Top Stories

  • President Donald Trump said the federal government has reached an agreement with Moderna Inc. to acquire 100 million doses of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine in a deal worth $1.5 billion. Moderna will sell the vaccine, which it has already received $955 million in government funding to test, for about $15 per dose and $30 for a two-dose regimen. (Bloomberg)
  • The World Health Organization released guidance recommending that dental patients postpone their routine oral health checkups, dental cleanings and other preventive care in order to curb the spread of COVID-19 at dental offices. The WHO said “frequent exposure to saliva, blood, and other body fluids” puts dental workers at risk of contracting COVID-19, though the organization noted that urgent dental care and emergencies are exceptions to its guidance. (The Hill)
  • A report from the Labor Department’s Office of Inspector General says the agency “significantly broadened” an exemption that resulted in millions of health care workers being ineligible for the paid sick leave guaranteed under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which was passed in March. Existing federal statutes define a health care worker as a doctor, someone practicing medicine or providing health services, but the Department of Labor’s exemption from paid sick leave includes any individual working at a doctor’s office, clinic, testing facility or permanent and temporary hospital sites as well as companies that contract with clinics and hospitals. (The Washington Post)
  • A study from researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine among those ages 13 to 24 found that young people who had used electronic cigarettes were five times more likely to be diagnosed with COVID-19 and that those who had used e-cigarettes and regular cigarettes within the past 30 days were 6.8 times as likely to be diagnosed. Researchers said the higher rate of transmission among e-cigarette users could be linked to the products’ impact on the lungs and immune system as well as the potential spread of aerosols containing COVID-19. (NBC News)

Chart Review

Events Calendar (All Times Local)

08/12/2020
2020 CMS/ITU Outreach & Education
AHA Physician Alliance webinar titled “Stigma Kills – Addressing Opioid Use Disorder By Changing Culture” 12:00 pm
AHIP/FDA webinar titled “Safety and Savings With Biosimilars” 2:00 pm
08/13/2020
2020 CMS/ITU Outreach & Education
FDA: Meeting of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee 8:00 am
Washington Post Live event titled “America’s Health Future” 11:00 am
National Geographic conversation titled “Stopping Pandemics” featuring Dr. Anthony Fauci and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser 1:00 pm
AdvaMed COVID-19 Return to Work Webinar: Managing Safety, Data and Privacy for a Secure Workplace 1:00 pm
View full calendar

Watch On-Demand – Most Loved Brands: What Drives Brand Love In A Year Like No Other

Recently, Morning Consult held a webinar breaking down the results in this year’s edition of Most Loved Brands.

Watch the webinar on-demand to learn which brands topped the list, what factors tend to drive brand love and how brands can excel in the COVID-19 era.

Coronavirus

U.S. coronavirus deaths once again top 1,000 a day, as Florida, Georgia hit records
Brady Dennis, The Washington Post

Coronavirus-related deaths in the United States topped 1,000 again Tuesday after a weekend lag, suggesting that the trend of four-digit single-day death tolls will continue for a fourth week.

Dialysis patients at U.S. nursing home had higher rate of COVID-19: CDC
Vishwadha Chander, Reuters

Nursing home residents on kidney dialysis had roughly three times the rate of COVID-19 compared to those not receiving treatment, U.S. health researchers found in a study of a Maryland facility.

Long after the fire of a Covid-19 infection, mental and neurological effects can still smolder
Elizabeth Cooney, Stat News

Early on, patients with both mild and severe Covid-19 say they can’t breathe. Now, after recovering from the infection, some of them say they can’t think.

‘A Smoking Gun’: Infectious Coronavirus Retrieved From Hospital Air
Apoorva Mandavilli, The New York Times

Skeptics of the notion that the coronavirus spreads through the air — including many expert advisers to the World Health Organization — have held out for one missing piece of evidence: proof that floating respiratory droplets called aerosols contain live virus, and not just fragments of genetic material. Now a team of virologists and aerosol scientists has produced exactly that: confirmation of infectious virus in the air.

Wearing a neck gaiter may be worse than no mask at all, researchers find
Allyson Chiu, The Washington Post

In a recently published study, the researchers unveiled a simple method to evaluate the effectiveness of various types of masks, analyzing more than a dozen different facial coverings ranging from hospital-grade N95 respirators to bandanas. Of the 14 masks and other coverings tested, the study found that some easily accessible cotton cloth masks are about as effective as standard surgical masks, while popular alternatives such as neck gaiters made of thin, stretchy material may be worse than not wearing a mask at all.

Payers

CMS unveils new alternative payment model for rural health
Michael Brady, Modern Healthcare

The Community Health Access and Rural Transformation—CHART—model will give rural communities money upfront to change how they pay for and deliver care to Medicare beneficiaries. It will also provide them with operational and regulatory relief, as well as technical and educational support.

Humana sues to recover unpaid ACA subsidies
Shelby Livingston, Modern Healthcare

Humana is the latest health insurer to sue the federal government for unpaid Affordable Care Act subsidies intended to reduce healthcare costs for low-income individuals.

Primary Care Doctors Look at Payment Overhaul After Pandemic Disruption
Steven Findlay, Kaiser Health News

Like other businesses around the country, many doctors were forced to close their offices — or at least see only emergency cases — when the pandemic struck. That led to sharp revenue losses, layoffs and pay cuts.

Providers

Most states facing shortage of ICU doctors: research
Justine Coleman, The Hill

Most states will face a shortage of intensive care unit (ICU) doctors as the coronavirus pandemic continues to hit the U.S., according to research released this week.

Nurses and Doctors Sick With COVID Feel Pressured to Get Back to Work
Emmarie Huetteman, Kaiser Health News

The first call in early April was from the testing center, informing the nurse she was positive for COVID-19 and should quarantine for two weeks. The second call, less than 20 minutes later, was from her employer, as the hospital informed her she could return to her job within two days.

Pharma, Biotech and Devices

Russia Defends First Covid-19 Vaccine as Safe Amid Skepticism
Henry Meyer and Ilya Arkhipov, Bloomberg

Russia brushed aside international concerns about the safety of the world’s first Covid-19 vaccine and announced it will start mass inoculation this month before clinical testing is completed.

Fauci: ‘I seriously doubt’ Russia’s coronavirus vaccine is safe and effective
Justin Wise, The Hill

Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said Tuesday that he has serious doubts about Russia’s announcement that it has a vaccine ready to be used for the novel coronavirus.

Companies test antibody drugs to treat, prevent COVID-19
Marilynn Marchione, The Associated Press

With a coronavirus vaccine still months off, companies are rushing to test what may be the next best thing: drugs that deliver antibodies to fight the virus right away, without having to train the immune system to make them.

Out-of-pocket spending on specialty drugs dropped dramatically after states capped costs
Ed Silverman, Stat News

Amid efforts to blunt rising medicines costs, a new analysis finds three states succeeded in helping their residents save money by capping out-of-pocket costs on pricey specialty drugs and, at the same time, also managed to avoid increased spending by health plans.

Meet the most important federal official you probably don’t know — the man who holds the fate of the coronavirus vaccine in his hands
Laurie McGinley, The Washington Post

Peter Marks, a self-effacing cancer doctor known for his maniacal work ethic and straight-arrow approach, is sitting on the hottest of hot seats. A top Food and Drug Administration career official, Marks is likely to decide in the next several months whether a coronavirus vaccine is safe and effective enough to be given to tens of millions of Americans.

Health IT

Covid-19 Data Reporting System Gets Off to Rocky Start
Robbie Whelan, The Wall Street Journal

Public release of hospital data about the coronavirus pandemic has slowed to a crawl, one month after the federal government ordered states to report it directly to the Department of Health and Human Services and bypass the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Back to School? Look Out for Covid-Tracking Surveillance Tech
Julie Jargon, The Wall Street Journal

Some students will walk past thermal-imaging cameras that take their temperature; some will wear beacons that trace their movements around campus. Other changes will be more subtle, such as security cameras that detect when students have removed their masks or are standing too close together.

Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives

Black psychiatrists are few. They’ve never been more needed.
Courtland Milloy, The Washington Post

Anxiety and depression among African Americans is skyrocketing, and so are suicides. Black boys, ages 5 to 12, are twice as likely to die by suicide compared to their White peers, according to the Congressional Black Caucus Emergency Task Force on Black Youth Suicide and Mental Health.

The Putin Vaccine Gambit
Holman W. Jenkins Jr., The Wall Street Journal

An outsider would be forgiven for withholding judgment on whether such a vaccine exists, was actually developed by Russian scientists according to some known or plausible principle of vaccine development, or has been tried on anyone (though ample Russian reporting suggests it has). The whole thing could be a theatrical Potemkin production, in response to an order passed along from Mr. Putin through his billionaire cronies that a vaccine must be found now.

Research Reports

Low-cost measurement of facemask efficacy for filtering expelled droplets during speech
Emma P. Fischer et al., Science Advances

Mandates for mask use in public during the recent COVID-19 pandemic, worsened by global shortage of commercial supplies, have led to widespread use of homemade masks and mask alternatives. It is assumed that wearing such masks reduces the likelihood for an infected person to spread the disease, but many of these mask designs have not been tested in practice.

Covid-19: WHD Needs To Closely Monitor The Pandemic Impact On Its Operations
U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General

Even though WHD acted quickly after Congress passed the FFCRA by issuing guidance, training staff, and conducting oversight, the agency continues to face challenges as it implements and enforces the requirements of the FFCRA.

Association Between Youth Smoking, Electronic Cigarette Use, and Coronavirus Disease 2019
Shivani Mathur Gaiha et al., Journal of Adolescent Health

COVID-19 diagnosis was five times more likely among ever-users of e-cigarettes only (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.82–13.96), seven times more likely among ever-dual-users (95% CI: 1.98–24.55), and 6.8 times more likely among past 30-day dual-users (95% CI: 2.40–19.55). Testing was nine times more likely among past 30-day dual-users (95% CI: 5.43–15.47) and 2.6 times more likely among past 30-day e-cigarette only users (95% CI: 1.33–4.87). 

General

Kodak Boosted Lobbying Effort in Months Leading to Loan
Michael Tobin and Eric Newcomer, Bloomberg

The recent lobbying may have helped secure a letter of interest from the U.S. International Development Finance Corp., announced on July 28, that would give Kodak a $765 million loan to manufacture pharmaceutical materials.

Here are Biden VP pick Kamala Harris’ healthcare policy positions
Rachel Cohrs, Modern Healthcare

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Tuesday announced California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate. Here’s where she stood on healthcare issues during her own presidential campaign.

Elizabeth Holmes’ Theranos trial set to begin on March 9, 2021
Yasmin Khorram, CNBC

Seven months and nine days from now Elizabeth Holmes will face charges that she defrauded investors of her blood-testing company Theranos.

Morning Consult