LISTSERV - PREMEDINFO-L Archives - HUNTER.LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU

Tom Price offers to pay back the cost of private jets

Health secretary Tom Price says he plans to pay back the federal government for his trips on taxpayer-funded private jets. But the amount he's said he'll pay — just over $50,000 — is a fraction of the reported $1,000,000 those flights cost, because Price plans to pay for just his seat and not those of his staff. HHS's inspector general is currently investigating Price's use of government jets, reported by Politico. President Trump has said he's "not happy" about his top health official's luxury travel, fueling speculation about Price's future in the administration. Price said neither he nor any of his staffers will take any chartered flights going forward.

A new bill pushes for mandatory sleep tests for train engineers

Democratic senators have introduced a bill that would force implementation of a proposed federal rule to require train engineers to be tested for sleep apnea. President Trump would prefer to leave it up to each railroad to set its own policy. The condition, which causes breathing to start and stop during sleep, has been linked to accidents, perhaps because patients are more drowsy. The news comes as Hoboken, NJ, marks the first anniversary today of a train crash that killed one and injured 110 others. The engineer involved in that accident was found to have undiagnosed sleep apnea.

New guidelines to rein in plastic surgery Snapchats

Plastic surgeons are calling on their peers to rethink whether they should share videos of medical procedures on Snapchat and Instagram. Some doctors have gained big followings posting videos of themselves operating on patients with their consent. The proposed guidelines encourage providers to consider a patient’s best interests first. The authors say plastic surgery posts on social media have devolved into a “circus.” The ringleader? Dr. Michael Salzhauer, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Florida who’s better known for broadcasting surgeries on social media as Dr. Miami.

This vibrant luncheon on October 10 will highlight the insight and expertise of Boston’s women in science, leading to collaboration and creativity, that will celebrate this generation while inspiring the next. Register today through HUBweek. (Tickets are limited.)

Inside STAT: The first line of defense against West Nile

a guard chicken. (dania maxwell for stat)

Deadly cases of West Nile virus are spiking in Los Angeles. Six deaths have been reported by Los Angeles County this year — including three just last week. And because it's still peak mosquito season, more deaths are expected. Public health officials launched a massive campaign to curb cases, going door to door to install window screens and dump stagnant water. And to track where the disease is active, they've turned to chickens. The birds can be infected by mosquitoes, but don't get sick or spread the virus. Every two weeks, the district tests their blood for West Nile virus antibodies and generates a precise map of West Nile activity to target outreach efforts. STAT's Usha Lee McFarling has the story here.

How doctors get paid is critical to health outcomes

To wrap up the week, here’s one last round of thoughts from our panel of health experts, this time on how hospitals and doctors get paid. Read the full highlights here.

§ “This seemingly boring, inside baseball topic of payment systems is probably the most important thing that we can collectively focus on to actually improve our outcomes from our medical systems right now. I am convinced no one understands that. I think it’s our shortcoming as a collective public health [community] that it’s not out there.” — Dr. Sandro Galea, dean of Boston University School of Public Health

§ “Hospital executives hate the Medicaid program because the payment is terrible. But I would submit it’s the most important program in our country. It insures about 83 million Americans — half the births, more than half the kids, and 70 percent of the long-term care spent. Think about that. And everybody hates it and doesn’t want to expand it?” — Kate Walsh, president and CEO of Boston Medical Center

FDA launches a new tool to analyze adverse events

The FDA is launching a new tool to make it easy to comb through data on adverse events tied to approved drugs. The new dashboard allows patients, doctors, and others to filter reports by criteria such as the drug or the type of adverse event. The agency has come under fire in the past for not doing enough with adverse event reports. A STAT investigation into those reports earlier this year found that patients taking a rheumatoid arthritis drug called Actemra had as high or higher risks of heart attacks, strokes, and heart failure as patients taking competing drugs that warned of such complications on their labels. Actemra carried no such warnings.

What to read around the web today, by Larry Levitt

Levitt is the senior vice president for special initiatives at the Kaiser Family Foundation. (Head here for the full list of recommendations from this week.)

§ The health care spending of two million American families. JPMorgan Chase
— Ultimately what Americans are concerned about most in health care is how much they’re paying for it. This analysis from JPMorgan Chase illustrates this concern in very tangible terms.

§ How we put a price tag on hospitals. Amino
— The main reason we pay so much more for health care in the U.S. is that our prices are higher than in other countries. But, even within the U.S., prices across health care providers can vary dramatically. This analysis from Amino, a health care data company seeking to provide consumers with greater transparency, starts to get inside the black box of health care prices.

§ Analysis of the Graham-Cassidy bill. Congressional Budget Office
— The Graham-Cassidy bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act failed. But, the ideas embedded in the proposal could very well come back in the future. The preliminary analysis of the bill by the Congressional Budget Office provide a clear assessment of what the effects would be and deserves a careful read.