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☆ Trump says he will give RFK Jr. a major health role if he wins the White House. Here's what that means for patients, drugmakers
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-05 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

Some health experts said elevating Kennedy, even in an informal Trump administration position, could potentially lead to severe consequences for patients, drugmakers and the nation's public health overall. That could exacerbate the nation's existing public health challenges, such as declining childhood vaccination rates for several preventable diseases, some experts say. "I think we could reasonably predict that there would be a decline in vaccination rates among children, and perhaps vaccination overall." Drugmakers such as Pfizer and Moderna are still recovering from falling Covid vaccination rates in the U.S., which have dented their profits over the last two years. Kennedy's other proposals for overhauling federal health agencies will likely be difficult to execute.

Persons: Donald Trump, Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Anna Moneymaker, Kennedy, Trump, Dr, Paul Offit, Drew Altman, Altman, Genevieve Kanter, Cynthia Blancas, Deep Patel, Christina House, they've, Offit, Andrew Kelly, USC's Kanter, that's, Georges Benjamin, Covid, Kanter Organizations: Gas, Getty, White House, Trump, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, CNBC, and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control, Commonwealth Fund, Senate, Washington Post, University of Southern, CVS, Los Angeles Times, CDC, Pfizer, Moderna, NBC, Health Defense, FDA, Department of Health, Human Services, U.S . Food, Drug Administration, Reuters, American Public Health Association, Pharma Locations: Duluth , Georgia, U.S, University of Southern California, Lynwood, Huntington Park, Samoa, White Oak , Maryland

☆ World Data Lab: Asia poised to lead global consumer class growth.
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-21 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailWorld Data Lab: Asia poised to lead global consumer growth, driven by Indian and Chinese spendingWolfgang Fengler of World Data Lab says Chinese consumer strength remains resilient despite economic headwinds.

Persons: Wolfgang Fengler

☆ Hurricane Helene was supercharged by ultra-warm water made up to 500 times more likely by global warming, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-09 | by ( Rachel Ramirez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —The exceptionally warm water of the Gulf of Mexico that supercharged deadly Helene last month was made up to 500 times more likely by human-caused climate change, which also ramped up the hurricane’s wind and rain, according to a new scientific analysis. These ultra-warm ocean temperatures were made between 200 and 500 times more likely by climate change, driven by humans burning fossil fuels, according to the World Weather Attribution, a network of scientists that calculates the role of climate change in extreme weather events using real world data and climate models. Hurricanes as intense as Helene are now about 2.5 times more likely in the region, the study found. Baker Jarvis, a resident of Keaton Beach, Florida, works to recover his belongings from his home after Hurricane Helene on September 29, 2024. Rapid intensification, when a hurricane’s wind speed increases by at least 35 mph within 24 hours, has now become more common due to climate change.

Persons: Helene, Ben Clarke, ” Clarke, Milton, Helene . Baker Jarvis, Hurricane Helene, Octavio Jones, ”, Bernadette Woods Placky, Hurricane Milton, “ Helene, Gabriel Vecchi, Friederike Otto, ” Otto Organizations: CNN, Imperial College London’s Grantham Institute, Hurricanes, Reuters, Climate, Hurricane, geosciences, Princeton University, WWA, Imperial College London Locations: Gulf of Mexico, Florida, Southern, Gulf, Keaton Beach , Florida, Bend, North Carolina

☆ The next shoe to drop in FX markets will reshuffle currency values in an unexpected way. Here's how TD Securities is trading it.
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-24 | by ( Laila Maidan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Cooling global growth, continued geopolitical risks, and uncertainty around US election outcomes mean it could be a choppy ride for the next few months. But if US economic data stabilizes while global growth slows, as Bharadwaj expects, European currencies could be set for a violent snapback. "I do think that global growth right now is not holding up from our data trackers. "And in fact, we actually track global growth upgrades versus downgrades. And after a very long time, global growth downgrades are outpacing global growth upgrades, which indicates to me that even the global growth is not as rosy as markets are currently pricing it to be."

Persons: Jayati Bharadwaj, it's, Bharadwaj, you've Organizations: Service, TD Securities, Business, International Monetary Fund, Federal Reserve, Securities Locations: China, Europe, India

☆ The AI world's most valuable resource is running out, and it's scrambling to find an alternative: 'fake' data
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-09 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has argued that AI models should eventually produce synthetic data good enough to train themselves effectively. As the well of usable human-generated data dries up, more companies look into using synthetic data. Rather than being pulled from the real world, synthetic data is generated by AI systems that have been trained on real-world data. Synthetic data may help offer some effective "countertuning" to the biases produced by real-world data, too. 'Habsburg AI'While the AI industry found some advantages in synthetic data, it faces serious issues it can't afford to ignore, such as fears synthetic data can wreck AI models.

Persons: —, that's, Sam Altman, Gary Marcus, It's, Nathan Lambert, Gretel, SynthLabs, Meta, Timnit Gebru, Margaret Mitchell, LLMs, Sadowski, Alexandr Wang, AlphaGeometry, Marcus Organizations: Service, Google, Business, Oxford, Gartner, New York University, Allen Institute, AI, Nvidia, Meta's, Anadolu, Getty, Rush, Microsoft, Monash University Locations: Cambridge, Habsburg

☆ Startups are building robots that can perceive the human world. Here's why VC firms like Khosla and a16z say that spatial intelligence will be the next big thing in AI.
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-09 | by ( Samantha Stokes | Emma Cosgrove | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Spatial intelligence allows robots to navigate and interact with their environment more efficiently, which means that robots can perform more complex tasks with higher precision and adaptability. AdvertisementEven so, investors say that spatial intelligence represents a quantum leap for the robotics industry, a space already benefiting from an AI boom. Lior Susan, CEO and founder of Eclipse Ventures, is betting that the difficulty of building AI with spatial intelligence will yield bigger returns in the future. "You see this boom of generative AI startups that are actually buying a lot of compute that do not have a business model yet," Susan said. Big tech is rolling in, tooBigger tech companies are also gearing up to compete in robotics' spatial intelligence race—both as builders and investors.

Persons: —, Andreessen Horowitz, Catalyst, Howard Morgan, Max Rimple, Erin Price, Wright, Fei, Fei Li, Kanu Gulati, Khosla, –, Gulati, Lior Susan, Susan, Jeff Bezos, Jensen Huang Organizations: Service, Khosla Ventures, Business, B Capital, Catalyst, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Coatue Management, Stanford University, Eclipse Ventures, Intelligence, Lux, Sequoia Capital, Microsoft, Nvidia, Carbon Robotics, AIs Locations: LLMs, OpenAI, Lux Capital, Taipei

☆ Many people using GLP-1s for weight loss stop treatment too soon, research shows, and results are not one-size-fits-all
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-21 | by ( Deidre Mcphillips | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Professional organizations have set this as a guideline for when to reassess whether a treatment is providing clinically meaningful weight loss. People who met with their providers less frequently – and those living in underserved regions with broader health inequities – were more likely to discontinue GLP-1 treatment sooner. But using GLP-1 treatments are still an investment in many ways. These injected medications, called GLP-1 agonists, are in high demand because they have proved to be so effective for weight loss. And experts warn that the GLP-1 treatment process can be different for everyone.

Persons: ”, Disha, Wegovy, Jody Dushay, Beth, There’s, Razia Hashmi, ” Hashmi, it’s, “, Dr, Sanjay Gupta, ” Narang, ” Dushay Organizations: CNN, Endeavor Health, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Shield, Dandelion Health, CNN Health, “ Locations: Chicago, –, GLP

☆ Opinion: The male drivers who just can’t let go of their stick shift
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( Opinion Paul Hockenos | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Berlin CNN —For old-school connoisseurs of the automobile — usually men — driving means operating a beloved vehicle by touch, with three pedals underfoot and a shift stick at hand. Paul Hockenos Hayyan Al-YousoufIn Europe, this clientele is responsible for a good deal of the moaning about manual transmission’s demise. Well, Zen or not, the day of manual transmissions is speeding to an end — and this layman is shedding no tears. For one, the oft-repeated benefits of a stick shift over an automatic have been redundant now for years. The explanation: automatics select the right gear for the vehicle, usually the highest gear possible.

Persons: Paul Hockenos, ”, Paul Hockenos Hayyan, Mercedes Benz, upshift, ’ ”, Sigmund Freud, it’s, Robert M, It’s, —, “, Cristine Organizations: CNN, Berlin CNN, Porsche, BMW, Volkswagen, Swiss, Neue Zürcher, Art, Environmental Protection Agency, International Energy Agency, Toyota Locations: Berlin, Europe, New Berlin, Yousouf, Germany, New York, San Francisco, Oslo, Norway

☆ FDA approves new drug that may help stop and even reverse a rare, fatal condition that doctors call a ‘ticking time bomb’
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

These proteins cause the walls of a person’s blood vessels to keep growing and thicken over time. As the blood vessels narrow, the heart is forced to work harder to pump blood to the lungs. Treatment with a combination of drugs that dilate, or relax, blood vessels can improve this outlook, but they are not a cure. Both groups were also taking the standard medications for the condition, which help relax blood vessels to improve blood flow. But Galiatsatos said that as promising as the drug looks, there are still many unknowns, including whether the drug will benefit all PAH patients equally.

Persons: Katrina Barry, Barry, “, ”, Winrevair, Merck Winrevair, Vallerie McLaughlin, Panagis, Galiatsatos, isn’t, ” Barry, I’m, fanny, She’s, sotatercept, PAH, Sotatercept, “ There’s, Kristin Highland, Highland, ” Merck, Merck, Dr, Sanjay Gupta, Aaron Waxman, Barry’s, he’s, they’ve, Johnson –, Waxman, “ I’ve, “ It’s, who’ve Organizations: CNN, American Lung Association, US Food and Drug Administration, Merck, FDA, University of Michigan, PAH, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, New England, of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, Institute, Clinical, CNN Health, Brigham, Women’s Hospital, Johnson Locations: PAH, American, Greece, Boston

NEW YORK (AP) — A new, higher-dose nasal spray for reversing opioid overdoses did not save more lives than the previous standard dose, but it did cause more vomiting and other side effects, researchers wrote in a study published Thursday. Three troops in eastern New York were given 8-milligram sprays. The study results were based on 354 instances in which troopers administered naloxone sprays from late March 2022 to mid-August 2023. But so too did those treated with the 8-milligram sprays, who got 1.58 doses, or 12.6 milligrams, on average. But other problems were significantly more common in the patients who got the higher-dose sprays.

Persons: —, Michael Dailey, Dailey Organizations: Centers for Disease Control, Albany Medical College, New York State Police, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: New York, Albany

☆ Here's why a top VC says healthcare investors should make growth-stage bets right now — and where he's looking for those deals
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

As a multi-stage VC fund, Lightspeed has an advantage in its exposure to both early-stage and later-stage healthcare markets, Imanbayev said. And many later-stage healthcare startups still have plenty of room to grow, he said. The first one to three years are often slow-moving for a healthcare startup, too, as it works to get its first partnerships with payers or providers, he said. But they also tend to be less risky, since later-stage startups should have revenue streams or partnerships that demonstrate their value. Lightspeed led value-based care startup Aledade's $260 million Series F in June 2023, an unusually large deal as other investors cut much smaller checks.

Persons: —, Galym, Imanbayev, I'm, There's, Farzad Mostashari, Aledade Tom Sandner, VCs, Abridge, he's, Chris Severn Organizations: Business, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Lightspeed, CVS, Health, Turquoise Health, Pharma, FDA, pharma

☆ Viagra, Cialis Plus a Heart Med Could Be a Dangerous Combo
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-15 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter(HealthDay)MONDAY, Jan. 15, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Taking nitrates for heart problems alongside erectile dysfunction drugs like Viagra or Cialis could be a prescription for trouble, a new study warns. “Physicians are seeing an increase of requests for erectile dysfunction drugs from men with cardiovascular diseases,” said senior researcher Dr. Daniel Peter Andersson, an associate professor at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. Among those men, more than 5,700 also had been prescribed an erectile dysfunction drug. The data revealed that men taking both drugs had an overall higher risk of death, as well as of heart attack, heart failure and other major cardiovascular events. Few events occurred within 28 days of men receiving an erectile dysfunction drug, indicating that there is low immediate risk, researchers said.

Persons: Dennis Thompson, Jan, ”, Daniel Peter Andersson, “, ” Andersson, Glenn Levine, Levine Organizations: American College of Cardiology, “, Karolinska Institute, American, of Cardiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Heart Institute Locations: Sweden, Levitra, Houston

☆ 3 titans will fight to dominate the market for Wegovy in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-27 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Dozens of startups have jumped into the weight-loss market this year as weight-loss drugs, including Wegovy and Ozempic, have exploded in popularity. The few companies with enough money and brand recognition to stand up to Ozempic's distribution challenges — WeightWatchers, Noom, and Ro — can expect to compete for market dominance next year. But WeightWatchers signaled it's going all in on weight-loss drugs by launching its own behavioral program for patients on Ozempic in December. WeightWatchersLike WeightWatchers, Noom has remained staunchly in the weight-loss market since its 2008 launch. Ro launched its own program prescribing weight-loss drugs in January.

Persons: VCs, — WeightWatchers, Sari Kaganoff, WeightWatchers, it's, Sima Sistani, Noom, Ro, Zach Reitano, Kaganoff, Saeju Jeong, Sam Barnes, Aaron DeGagne Organizations: Business, Rock Health, Web, Getty, PitchBook Locations: Ozempic

☆ Digital bank robberies key risk for central bank e-money, BIS report warns
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Steve Marcus/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Digital bank robberies and other cyber hacks will be a key risk for countries launching digital versions of their currencies, a new report from the Bank for International Settlements has warned. The BIS, dubbed the central bankers' central bank, has been overseeing much of the global development work on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and its report is its most comprehensive assessment yet of the challenges. A worst case scenario though would be a cyber hack that saw money stolen from what would effectively be a central bank's digital vault. "Cyber security is a key risk for CBDCs," the report published on Wednesday said, adding they would have "far-reaching implications" for the way central banks currently operate. China is trialling a prototype digital yuan with 200 million users, while the European Central Bank has just begun two years of advanced-stage exploratory work.

Persons: Steve Marcus, Marc Jones, Christina Fincher Organizations: Def Con, REUTERS, Bank for International, BIS, CBDCs, European Central Bank, Thomson Locations: Las Vegas , Nevada, U.S, Bahamas, Nigeria, China

☆ Mounjaro is more effective than Ozempic for weight loss in overweight and obese adults, real-world study says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The blockbuster diabetes drug Mounjaro is more effective for weight loss than another highly popular treatment, Ozempic, in overweight or obese adults, according to a large analysis of real-world data published Monday. The results come as both drugs and similar treatments approved for weight loss soar in demand in the U.S. for their ability to help patients shed unwanted pounds over time. Previous head-to-head studies have similarly suggested that Mounjaro is more effective than Ozempic for weight loss and controlling blood sugar in adults with Type 2 diabetes. But Monday's study confirms Mounjaro's edge over Ozempic in a real-world setting, specifically among adults who are overweight or obese. Eli Lilly is pitting Mounjaro against Wegovy, a higher-dose version of Ozempic approved for weight loss, in an ongoing clinical trial in obese or overweight patients.

Persons: Eli Lilly, Mounjaro, We've, Nick Stucky Organizations: Novo Nordisk, Truveta Research, Research, Wegovy Locations: U.S

A few compounds picked by AI are now in development, but those bets will take years to play out. Reuters interviews with more than a dozen pharmaceutical company executives, drug regulators, public health experts and AI firms show, however, that the technology is playing a sizeable and growing role in human drug trials. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it had received about 300 applications that incorporate AI or machine learning in drug development from 2016 through 2022. Without AI, Bayer said it would have spent millions more, and taken up to nine months longer to recruit volunteers. Finding real-world patients by mining electronic patient data can be done manually, but using AI speeds up the process dramatically.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Jeffrey Morgan, Amgen, Badhri Srinivasan, Sameer Pujari, drugmaker Bayer, Bayer, Blythe Adamson, Roche, Richard Pazdur, Gen Li, John Concato, Natalie Grover, Martin Coulter, Julie Steenhuysen, Josephine Mason, David Clarke Organizations: Pharmaceutical Research, REUTERS, Pharmaceutical, Bayer, Novartis, Deloitte, U.S . Food, Drug Administration, Reuters, World Health, Flatiron Health, FDA, European Medicines Agency, FDA's Oncology, Excellence, Medical, FDA's Center, Drug, Research, Thomson Locations: U.S, Johannesburg, Texas, Finland, United States, London, Chicago

☆ Insight: What happens when a $2 million gene therapy is not enough
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-12 | by ( Deena Beasley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +13 min

Their experience raises broader questions around other high-cost gene therapies coming to market, sometimes after accelerated regulatory approvals, drug pricing experts said. Gene therapies work by replacing genes – the body's blueprint for its development. The gene Zolgensma delivers instructs the body to make a protein vital for muscle control. If gene therapies do fall short, it becomes harder to justify prices that researchers have argued are already poor value. More recently, the first hemophilia gene therapy approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was priced by CSL Behring at $3.5 million; 26 more gene therapies are in late-stage development, according to IQVIA.

Persons: Elizabeth Kutschke, Ben, Zolgensma, Ben Kutschke, neurologists, Sitra Tauscher, Wisniewski, Ben's, Roger Hajjar, Brigham Gene, Kutschke, Vasant Narasimhan, Stacie Dusetzina, Roche's, Biogen, Roche, Maha Radhakrishnan, Steven Pearson, It's, Sree Chaguturu, Amanda Cook, Weston, Jackson, Cook, Elizabeth, Jerry Mendell, Russell Butterfield, –, Biogen's, Mendell, UMR, Spinraza, Eric Cox, Caroline Humer, Sara Ledwith Organizations: Reuters, U.S, Novartis, IQVIA Institute, Human Data, Novartis Gene Therapies, Mass, Cell Therapy, U.S . Food, Drug Administration, CSL Behring, CSL, Nashville's Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Clinical, Economic, CVS Health, Aetna, SMA, Nationwide Children's Hospital, University of Utah Health, Children's, UnitedHealth, Thomson Locations: Oak Park, Berwyn , Illinois, Swiss, U.S, Lebanon , Virginia, United States, Columbus , Ohio, Russia, Kazakhstan, Chicago

☆ Exclusive: Most patients using weight-loss drugs like Wegovy stop within a year, data show
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Chad Terhune | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The annual cost of overall care for patients prior to taking Wegovy or a similar drug was $12,371, on average, according to the analysis. The costs for a similar control group of patients not taking the drugs decreased by 4% over the same period. The analysis by Prime Therapeutics, a pharmacy benefits manager (PBM), reviewed pharmacy and medical claims data for 4,255 people with commercial health plans. For the analysis, Prime Therapeutics excluded patients with type 2 diabetes to focus on obesity treatment. In trials with adults, Novo found that 6.8% of patients taking Wegovy discontinued treatment due to gastrointestinal problems and other adverse events.

Persons: Wegovy, Khrysta Baig, Patrick Gleason, Novo, aren't, Gleason, David Lassen, Lassen, Chad Terhune, Michele Gershberg, Bill Berkrot Organizations: Reuters, Vanderbilt University, Novo Nordisk, Prime Therapeutics, Therapeutics, U.S, Blue, Thomson Locations: Danish

☆ Thermo Fisher to acquire CorEvitas for about $913 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Thermo Fisher has been on an acquisition spree in recent years as it strives to become a one-stop shop for biopharma services. CorEvitas is expected to boost Thermo Fisher's annual adjusted earnings per share by 3 cents next year. The data provider also has the potential to generate $110 million of revenue in 2023, Thermo Fisher said. CorEvitas' data intelligence platform would be added to Thermo Fisher's laboratory products and biopharma services unit, upon completion of the deal. Shares of Massachusetts-based Thermo Fisher were down 1.3% at $514 in early trading.

Persons: Fisher, CorEvitas, Puneet, Sriparna Roy, Shilpi Majumdar Organizations: SVB Securities, Audax Private Equity, Massachusetts, Thomson Locations: U.S, Boston, Bengaluru

☆ FDA approves Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi, paving way for broader Medicare coverage
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Leqembi is the first Alzheimer's antibody treatment to receive full FDA approval. The antibody, administered twice monthly through intravenous infusion, targets a protein called amyloid that is associated with Alzheimer's disease. Medicare coverage is a crucial step to help older Americans with early Alzheimer's disease pay for the treatment. Costs may vary depending on whether the patient has supplemental Medicare coverage or other secondary insurance, according to the agency. Philipson and his colleagues at the University of Chicago estimated that delaying Medicare coverage of Alzheimer's antibody treatments by one year would result in $6.8 billion in increased spending.

Persons: Joanna Pike, Leqembi, Pike, David Knopman, Knopman, Anna Eshoo of, Nanette Barragan, There's, Tomas Philipson, Bush, Philipson, Sen, Bernie Sanders, Xavier Becerra, Sanders, Eisai Organizations: Drug Administration, Medicare, FDA, Alzheimer's Association, Mayo Clinic, Services, Health, University of Chicago, Senate Health, Human Services, Clinical Locations: U.S, Minnesota, Anna Eshoo of California

☆ Using video games as medical treatments seemed promising, but a stunning failure raises questions about the future of digital therapeutics
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

With digital therapeutics' trailblazers in jeopardy, experts think more failures are on the horizon. Covering digital therapeutics hasn't been easyInsurers, the ultimate gatekeepers in healthcare, have been slow to warm to the idea of reimbursing prescription digital therapeutics. Plus, most digital therapeutics don't integrate with electronic-health-records systems, making it difficult for clinicians to track their patients' progress. Senators reintroduced a bill in March that would guarantee Medicare reimbursement for prescription digital therapeutics. Want to tell us about your experience with digital therapeutics?

Persons: Pear, It's, Akili, Jeffrey Abraham, Rick Bartels, Bartels, Corey McCann, Matt Stoudt, Stoudt, Matthew Stoudt, keener, we'll, that's, Abraham, Rebecca Torrence Organizations: Morning, Pear Therapeutics, Food and Drug Administration, FDA, Digital Therapeutics, Pear, Centers, Medicare, Services, Senators, CMS

☆ Lawmakers worry Medicare Alzheimer's plan won't ensure access to new treatments
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Rep. Nanette Barragan (D-CA) speaks alongside US Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg after a tour of the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach during a press conference at the Port of Long Beach on January 11, 2022 in Long Beach, California. Two Democratic lawmakers are calling on Medicare to provide more information on how the program will make good on its promise to cover Alzheimer's treatments for seniors. Medicare has promised to cover Alzheimer's antibody treatments on the same day the medications receive full approval by the Food and Drug Administration. The federal health program will cover the treatments through Part B of the program for seniors. Eshoo and Barragan told Brooks-LaSure that they are worried the registry could present a barrier to care.

Persons: Nanette Barragan, Pete Buttigieg, Anna Eshoo, Chiquita Brooks, LaSure, Eshoo, Barragan, Brooks Organizations: US Department of Transportation, Port, Democratic, Health, Medicare, Medicaid Services, Food and Drug Administration, FDA Locations: Los Angeles, Long, Port of Long Beach, Long Beach , California

☆ Medicare details plan to cover Alzheimer's treatments
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Medicare Part B will cover treatments for Alzheimer's disease that receive U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval, according to the federal agency that administers the program for seniors. Anyone who has Medicare Part B and meets "eligibility criteria" will be covered for new antibody treatments such as Leqembi once the FDA approves them, said Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, on Thursday. Part B is an optional part of the Medicare program for seniors that typically covers the costs of drugs patients cannot administer themselves, such as infusions. The new policy will provide broader access to treatments, such as Leqembi, that slow cognitive decline. Brooks-LaSure said the expanded coverage will go into effect on the same day the FDA approves an Alzheimer's antibody treatment.

Persons: Chiquita Brooks, LaSure, Brooks Organizations: Food, Drug Administration, FDA, Centers, Medicare, Medicaid Services, Leqembi

☆ Crypto mining in Texas could be costing energy customers an extra $69 per year on their electrical bills
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Will Gendron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Texas has become home to crypto mining companies due to the state's cheap electricity. When considering the more than 26 million customers on Texas' Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, that's an extra $69 per annual bill. Crypto mining companies needed to move elsewhere, and some rural counties in Texas welcomed these companies. "Texans have continued to experience high electric bills due to a number of factors," an ERCOT spokesperson told Insider. The spokesperson cited weather and fuel prices as the main reasons for increased electric bills.

☆ Pfizer RSV vaccine for older adults should be monitored for nervous system condition Guillain-Barre, scientists say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A health worker prepares a flu vaccine shot before administering it to a local resident in Los Angeles, the United States, on Dec. 17, 2022. People who receive Pfizer 's RSV vaccine for older adults should be monitored for Guillain-Barre syndrome, after two people developed the nervous system disorder after they received the shot, scientists said in clinical trial results published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The scientists concluded the vaccine was effective in preventing lower respiratory tract illness in adults ages 60 and older without any evident safety concerns. But they flagged the Guillain-Barre cases as a potential cause for concern moving forward. Guillain-Barre syndrome is a rare disorder in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks the nerves.

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