About Covid-19
CDC asks Justice Department to appeal judge’s ruling that struck down mask mandate “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that the Justice Department appeal a federal judge’s decision that struck down the mask mandate on public transportation, the agency announced.”
Rates of COVID-19 Among Unvaccinated Adults With Prior COVID-19 “Among 121 615 patients with more than 10 million days of follow-up, unvaccinated individuals with prior symptomatic COVID-19 had 85% lower risk of acquiring COVID-19 than unvaccinated individuals without prior COVID-19. Prior studies investigating protection against SARS-CoV-2 reinfection found similar results, with protection associated with natural immunity ranging from 80.5% to 100%. This level of protection is similar to that reported for mRNA vaccines.”
Rise in at-home testing means we could be undercounting Covid-19 cases even more than before “The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimates that only 7% of positive Covid-19 cases in the US are being detected, meaning case rates are actually 14.5 times higher than officially reported. The last time the infection detection rate was this low was at the outset of the pandemic, in March 2020.”
Omicron BA.2 overall makes up more than 90% of COVID variants in U.S. - CDC “The BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron and its sublineage BA.2.12.1 is estimated to make up more than 90% of the coronavirus variants in the United States as of April 16, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Tuesday.”
About health insurance
Anthem beats the Street with $1.8B in Q1 profit “Anthem beat the Street in the first quarter, reporting $1.8 billion in profit.
That's an 8.4% increase over the prior-year quarter, where the company earned $1.67 billion, according to its earnings report released Wednesday morning.
The insurer also surpassed Wall Street's expectations on revenue, according to Zacks Investment Research, with $38.1 billion. It reported $32.4 billion in revenue for the first quarter of 2021, making for 17.6% growth year over year.”
These figures give a 4.7% margin, which is solid in this sector.
About hospitals and healthcare systems
Trinity to become sole owner of MercyOne, acquire CommonSpirit's share “Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health and Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health have signed an agreement for Trinity to acquire all MercyOne Health System assets and facilities.
Clive, Iowa-based MercyOne has 16 medical centers, 27 affiliate organizations and more than 420 care sites, according to a joint news release. It employs more than 20,000 people.”
About pharma
Promoting biosimilars could save large employers billions “In 2018, all U.S. self-insured employers could have saved $1.4 billion and realized significant savings for their employees by promoting the use of biosimilars in employer-sponsored health plans.”
Alabama AG Ends Opioid Holdout With Deals Worth $276M “Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall on Tuesday unveiled $276 million in settlements with opioid manufacturers and distributors, saying the deals give the state a better bargain than it would have come away with under nationwide settlements. The agreements put to rest Alabama's claims against manufacturers Endo Pharmaceuticals and Johnson & Johnson and distributor McKesson Corp. for their parts in exacerbating the opioid epidemic in Alabama…”
BREAKING: Endo Wins Reversal Of Opioid Default; Judge DQ'd “A Tennessee appeals court on Wednesday erased a trial judge's decision finding Endo Pharmaceuticals liable for opioid abuse because of discovery misconduct and disqualified the judge, saying he improperly approved the stunning sanction amid pending charges of bias against the drugmaker. In a seven-page opinion, a three-judge Tennessee Court of Appeals panel vacated the default judgment against Endo after finding that Circuit Court Judge Jonathan Lee Young appeared ‘antagonistic to the interests of those in the pharmaceutical industry’ when he discussed opioid litigation in Facebook posts and an interview with Law360.”
Johnson & Johnson to Settle Remicade Antitrust Lawsuit for $25 Million “Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has reportedly agreed to pay $25 million to settle a lawsuit over an alleged antitrust scheme involving its blockbuster immunosuppressive drug Remicade (infliximab).
The settlement, filed in a federal court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, is intended to resolve class-action claims against the company for its alleged obstruction of insurers covering generic versions of Remicade…”
FDA Approves Amneal’s Avastin Biosimilar “The FDA has approved Amneal Pharmaceuticals’ Alymsys (bevacizumab-maly) as a biosimilar of Roche’s blockbuster cancer drug Avastin.
The biosimilar was developed by mAbxience and licensed to Roche’s subsidiary Genentech in 2018 for supplying to the U.S. market.”
About the public’s health
Groups launch health equity coalition dedicated to chronic disease advocacy “Several civil rights, equity and healthcare groups have formed a coalition focused on advancing health equity among communities of color living with chronic diseases.
The Health Equity Coalition on Chronic Disease (HECCD) is a nationwide effort dedicated to current members—which are expected to expand—including the Association of Black Cardiologists, the Black Women’s Health Imperative, the National Association of Hispanic Nurses, the League of United Latin American Citizens and the National Minority Quality Forum. Its first year, it will focus on obesity, which disproportionately impacts communities of color.”
About healthcare IT
Hive Ransomware HHS Cybersecurity warns that “Hive is an exceptionally aggressive, financially-motivated ransomware group known to maintain sophisticated capabilities who have historically targeted healthcare organizations frequently.”
More details are in the announcement.
About healthcare personnel
Investing in Primary Care: Why It Matters for Californians with Commercial Coverage “Key Findings:
The percentage of primary care spending varied more than twofold among the plans, from a low of 4.9% to high of 11.4%, mostly below other states’ recommended levels of 9% to 12%.
Greater investment in primary care among health plans was associated with better quality care and fewer hospital visits.
Among the provider organizations, larger investments in primary care were associated with better quality, better patient experience, and fewer hospital and emergency room visits, as well as a lower total cost of care.
If provider organizations in the lower brackets of primary care spending matched those in the highest bracket of spending, 25,000 acute hospital stays and 89,000 emergency room visits would be avoided, and $2.4 billion in overall health care spending would be saved in a single year.”
About health technology
44 'breakthrough' medical devices that earned FDA approval “The FDA's Breakthrough Devices Program has helped at least 44 medical devices become authorized and enter the market since it launched in 2015, the agency said April 15.
The FDA has given a "breakthrough" designation to more than 650 medical devices, according to the agency's website. The label does not indicate safety approval, but designates a product as potentially lifesaving and fast-tracks its development, testing and approval process.”
The article lists these devices.