Federal Trade Commission she has suggested settlement With prescription discount website and telehealth provider GoodRx that may lead to enhanced protection of the health data Americans share with websites, mobile apps, and countless other connected devices.
Right now, this data is in a legal gray area. It is not covered by HIPAA, the federal law that governs the privacy of data held by medical providers. But the FTC has broad power to police “unfair” and “deceptive” practices, and under Lena Khan’s presidency, it is looking to expand it.
Settlement: The FTC order is brought to a federal court in California, which must sign it before it can take effect. But the claim against GoodRx, which alleges the company shared customer health data with Google, Facebook and other online advertising platforms and data brokers, reflects how the agency is redefining its authority.
In addition to the unfair and deceptive practices, the FTC cited its 2009 violations Health breach notification rule GoodRx fined $1.5 million and imposed privacy damages.
GoodRx has agreed to pay the fine and carry out damages but denies any wrongdoing.
Utilization database breach Notable because it was designed to protect health data that might be leaked in a breach but is not covered by HIPAA. However, the rule does not explicitly refer to data shared via marketing practices. The rule states that any entity not covered by HIPAA that collects personally identifiable health information must notify consumers of the data breach or face enforcement.
Health services and tools such as telehealth providers, pharmacies, blood pressure cuff providers, and Bluetooth-connected diet apps — and third parties like Google and Facebook — are watching the FTC’s actions closely.
What’s Next: Since her 2021 Senate confirmation, Khan has pushed the idea that the methods marketers and data brokers use to collect personal information on websites and online devices are unfair, often deceptive, and subject to Federal Trade Commission scrutiny.
In August, the FTC issued Advance notice of proposed rules Asking for public input on whether the commission should write new rules governing commercial surveillance and data security.
The agency has received more than 10,000 comments, and proposed rules could come later this year.
In addition to its case against GoodRx, the agency has filed privacy actions against period-tracking app Flo Health and data broker Kochava. Flow Health stabilized. Kochava’s case is under litigation.
This is where we explore the ideas and innovators that are shaping healthcare.
Remember Alpha and Gamma? Early variants of the coronavirus have been shown to circulate among deer in New York state, according to A New study Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Researchers analyzed tissue from deer killed by hunters during the 2020 and 2021 deer hunting seasons. They detected the virus in just 0.6 percent of deer samples in 2020. In 2021, the virus was present in 21 percent of samples — with genetic sequences indicating presence Three types of concern, alpha, gamma and delta, that year.
The results of the study point to several indirect human-to-deer events, as well as subsequent deer-to-deer transmission. It is not clear how the virus is transmitted from humans to deer, but feeding wildlife and baiting prey can be risk factors for transmission.
Share any other thoughts, news, tips and comments with Ben Leonard at [email protected]Ruth Reader in [email protected]Carmen Bowen [email protected] Or Erin Schumacher in [email protected].
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aim to avoid After the failure of the Covid-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization released a draft agreement on Wednesday aimed at strengthening preparedness for the next major disease outbreak.
Convention draft Establishes mechanisms to enhance information exchange between countries and to distribute vaccines more equitably.
If agreed by member states, the proposal would:
Asking them to allow WHO rapid response teams access to their lands to assess and support efforts to control emerging outbreaks
Create a system to share pathogen information and ensure that all parties to the deal benefit from countermeasures developed based on that data
– Authorizing manufacturers of pandemic-related products such as tests, vaccines, personal protective equipment and treatments to share a fifth of their production in real time with the World Health Organization, which will distribute them to low-income countries
Asking states to support temporary waivers of intellectual property rights over vaccines and treatments, and requiring manufacturers that have received public funding to waive their rights
Create a global compensation system for vaccine-related injuries
Implement, supervise, and report on international standards for laboratories and research facilities conducting “gain-of-function” research aimed at changing the way viruses work.
What’s Next: Governments will begin negotiations on the agreement at a meeting later this month.
Funding ‘neglected diseases’ – those in developing countries that need new therapies but lack sufficient investment to develop them – continue to decline, according to New report.
Policy Cures Research, a global health policy and research group based in Australia, says funding for basic research and product development fell slightly by 0.2% in 2021, continuing a three-year trend in which investment was down 4% from 2018.
The Big Picture: HIV, tuberculosis and malaria received the largest share of funding, with money for HIV research increasing by about 3 percent. Malaria funding has fallen by about 6 percent. TB remained very stable.
The flatline in 2021 is cause for concern, said lead author of the report Paul Barnsley, senior analyst with the research group.
Small pool: R&D funders aren’t rushing to pour their money into neglected diseases.
In fact, funding is dependent on “more or less the same people who’ve been doing it all along,” Barnsley said. The same top ten financiers provided 88 percent of global cash for those neglected diseases a decade ago, and they still account for at least 85 percent of global funding.
Much of the funding comes from the National Institutes of Health and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Stay away from HIV vaccines: Research and development aimed at producing an HIV vaccine fell 4.6 percent, but research and development into a drug treatment saw a 53 percent increase to a record $279 million between 2020 and 2021.
“There appears to be a systemic shift away from vaccine research and development and towards drug research and development,” Barnsley said.
