Frailty Outweighs Polypharmacy

Angie SzumlinskiNews

A study was done to investigate the association between different combined statuses of frailty and polypharmacy on risks of adverse outcomes. The subjects were aged 65-100 years old and were identified from an Insurance Research Database in Taiwan. Frailty was categorized into fit, mild, moderate, and severe frailty based on the multimorbidity frailty index. The use of 5-9 and over …

2022 Skilled Nursing Facility Prospective Payment System Proposed Rule

Angie SzumlinskiNews

On April 8, 2021, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule that would update Medicare payment policies and rates for skilled nursing facilities under the Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) prospective payment system (PPS) for fiscal year (FY) 2022. In addition, the proposed rule includes proposals for the SNF Quality Reporting Program (QRP), and the SNF Value-Based …

Emergence of Novel SARS-CoV-2 Variant

Angie SzumlinskiNews

Out of a random selection of 185 virus samples collected from patients between November 22 and December 28, in a genomic sequencing study, none matched B.1.1.7, the so-called UK variant. The smaller 2 main clusters was the predominant SARS-CoV-2 strain. But the larger cluster, making up 36% of the samples, was something different, “a new variant that is homegrown California,” …

U.S. Calls for Pause on Johnson & Johnson Vaccine After Rare Clotting Cases

Angie SzumlinskiAnnouncements, News

The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control will stop using the vaccine at federal sites and urge states to do so as well while they examine the safety issues. WASHINGTON — Federal health agencies on Tuesday called for an immediate pause in use of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose coronavirus vaccine after six recipients in the United States developed …

Delirium and Functional Recovery

Angie SzumlinskiNews

In a recent study of 20,495 patients from the US Department of Veterans Affairs health system discharged to skilled nursing facilities after heart failure hospitalization, delirium was associated with poor functional recovery. The baseline Activities of Daily Living score on admission to a skilled nursing facility was significantly worse among patients with delirium; patients with delirium also had significantly lower …

Type A Blood – Higher Risk for COVID?

Angie SzumlinskiNews

In a recent study published in the Journal of Blood Advances, it was identified that the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 may latch more easily onto the airway cells of people with Type A blood compared with those with type B or O blood. The findings hint at a possible explanation for why, throughout the pandemic, studies have found those with type A …

FDA Monoclonal Antibody Therapy Update

Angie SzumlinskiNews

The U.S. government is no longer distributing the monoclonal antibody therapy bamlanivimab due to the sustained increase in coronavirus variants in the United States. The FDA has determined that this monoclonal antibody therapy may not produce the desired effects with the widely spreading variants of the virus. However, when administered with etesevimab, another monoclonal antibody treatment also developed by Eli …

Reinfection Debate Continues

Angie SzumlinskiNews

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in over 117 million cases and over 2.6 million deaths worldwide as of March 7, 2021, as estimated by the World Health Organization. Little is known about protection against SARS-CoV-2 repeat infections but two studies in the UK have found that immunity could last at least 5-6 months after infection. This data suggests that reinfection …

Antibiotic capsules

COVID Treatment Next Steps

Angie SzumlinskiNews

RedHill Biopharma Ltd. (Nasdaq: RDHL), a specialty biopharmaceutical company, announced that preliminary top-line data from its U.S. Phase 2 study with orally-administered opaganib in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 pneumonia, demonstrated positive safety and efficacy signals. Patients in the study were randomized at a 1:1 ratio to receive either opaganib or placebo on top of standard-of-care and were followed up for …

Psychiatric and Senior Populations

Angie SzumlinskiNews

As older residents die from the pandemic and as more families choose to keep elderly relatives at home, some facilities are accepting younger patients, including some with drug addictions and mental illness. Some patients have schizophrenia, some have psychosis. This change in clientele can have a dramatic impact on the daily functioning of nursing homes, a change that administrators and …