2.6 percent. With the funding, the median operating margin was 3.5 percent.
Compared to the first five months of 2020, hospital operating margin rose 95.2 percent year to date, according to the report.
Kaufman Hall attributed the increase in year-to-date margin to patient volume increases, especially compared to the volumes last year when there were national restrictions on elective procedures.”
And in a related article: Hospital Stocks’ Rally Points to Post-Covid Growth