Tuesday Tidbits

David Ermer–CDC, COVID-19, Cybersecurity, FDA, Medical / Rx research, Obesity, Rx coverage, U.S. Healthcare–
Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash

From Washington, DC,

  • The American Hospital News reports,
    • “Health care leaders and other officials April 9 discussed challenges to rural health care access and potential solutions during an event in Washington, D.C. sponsored by the Coalition to Strengthen America’s Health Care: Protecting 24/7 Care. The AHA is a founding member of the Coalition, which recently rebranded to reflect its renewed focus to protect and strengthen patients’ access to 24/7 care. 
    • “Today’s event hosted by Punchbowl News involved discussions on a range of topics including access, the importance of telehealth, health care innovations and Medicare underpayment, among others. 
    • “You can watch a video of today’s event here. “
  • The Wall Street Journal lets us know,
    • “The U.S. Postal Service said Tuesday it is seeking to raise the price of a stamp by 5 cents, in what would be the fourth increase since the start of 2023. 
    • “The proposed price of 73 cents, up 7.4% from the current price of 68 cents, would still need to be approved by the Postal Regulatory Commission. 
    • “The last increase happened in January 2024, when the cost of a stamp rose from 66 cents to 68 cents. Before that, the agency hiked prices in July 2023 by 3 cents. * * *
    • “The new 5-cent increase would go into effect July 14, the Postal Service said. 
    • “The Postal Service said it also wants to raise prices for other services, including sending a letter outside the U.S., which would cost $1.65, up from $1.55. Mailing a postcard within the U.S. would cost 3 cents more at 56 cents. And sending metered letters, a service used by small businesses, would cost 5 cents more at 69 cents.”
  • MedTech Dive relates,
    • “The Department of Justice filed a consent decree of permanent injunction against Philips on Tuesday in response to the company’s ongoing recall of sleep apnea and respiratory devices.
    • “The settlement would restrict Philips from producing or selling new continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and bi-level positive airway pressure (BiPAP) machines and other devices in the U.S. until the company meets certain requirements. Philips also faces restrictions on exporting devices that are being provided to patients impacted by the recall “to help ensure remediation of U.S. patients is prioritized over export for commercial distribution.” 
    • “Philips is required to implement a recall remediation plan that the Food and Drug Administration must agree on, including providing patients with new or reworked devices, or a partial refund. Jeff Shuren, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in a Tuesday statement that the finalization of the decree is a “significant milestone.” 

From the public health and medical research front,

  • KFF notes,
    • “Rates of long COVID have begun to flatten. About 1 in 10 adults with COVID have reported having long COVID since rates fell in 2023, according to a KFF analysis of the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If the rate continues to hold steady, new forms of prevention or treatment may be important to achieve future reductions in long COVID.
    • “As of March 2024, 7% of all adults (17 million people) reported that they have long COVID. Among the 60% of adults who reported ever having had COVID, roughly 3 in 10 reported having long COVID at some point and about 1 in 10 reported currently having it. The ongoing gap between the two long COVID rates indicates that people are continuing to recover, even as rates stabilize.”
  • US News and World Report informs us,
    • “Measles infections have continued to spread in pockets of the U.S., as the latest nationwide count shows the number of cases have now reached more than 100.
    • “A total of 113 cases have been reported across 17 states as of April 5, according to the most recent figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly double the total of 58 that for all of 2023.
    • “So far, seven outbreaks have occurred – defined by the CDC as three or more related cases – up from four in 2023. More than 70% of all cases this year have been associated with an outbreak, and approximately half of patients are children under the age of five.
    • “More than 80% of measles infections are among those who are either unvaccinated or with an unknown vaccination status, according to the CDC, while 12% of cases are those who have received only one dose of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.
    • “Chicago has had the majority of U.S. cases, with 58 infections as of April 8, according to the most recent figures from the Chicago Department of Public Health.
    • “The majority of measles infections in Chicago have been tied to an outbreak at one of the city’s largest migrant shelters.
    • “In an update released on April 5, CDPH stated measles cases were decreasing in the city, with a total of five new cases reported during the week of March 31 through April 5, compared to 23 infections reported from March 24 through March 30.”
  • The Wall Street Journal reminds us,
    • The fight against dementia actually starts in your 40s.
    • Midlife, not your 70s or 80s, is when brain changes start to occur that can pave the way toward dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive decline later, according to a growing body of research. 
    • Intervening earlier to improve brain health—and studying the midlife brain more closely—might help people stay sharper in their later years, researchers say. Regular exercise, getting enough sleep and doing activities that keep your brain stimulated are all steps that can help you combat dementia later in life.
    • “Middle age is an opportune time to make lifestyle choices and obtain treatment that will bring an enormous return on investment in old age,” says Terrie Moffitt, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University.
    • More scientists are looking for clues in the midlife brain because efforts to target dementia in older people have largely failed, says Ahmad Hariri, a professor of psychology and neuroscience also at Duke.
  • Beckers Hospital Review points out,
    • “Surprise pregnancies may be an unexpected side effect experienced by women who use Ozempic or other GLP-1 medications, The Washington Post reported April 5.”Surprise pregnancies may be an unexpected side effect experienced by women who use Ozempic or other GLP-1 medications, The Washington Post reported April 5.
    • “Numerous social media platforms include posts and discussions about unplanned pregnancies while on Ozempic or similar drugs. Although the reports of a possible Ozempic “baby boom” are anecdotal, it is a phenomenon researchers and experts are watching closely. 
    • “Experts speculate that weight loss drugs may impact the absorption of contraceptives, causing birth control failures or that they can affect ovulation and fertility. Others say losing weight can improve chances of pregnancy.”
  • According to Fierce Healthcare,
    • “Supplemental benefits administrator Avesis and Elevance Health subsidiary Amerigroup Georgia have teamed up with Uber Health in a pilot project to tackle the state’s maternal health crisis.
    • “Utilizing community health partners like the Georgia Primary Care Association and federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), hundreds of Amerigroup’s Medicaid members in December 2022 started receiving two individualized nutritional counseling sessions, a scale and $300 of Uber Eats vouchers.
    • “Though the program’s results have not been shared yet, Avesis Senior Manager of Care Transformation Don Trainor said the program has had promising results so far.”
  • The AHA News tells us,
    • “Women with health-related social needs such as food insecurity, housing instability and lack of transportation were less likely to report receiving a mammogram in the past two years when surveyed in 2022, according to a report  released April 9 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 66% of women aged 50-74 with at least three health-related social needs were up to date with their mammograms, compared with 83% of women with no health-related social needs. Mammography use also was lower among women without health insurance and a usual source of care.”  

From the U.S. healthcare business front,

  • United Health Group has refreshed its response to the cyberattack against Change Healthcare website.
  • Per Fierce Healthcare,
    • “Artificial intelligence categorization can help stem the flood of patient messages that would otherwise demand physicians’ expensive time, Kaiser Permanente researchers report.
    • “In a recently published JAMA Network Open research letter, members of the system’s research division and medical group outlined a strategy that used real-time natural language processing (NLP) algorithms to attach category labels to messages and then direct them to an appropriate respondent.
    • “The approach, they wrote, allowed 31.9% of the more than 4.7 million patient messages reviewed by program staff to be resolved before reaching the inbox of a specific physician. Instead, these messages were handed by a “regional team” made up of medical assistants or teleservice representatives, pharmacists and other doctors.”
  • and
    • “Consumers expect a simple and easy digital experience, and health plans have plenty of room to improve on that front, according to a new report.
    • “J.D. Power released its inaugural U.S. Health Insurance Experience Study on Tuesday, where it found that 42% of adults with insurance ran into issues using their plan’s website and/or mobile app in the past year.
    • “The study is based on responses from more than 5,500 people enrolled in the 14 largest Medicare Advantage (MA) plans and 15 largest commercial plans. It was conducted alongside Corporate Insight.”
  • Beckers Hospital Review names the “25 drugs at Mark Cuban’s online pharmacy with biggest cost reductions.”