The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is “frustrated” by the mysterious spread of an illness similar to polio, cases of which have now been confirmed in 22 states. Seems like a very reasonable cause for frustration, to be honest.
By the numbers: 127 cases of acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM, have been reported so far in 2018, including 68 confirmed cases, according to CDC data. There were 33 confirmed cases last year.
"We have not been able to find a cause for the majority of these AFM cases," the CDC’s Nancy Messonnier said yesterday, via STAT. "There is a lot we don’t know about AFM and I’m frustrated that despite all of our efforts, we haven’t been able to identify the cause of this mystery illness."
Mary Mayhew, a former health commissioner under Maine Gov. Paul LePage, started yesterday as the director of the federal office that directly oversees Medicaid.
Why it matters: The Trump administration is focused intently on reframing Medicaid as something closer to a welfare program, and has arguably made more significant conservative policy changes to Medicaid than to any of the other programs it oversees.
Seema Verma, who oversees Medicare and Medicaid and is now Mayhew’s boss, came from a similar background — she was a consultant who helped red states write their proposed Medicaid waivers.
Hip and knee replacements may be the next health care frontier for the Apple Watch, now that it can monitor users' heart rates.
What's new: Reuters reports that 4 hospitals and a handful of other providers are working with Zimmer Biomet, a medical device company, to test an app that would transmit patients’ heart rate, steps taken and standing hours to their doctors.
Why it matters: There are plenty of concerns about just how effective Apple’s heart monitoring will be, and whether the risk of false warning signs outweighs the potential to catch legitimate irregularities.
