How businesses turned health records from GE into a lucrative asset

Privacy experts fear for patients' medical secrets bobbing in the wide-open sea. (MOLLY FERGUSON FOR STAT)

It was supposed to be a routine client meeting. Instead, one of GE Healthcare’s largest customers dropped a bombshell: It had taken data GE considered confidential — millions of patient medical records stripped of identifying information — and linked them to a massive trove of insurance claims, vacuuming up financial details tied to the patients’ medical problems, prescriptions, and doctor’s visits. Although alarming to GE, how its data was used in the summer of 2015 was far from unusual. Beyond the reach of the nation’s health privacy laws, companies are quietly trafficking in Americans’ health data without their knowledge or consent. STAT’s Casey Ross spent months investigating a hidden corner of the health industry that turns patient data into profits. Read more in STAT+.

Pfizer to submit data to FDA this week for youngest kids’ Covid vaccines

For parents eager to vaccinate children under 5 against Covid, their goal may be in sight. Vaccine makers Pfizer and BioNTech said this morning they will seek FDA authorization this week of their Covid-19 vaccine for children under 5 after study of a third dose found it improves the efficacy of the vaccine (late last year two doses did not do as well). Three doses performed about as well in young children as in adults: It was well-tolerated, induced a strong immune response, and was about 80% effective at preventing Covid infections when Omicron was circulating, the companies said. If the FDA can complete its review in time and if it’s favorable, the emergency use authorization for the vaccine could be extended to cover kids under 5 by the middle of June. STAT’s Helen Branswell has more.

Monkeypox: CDC urges clinicians to be on alert as Biden calls it a ‘concern’

Monkeypox cases now number about 80 and another 50 are suspected around the world, WHO said over the weekend, as Israel identified what may be the first case in the Middle East. Asked about monkeypox cases yesterday at a stop in South Korea on his way to Japan, President Biden said, “It is a concern in that if it were to spread it would be consequential." And on Friday, the CDC issued a Health Alert Network advisory urging U.S. clinicians to be on the lookout for rashes that could be tied to monkeypox. The CDC said “suspicion for monkeypox should be heightened” if the person has a travel history to other places with cases, has had contact with someone with monkeypox or who has a similar appearing rash, or is a man who has intimate contact with other men.

Closer look: Buffalo shooting horrifies genetics researchers cited by white supremacists

The names of the 10 people killed in the shooting at a Buffalo, N.Y., supermarket in a memorial across the street from the store. (SCOTT OLSON/GETTY IMAGES)

If you haven’t heard of sociogenomics, you’re not alone. I learned from STAT’s Megan Molteni that the 18-year-old gunman suspected of carrying out a racist attack that killed 10 and injured three people in Buffalo, N.Y., last weekend drew from the new field’s effort to find links between genes and outcomes of interest to social scientists. It’s essentially a mining operation, she says, setting loose statistical analyses on vast reams of DNA data generated by others, and it’s fueling white supremacist ideologies. “I’m horrified,” said Daniel Benjamin, a UCLA behavioral economist and co-founder of a group that has published studies about the genetic underpinnings of staying in school, the third installment of which the Buffalo shooter referenced as proof of a racial hierarchy written into the human genome. In fact, the researchers found no such connection. Read more.

Health officials say few newly reported hepatitis cases in kids are recent

In another mystery, the number of unexplained cases of hepatitis in previously healthy young children is climbing — most representing cases identified in hindsight, CDC says — with no clearer view in sight of what may be causing them. As STAT's Andrew Joseph notes, hepatitis has multiple causes, but the usual suspects — including a number of hepatitis viruses — have been ruled out in these cases. That sharpens the focus on the potential role of adenovirus 41, which has been detected in many of the cases. The virus is common and typically causes gastrointestinal illnesses, and has not been known to cause liver damage in otherwise healthy children. One factor that has been ruled out: Covid-19 vaccines. Many of the children are under 5, who are not yet eligible for the shots. Here's Helen Branswell's recent piece on how disease detectives hunt for answers.

Losing sleep over climate change

It’s been unseasonably warm here in Boston, piquing my interest in a One Earth study warning that warmer temperatures from climate change are making it harder to get the seven hours of sleep each night we need for mental and physical health. Looking at 10 billion sleep observations culled from accelerometer-based wristbands connected to smartphones, they found that from 2015 to 2017 when temperatures rose over 30 degrees Celsius, or 86 degrees Fahrenheit at night, sleep times dropped just over 14 minutes — more for older people, women, and people in lower-income countries. We’re falling asleep later and waking up earlier because it’s harder for our bodies to lower core body temp. The study didn’t account for air conditioning, which tracks with income, and device owners skew male and higher income. Still, “our results demonstrate that temperature-driven sleep loss likely has and may continue to exacerbate global environmental inequalities,” the researchers write.

Join us in remembering Sharon Begley

Next month we will gather with her family to celebrate the life of our beloved colleague Sharon Begley, who died of lung cancer in January 2021. Two memorial services are now rescheduled: from 1 to 4 p.m. ET Saturday, June 18, at the Yale Club in New York City (doors open at noon) and from noon to 3 p.m. ET Saturday, June 25, at the Harvard Club in Boston (doors open at 11 a.m.). If you would like to attend, please RSVP here for New York and here for Boston. Proof of Covid vaccination is required.

What to read around the web today

Abbott CEO apologizes for the formula shortage as the first overseas shipment arrives. NPR
Opinion: My patient didn’t die from Covid. He died because of it. New York Times
European regulator suspends generic drugs after finding flawed studies. STAT+
I feel safest in my hospital. The Atlantic
Pfizer to refund $290,000 to consumers in four states over misleading copay coupons. STAT+