Category:

State investigators must inspect hospitals before resolving workplace safety complaints during the coronavirus pandemic, Nevada’s largest health care union formally demanded Friday...In a two-page letter sent to the state’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Nevada chapter of Service Employees International Union outlined hazards it alleges are still ongoing at a swath of large hospitals across the state...Among the union’s allegations:

— Front-line health care workers are being forced to reuse protective equipment meant for a single use. Additionally, some hospital staff were not being provided proper safety equipment.

— Hospital workers who are at risk for coronavirus complications, or have at-risk family members, are being required to treat and work near coronavirus patients.

— Hospital workers are being exposed to patients with coronavirus symptoms but are never informed if the patients tested positive for the virus. Those same workers were later diagnosed with the disease themselves...READ MORE

A panel of experts convened by the US National Institutes of Health has published treatment guidelines for the coronavirus disease 2019, providing clinical recommendations for a number of therapeutic options that are currently under investigation...Importantly, the guidelines emphasize that, even though there are several therapies being tested as potential treatments, no drug has been proven to be safe and effective for treating COVID-19. Investigational antiviral agents and host modifiers and immune-based therapies were included in the guidance...READ MORE

The FDA is easing its lockdown on compounded drugs to help ease COVID-19 drug shortages...After a series of high-profile failures in the early 2010s, the compounding pharmacy industry took its share of body blows from an FDA looking to impose its will...The FDA will temporarily allow hospitals to source hard-to-find drugs from compounding pharmacies to treat certain patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19...The regulation, meant to last as long as hospitals continue to encounter shortages of key drugs, applies to compounding pharmacies that aren't already sanctioned by the FDA as "outsourcing facilities." To qualify, the copycat drugs must be listed on the FDA's shortages list, and hospitals must have exhausted all other options to access a commercial version of the drug...READ MORE

Nearly 90% of community pharmacies will apply for small business federal aid under the CARES Act to help them get through the coronavirus storm, according to a new survey...by the National Community Pharmacists Association...“Pharmacies are ‘essential businesses’ staying open during the COVID-19 pandemic to keep serving their communities, but many are on the brink at the very time they are needed most,” said NCPA CEO B. Douglas Hoey. “In the 18 months before this crisis, the number of pharmacies had shrunk by over 2,000, mostly due to low reimbursement from pharmacy benefit managers...As the pandemic strains neighborhood pharmacies, nearly half of pharmacy owners rank the overall financial health of their business as somewhat poor or very poor, according to the survey...READ MORE

The FDA has authorized the first diagnostic test with a home collection option for coronavirus disease 2019...The FDA initially issued an emergency use authorization on March 16 for LabCorp’s RT-PCR Test, which qualitatively detects nucleic acid from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in upper and lower respiratory specimens from individuals with suspected COVID-19...LabCorp has planned to make Pixel by LabCorp COVID-19 Test home self-collection kits available with a physician’s order in most states in the coming weeks. The molecular test allows samples to be collected from a patient’s nose through a designated self-collected kit containing nasal swabs and saline. After self-collection, the sample is mailed in...to be tested...READ MORE

All pharmacy staff—along with everyone entering the pharmacy—should wear face masks, according to new guidance from the CDC...The CDC’s “Guidance for Pharmacists” also says that pharmacies should postpone and reschedule some routine preventive services, such as adult immunizations, since they require face-to-face interaction...This guidance applies to all pharmacy staff to minimize their risk of exposure to the virus and reduce the risk for customers during the COVID-19 pandemic...According to the guidance, pharmacies should:

Implement universal use of face coverings.
Advise staff who are sick to stay home.
Encourage all prescribers to submit prescription orders via telephone or electronically.
Limit direct contact with customers.
Reduce risk during COVID-19 testing.
Maintain social distancing
Ensure that the waiting area is cleaned regularly.
Close self-serve blood pressure units.

READ MORE

Rite Aid continues to expand COVID-19 testing sites with eleven new locations opening Wednesday, April 22, in Delaware, Idaho, Michigan, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia through its partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services...Now spanning eight states and 24 store locations, all of Rite Aid’s self-testing sites will be open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. seven days a week and expect to be able to conduct approximately 200 tests each day through online appointments. In total, Rite Aid will have the capacity to conduct nearly 5,000 tests daily across all locations...READ MORE

With a major Indian production hub now locked down in a COVID-19 containment zone, the spotlight on pharma's emerging markets suppliers will likely shine even hotter...Drug manufacturing facilities in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh, India—a key source of drug supplies—have shut down or reduced capacity since the region locked down in mid-April...Fifty facilities reportedly have shuttered, including at least one operated by top generics player Sun Pharmaceuticals...A slew of others are hobbled by the lockdown...The U.S. supply of generic and branded medicines, heavily reliant on emerging markets in India and China, has come under close scrutiny as COVID-19 sends shockwaves through the industry...the FDA said it would temporarily allow hospitals to source hard-to-find drugs from compounding pharmacies to treat certain patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19...READ MORE

Antimalarial hydroxychloroquine has raked in support as a potential wonder drug to treat COVID-19...But small-scale studies have been less than definitive on the drug's chances—and new data haven't cleared matters up much...Department of Veterans Affairs study found that severe COVID-19 patients treated with antimalarial hydroxychloroquine alone or in combination with antibiotic azithromycin showed "no evidence" of reduced risk of death or mechanical ventilation over supportive care, according to data...The researchers noted their analysis was not randomized nor controlled and cautioned patience for several ongoing clinical studies to read out before drawing conclusions on hydroxychloroquine's use for COVID-19...READ MORE

The Food and Drug Administration in the past month has stepped up seizures of prescription drugs being sent to American customers from pharmacies in Canada and other countries, according to operators of stores in Florida that facilitate the transactions...While seizures at the nation’s international mail facilities have periodically spiked during the past two decades, the latest crackdown is distressing many older customers whose goal is to stay home during the coronavirus pandemic...READ MORE