Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
The Snakelike Medical Device Has Sickened Hundreds Of Patients. Experts Want It Yanked From The Market.
The New York Times: These Medical Devices Are Inserted Into 500,000 Patients Each Year — But Are Tough To Sterilize
In hospitals around the world, the snakelike duodenoscope is regarded as an indispensable tool for diagnosing and treating diseases of the pancreas and bile ducts. But these fiber-optic devices have a remarkable drawback: Although they are inserted into the upper part of the small intestine through the mouth and constantly reused, they cannot be sterilized by the usual methods. Instead, they are hand-scrubbed and then put through dishwasher-like machines that use chemicals to kill microorganisms. (Rabin, 8/6)
Stateline: There Aren’t Enough Doctors To Treat HIV In The South
The Trump administration is pushing to cut new HIV transmissions 90% nationwide by 2030, focusing its efforts on 48 urban counties and seven states, including Alabama, with disproportionately high rates of HIV occurrence. But in the South, which has more hotspots than any other region, HIV treatment providers describe an overwhelming load of patients because of the lack of new colleagues entering the field. (Blau, 8/5)
Stat: Alzheimer’s Patients Didn’t Decline After Getting Young Blood Cocktail
Alzheimer’s patients who received an experimental protein cocktail derived from young blood plasma maintained their performance on measures of cognition and function after six months, the biotech company behind the therapy, Alkahest, said on Monday. Alkahest’s announcement crucially did not include the release of any data — that’s planned for an Alzheimer’s research conference in December — but if the full results hold muster they could provide a boost for a controversial field of science that has captured the popular imagination. (Robbins, 8/5)
Reuters: U.S. Recorded Eight New Cases Of Measles Last Week
The United States recorded eight new measles cases last week, taking the total for the year to 1,172 in the worst outbreak since 1992, federal health officials said on Monday. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had recorded cases of the highly contagious and sometimes deadly disease in 30 states as of Aug. 1. (8/5)
The Wall Street Journal: The Search For An Easier Way To Stop Taking Sleeping Pills
Debra Davis has had trouble sleeping for more than five years. Once she started taking a prescription sleep medication to help with her insomnia, it was hard to stop. “I was taking it daily for about a year,” says Ms. Davis, a 58-year-old nurse practitioner in Denver. Sleep doctors say this is a common problem: Medications intended as short-term fixes become a regular habit. And when patients stop taking the medications, anxiety takes over. (Reddy, 8/5)
Stat: Ann Curry Is Going To Air Patients’ Medical Mysteries On Live TV
A medical student with mysterious symptoms that mimic the signs of kidney failure. A man with debilitating pain that has lasted for over a decade and causes temporary paralysis. A young woman who gained 90 pounds in a year and started experiencing severe pain and gastrointestinal problems. All of the patients say their doctors haven’t been able to figure out what, exactly, is wrong. And they’re all hoping that a hive mind of television viewers might be able to help. The patients will be featured on “Chasing the Cure,” a new weekly show debuting this week on TNT and TBS that digs into undiagnosed or uncured medical conditions. (Thielking, 8/6)
The Wall Street Journal: In-Surgery Social Networks Aim To Curb Waiting-Room Anxiety
It’s a situation many parents know all too well: Whether they have an infant in the NICU or a child in surgery, the hours spent in that waiting room are completely nerve-racking. There are only so many crumpled magazines you can peruse and so many Instagram posts you can scroll through before you just want to yell, “What’s going on in there?” Startups and large health-care companies alike are developing tools aimed to give worried parents frequent updates on what’s happening to their children during surgeries or hospital stays. (Jargon, 8/6)
The Washington Post: Think You Have Athlete’s Foot? Here’s How To Treat It And Avoid More Serious Problems.
Perhaps the skin in between your toes is itchy. Or the skin on the sides of your feet is flaking and irritated. These are classic signs of athlete’s foot. Doctors call it tinea pedis and it’s a common fungal infection, affecting 15 to 25 percent of people at any one time. “It’s flaky dead skin overlying redness,” says Adam Friedman, a dermatologist at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Skin between the toes may look white and soggy, the soles of the foot are more likely to be dry and flaky, and reddening and blistering can appear anywhere. (Adams, 8/5)
The New York Times: Deadly Germ Research Is Shut Down At Army Lab Over Safety Concerns
Safety concerns at a prominent military germ lab have led the government to shut down research involving dangerous microbes like the Ebola virus. “Research is currently on hold,” the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, in Fort Detrick, Md., said in a statement on Friday. The shutdown is likely to last months, Caree Vander Linden, a spokeswoman, said in an interview. (Grady, 8/5)
