Axios Vitals: It's prep time

Plus, COVID linked to damage in brain | Tuesday, March 08, 2022

Open in app View in browser   Presented By PhRMA   Axios Vitals By Tina Reed ·Mar 08, 2022 Good morning, Vitals readers. Today's newsletter is 931 words or a 4-minute read.     1 big thing: It's time to prepare for future pandemics, experts say Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios   America needs major new spending in areas like disease surveillance and next-generation PPE if it wants to avoid repeating mistakes of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to two reports out this week. Why it matters: The reports are among recent attempts by public health officials to lay out the weaknesses exposed by the pandemic and the steps needed to build more resiliency in the health system before the next crisis. What they're saying: "If we had another pandemic come along in the next year, I'd be very confident that it would be the same, if not worse," Devin Jopp, CEO of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, told Axios. "If you don't have the ability to have surge capacity, if you don't have trained infection preventionists, if you don't have testing capabilities or if there are manufacturing issues or supply chain challenges — and we haven't addressed those — then we haven't learned anything," Jopp said. Between the lines: A report released first to Axios by APIC calls for Congress to fund a number of infection control investments, such as supply chain improvements, improved testing capacity, better IT systems for sharing public health data, and investments for building up the infection control workforce. State of play: It comes on the heels of Monday's release of a COVID roadmap by dozens of health care experts, including former Biden advisers. The big picture: Last week, the Biden administration rolled out a new national COVID-19 preparedness plan. Members of Congress are also looking to address pandemic preparedness in legislation. The bottom line: Public health preparedness is gaining traction, but the real test will be how much money lawmakers vote to spend as inflation fears are rising. "We lost an estimated $7 trillion in lost economic output [due to COVID]. The government has pumped trillions of dollars into the economy," said Zeke Emanuel, an author of the roadmap who served on then-President-elect Biden's COVID-19 task force. "Investing another few hundred billion dollars to forestall those kinds of problems? That has a huge ROI," he told Axios. Read the rest.     2. Pallone calls for accelerated approval limits Rep. Frank Pallone. Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images   A powerful House chairman on Monday called for limiting the FDA's ability to expedite certain drug approvals on the condition manufacturers later do studies that confirm the products have clinical benefit, Axios' Adriel Bettelheim writes. The details: House Energy and Commerce Chair Frank Pallone, D-N.J., would set a five-year expiration on licenses granted under the agency's so-called Accelerated Approval pathway to streamline the process for taking products off the market if no benefit is shown. The licenses wouldn't expire if there's enough data to convert the accelerated approval to a traditional one. Background: The process came under the spotlight last year after the FDA's controversial decision to green-light the experimental Alzheimer's treatment Aduhelm over the objections of FDA staff and outside experts. Looking ahead: Pallone's proposal could be wrapped into broader legislation aimed at reauthorizing FDA user fees later this year. Go deeper: When an expensive drug turns out to be a dud     3. COVID linked to brain damage in scent areas Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios   Patients with mild cases of COVID-19 suffered a loss of the brain's "gray matter" plus damage in areas associated with the sense of smell and a larger-than-average decline in cognitive function, Adriel reports from research published Monday in the journal Nature. Why it matters: The U.K. study is the first to compare brain scans before and after infection — and mostly deals with patients who had mild cases, which are the most common type arising from COVID infections. Key takeaway: The loss of brain volume observed equals an extra year of normal aging, lead author Gwenaëlle Douaud at University of Oxford told NBC News.  The study: Researchers investigated brain changes in 785 participants in the UK Biobank, a repository containing genetic and health information from half a million participants. A total of 401 cases tested positive for infection between their two scans, with 141 days on average separating their diagnosis and second scan. Yes, but: What's still unclear is whether the brain damage is reversible. Our thought bubble: The overlapping smell and memory-related brain functions shown to be affected by COVID raise questions about whether the virus could contribute to Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia, the researchers wrote.       A message from PhRMA Voters want Congress to address health insurance     According to a new poll, 71% of Americans would like to see Congress focus more on reducing the overall costs of health care coverage such as premiums, deductibles and copays. The reason: Many believe current health insurance coverage options are confusing and unaffordable.     4. Hospitals skip less profitable services Photo illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios; Photo: Linh Ta   Nonprofit and government-owned hospitals are more likely to offer relatively unprofitable services than for-profit hospitals, Axios' Caitlin Owens writes about a new study published in Health Affairs. Why it matters: Nonprofits' financials are often evaluated based on factors like how much charity care they offer and how they pursue patient debt. But the study argues that it's also important to look at which services hospitals offer — including when considering policy that would require nonprofits to offer more free care. The big picture: Nonprofit hospitals — which are tax-exempt — have repeatedly come under fire over the last several years for aggressive debt collection practices, like lawsuits and wage garnishments. But the study's authors warn that requiring nonprofit hospitals to offer more uncompensated care could have unintended consequences. "Because most nonprofits have small or negative margins, onerous free-care requirements may force them to eliminate relatively unprofitable services that disproportionately benefit poor patients," the authors write. Go deeper: America's biggest hospitals vs. their patients     5. Catch up quick Unsealed documents from old baby powder lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson revealed the company funded a study 50 years ago that involved injecting asbestos into mostly Black inmates. (Bloomberg) The NFL has been using an unproven measure to get players with COVID back on the field fast. (KHN) Defying guidance from top infectious disease experts, Florida's surgeon general will recommend against healthy kids getting a COVID-19 vaccine. (Sarasota Herald-Tribune)     A message from PhRMA Voters want Congress to address health insurance     A decisive majority of Americans (86%) agree Congress should crack down on abusive health insurance practices impacting patients' access to care. Why it's important: Greater transparency and accountability within the current health insurance system. Read more in new poll.   Like this email style and format? It's called Smart Brevity®. Over 200 orgs use it — in a tool called Axios HQ — to drive productivity with clearer workplace communications.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Axios, 3100 Clarendon B‌lvd, Suite 1300, Arlington VA 22201   You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios. Change your preferences or unsubscribe here.   Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now to get Axios in your inbox.   Follow Axios on social media: