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Tuesday, October 24, 2017
[Morning Rounds by Megan Thielking]
Sponsored by
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Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Morning Rounds!
Were public health officials prepared for the hurricanes?
Top health officials are headed to a House hearing this morning to testify about how prepared their agencies were — and are — for this year’s hurricane season, which stretches through the end of November. Here’s what’s on the agenda:
§ The on-the-ground response to three major hurricanes. The preparedness office at HHS says the agency deployed more than 2,500 people to help with the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, and another 1,000 people were sent out to provide emergency medical care and support after Hurricane Harvey.
§ The way the most vulnerable patients were identified and provided care. HHS used a relatively new database to pinpoint Medicare beneficiaries who relied on critical medical equipment like dialysis machines, electric wheelchairs, and oxygen tanks. Before Hurricane Maria hit, the agency helped transfer more than 350 critical patients to more secure locations in San Juan. But with the whole island ravaged by the hurricane, it’s been reported that many dialysis patients were left in dire need of care.
§ How the FDA is grappling with the hit to Puerto Rico’s pharma and medical device manufacturing industries. It’s estimated that Puerto Rico is responsible for producing 10 percent of all medications used in the U.S. each year.
Watch the hearing live here<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=ac5c852e9f&e=4aad33fd68> at 10 a.m. ET.
Mapping patient movements to stem hospital infections
A San Francisco hospital has created an innovative new way to track hospital-acquired infections with the help of electronic health records. The hospital used time and location stamps — marking where every patient had been in the hospital and when they were there — to map out the movements of everyone infected with C. difficile over three years. Then, they looked at infection rates among patients who’d passed through those same spaces shortly after an infected person. Many of the infections seemed to spring from a specific CT scanner in the emergency room, which was quickly cleaned. It’s an interesting way to leverage the massive amounts of data in EHRs to help keep patients safer.
Cash rewards push teens to manage type 1 diabetes
Could giving teens with type 1 diabetes a little pocket change push them to play a more active role in managing their condition? A new study suggests a financial incentive can make a big difference. Research has shown an individual’s control over type 1 diabetes — from diet and exercise to insulin dosing — often drops off during adolescence. That can snowball into a slew of complications. Researchers kept an eye on glycemic control in two groups of teens: One group was offered $60 a month for managing their condition well, and the other wasn’t. The group with cash at stake was nearly three times more likely to hit daily glucose monitoring goals. The study’s authors say it’s a strategy that could be used to engage teens in managing their own type 1 diabetes.
Sponsor content by Braeburn Pharmaceuticals
Braeburn participates in policy discussions on combatting drug addiction and the opioid epidemic
Braeburn<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=f0245149cb&e=4aad33fd68> is a pharmaceutical company dedicated to delivering solutions for people living with the serious, often fatal consequences of opioid addiction. To help address this epidemic, in the past month, Braeburn participated in the President’s Commission Meeting on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Epidemic and a roundtable discussion with the US Department of Health and Human Services focused on this topic. Braeburn is working to develop treatment solutions<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=0c9e45b35f&e=4aad33fd68> with individualized dosing regimens and delivery options, to address the escalating disease burden of addiction.
Inside STAT:<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=edf6266f1d&e=4aad33fd68> 'Uber for birth control' is stirring opposition
Nurx, an app that's been called the “Uber for birth control,” lets patients obtain a variety of contraceptives from the touch of a smartphone; it also gives women access to Plan B and Ella, two forms of the morning-after pill. But as the app has expanded into conservative states, it's drawn more opposition from pro-life groups who say the morning-after pill is equivalent to abortion. This view is at odds with the most recent science. Still, advocates are pledging to press state lawmakers to crack down on emergency contraception by app. STAT's Max Blau has more here<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=eb55fd50f0&e=4aad33fd68>.
ACLU presses court to reconsider undocumented teen abortion case
A federal appeals court is being asked to reconsider its decision to delay an abortion for an undocumented teen being held in a Texas detention center. On Friday, the three-person court ruled 2-1 that the teen wouldn’t have immediate permission to obtain the abortion. The ACLU — which filed a suit on the 17-year-old’s behalf — is asking the court to reconsider that order. A district court ordered HHS to transport the teen, now in her 16th week of pregnancy, to a clinic — but federal officials refused to do so and instead appealed the ruling.
A closer look at antimicrobial resistance tracking
Federal officials are convening today to talk about the government’s system for keeping tabs on the growing issue of antimicrobial resistance. The CDC, FDA, and USDA all collaborate with local governments to monitor bacteria in sick people, food, and livestock through the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System. Today, the officials involved in that work are discussing how big advances in surveillance and DNA sequencing can help analyze trends in potentially dangerous bacteria. They’re also asking the public where the program should focus its work in the coming decade, and where efforts to combat antimicrobial resistance are falling short.
What to read around the web today
§ To mend a birth defect, surgeons operate on the patient within the patient. New York Times<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=e2e6ac529e&e=4aad33fd68>
§ Drug maker Gilead says its profits pay for innovation, but they all go back to shareholders. Los Angeles Times<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=fa96bb75f7&e=4aad33fd68>
§ Republicans on the Hill can't tell what President Trump wants to do on health care. Politico<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=ea8e8c15dc&e=4aad33fd68>
More reads from STAT
§ How a blunder over Robert Mugabe has cost the WHO goodwill it needs<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=3f9cdaaced&e=4aad33fd68>.
§ California just passed a law<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=9f6fbfeb90&e=4aad33fd68> to rein in drug prices. Here's why it's unlikely to work.
The latest from STAT Plus
§ Biopharma is on track for a record-setting lobbying year<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=5b3af1010b&e=4aad33fd68>.
§ From the C-Suite: Executives talk about what tests them as leaders<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=a4c38ba23c&e=4aad33fd68>.
Thanks for reading! More tomorrow,
[Megan]
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