About health insurance
Trump administration calls for Supreme Court to strike down ObamaCare: “The Trump administration on Thursday night argued in a legal brief filed to the Supreme Court that the entire Affordable Care Act (ACA) should be invalidated.
The legal filing, while expected, makes official the Trump administration's position in the Supreme Court against the health care law months ahead of the election, at a time when Democrats are hammering President trump over his position on health care.
Overturning the ACA would take away health insurance coverage for about 20 million people, and the stakes are even higher given the effects of the current pandemic.”
Humana, University of Houston started a pop-health-focused med school 2 years ago. Then COVID-19 hit: While not strictly about insurance, this venture is an interesting example of cross-sector cooperation. “Since December 2018, the Humana Integrated Health Systems Science Institute at UH has kick-started more than 15 programs and provided 10,000 hours of interdisciplinary medical education to 6,000 people including UH students, faculty, staff and Humana associates.”
About the public’s health
U.S. sets another single-day record for new coronavirus cases, surpassing 40,000 for first time: The headline speaks for itself.
The Trump administration is eyeing a new testing strategy for coronavirus, Anthony Fauci says: He advocated for “pool testing.” “The approach works this way: Samples from, say, 20 people are combined into a single pool. One coronavirus test is used on the entire pool. If the test comes back negative, researchers know they can move on to another pool of samples. If it comes back positive, only then would each individual be tested.”
Flu Vaccine Only 39% Effective This Past Season, CDC Panel Says: “The influenza vaccine was 39% effective against medically attended influenza for the 2019-2020 flu season; it offered lower protection against A/H1N1pmd09 virus 31%) compared with previous seasons but was 44% effective against B/Victoria virus, according to information presented June 24 at a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The committee voted unanimously (14 yes, 0 no) to accept changes to the influenza vaccine for the 2020-2021 season.”
LabCorp Launches COVID-19 Antibody Test: What is different about this test is that it “assesses the ability of antibodies to inhibit the SARS-CoV-2 virus.” That ability could make it particularly valuable to assess vaccine effectiveness.
New guidelines support probiotics for C. difficile prevention, but few other uses:”The American Gastroenterological Association recently issued clinical practice guidelines on the role of probiotics in the management of gastrointestinal disorders.” The “guidelines found little evidence to support probiotics in a number of the conditions assessed and recommended their use for treatment only in the context of a clinical trial for patients with Clostridioides difficile infection, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, or irritable bowel syndrome.
The guidelines suggested specific probiotics (over others or none) for prevention of C. difficile in patients on antibiotic treatment…”
Push to Expand Doctors’ Legal Immunity for Virus Draws Ire (1): “As physicians start to greenlight the joint replacements, heart procedures, and non-emergency surgeries that were postponed months earlier, the nation’s largest association of medical providers is pushing to make sure doctors aren’t held liable for any ill effects from the delayed care.” This article is a really good discussion of this issue.
About pharma
Gilead’s Virus Drug Donation Runs Out While Outbreak Deepens:”The federal government’s supply of Covid-19 treatment remdesivir will run out by June 29, leaving hospitals worried about their supplies for the summer and fall.”
No presents anymore': Inside Novartis' scheme to boost Lucentis sales in Greece: “Novartis has faced years of investigations into bribes paid to doctors in Greece, and this week, the company inked a $347 million deal with U.S. authorities to put the issue and others to rest. In a new deferred prosecution agreement, the DOJ lays out details behind the scheme and the company's efforts to conceal its illicit payments.
From 2012 to 2015, Novartis paid doctors to attend medical congresses in Greece and internationally, with per-doctor expenses sometimes exceeding $6,000 per trip…
In reality, the trips were designed to ‘improperly influence’ the Greek doctors to prescribe wet age-related macular degeneration drug Lucentis…”
About health technology
Medtronic's brain-reading stimulator nets FDA approval: Fascinating! “The FDA has approved Medtronic’s latest deep-brain stimulation implant, featuring the ability to read, capture and transmit a patient’s brain signals during therapy.
This would allow for more personalized treatments for patients with Parkinson’s disease, tremors, epilepsy, dystonia or obsessive-compulsive disorder by correlating readings with patient-recorded actions and symptoms, as well as medication intake, and then tailoring their neurostimulation accordingly, the company said. A customized Samsung mobile device also allows patients to manage their own therapy.”