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Tuesday, July 18, 2017
[Morning Rounds by Megan Thielking]
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Happy Tuesday! Here's what you need to know about health and medicine this morning.
The Senate health care bill is dead — sort of
The beleaguered Senate health care bill has met its end — at least in its current form. Two more GOP senators, Mike Lee of Utah and Jerry Moran of Kansas, announced<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=d964a3d9fd&e=4aad33fd68> they won't support the procedural vote to advance the bill. They join Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, and other Republican senators who have hesitated or outright refused to rally around the measure. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's new plan: Pick the House bill back up, bring it to the floor for debate, and then swap the text for a 2015 bill to repeal the ACA that the Senate did support. But so far, four senators have said they won't begin debate on the bill, though the count could shift with the new plan.
U.S. News postpones release of hospital rankings
U.S. News & World Report is postponing the release of its highly-watched hospital rankings after discovering errors in the data, STAT's Casey Ross reports<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=1f5440f321&e=4aad33fd68>. Hospitals had already been notified of their rankings under embargo earlier this month, and the results were set to be released August 1. But the rankings didn't take into account factors such as the socioeconomic status of patients that could affect the results. Now, analysts have to go back and run the numbers again.
A smart sensor that gives skin space to breathe
[87396691-e5ca-4560-8a09-e04a5b7a5bdb.png]
(university of tokyo)
Scientists have created<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=01fc4099b7&e=4aad33fd68> a new type of wearable sensor from nanoscale meshes that gives the skin a bit more breathing room — pointing the way toward devices that monitor vital signs without causing discomfort. There’s been a wave of research into using patches to monitor heart rate, body temperature, and other health measures. But some of those films aren’t all that breathable and block airflow to the skin, causing concern that they might lead to irritation in the long run.
So University of Tokyo researchers developed a new type of sensor from nanoscale meshes with tiny gaps to let in air. The sensors stick to the skin with a spritz of water, which dissolves some of the nanofibers in the patch. The researchers tested the patches on 20 people for a week and found they didn’t cause any skin inflammation, stayed flexible, and still functioned after a week.
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Missouri is finally getting a prescription drug database
Missouri will finally get a prescription drug monitoring program after years of fierce fighting<http://statnews.us11.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=844d002c67&e=4aad33fd68> between state lawmakers over whether to establish such a database. Sidestepping the state legislature, Republican Gov. Eric Greitens has signed an executive order establishing a PDMP that keeps tabs on doctors and pharmacists who order and fill prescriptions for opioids and other drugs. Up until now, Missouri was the only state without some type of PDMP. For years, bills to establish a database were squashed by Republican state Senator Rob Schaaf, a physician who voiced concerns about patient privacy — and who also once said that when people die of overdoses that “just removes them from the gene pool.”
Reality show for diabetes patients premieres
The debut episode of “Reversed,” a reality show marketed as a way to help contestants with type 2 diabetes turn around their lives, airs tonight on Discovery Life. Its host, Charles Mattocks, is an entrepreneur who has leveraged his family ties to Bob Marley and his own experience using diet and exercise to manage diabetes to set himself up as a guru for fellow diabetics. The show also serves as a marketing vehicle: It was sponsored<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=cd514c87c2&e=4aad33fd68> by an insulin maker that’s short on cash and an advertisement for a luxury getaway in Jamaica at the resort where it was filmed. STAT’s Rebecca Robbins visited the set during filming — read her piece here<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=62cf681915&e=4aad33fd68>.
Inside STAT<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=bf4c7500d7&e=4aad33fd68>: How much do doctors really make?
The average medical student graduates with more than $190,000<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=b90789e2a8&e=4aad33fd68> in debt. But physicians can also take home a hefty paycheck — compensation surveys show that orthopedic surgeons, for example, can make more than $450,000 a year. But those surveys often neglect the high opportunity cost of medicine, including the years of training necessary to become a doctor. STAT contributor Zach Nayer analyzed the opportunity costs and payoff of each medical specialty to determine whether medical school really is a wise investment. And to go with it, we created a handy — if slightly dispiriting — tool that lets you compare your average annual pay against those salaries. More here<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=7331055193&e=4aad33fd68>.
Nearly 10 percent of infants don't get vaccinations
Nearly 1 in 10 infants worldwide didn’t receive any vaccinations last year, the WHO and UNICEF report<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=f5c2232542&e=4aad33fd68>. Public health experts estimate that immunizations prevent millions of deaths each year from diseases such as measles and tetanus. There’s a global goal of getting 90 percent of children fully immunized, but the vaccination rate among kids has been stuck at 86 percent since 2010. Another 6.6 million infants who did get the first shot diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis didn’t go on to get the full three-dose series. Many of those infants are falling through the cracks of the entire health care system, so to raise vaccination rates, the WHO and UNICEF say they first need to increase access to basic care.
What to read around the web today
§ Identifying the women in the U.S. who died from pregnancy-related causes in 2016. ProPublica<http://statnews.us11.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=786bd67cdf&e=4aad33fd68>
§ How sourdough is a window into the human microbiome. NPR<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=ebccbbeb3d&e=4aad33fd68>
More reads from STAT
§ The art of the deal? Why a money-back guarantee<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=a3fbdc4090&e=4aad33fd68> for drugs is a bad idea.
§ It’s time to break down the wall between dentistry and medicine<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=f3d3e0224f&e=4aad33fd68>.
The latest from STAT Plus
§ Meet the chemist who’s working to come up with an ‘addiction vaccine’<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=16a1c106e0&e=4aad33fd68>.
§ Sanofi denies rejecting Army request <http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=0a67b411ed&e=4aad33fd68> for a fair price on a Zika vaccine.
Thanks for reading! More tomorrow,
[Megan]
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