The Health News USA November 15 2017
- Microsoft founder Bill Gates said Monday he’s giving $100 million dollars to fight Alzheimer’s disease — $50 million dollars out of his own pocket now, and $50 million dollars later for start-up efforts. Gates said he has a family history of Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia. More than 5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s, and this number is expected to grow as the population ages.
- The tragic death of 3-year Elijah Silvera who died after allegedly eating grilled cheese that cause a severe allergic reaction at a preschool has prompted New York City officials to implement a new protocol: call 911 during medical emergencies. He died on November 3 when he went into anaphylactic shock at Seventh Avenue Center for Family Services in Manhattan.
- President Donald Trump on Monday said he is nominating former pharmaceutical executive and industry lobbyist Alex Azar to serve as U.S. Health and Human Services secretary, saying Azar would push to lower the price of medicines. Republicans as well as the lead lobby groups for drugmakers and health insurers welcomed Azar as an experienced hand who could help overhaul the world’s most costly health care system.
News on Health Professional Radio. Today is the 15th of November 2017. Read by Tabetha Moreto.
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/bill-gates-offers-100-million-fight-alzheimer-s-n820341
Microsoft founder Bill Gates said Monday he’s giving one hundred million dollars to fight Alzheimer’s disease — fifty million dollars out of his own pocket now, and fifty million dollars later for start-up efforts. Gates said he has a family history of Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia, and he also said the condition can wreck the U.S. healthcare system as more and more people get it. But mostly, it’s because decades of research and billions of dollars of work have failed to produce a cure for the disease, or even to answer basic questions about how and why it develops in the first place.“This is something I know a lot about, because men in my family have suffered from Alzheimer’s,” Gates wrote in his blog.
More than five million Americans have Alzheimer’s, and this number is expected to grow as the population ages. The Alzheimer’s Association said in a statement: “Those who have dementia spend five times more annually on out-of-pocket health expenses than those who don’t have Alzheimer’s, and the disease accounts for direct American health care costs of two hundred fifty nine billion dollars in two thousand seventeen, with projected growth to one point one trillion dollars in two thousand fifty.”
There’s no cure, and treatments do not work well. Drugs such as Aricept, known also as donezepil, can reduce symptoms for a time but they do not slow the worsening of the disease. Drug after drug has failed when tested in patients. Several compounds can reduce the brain-clogging plaques that are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s but they have not shown conclusively that they ease symptoms or prevent disease. Such drugs are also years away from getting on the market. The National Institutes of Health spent nine hundred twenty nine million dollars on Alzheimer’s research in two thousand sixteen and had one point four billion budgeted for the two thousand seventeen fiscal year that just ended. The NIH has eight hundred thirty seven million dollars in the two thousand eighteen fiscal budget.
The tragic death of a toddler who died after allegedly eating grilled cheese that cause a severe allergic reaction at a preschool has prompted New York City officials to implement a new protocol: call nine one one during medical emergencies.
Elijah Silvera, age three, died on November three when he went into anaphylactic shock at Seventh Avenue Center for Family Services in Manhattan, his family said. An adult at the preschool allegedly gave Silvera, who has a severe allergy to dairy, a grilled cheese that caused the reaction. He was rushed to the hospital where he later died.
WCBS has reported that New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Administration for Children’s Services announced on Monday that the new rule will be included with the current personal safety protocol. City officials said the preschool failed to follow the guidelines already implemented, leading to Silvera’s death. Doctor Mary Bassett, the health department commissioner told the news station: “The individual safety plan that this site had onsite was not being followed.”
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The protocol will go into effect immediately and child care members will be given guidelines on it for their yearly training. Seventh Avenue Center for Family Services was shut down indefinitely after the incident, awaiting the city’s health department to determine if it is so to reopen. The children were relocated to other schools.
President Donald Trump on Monday said he is nominating former pharmaceutical executive and industry lobbyist Alex Azar to serve as U.S. Health and Human Services secretary, saying Azar would push to lower the price of medicines. Republicans as well as the lead lobby groups for drugmakers and health insurers welcomed Azar as an experienced hand who could help overhaul the world’s most costly health care system. But several Democratic lawmakers questioned whether he would tackle changes that cut into pharmaceutical profits.
If confirmed, Azar also would take the lead in implementing Trump’s campaign promise to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, former Democratic President Barack Obama’s two thousand ten health care overhaul that extended health insurance to twenty million Americans.
Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings said Trump’s pick of a former pharmaceutical executive was “like a fox guarding the hen house.”
Trump’s first health secretary, former U.S. Representative Tom Price, resigned in September amid a public furor over his use of expensive taxpayer-funded private charter jets for government travel. According to this LinkedIn page, Azar worked at Eli Lilly (LLY.N) and Co for a decade, including five years as president of its Lilly USA unit, and left the company in January.
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Other Democrats were more cautious in their response to Trump’s announcement, with Senator Chuck Schumer calling for the health agency to turn over a new leaf with Azar. Republicans were supportive with Senate health committee head Lamar Alexander of Tennessee describing Azar as a qualified, experienced nominee.
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As head of HHS, Azar would have oversight responsibility for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which regulates the drug industry including approving new treatments. Azar’s nomination must be approved by the U.S. Senate, which is controlled by Trump’s fellow Republicans.
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