About Covid-19
Call for Stories and Research on Health Misinformation: “U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy is calling for research, data, and personal experiences related to health misinformation, in an effort to deepen our collective understanding of its sources and impact.”
Effectiveness of Ad26.COV2.S [J&J] Vaccine vs BNT162b2 [Pfizer/BioNTech] Vaccine for COVID-19 Hospitalizations: “This study found that the Ad26.COV2.S vaccine is less effective against COVID-19–related hospitalization than the BNT162b2 vaccine. These results strengthen the evidence supporting a second dose in people who received the Ad26.COV2.S vaccine by an mRNA vaccine as recommended in both France and the US.”
In Symbolic Vote, Senate Rejects Vaccine Mandate for Health Workers: “In a vote forced by Republicans, the measure passed 49 to 44 along party lines, after six Democratic absences left the majority party short of the votes needed to defeat it. The measure is all but certain to die in the Democratic-controlled House; even if it cleared that chamber, the White House said on Wednesday that Mr. Biden would veto it.”
Hundreds of COVID trials could provide a deluge of new drugs: A great summary of what has been approved and what is in the pipeline.
Prioritizing Case Investigation and Contact Tracing for COVID-19: Some highlights of a new policy this week from the CDC:
—”Universal case investigation and contact tracing are not recommended for COVID-19.
—Health department jurisdictions should prioritize specific settings and groups at increased risk.
—Case investigation and contact tracing are separate processes with distinct benefits and goals; decisions to initiate either should be made separately.
—Investigations should focus on COVID-19 cases and close contacts with onsets and exposures in the previous 5 days for those settings and groups at increased risk.”
U.S. to share some coronavirus technologies with World Health Organization: “Under the plan, some technologies now being developed by the National Institutes of Health will be licensed to the WHO’s COVID-19 Technology Access Pool, senior NIH official Anthony S. Fauci told reporters. The technologies will also be sub-licensed to the United Nations-backed Medicines Patent Pool.
Fauci declined to detail which technologies would be made available for licensing by other countries, saying the plan’s details were ‘still being ironed out.’”
About health insurance
Suburban Chicago Businessman Admits Swindling Hospital in Connection With Attempted Purchases of Personal Protective Equipment: “Haggerty and two business partners in March 2020 formed a company called At Diagnostics Inc. to sell personal protective equipment. The company reached an agreement with a hospital in Iowa to sell 500,000 N95 respirator masks for $2.495 million. Haggerty created an invoice to reflect the agreement and to instruct the hospital on where to wire the payment. Based on the invoice, the hospital on March 31, 2020, wired the money to a bank account that Haggerty falsely claimed was an At Diagnostics account but which was actually the account of a different business solely controlled by Haggerty.
Haggerty admitted in a plea agreement that he spent part of the money for his own personal benefit, including purchasing two Maserati automobiles and a Land Rover sport-utility vehicle, paying nearly $189,000 to credit card companies, withdrawing more than $147,000 in cash, and paying $20,000 to a personal friend. Haggerty further admitted that At Diagnostics never delivered the masks, and when questioned about it by the hospital he falsely claimed that the bank had no record of the hospital’s payment being received.”
Memorandum Regarding Continuing Surprise Billing Protections for Consumers: From the US Department of Labor Department of Labor:
”On February 23, 2022, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, in the case of Texas Medical Ass'n, et al. v. United States Department of Health and Human Services, et al., Case No. 6:21-cv-425 (E.D. Tex.), invalidated portions of an interim final rule, Requirements Related to Surprise Billing; Part II, 86 Fed. Reg. 55,980 (Oct. 7, 2021) (the "Rule"), issued by the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury (the "Departments") governing aspects of the federal independent dispute resolution (IDR) process under the No Surprises Act.
This court's order did not affect any of the Departments' other rulemaking under the No Surprises Act. Thus, consumers continue to be protected from surprise bills for out-of-network emergency services, out-of-network air ambulance services, and certain out-of-network services received at in-network facilities. The patient-provider dispute resolution process for uninsured and self-pay consumers to dispute bills that exceed a provider's or facility's good faith estimate by $400 or more also remains available and unchanged by the court's order. To learn more about these protections, visit www.cms.gov/nosurprises.”
Bright Health Group Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2021 Results: “Bright Health Group, Inc., a diversified healthcare services company building a technology-enabled, fully-aligned, national Integrated System of Care personalized for consumers, reported [yesterday] financial results for its fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2021.” As usual for these type of reports, the article leads with a rosy forecast from the CEO: "Bright Health Group achieved substantial growth in 2021, delivering $4 billion in Revenue, and reaching a significant scale milestone of serving over 1 million health plan lives for the start of 2022.”
However, the Medical Expense and Operating Cost Ratios are at their historic highest, with adjusted EBITDA loss of $1,080.9 million and GAAP Net Loss of $1,178.4 million.
About hospitals and healthcare systems
DO HIGHER-PRICED HOSPITALS DELIVER HIGHER-QUALITY CARE?: “Being admitted to a hospital with two standard deviations higher prices raises spending by 52% and lowers mortality by 1 percentage point (35%). However, the relationship between higher prices and lower mortality is only present at hospitals in less concentrated markets. Receiving care from an expensive hospital in a concentrated market increases spending but has no detectable effect on mortality.”
CMS wallops nursing homes with planned staffing requirements and increased penalties: “The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will establish minimum staffing requirements as part of a broad plan to “crack down on unsafe nursing homes,” the White House announced on Monday.
The agency said it plans to conduct a new study to determine the level and type of staffing needed to ensure safe and quality care and will issue proposed rules within one year.”
About pharma
Civica to manufacture, distribute insulin at discounted price: “Civica, a nonprofit generic pharmaceutical company, plans to manufacture and distribute three insulins to make them available to people with diabetes at significantly lower prices than those currently on the market.
The company will produce glargine, lispro and aspart, the generic versions of Lantus, Humalog and Novolog, respectively, and plans to recommend consumer prices be capped at $30 per vial and $55 for a box of five pen cartridges, according to a March 3 news release.
Civica will co-develop the drugs with GeneSys Biologics, complete clinical trials and file FDA approval applications. The company expects glargine, the first insulin it plans to produce, will be available in early 2024, pending FDA approval.”
Sacklers agree to $6 billion Purdue bankruptcy settlement over opioid crisis: “The Sackler family members who own Purdue Pharma have agreed to pay up to $6 billion to settle a hotly contested bankruptcy plan, which will allow state governments and tens of thousands of people to be compensated for the company’s role in the opioid crisis.”
Pain Clinic Owners Convicted of Unlawfully Distributing Opioids and Multimillion-Dollar Health Care Fraud: “Mark Murphy, 65, and his wife, Jennifer Murphy, 65, both of Lewisburg, owned and operated North Alabama Pain Services (NAPS), which closed its Decatur and Madison offices in early 2017. Over the approximately five-year period leading up to the clinic closing its Alabama locations, Murphy and his wife, who was the office manager, caused over $50 million in fraudulent or unnecessary medical services to be charged to Medicare, TRICARE, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama and others.”
About the public’s health
Suicide Mortality in the United States, 2000–2020: “After increasing from 2000 through 2018, the age-adjusted suicide rate declined from 2018 (14.2 per 100,000) to 2020 (13.5).
Suicide rates for females in all age groups over age 25 showed recent declines, while rates for those aged 10–14 and 15–24 have generally increased.”
Firearms was the leading method.
About healthcare IT
Allscripts to sell net assets of hospital business segment for $700M: “Allscripts is selling the net assets of its business segment for hospitals and large physician practices to N. Harris Computer Corp., a subsidiary of Constellation Software…
The business segment includes the following Allscripts products: Sunrise, Paragon, Allscripts TouchWorks, Allscripts Opal, STAR, HealthQuest and dbMotion, according to a March 2 news release.”
About health technology
Fitbit recalls 1 million Ionic watches after burn injuries: “Google-owned Fitbit has recalled 1 million of its Ionic smartwatches after dozens of users reported burn injuries after the battery overheated.”