Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
In Not Too Distant Future, Drones Could Be Used To Save Heart Attack Victims
The best medicine for a person who goes into sudden cardiac arrest is an electric shock. That jolt temporarily stops the heart, along with its rapid or erratic beat. When the heart starts itself up again, it can revert to its normal rhythm and resume pumping blood to the brain and the rest of the body. The sooner this happens, the better. When a patient is shocked within one minute of collapse, the chance of survival is nearly 90%. But if it takes 10 minutes to administer a shock, the odds or survival fall below 5%. (Kaplan, 6/13)
More than 350,000 cardiac arrests happen across the U.S. in places other than hospitals each year, according to the American Heart Association 鈥 and a person's chance of surviving is about 1 in 10. Drone-delivered AEDs beat ambulance trip times to the scenes of cardiac arrests, the researchers say in a letter published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. (Columbus, 6/13)
In fact, in some cases, drones could聽carry defibrillators to heart attack聽victims faster than an ambulance, according to a聽paper聽published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Researchers simulated emergency situations and found they could get automatic external defibrillators to the scene an average of 16 minutes faster by drone than by ambulance. If bystanders were willing and able to use the devices, the shorter response time could save lives, said lead author Andreas Claesson, a registered nurse. Restrictions on drones have limited their use in medicine. But that鈥檚 starting to change, Claesson said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e getting there 鈥 showing this save lives and costs,鈥 he added. (Blau, 6/13)
In other health IT news聽鈥
Former聽Apple聽CEO聽John Sculley, who had a famously hot-and-cold relationship with Apple founder聽Steve Jobs, says the next multibillion-dollar opportunity to change the world is in digital health care. Sculley has surfaced as chief marketing officer at the Southborough, Mass., startup聽RxAdvance, a cloud-based software company where he is working with founder and CEO聽Ravi Ika聽to disrupt the giant industry of managing pharmacy benefits. (Scully, 6/13)
Attendees at the American Diabetes Association鈥檚 Scientific Sessions in San Diego this year 鈥 many of them young researchers who are active on social media 鈥 were surprised to be greeted with the following: 鈥淭hanks for joining us at #2017ADA! Photography isn鈥檛 allowed during presentations 鈥 we鈥檇 appreciate it if you鈥檇 delete this tweet.鈥 For many, the essence of gathering at conferences is the sharing of scientific information, a peek at interesting research in progress. (Kopp, 6/13)