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Hush, Here Comes the Not ‐So‐Little Baby Tax
Gabriella Beaumont-SmithThe U.S. baby formula industry is in trouble. For most of 2022, parents faced bare shelves when looking for formula. Even in the last week,34 percent of households reported difficulty finding formula. What ’s more depressing, Reckitt Benckiser, an infant formula producer, expects low supplies topersist into the spring.While reports of problems began in August 2021, alarm bells didn ’t ring until theshutdown of a major U.S. plant in early 2022. The shutdown caused a massive supply shock and by June 2022, national out-of-stock levels of infant formulaexceeded90 percent. The crisis wasn ’t just b...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - December 8, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Gabriella Beaumont-Smith Source Type: blogs

Americans May Finally Get Access to OTC Naloxone
Jeffrey A. SingerI havewritten for years that the Food and Drug Administration should make the opioid overdose antidote naloxone over ‐the‐counter. Public health attorney Corey Davisspoke of how urgent it is for the FDA to move quickly to reclassify this safe and effective harm reduction tool and a Cato Institute conference in 2019.Even though, as I andothers have pointed out, the FDA Commissioner can unilaterally reclassify the prescription ‐only drug as over the counter, the FDA has been deferential to the naloxone manufacturers, who have been reticent to submit applications. Over the past s...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - December 7, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey A. Singer Source Type: blogs

American Health Care Consumers Should Have Access to Drugs and Devices Benefitting People in Other Developed Countries
Jeffrey A. SingerSwiss Medtech, a trade association representing the medical technology industry, issued a press release on November 28 praising the Swiss Parliament for enacting legislation allowing Swiss health care providers and patients to access medical devices approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Until now, the Swiss government only permitted patients and doctors to access devices that have a CE Marking, which indicates the device meets European Union standards, and the E.U. approves it for marketing among member states. The Swiss Parliament ’s action should expand access and increase p...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - November 29, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey A. Singer Source Type: blogs

On Preventive Care Coverage, Let the People Choose
Michael F. CannonA federal judge in Texas is weighing whether to free consumers nationwide from an unconstitutional ObamaCare requirement that they purchase coverage they do not want, theWall Street Journalreports. He should do so.In September, Judge Reed O ’Connor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled that ObamaCare violates the Constitution by giving the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) the power to dictate particular types of coverage consumers must purchase. O’Connor ruled that provision unconstitutiona l because USPSTF members would have to receive Senate confirmation to w...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - November 28, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Michael F. Cannon Source Type: blogs

Where Does Diabetes Technology Stand In 2022?
Diabetes management went through a radical transformation in the last years due to technology: the diabetes patient community found a strong voice online, continuous glucose monitors are taking the place of finger pricks, digital patches and insulin pumps make the dosage of insulin more predictable, and connected devices promise the era of artificial pancreas real soon. We looked around where diabetes technology stands today and what could we expect in the next 5-10 years. The diabetes community and digital health tech companies pushing for change Diabetes continues to affect the lives of millions around the globe. A...
Source: The Medical Futurist - November 22, 2022 Category: Information Technology Authors: berci.mesko Tags: Future of Medicine community diabetes digital digital health patient technology artificial pancreas blood diabetes management insulin diabetic health management blood sugar Source Type: blogs

Lowering Drug Costs and Prices by Expanding Access to Biosimilars
Jeffrey A. SingerToday Senator Mike Lee (R ‑UT) introduced theBiosimilar Red Tape Elimination Act. Thebill seeks to reduce health care costs by streamlining the Food and Drug Administration ’s process to approve biosimilar drug products. It does this by prohibiting the FDA from requiring biosimilar drugs to undergo “switching studies” before the agency approves them as interchangeable with the original biological medicine.Unlike conventional medicines, which drug companies chemically synthesize to a specific molecular structure, biological medicines have natural sources, are complex, and may contain combinatio...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - November 18, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey A. Singer Source Type: blogs

FDA Takes Another Swing at OTC Naloxone Pitch
Jeffrey A. SingerAs I have beenwriting for years, the Food and Drug Administration should reclassify the opioid overdose antidote naloxone, approved for use in 1971 and used by non ‐physicians, including first responders, to rescue overdose victims for the past few decades, as an over‐the‐counter drug. The drug has been available OTC inAustralia since 2015 and inItaly for more than 20 years.Moreover,all 50 states have come up with ways to work around the prescription ‐only status of the drug—either by allowing state health directors and other licensed practitioners to issue standing orders t...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - November 15, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey A. Singer Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, October 31st 2022
This study used mice to evaluate how their lifestyles - eating fatty foods vs. healthy and exercising vs. not - affected the metabolites of their offspring. Metabolites are substances made or used when the body breaks down food, drugs or chemicals, or its own fat or muscle tissue. "We have previously shown that maternal and paternal exercise improve health of offspring. Tissue and serum metabolites play a fundamental role in the health of an organism, but how parental exercise affects offspring tissue and serum metabolites has not yet been investigated." Researchers used targeted metabolomics - the study of metaboli...
Source: Fight Aging! - October 30, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs

These 8 Countries Could Put Together The World ’ s Most Advanced Healthcare System
If we are looking for the one thing common in the healthcare systems in various countries, is that no one has ever been truly satisfied with their own. The level of satisfaction/dissatisfaction of course varies widely between countries and is closely related to the economic performance and possibilities available for the given country in the past centuries/decades. But as we will see, with having focus and working for the right goals, it is possible to fully transform a country and its healthcare in just a few decades. Can we, dreaming freely, come up with the perfect system? There are so many good examples all over the...
Source: The Medical Futurist - October 27, 2022 Category: Information Technology Authors: Andrea Koncz Tags: Future of Medicine Science Fiction e-patient Healthcare healthcare design digital technology health IT healthcare system longevity digital health technologies Future of healthcare patient inclusion Source Type: blogs

More on the Debate Over the Classification of Aging as a Disease
Whether or not aging is clearly listed as a disease in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) maintained by the World Health Organization (WHO) only matters because medical research and development is heavily regulated. Since aging isn't classified as a disease, there is no clear roadmap to obtaining regulatory approval to treat aging with a working rejuvenation therapy, and therefore no investor is willing to commit to funding that work. What happens instead is that the range of biotech companies presently working to produce age-slowing and rejuvenating therapies pick a specific age-related disease to start wi...
Source: Fight Aging! - October 26, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Politics and Legislation Source Type: blogs

OTC Hearing Aids —Did the FDA Give Patients Access with One Hand and Take Access Away with the Other?
Jeffrey A. SingerOctober 17, 2022 marked the day that hearing aids became available over the counter to people over age 18 with mild ‐to‐moderate hearing loss. TheOver ‐the‐Counter Hearing Aid Act of 2017, a rider to theFDA Reauthorization Act of 2017, ordered the Food and Drug Administration to create a new category, OTC hearing aids, as devices that use air conduction to improve hearing for people in the above category.This good news can make hearing aids more affordable and accessible for an estimated30 million people who suffer from hearing loss. Opening this market will generate competiti...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - October 18, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey A. Singer Source Type: blogs

Weekly Overseas Health IT Links – 15th October, 2022.
This article uses the one that divides providers into groups depending on the life cycle stage the clinic is at the given moment. According to this classification, medical providers fall into three groups:BeginnersGrowing clinicsWell-established providersHealth care providers are business entities, so their life cycle, like that of any business, consists of the early stage or launch, growth and maturity. At each stage, providers have different priorities and goals, and the choice of medical software solutions should be made accordingly.Medical software for beginnersThe launch phase can be tough. At this stage, the profits ...
Source: Australian Health Information Technology - October 15, 2022 Category: Information Technology Authors: Dr David G More MB PhD Source Type: blogs

Weekly Overseas Health IT Links – 8th October, 2022.
This report aligns with the reality that healthcare organizations are facing in terms of the effects to patient safety, " said Anahi Santiago, chief information security officer at Delaware-based ChristianaCare.She and other healthcare cybersecurity leaders spoke withHealthcare IT News about the connection between cyber hygiene and patient safety and how to prepare for healthcare cyber attacks. -----https://ehrintelligence.com/news/meaningful-use-ehrs-may-be-key-to-improved-quality-of-care‘Meaningful Use’ EHRs May Be Key to Improved Quality of CareHospitals that meet the “Meaningful Use” EHR requirements were ...
Source: Australian Health Information Technology - October 8, 2022 Category: Information Technology Authors: Dr David G More MB PhD Source Type: blogs

This Is A Very Valuable Contribution To Help Us Recognise At Least Some Of The Complexities Of Using Digital Techologies In Mental Health Care Delivery.
This appeared last week:Digital technologies in mental healthcare: creating opportunities for better care, or a new form of asylum?· Alison Barrett· Piers Gooding and Simon Katterl· Wednesday, September 21, 2022Introduction by Croakey: With a rapid increase in the use of digital technology in healthcare, it is critical the technologies are implemented in a careful and safe way, particularly in the area of mental healthcare.While digital technology provides some benefits for mental ...
Source: Australian Health Information Technology - September 28, 2022 Category: Information Technology Authors: Dr David G More MB PhD Source Type: blogs

Undisclosed Conflicts of Interest by Physicians Creating the CDC Opioid Prescribing Guidelines: Bad Faith or Incompetence?
We described above how changes in opioid policy aimed at reducing Washington State’s Medicaid and Workers Compensation costs contributed to an increase in methadone deaths between 2003 and late 2014 (23-25). Focusing on similar cost reductions, the Centers for Medicar e and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed rules for 2019 including several directives intended to reduce " Opioid Overutilization, ” including adoption of the “90 morphine milligram equivalent (MME) threshold cited by the 2016 CDC Opioid Guideline (147, 148). Simply put, reduced prescribing reduces costs for prescribed medications.Chou received research fu...
Source: Pallimed: A Hospice and Palliative Medicine Blog - September 12, 2022 Category: Palliative Care Tags: health policy judy kollas opioids research schechtman Source Type: blogs