Bill introduced to protect HCWs like airline staff
Editor's Note US Representatives Madeleine Dean (D-Pa) and Larry Bucshon, MD, (R-Ind) on June 7 introduced a Bill to protect healthcare workers (HCWs) from violence that is modeled after protections for airline workers, the June 8 Becker’s Hospital Review reports. The Safety from Violence for Healthcare Employees Act would criminalize…
Analysis: Healthcare stocks perform poorly during inflation spikes
Editor's Note According to an analysis by Derek Horstmeyer, PhD, finance professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, healthcare stocks generally see the “worst median annualized returns during inflation spikes,” Becker’s Hospital CFO Report June 8 reports. Horstmeyer’s analysis, first published in the Wall Street Journal on June 5,…
Protection, waning of immunity to COVID-19 after infection, vaccination
Editor's Note This Israeli study finds that individuals previously infected with COVID-19, regardless of whether they had been vaccinated, had more protection against reinfection than those who were vaccinated (Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine) but previously uninfected. Among the findings for the number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 person days since vaccination or…
FDA: Class I recall of Philips Respironics V60, V60 Plus Ventilators
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration on June 3 identified the recall by Philips Respironics of all V60 and V60 Plus Ventilators as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because an internal power fluctuation may cause the ventilator to shut down unintentionally with or without any…
Study: Pulse oximetry may overestimate blood oxygen reading in people of color
Editor's Note In a JAMA Internal Medicine study involving more than 7,000 COVID-19 patients, titled “Racial and Ethnic Discrepancy in Pulse Oximetry and Delayed Identification of Treatment Eligibility Among Patients With COVID-19” and published in May 2022, researchers found that pulse oximetry, which measures blood oxygen saturation levels and is…
Association of COVID-19 booster and Omicron in the NBA
Editor's Note This study, led by researchers at IQVIA, Durham, North Carolina, finds that in a young, healthy, highly vaccinated cohort of players and staff in the National Basketball Association (NBA), booster vaccinations were associated with a significant reduction in COVID-19 infections during the Omicron wave. Of 2,613 players and…
FDA: Class I recall of Atrium Medical’s iCast Covered Stent
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on June 2 identified the recall by Atrium Medical Corporation of its iCast Covered Stent System as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because of increased complaints about the separation of the balloon or catheter hub from the delivery…
Report: Ransomware attacks on healthcare facilities up by 94% globally
Editor's Note According to a report from cybersecurity firm Sophos, titled “The State of Ransomware in Healthcare 2022” and published in May 2022, ransomware attacks on healthcare organizations have increased by 94% “year over year” globally, Becker’s Health IT June 6 reports. The report includes findings from an “independent, vendor-agnostic…
Changes in cancer screening during COVID-19
Editor's Note This study from the American Cancer Society, Atlanta, finds that the prevalence of breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening decreased during COVID-19. A total of 479,248 patients were included in the analysis for breast cancer screening, 301,453 for cervical cancer screening, and 854,210 for colorectal cancer screening. Between…
Healthcare employment up in May
Editor's Note Overall healthcare employment in the US was up in May to a seasonally adjusted 16,267,900 workers, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on June 3. That’s up 28,300 since April. Hospital employment also was up by 16,300 jobs. The overall unemployment rate for May was 3.6%, for a…