Free at-home COVID-19 tests distribution to end this Friday
Editor's Note On Friday, September 2, the US government will stop giving away free at-home COVID-19 tests because of insufficient congressional funds, according to a senior Biden administration official, NBC News August 28 reports. The White House official said unless there is a surprise round of funding from Congress, the…
Moderna sues Pfizer and BioNTech for COVID-19 vaccine patent infringement
Editor's Note On Friday, August 26, the vaccine manufacturer Moderna sued Pfizer and the German drugmaker BioNTech, accusing its competitors of copying technology that Moderna had developed prior to the pandemic, The New York Times August 26 reports. The patent infringement claims could result in a protracted and expensive legal battle…
Effect of aspirin vs enoxaparin on VTE after total hip, knee arthroplasty
Editor's Note This study (CRISTAL randomized trial) from Australia finds that aspirin compared with enoxaparin resulted in significantly higher rates of venous thromboembolism (VTE) after total hip or knee arthroplasty. This cluster-randomized, crossover trial included 9,711 patients in 31 hospitals in Australia—5,675 in the aspirin group and 4,036 in the…
FDA: Class I recall of Medtronic’s HeartWare HVAD system batteries
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration on August 25 identified the recall by Medtronic of its HeartWare Ventricular Assist Device (HVAD) system batteries as Class I, the most serious. Medtronic is recalling the batteries because they may experience electrical faults that cause them to unexpectedly fail. A similar recall…
HHS releases two reports on long COVID-19 research, support
Editor's Note On August 3, as directed by President Joe Biden in a briefing room release in April 2022, when he tasked the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) “to coordinate the federal response to the long-term health effects of COVID-19,” as reported by OR Manager, HHS released a national…
FBI warns healthcare professionals about fraud scheme
Editor's Note The FBI on August 22 warned healthcare workers of ongoing fraud schemes where scammers impersonate law enforcement and government officials in an effort to extort money or steal personally identifiable information (PII), Healthcare Purchasing News August 24 reports. By researching a medical practice’s website or social media, scammers…
Work readiness of new RNs
Editor's Note This study led by nurse researchers at Novant Health, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and the School of Nursing, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, examines the work readiness of newly licensed RNs. Work readiness is the extent to which newly graduated nurses possess qualities and competencies linked to job satisfaction…
Amazon shutting down its healthcare service
Editor's Note Amazon is shutting down Amazon Care by the end of the year, the August 24 Washington Post reports. Amazon Care was initially started as an internal healthcare offering for Amazon employees, but currently, it is available to employees of half a dozen corporate customers. Workers were told their healthcare…
COVID-19 outbreak in acute care hospital linked to vaccine breakthrough
Editor's Note This study by researchers in South Korea analyzes a COVID-19 outbreak caused by vaccine breakthrough infections in a hospital where 91.9% of healthcare workers were vaccinated. In addition, it was mandatory that all healthcare workers and caregivers wear masks or respirators at all times except when eating. During…
ANSI/AAMI ST98 provides cleaning validation requirements for device manufacturers
Editor's Note The Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) on August 24 announced the publication of a new standard: “ANSI/AAMI ST98:2022, Cleaning validation of health care products—Requirements for development and validation of a cleaning process for medical devices.” The new standard not only provides manufacturers with a formalized…