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☆ Cyberattack on UnitedHealth firm forces doctors to dig into personal savings to stay afloat
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Ashley Capoot | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +19 min

Change Healthcare offers payment and revenue cycle management tools, and other solutions such as electronic prescription software. On Feb. 21, UnitedHealth Group , which owns Change Healthcare, discovered that hackers compromised part of the unit's information technology systems. UnitedHealth told CNBC earlier this month that there is "no evidence of any new cyber incident at Change Healthcare." It's just one of the ways Change Healthcare touches cash flow within the health-care sector. A controversial mergerSheldon Cooper | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty ImagesUnitedHealth's ownership of Change Healthcare has raised eyebrows from the outset.

Persons: Omar Marques, Dr, Angeli Maun Akey, Akey, she's, UnitedHealth, I've, Andrew, Mike Bradley, Barbara McAneny, McAneny, Sarah Carlson, Carlson, Sheldon Cooper, Optum, Michael Nagle, Tyler Kisling, Kisling, he's, There's, it's, Purvi, Parikh hadn't, they've, Amit Phull, Phull, Igor Golovniov Organizations: Lightrocket, CNBC, Healthcare, UnitedHealth, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Change, Inc, Bloomberg, Getty, U.S, American Medical Association, AMA, U.S . Department of Justice, DOJ, U.S . Department of Health, Human Services, Wall Street, New York Stock Exchange, Change Healthcare Locations: Gainesville , Florida, U.S, Minnetonka , Minnesota, UnitedHealth's, New Mexico, Boulder , Colorado, California, New York City, UnitedHealth

☆ Outages from Change Healthcare cyberattack causing financial 'mess' for doctors
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Ashley Capoot | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Small private practices and health-care providers are facing mounting financial pressures as crucial reimbursement systems remain down for the ninth day, following the cyberattack on Change Healthcare. Change Healthcare offers tools for payment and revenue cycle management that help facilitate transactions between providers and most major insurance companies. As of Thursday, Change Healthcare has not shared any updates about when it expects its systems to be back online. Change Healthcare on Thursday said that ransomware group Blackcat is behind the attack. He said it's not clear whether Change Healthcare will take on the responsibility of processing all the claims or if he'll need to hire additional staff to help.

Persons: Purvi, hasn't, Parikh, Kiranjit, immunologist, Dan Inder Sraow, it's, Sraow, Dr, Jesse Ehrenfeld, Ehrenfeld, Ravi Parikh Organizations: Healthcare, Change Healthcare, UnitedHealth Group, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, CNBC, U.S . Department of Justice, Google, Palo Alto Networks, Kiranjit Khalsa, Khalsa, American Medical Association, UnitedHealth, DOJ, Wall Locations: New York City, Scottsdale , Arizona, Phoenix , Arizona, U.S

☆ While officials consider new Covid isolation guidance, here's what an immunologist recommends you do if you test positive
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Renée Onque | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

By April, there may be a new isolation period recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for people who test positive for Covid-19. Currently, the CDC says that people who test positive for the coronavirus should stay home for five days and isolate from the people that they live with. The length of isolation for those with a positive Covid test may now be based on an individual approach. The new recommendation hasn't been approved yet, but if it will be, here's what Parikh suggests for people who test positive for Covid. Here's what a doctor suggests if you test positive for Covid

Persons: they've, CDC hasn't, Purvi Parikh, Purvi, they're, Michael T, hasn't Organizations: Centers for Disease Control, CDC, The Washington Post, NBC, Allergy, Asthma Network, University of Minnesota, Washington Post

WASHINGTON (AP) — Women are far more likely than men to get autoimmune diseases, when an out-of-whack immune system attacks their own bodies — and new research may finally explain why. One theory is that the X chromosome might be a culprit. The X chromosome is packed with hundreds of genes, far more than males’ much smaller Y chromosome. Every female cell must switch off one of its X chromosome copies, to avoid getting a toxic double dose of all those genes. “We think that’s really important, for Xist RNA to leak out of the cell to where the immune system gets to see it.

Persons: ”, John Wherry, wasn’t, Howard Chang, Chang, ” Chang, Epstein, Barr, Chang’s, Xist, hadn't, Penn’s, they’re, Stanford’s Chang Organizations: WASHINGTON, Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Associated Press ’ Health, Science Department, Associated Press Health, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP

☆ Multiple sclerosis is more common among white Europeans. Researchers studying ancient DNA may have figured out why.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-13 | by ( Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewGenes that may have once helped ancient herders fight infectious parasites could contribute to autoimmune diseases today, like multiple sclerosis. For example, rates of MS are twice as high in the northwest of Europe, including in Scandinavia, compared to southern Europe. AdvertisementThey analyzed teeth and bones from Europe and Western Asia, adding to an ancient DNA database of about 1,600 genomes. Northern Europeans are also more susceptible to MS than in southern Europe, where Yamnayan ancestry is less common. AdvertisementFor some people, this inflammatory response can go overboard and start attacking the body's own cells, as with MS, Iversen said.

Persons: —, it's, Rasmus Nielsen, Nielsen, Matthew Dunham NMB, immunologist Dr, Astrid Iversen, haven't, Iversen Organizations: Service, Business, University of Copenhagen, University of Cambridge, University of California, BBC Locations: Europe, Scandinavia, Western Asia, Berkeley, Northern

☆ The 5 supplements scientists recommend for longevity
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Hilary Brueck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Supplements like vitamin D or magnesium may be in order. Vitamin D is essential for our bone density, helping us convert calcium into strength. Generally, we absorb most of our vitamin D from the sun, so many people choose to supplement their vitamin D intake in the wintertime, when we aren't getting as many rays outside. AdvertisementLongevity doctor Peter Attia pops several different kinds of magnesium every day, to promote healthy aging. Fine-tune your diet and exercise routine before you try supplements, experts sayLongevity experts recommend adding more vegetables, beans, nuts, and seeds into your diet.

Persons: —, Nir Barzilai, Dr, Andrea Maier, Angelo Cavalli, immunologist Anthony Fauci, Bryan Johnson, Barzilai, it's, nicotinamide, Ivan, Paul Robbins, Peter Attia, Maier, that's, Kate Hull Organizations: Service, Institute for Aging Research, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Healthy Longevity, National University of Singapore, US Food and Drug Administration, Getty, FDA Locations: Singapore

And I told her that many, many scientists work very, very hard," Kariko added. BioNTech said in June that about 1.5 billion people across the world had received its mRNA shot, co-developed with Pfizer (PFE.N). [1/11]Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman win the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden October 2, 2023. The medicine prize kicks off this year's Nobel awards with the remaining five to be unveiled in coming days. The prizes, first handed out in 1901, were created by Swedish dynamite inventor and wealthy businessman Alfred Nobel.

Persons: Weissman, Katalin Kariko, Drew Weissman, Kariko, BioNTech, Rickard Sandberg, Susan Francia, immunologist, ”, Sir Andrew Pollard, Alfred Nobel, Swede Svante Paabo, Alexander Fleming, Karl Landsteiner, Niklas Pollard, Johan Ahlander, Ludwig Burger, Terje Solsvik, Andrew Cawthorne Organizations: Medicine, Nobel, Sweden's Karolinska Institute, University of Szeged, University of Pennsylvania, Pfizer, Karolinska Institute, TT News Agency, REUTERS Acquire, Boston University, Oxford University, AstraZeneca, Moderna, Thomson Locations: STOCKHOLM, COVID, Hungary, Pennsylvania, Szeged, U.S, Stockholm, Sweden, Frankfurt, Krisztina, Budapest, Oslo

☆ Home tests still work to detect Covid-19, but here’s why your test may not pick up an infection
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

That has led to speculation on social media that perhaps rapid tests have lost their ability to detect some of the newer coronavirus variants. “To date, the performance of currently marketed COVID-19 tests has not been adversely impacted by any new variants,” Merchak said in a statement. “That’s why the repeat testing 48 hours is so important.”Why rapid tests are often negative in kidsAnother real-world study of rapid tests identified another reason the tests sometimes don’t work well: operator error. In this study, negative rapid tests correctly meant that a child was healthy only 38% of the time. PCR tests showed that the infected kids had viral loads that should have been high enough to turn positive on rapid tests.

Persons: ”, Michael Mina, Mina, Todd Merchak, ” Merchak, ” Mina, won’t, “, Nathaniel Hafer, ” Hafer, Taiwan hadn’t, Dr, Sanjay Gupta, he’s Organizations: CNN, telltale, Twitter, National Institutes of Health, US Food and Drug Administration, Cell, RADx, FDA, CDC, University of Massachusetts, UMass Chan Medical, Rapid, CNN Health Locations: Taiwan

☆ Meet the Black students who were instrumental in developing the first Covid-19 shots
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Jacqueline Howard | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Among about two dozen scientists in Graham’s lab were three young students: Olubukola Abiona, Geoffrey Hutchinson and Cynthia Ziwawo. What the world didn’t know at the time was that those three students — Abiona, Hutchinson and Ziwawo — were doing the foundational work for those vaccines to eventually save lives. Geoffrey Hutchinson served in the Peace Corps and taught chemistry to high school students in Mozambique. The fruits of Abiona, Hutchinson and Ziwawo’s labor were evident this week as the United States began to roll out updated versions of the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccines. Abiona, Hutchinson and Ziwawo all confirmed Wednesday that although they haven’t made their appointments yet, they plan to get the updated shots.

Persons: Barney Graham’s, Olubukola Abiona, Geoffrey Hutchinson, Cynthia Ziwawo, “, Graham, ‘, ’ ”, Hutchinson, ”, ” Ziwawo, Anthony Fauci, — Abiona, Ziwawo —, Ziwawo, Kizzmekia Corbett, ” Corbett, David Satcher, he’s, Valerie Montgomery Rice, “ They’re, Abiona, Hannah Montana, Austin Steele, CNN Abiona, BioNTech, “ It’s, Dr, Sanjay Gupta Organizations: CNN, Vaccine Research, National Institutes of Health, University of Washington, “, Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy, Diseases, Moderna, Morehouse School of Medicine, David Satcher Global Health Equity Institute, Association of American Medical Colleges, NIH, Disney, David Satcher Global Health Equity Summit, KPMG LLP, Indiana University School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Peace Corps, United States, Pfizer, CNN Health, FDA, Food and Drug Administration, US Centers for Disease Control Locations: China, Bethesda , Maryland, Ziwawo, United States, Atlanta, Graham’s, Nigeria, Mozambique, Abiona, United

It marked the longest a genetically modified pig kidney has ever functioned inside a human, albeit a deceased one. “Two months is a lot to have a pig kidney in this good a condition. Political Cartoons View All 1160 ImagesSo-called xenotransplantation attempts have failed for decades — the human immune system immediately destroyed foreign animal tissue. Montgomery gambled that maintaining Miller's body on a ventilator for two months to see how the pig kidney worked could answer some of those questions. She recently got a card from a stranger in California who's awaiting a kidney transplant, thanking her for helping to move forward desperately needed research.

Persons: gurney, Maurice “ Mo ” Miller, “, Dr, Robert Montgomery, Montgomery, ”, Mary Miller, Duffy, Miller, ” Miller, Sue Duffy, Montgomery’s, immunologist Massimo Mangiola, Jeffrey Stern, Karen Maschke, Mangiola Organizations: NYU Langone, Food and Drug Administration, Associated Press, University of Maryland, FDA, NYU, Hastings Center, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: Newburgh , New York, California

☆ Long Covid Poses Special Challenges for Seniors
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-03 | by ( Paula Span | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The dozens of symptoms collectively known as long Covid, or post-Covid, can sideline anyone who has been infected. About 11 percent of American adults have developed long Covid after an infection, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last month, down from the almost 19 percent recorded from June 2022 to June 2023. People over age 60 actually have lower rates of long Covid overall than those aged 30 to 59. That might reflect higher vaccination and booster rates among older Americans, or more protective behavior like masking and avoiding crowds. Though knowledge of long Covid has increased, she added, much remains unknown about the illness.

Persons: ”, Akiko Iwasaki, Anderson Organizations: Centers for Disease Control, Yale School of Medicine

☆ New Covid variant: EG.5 is on the rise as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations go up
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —There’s a new coronavirus variant topping the leaderboard in the United States: EG.5. And it represents another incremental tweak to the virus rather than a major evolutionary leap like the original Omicron strain. This mutation has appeared in other coronavirus variants before. EG.5 also now has its own offshoot, EG.5.1, that adds a second mutation to the spike. Topol says the US can’t afford to delay its Covid-19 vaccine rollout.

Persons: CNN —, it’s, David Ho, ” Ho, ”, Eric Topol, Anne Hahn, Dan Barouch, virologist, ” Topol, Mandy Cohen, Topol, Dr, Sanjay Gupta Organizations: CNN, EG, US Centers for Disease Control, Columbia University, Scripps, Research, World Health Organization, Yale School of Public Health, Harvard University, US Food and Drug Administration, CDC, CNN Health, FDA Locations: United States, Northeast, FL, Ireland, France, Japan, China, Boston

☆ A Half-Million Americans May Have Tick-Linked Meat Allergy, C.D.C. Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Emily Anthes | More About Emily Anthes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Lone star ticks, which scientists believe are the primary culprits of the disease in the United States, can transmit the sugar to people through a bite. Even patients who have the syndrome may not feel sick every time they eat meat. “It’s consistently inconsistent,” Dr. Salzer said. Until August 2021, a single commercial lab did nearly all of this antibody testing in the United States. In one of the new studies, researchers reviewed the results of the antibody tests performed at this lab from 2017 to 2022.

Persons: Salzer, Maya Jerath, Louis, ‘, ’ ”, Jerath, it’s, ”, “ It’s Organizations: Washington University Locations: St, United States

☆ Suddenly, It Looks Like We’re in a Golden Age for Medicine
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( David Wallace-Wells | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Hype springs eternal in medicine, but lately the horizon of new possibility seems almost blindingly bright. “I’ve been running my research lab for almost 30 years,” says Jennifer Doudna, a biochemist at the University of California, Berkeley. And yet these brutal years — which brought more than a million American deaths and probably 20 million deaths worldwide, and seemed to return even the hypermodern citadels of the wealthy West to something like the experience of premodern plague — might also represent an unprecedented watershed of medical innovation. “It’s stunning,” says the immunologist Barney Graham, the former deputy director of the Vaccine Research Center and a central figure in the development of mRNA vaccines, who has lately been writing about a “new era for vaccinology.” “You cannot imagine what you’re going to see over the next 30 years. The pace of advancement is in an exponential phase right now.”

Persons: I’ve, ”, Jennifer Doudna, Doudna, Barney Graham Organizations: University of California, Army, Vaccine Research Center Locations: Berkeley, West

☆ Vogue's Anna Wintour, author Ian McEwan honoured by King Charles
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, June 16 (Reuters) - Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, author Ian McEwan and immunologist and geneticist John Bell were named Companions of Honour, an order limited to 65 people at any time, in King Charles' first birthday honours list on Friday. McEwan, who was appointed to the order for services to literature, is the author of acclaimed novels including "Amsterdam", "Atonement" and "Enduring Love". More than 1,000 people were rewarded in the king's birthday honours for service in education, healthcare, philanthropy and other areas. King Charles, who was crowned in May, will celebrate his official birthday on Saturday with the "Trooping of the Colour" military parade. Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Nick MacfieOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Anna Wintour, Ian McEwan, immunologist, John Bell, King Charles ', Wintour, McEwan, King Charles, Paul Sandle, Nick Macfie Organizations: Vogue U.S, U.S . Metropolitan Museum, Art's Costume, University of Oxford, Oxford, AstraZeneca COVID, Thomson Locations: Amsterdam

☆ Kids who live with pets may be less prone to food allergies, recent study shows—here's what an allergist says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Renée Onque | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The strongest benefit was seen in kids who lived with dogs that were kept inside of the house, and for families who owned pets during a child's fetal development and early infancy. Owning dogs during a child's early development was associated with a lower risk of milk, egg and nut allergies, according to the new study. There wasn't a strong association found between food allergies and ownership of birds, turtles and hamsters. Research thus far has been conflicting about if having pets while a child is young is actually helpful for preventing the development of food allergies, Kwiat tells CNBC Make It. "Some studies show that early exposure to furred animal dander does protect against food allergies.

Persons: Carolyn Kwiat Organizations: CNBC Locations: Mount Sinai

☆ Fungal infections are becoming more common. Why isn't there a vaccine?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Berkeley Lovelace Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Ritesh Shukla | Getty ImagesFungal infections are becoming more common in the United States, but unlike illnesses caused by bacteria or viruses, there's no vaccine to protect against a fungal threat. Fungi cause a wide range of illnesses in people, from irritating athlete's foot to life-threatening bloodstream infections. In the U.S., fungal infections are responsible for more than 75,000 hospitalizations and nearly 9 million outpatient visits each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Despite the growing threat, there are currently no licensed vaccines — in the U.S. or abroad — to prevent fungal infections. Fatal fungal infectionsNorris said that the ultimate goal would be to develop a single vaccine that protects against all fungal infections.

☆ Why biotech CEOs are growing more cautious about going public — and what they're waiting for
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Andrew Dunn | Yeji Jesse Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Biotech-startup CEOs are taking more nuanced approaches to going public amid a downturn. SAN FRANCISCO — After record years of initial public offerings in 2020 and 2021, biotech leaders told Insider that the "recipe" for going public no longer works. Most biotechs saw their valuations increase by between 20% and 50% after going public. Insider asked five startup CEOs about how they approach going public and their perspectives on the biotech-IPO market for 2023. But going public doesn't carry an importance of validation for herself or the field of biotech companies specializing in AI, she said.

☆ The recipe biotech startups use to go public is being thrown out. 5 startups CEOs reveal how they're changing their focus.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Andrew Dunn | Yeji Jesse Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

☆ Fact Check-No evidence COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are significant contributing factor to UK’s 30,000 excess cardiovascular deaths
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Millions of people have viewed a BBC News interview with a British cardiologist who used the broadcast to spread misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines. Malhotra cites the British Heart Foundation (BHF) for reporting 30,000 excess cardiovascular deaths “during the pandemic or since the pandemic”. A BHF spokesperson told Reuters that there were indeed 30,000 excess deaths involving ischaemic heart disease (IHD) in England between March 2020 and August 2022. Reuters has addressed similar claims linking COVID-19 vaccines with excess mortality (here, here and here), cardiac arrests (here, here and here), and other heart issues. Experts say the 30,000 excess cardiovascular deaths reported since the beginning of the pandemic are due to COVID-19 infection and issues with healthcare services.

The problem was the Neris had switched to a new, high-deductible health insurance plan to save money. The 2010 Affordable Care Act expanded access to health insurance, so companies were faced with covering more people than ever before. But the epinephrine auto-injectors — which deliver a shot of epinephrine and are the only emergency medicine available for life-threatening allergic reactions — usually are not. But AHIP (formerly known as America’s Health Insurance Plans), a group that represents such companies, said drug manufacturers are to blame. Fight it with your health care provider, fight it with your insurance company.”“No almost never means no in health insurance,” he said.

☆ Anthony Fauci says he has 'no idea' what Elon Musk's talking about after the Twitter chief threatened to release the 'Fauci Files'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Anthony Fauci said he has "no idea" what Elon Musk is talking about in regard to the "Fauci Files." Musk teased the release of the files following his previous criticism of the medical expert. Fauci told the CBS News podcast "The Takeout": "I have no idea what he's talking about. Meanwhile, journalists appointed by Musk have been discussing several controversies arising from what have been called the "Twitter Files." They include internal discussions regarding the decision to ban former President Trump from Twitter following the deadly Capitol riots on January 6, 2021.

The subvariant of omicron, named XBB.1.5, has raised concerns about another potential wave of Covid cases following the busy holiday travel season. The CDC projected Friday that about 40% of confirmed U.S. Covid cases are caused by the XBB.1.5 strain, up from 20% a week ago. There’s no indication it causes more severe illness than any other omicron virus, Dr. Barbara Mahon, director of CDC’s Coronavirus and Other Respiratory Viruses Division, told NBC News. The XBB.1.5 is a relative of the omicron XBB variant, which is a recombinant of the omicron BA.2.10.1 and BA.2.75 subvariants. Yet, only 37.5% of that age group has received the most recent omicron booster, according to the most recent CDC data.

☆ How a gene-editing breakthrough from a Harvard lab saved the life of a girl with leukemia
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Andrew Dunn | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A 13-year-old girl was the world's first patient to get a cell therapy called base editing in May. Base editing is a new gene-editing technology that could lead to cures for many diseases. Alyssa, 13, was the first-ever patient to receive a base-edited cell therapy after enrolling in a clinical trial in May. Base editing allows scientists to make ultraprecise changes to single letters of DNA in cells. Alyssa, a teenager in Leicester, England, received a base-edited cell therapy to treat her leukemia.

☆ Elon Musk booed by crowd after Dave Chappelle brings him on stage at comedy gig
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk attends Heidi Klum's 2022 Hallowe'en Party at Cathedrale at Moxy Hotel on October 31, 2022 in New York City. Tech billionaire Elon Musk was met with a mixture of boos and cheers from an audience at a Dave Chappelle comedy show Sunday night. Later in the video, Chappelle says: "All these people that are booing, I'm just pointing out the obvious — they have terrible seats in the stadium." Twitter user James Yu, who says he was at the Chappelle show, tweeted: "A good 80% of the stadium boos. Chappelle has himself been the target of criticism for making transphobic jokes in his Netflix stand-up special "The Closer."

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