Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Liver Transplant Rule Changes Benefit Some States, But Not Poorer Ones
The Washington Post: Troubled U.S. Organ Transplant System Targeted For Overhaul
The government will announce plans Wednesday to overhaul the troubled U.S. organ transplant system, including breaking up the monopoly power of the nonprofit organization that has run it for the past 37 years. If successful, the proposal would leave little unaffected in the sprawling, multibillion-dollar network that sends kidneys, livers and other organs from deceased donors to severely ill recipients. That system has long been criticized as inadequate: Nearly 104,000 people are on waiting lists for organs, most of them kidneys; 22 people die each day awaiting transplants, with poor and minority patients generally faring worse than affluent and White people. (Bernstein, 3/22)
The Washington Post: New Liver Transplant Rules Yield Winners, Losers As Wasted Organs Reach Record High
New rules requiring donated livers to be offered for transplant hundreds of miles away have benefited patients in New York, California and more than a dozen other states at the expense of patients in mostly poorer states with higher death rates from liver disease, a data analysis by The Washington Post and the Markup has found. The shift was implemented in 2020 to prioritize the sickest patients on waitlists no matter where they live. While it has succeeded in that goal, it also has borne out the fears of critics who warned the change would reduce the number of surgeries and increase deaths in areas that already lagged behind the nation overall in health-care access. (Carollo and Tanen, 3/21)
On drug shortages —
FiercePharma: Ozempic And Mounjaro Are Mostly Back On Tap In The US: FDA
Ozempic, which has been in short supply for some six months, is once again available in two common, lower doses, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s drug shortage database. A third higher dose will maintain limited availability through the end of the month. Novo Nordisk confirmed the restocking in an emailed statement. A company spokesperson credited continued constraints on the higher 2 mg Ozempic dose to “the combination of incredible demand coupled with overall global supply constraints.” (Kansteiner, 3/20)
NBC News: Drug Shortages Are Rising And Pose A National Security Risk, New Report Warns
Children's medication, antibiotics and treatment for ADHD are among a number of drugs that have been in short supply in recent months — and these shortages of critical medications are only rising, according to a new report set to be released on Wednesday. From 2021 to 2022, new drug shortages increased by nearly 30%, according to the report prepared by Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. (Shabad and Tsirkin, 3/22)
In other pharmaceutical and research news —
Stat: Steroid Drug Reduces Death Rate In Severe Pneumonia, Study Shows
Giving doses of the steroid hydrocortisone to patients with severe pneumonia cut the risk of death by about half, according to a study released Tuesday. (Herper, 3/21)
Stat: Scientist Who Sequenced Genome In Record Time On What's Next
Stanford cardiologist Euan Ashley and his research team received a Guinness World Record last year for sequencing a full human genome in just over five hours. He says that’s just the beginning. Ashley is at the forefront of a push by researchers to make more genetic information available to patients facing major health care decisions. Faster sequencing for patients with rare and deadly diseases can help their doctors decide which treatments and surgical procedures to try and which ones to avoid in life-or-death situations. (Wosen, 3/22)
The Boston Globe: Boston Scientists Say They’re A Step Closer To Growing Human Eggs In The Lab
George Church is known for pushing the boundaries of biology. The Harvard University geneticist played a key role in developing technologies to read and edit genes and has made waves with his proposal to resurrect the extinct woolly mammoth. Now one of his latest projects could have enormous implications for how humans reproduce. (Cross, 3/21)
