Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Apple Inches Back Curtain On Health Tech In Its Walking Steadiness System
Stat: Apple Provides Glimpse At Research Behind New Walking Steadiness Feature
Apple is gearing up to release a new metric called Walking Steadiness aimed at preventing falls in older people. But the potentially transformative feature raises a nagging question: How much does a tech company need to divulge about its health research? So far, the company has only shared a narrow glimpse of studies underpinning the tool. While such relative secrecy might be typical for Apple and other consumer tech giants, their growing presence in health care is prompting an increasingly loud refrain from health researchers who want to see the data and decide for themselves. (Aguilar, 7/15)
Stat: With Fewer Than 400 Progeria Patients Worldwide, Testing A CRISPR Cure Will Be Challenging
When Sammy Basso was diagnosed with progeria at 2, it seemed likely that the disease’s hyper-accelerated aging would kill him before he graduated high school. “There was nothing. Nothing. No cure, of course, no treatments, no information. It was catastrophic,” said Basso, spokesperson for the Progeria Research Foundation, at STAT’s Breakthrough Science Summit on Wednesday. “Nobody could believe that we will be able to arrive at this point. But here we are.” (Boodman, 7/14)
North Carolina Health News: DNA Source Testing Of E. Coli A New Tool For Riverkeepers
In May, Katy Hunt jumped out of her truck alongside a small stream in Lenoir County and knew instantly that something was wrong. “I was smacked in the face with the smell of waste,” said Hunt, the Lower Neuse River riverkeeper. “The water smelled foul. The air smelled foul. The water looked funny. It had this reddish-like orange and brownish sheen to the surface.” Hunt said she took samples in the creek to test for Escherichia, a common type of fecal bacteria also known as E. coli, and reported her findings to the state Department of Environmental Quality. The samples exceeded 2,400 Most Probable Number of E. coli, more than 10 times what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers safe for recreational waters. (Barnes, 7/15)
Stat: Extending Gene Therapy's Reach Means Hurdling Scientific And Price Barriers
While Covid-19 struck a blow to a vast number of clinical trials around the world, the pandemic may turn out to be a boon for bringing gene therapies to more people in the coming years. “Who would have predicted three years ago that we’d now be having billions of doses manufactured of mRNA packaged in a lipid nanoparticle?” Sekar Kathiresan, CEO of Verve Therapeutics said Tuesday during the STAT Breakthrough Science Summit. (Molteni, 7/14)
Philadelphia Inquirer: More Black Patients Are Participating In Clinical Trials For Cancer Treatment At Penn Thanks To This Effort
Health care professionals have been wrestling with various inequities in their field, with varying results. One success story is a five-year effort by the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania to enroll more Black patients with cancer in clinical trials. The trials give more Black patients access to the latest cancer treatments -- and promise wider benefits too. In 2014, Black residents comprised 19% of the 12-county area around and including Philadelphia. And 16.5% of cancer patients were Black. Yet at Abramson, only 12.2% of patients in cancer treatment trials were Black. After the five-year effort, the number of Black patients enrolled in the trials nearly doubled – to 20.9%. (Bauers, 7/14)
