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Barriers to adoption include hearing issues, lack of tech abilities and visual difficulties...While telemedicine may be having a boom, a new study published in JAMA warns that it may not be suitable for everyone...The study, which looked at data from adults over the age of 65, found that over a third of people weren’t ready for video visits...“Although many older adults are willing and able to learn to use telemedicine, an equitable health system should recognize that for some, such as those with dementia and social isolation, in-person visits are already difficult and telemedicine may be impossible,” authors of the study wrote. “For these patients, clinics and geriatric models of care such as home visits are essential.”...READ MORE

Russia..became the first country to approve a coronavirus vaccine, a move that was met with international skepticism and unease because the shots have only been studied in dozens of people...President Vladimir Putin announced the Health Ministry’s approval and said one of his two adult daughters already was inoculated. He said the vaccine underwent the necessary tests and was shown to provide lasting immunity to the coronavirus, although Russian authorities have offered no proof to back up claims of safety or effectiveness...READ MORE

Hospital executive minds have understandably been distracted since the start of 2020, but the impact of the emergence of SarsCoV2 has not been limited to its physical toll. It has also torn into data security defenses and exposed patient privacy...The word ‘unprecedented’ seems to have been used on a daily basis during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly when it comes to the impact of the virus on patients, clinicians, resources and care delivery. But it has resonated equally strongly with hospital chief information security officers, with its power to either stiffen resolve or ratchet up already stretched nervous tension as data security faces a whole new scale and level of cyber threats...READ MORE

President Donald Trump...signed an executive order aimed at boosting U.S. production of medicines and medical equipment, lowering drug prices and protecting the United States against shortfalls in a future pandemic...Trump said the order would also support advanced manufacturing processes that would benefit U.S. pharmaceutical companies...The long-awaited measure includes a “Buy America” provision mandating federal purchases of certain medical supplies and equipment deemed essential and moves to remove regulatory hurdles to approval of new U.S. drugs...READ MORE

The world’s biggest drug makers and their trade groups have cut checks to 356 lawmakers ahead of this year’s election — more than two-thirds of the sitting members of Congress…It’s a barrage of contributions that accounts for roughly $11 million in campaign giving, distributed via roughly 4,500 checks from the political action committees affiliated with the companies…The spending follows a long tradition of generous political giving. Major manufacturers typically make hundreds of modest donations to incumbent members of Congress but avoid donating to presidential candidates… pharma’s giving underscores the breadth of its influence and its efforts to curry favor through lobbying and donations to the lawmakers who regulate health care…READ MORE

India's Wockhardt and the Serum Institute of India have lined up new deals to help ramp up the production of two coronavirus vaccines advancing quickly through clinical testing...Wockhardt's 18-month agreement with the U.K. government covers fill/finish work for a vaccine under development by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca. The Serum Institute, meanwhile, entered a wide-ranging pact with Maryland-based Novavax, covering development, production and commercial licensing of its experimental shot...India is already a key supplier to the global drug industry, producing pharmaceutical ingredients, vaccines and other medicines. The two agreements boost the country's role in making the likely billions of needed doses of coronavirus vaccines, a task being shouldered by nations around the world...READ MORE

Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Colorado will share best practices for telehealth and remote patient monitoring, and follow their own state policies while also adhering to seven key principles, their governors say...Given their states' "significant individual and collective experience with telehealth," the governors say they'll work together to help "ensure that the nation benefits from our knowledge as changes to federal regulations are contemplated, to support continued application and availability of telehealth in our states, and to ensure that we address the inequities faced in particular by tribal communities and communities of color."...READ MORE
Access
Confidentiality
Equity
Standard-of-care requirements
Stewardship
Patient choice
Payment and reimbursement

The good news: The United States has a window of opportunity to beat back Covid-19 before things get much, much worse...The bad news: That window is rapidly closing. And the country seems unwilling or unable to seize the moment...Winter is coming. Winter means cold and flu season, which is all but sure to complicate the task of figuring out who is sick with Covid-19 and who is suffering from a less threatening respiratory tract infection. It also means that cherished outdoor freedoms that link us to pre-Covid life — pop-up restaurant patios, picnics in parks, trips to the beach — will soon be out of reach, at least in northern parts of the country...Unless Americans use the dwindling weeks between now and the onset of “indoor weather” to tamp down transmission in the country, this winter could be Dickensianly bleak, public health experts warn...READ MORE

Johnson & Johnson has agreed to supply the U.S. government with 100 million doses of its experimental coronavirus vaccine, a stockpile that could be used either in clinical trials or, if cleared by the Food and Drug Administration, a widespread inoculation campaign...If necessary, the U.S. government can negotiate to buy up to 200 million additional doses of the shot, which would be available at no cost in any U.S. vaccination program, excepting charges from doctors for administration...READ MORE

The Trump administration’s surprising $765 million deal that would enable former photography giant Kodak to start making drug ingredients has yet to be finalized, and it’s already attracted plenty of controversy. First, insider trading allegations from the U.S. Senate—and now, an investigation by House Democrats...The lawmakers are questioning why the government picked Kodak, which has little experience in pharma manufacturing, for such a major pact, as well as suspicious stock transactions by company executives...READ MORE