Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Perspectives: Aduhelm Has Dangerous Side Effects; Predatory Bacteria May Be Key To New Antibiotics
Cincinnati Enquirer: Controversial Alzheimer's Drug Has Inconclusive Results, High Cost
I agree that Alzheimer's is a devastating and progressive disease. All of us, doctors and patients alike, are looking for an effective treatment for people with Alzheimer's. However, the new drug U.S. Rep. Brad Wenstrup referred to, called Aducanamab, or Aduhelm, from the Biogen Company (Cambridge, Massachusetts), is not the cause for celebration he describes ("Flawed legislation blocks Alzheimer's research, cures," Aug. 17). (David C. Fabrey, 9/2)
Scientific American: Predatory Bacteria Are Fierce, Ballistic And Full Of Potential
In 1962 Heinz Stolp, a researcher in Berlin, was searching for new viruses when he ran out of the filters that sieved them from his samples. So he substituted filters with slightly larger holes: 1.35 microns instead of 0.2 micron. No viruses, which normally reproduce very quickly, grew on the glass plates he had coated with bacteria to use as virus chow, and at that point, the contents should have been tossed. (Jennifer Frazer, 9/5)
New England Journal of Medicine: Intradermal Vaccination For Monkeypox — Benefits For Individual And Public Health
Intradermal vaccination delivers antigen into the space between the epidermis and the dermis. This space is an anatomically favorable site for immune stimulation, enriched in a heterogenous population of dendritic cells, macrophages, and monocytes that endow this tissue with a potent capacity to detect and respond robustly to immunologic stimuli, including those present in vaccines. (John T. Brooks, M.D., et al, 8/31)
The Boston Globe: What To Do With Opioid Settlement Funds? Open Overdose Prevention Centers.
Over the past year, there have been a number of large settlements with pharmaceutical companies, medical distributors, and pharmacies to account for the harms caused by the overmarketing, distribution, and prescribing of opioids in the late ‘90s and 2000s. (Abdullah Shihipar, Alexandra B. Collins and Brandon D.L. Marshall. 9/5)
New England Journal of Medicine: RETHINCking COPD — Bronchodilators For Symptomatic Tobacco-Exposed Persons With Preserved Lung Function?
Cigarette smoking is the leading global cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Worldwide, more than 1.3 billion persons smoke and 384 million persons have COPD.1 COPD is clinically diagnosed on the basis of persistent airflow limitation as measured by spirometry in persons with a history of smoking who have frequent respiratory symptoms. (Don D. Sin, M.D., M.P.H., 9/4)
