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HEALTH EXPERTS MONITOR TB CASES AFTER PANDEMIC – After 30 years of slow but steady decline, TB cases in the U. S. are on the rise. UU. se plummeted in 2020, at the height of the pandemic, but are recovering, a worrying development, public fitness experts say.
In 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 8,300 cases of tuberculosis, up from 7,874 last year. Preliminary data shows that 19 states and the District of Columbia already have capital case counts compared to all of last year.
Although this year’s growth is unlikely to surpass 2019 figures, experts say the sharp drop in TB cases due to the pandemic may simply be misleading, as in situations of ill health, people, hospitals and doctors have focused on Covid-19 testing.
TB is “one of the types of diseases that reflects our ability to handle complex fitness issues,” Dr. Anne Schultz told Prescription Pulse. Amita Gupta, chair of the department of infectious diseases at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. And some public fitness departments — especially those with higher concentrations of at-risk populations, such as immigrants or other homeless people — say they’re struggling to keep up with patient demand.
The United States, the world’s leading cause of infectious death, has set out to eradicate it.
“One thing that a lot of the public doesn’t know is that TB still exists in the United States,” Dr. Philip LoBue, director of the CDC’s Division of TB Elimination, told Prescription Pulse.
LoBue said it was premature to conclude that the Covid-19 pandemic had led to a reduction in cases. Some experts speculate that TB cases appeared to be artificially reduced because many other people were not seeking treatment or moving less at the federal, state and local levels. Stops.
The disease is airborne and spreads smoothly in settings where Americans live nearby, such as prisons or shelters. Even if other people don’t get sick right away, they may simply spread latent TB, which can show up later if the person on the immune formula is compromised.
Delays in diagnosis lead to detrimental delays in treatment, which requires several months of specialized antibiotics. Two of the first-line antibiotics for TB were in short supply or limited in March. If patients complete their course with antibiotics, they will be at risk of drug-resistant TB, which is even more difficult to treat.
IT’S TUESDAY. WELCOME TO PRESCRIPTION PULSE. Katherine will be a panelist at the Food and Drug Law Institute later this week. Come say hello!
Send news to Lauren Gardner ([email protected] or @Gardner_LM), David Lim ([email protected] or @davidalim), and Katherine Ellen Foley ([email protected] or @katherineefoley).
TODAY ON OUR PULSE CHECK PODCAST, host Ben Leonard speaks with POLITICO physical care reporter Robert King, who explains why some state insurance commissioners need Congress to repair their authority over Medicare Advantage marketing.
A message from the Coalition for Affordable Prescription Drugs:
A new survey shows that 97% of employers who directly outsource pharmacy get advantages are satisfied with their PBM. And 86% of employers say it’s vital to have a diversity of characteristics in how they compensate PBMs for their expertise and expertise. Read the effects of the survey.
Senate President Bernie Sanders (I-Vt. ) is asking HHS Inspector General Christi Grimm to investigate the NIH’s procedure for granting a monopoly patent license for a cervical cancer treatment, which he says can be worth up to billions of dollars. dollars in revenue. The request comes two days before the committee’s vote on President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead NIH.
The NIH proposed in September to grant the exclusive patent license to a little-known company that employs a former NIH researcher who worked on drug progression while at NIH, reports POLITICO’s Erin Schumaker.
Lawmakers have expressed fear that a former NIH researcher “appears to have a direct relationship” with the company that is about to download the valuable patent license.
“There seems to be nothing moderate and mandatory about granting a monopoly to a remedy that was invented, manufactured, and tested through the NIH, that is already at a complex level of testing, and that can potentially enrich a former NIH worker. who was one of the major players in the industry. Government investigators on this remedy,” Sanders wrote in a letter.
Sanders said he’s increasingly alarmed that the NIH appears to have abdicated what it sees as its authority to ensure that the drugs it’s helping to expand are priced more reasonably. His letter highlighted an article published last week through American Prospect, calling the alleged misuse of the exclusive patent licensing formula a “how to become a billionaire” program administered by the NIH.
An NIH spokesperson responded to a request for comment.
FDA Releases Industry Briefing: The agency’s Center for Tobacco Products is hosting a two-day town hall on the most productive practices by asking the regulator to authorize new tobacco products, adding e-cigarettes.
This is only the second public meeting on the tobacco regulatory process in four years, in addition to the Tobacco Products Advisory Committee meeting held in June. In his opening remarks Monday, CTP Director Brian King said the assembly met in part to respond to independent experts convened through the Reagan-Udall Foundation, which released a report on the FDA’s tobacco regulation that said there was a need to improve transparency in regulatory decisions.
On Monday, FDA officials made detailed presentations on how to submit applications, but declined to voice questions about individual product evaluations. Instead, they addressed broader considerations raised by participants, adding the time it takes to make a decision on a request.
Agency officials said it would take “180 days of active review through the FDA” to make a decision on a marketing authorization application; Several products have been under review for several years.
“We haven’t necessarily met that deadline in the past. Our goal is to achieve this in the future,” said Cristi Stark, director of the Regulatory Project Management Division of CTP’s Scientific Office.
Not everyone is convinced. ” You can know everything you want to know about the FDA based on how we order lunch,” one assembly attendee said Monday, referring to a lengthy procedure that required attendees to order with a paper form that had to be physically carried in a long line. The player granted anonymity due to pending marketing requests from his company.
At the same time, the CTP is reading a modified threat product that could be offering smokers a safer option to cigarettes. On Friday, tobacco giant Philip Morris International finalized its bid for IQOS ILUMA, which heats tobacco sticks without burning, generating fewer destructive chemicals than smoking.
The original IQOS is one of the few tobacco products that has obtained modified threat authorization from the FDA, but it is only available worldwide due to a patent dispute with British American Tobacco. Sales are expected to pick up in April.
Roche reached a $7. 1 billion deal on Monday to acquire Telavant from Roivant, founded by Vivek Ramaswamy, for the rights to develop, manufacture and market a remedy for inflammatory bowel disease in the United States and Japan. The deal is expected to close in the fourth or first quarter of next year.
Roche said it needs to start a global Phase III trial for Televant’s inflammatory bowel disease remedy “as soon as possible. “
Ramaswamy resigned from Roivant’s board of directors in February to participate in his 2024 presidential campaign and stepped down as CEO in January 2021.
A message from the Coalition for Affordable Prescription Drugs:
Millennials are ready to take care of their aging parents, baby boomers, reports Anna North for Vox.
The CDC has asked health care providers to ration newly approved shots from Sanofi and AstraZeneca that give babies some immunity in their first respiratory virus season after corporations underestimated demand from doctors and patients, POLITICO’s Chelsea Cirruzzo reports.
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The FDA has published draft guidelines for companies that provide clinical information to health care providers about unapproved uses of medical devices in the marketplace.
A message from the Coalition for Affordable Prescription Drugs:
A new survey shows that employers need flexibility for the type of policy that meets the unique desires of their workers. 89% of employers say their PBM is helpful in helping their organization offer affordable benefits to workers, and 91% of employers say it is. It’s vital to have flexibility and choice in how your organization uses discounts. Read the effects of the survey.