Pulse Oximeters, hospitals and health insurance, public health, health heavy hitters, Alzheimer's, and more!
Happy Thursday, everyone! We hope you all have been having an incredible week. It's been a busy week at STAT, and there’s a lot we want to share with you, so we'll hop to it.?
Pulse Oximeters
Our colleague Usha Lee McFarling leads off this week's newsletter with another story covering pulse oximeters, medical devices that can detect through the skin the amount of oxygen circulating in the bloodstream. She has previously reported on why these devices are less accurate in some people. Much of the work to understand the devices’ shortcomings and devise better solutions has been focused on race, but the issue isn't race — it’s skin tone.?
Hospitals and health insurance
Next year, one of the largest #healthcare companies on the planet expects to make a lot more money in a relatively simple way: by funneling more of the insurance premiums it collects from workers and taxpayers toward itself. Our colleague Bob Herman has that story.?
Bob also reported on one of the most vexing parts of a hospital visit: paying for parking. The cost of parking can be a significant financial burden, particularly for people who have cancer and have to make frequent visits to the hospital for treatments like radiation and chemotherapy.
If these stories interest you, be sure to subscribe to Bob’s free newsletter “Health Care Inc.” here.?
Tulane University, the University of Colorado, and Boston Medical Center all made efforts on social media last week to entice more applicants for their infectious diseases fellowship programs after a number of their positions went unclaimed during the annual “match” process. The lack of doctors entering infectious disease fellowships has been a concern for years. Experts have pointed to the comparatively low earnings these physicians make as a major disincentive for doctors considering which field to enter.
The latest in public health
A new class of drugs for treating diabetes and obesity has exploded in popularity for its weight-loss effects, leading to shortages rippling across several of these medications. STAT’s newest reporter, Elaine Chen , wrote about that this week for her first story for STAT.?
The FDA made news today by announcing that it authorized updated Covid-19 boosters for children aged 6 months and older. Helen Branswell is staying on top of it.?
Sallie Permar and Robert J. Vinci penned an opinion piece this week for “pediatricians and parents on the brink.” In it, they write “For two respiratory virus seasons, children remained healthier than ever, with common conditions such as asthma, bronchiolitis, and associated bacterial infections occurring at exceptionally low rates. … This lull should have raised antennas and been a time of preparation for when precautions were removed and the common respiratory viruses that severely affect children circulated again. … Instead, the U.S. has chosen to look the other direction.” Read the full essay here.
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Heavy hitters in the news
Rachel Cohrs Zhang and Sarah Owermohle report that the notoriously inaccurate blood tests from Theranos, led by CEO Elizabeth Holmes, could potentially have been stopped earlier if Congress had acted to fix a regulatory loophole. Lawmakers are weighing whether it’s better late than never.
Stanford University president Marc Tessier-Lavigne continues to be in the news as the university has now hired an outside law firm to lead the investigation of Tessier-Lavigne over allegations of research misconduct.
Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drug Company is partnering with the Purchaser Business Group on Health in a bid to expand access to lower-cost medicines. Our colleague ed silverman stays on top of everything in the pharmaceutical industry.
#FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said the agency’s food program has been "under-supported” and “under-resourced.” This comes after an agency-commissioned report recommended increasing the prominence of that program. Read more on this from STAT”s new reporter John Wilkerson.
Alzheimer’s treatment?
Ivan Cheung, the CEO of Eisai, the developer of lecanemab, a developer aimed at slowing cognitive decline in people with #Alzheimers disease, said at STAT's live event in NYC on Monday that if patients carry a particular genetic variant that increases the risk of bleeding in the brain associated with taking the drug, they should take it only if they and their families are willing to submit to close monitoring from doctors.
“This is not a cure,” Cheung said on Monday. “I don’t believe this is a cure. But just like with Aricept”— an early drug used to treat Alzheimer’s — “25 years ago, it sparked the idea that you could help these individuals.”
More on lecanemab: Medicare is willing to reevaluate its coverage of Alzheimer’s drugs in light of this new therapy, which has shown to be potentially more promising than its predecessor, Aduhelm.
That's all for this week, folks! Join us next Thursday for another edition of “Weekly Update.”?
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Wishing you the very best,