This week’s email mail brought to you by New England Virtual boost your business with a professional street address and Landco Shops. Your online clothing store.

In this week’s email:

• Why Myeloma (blood cancer) affects Black people more than White people.

• $400 million Penn Medicine cancer center project.

• Walgreens hires Lanesha Minnix as new Global Chief.

• Cleveland Clinic reports $64.3 million in operating income for 2023. 😲 

• CVS and Walgreens pharmacies to sell the abortion pill Mifepristone.

• 1 in 8 qualify as FAT. Study finds.

• 10 Ways to get any kid to exercise!

• Troubling cyber-attacks on hospitals.

• Monthly round up of Healthcare Layoffs.🫢 

• Pfizer’s RSV vaccine protects up to 2-years!! (scroll to the bottom)

Before we jump into it. Here is the funny meme of the week.

How Is Multiple Myeloma Different for Black People?

WebMD | Better information. Better health.

A look at possible reasons why multiple myeloma affects Black people more than white people, including genes, health care disparities.

Multiple myeloma is a rare cancer but one of the most common types of blood cancer in the U.S., representing around 2% of all new cancer cases.

Multiple myeloma is a complex illness. It differs from person to person, and there are 10 subtypes. Also, each person usually has around four slightly different kinds of it. These change as the illness advances and doctors treat it.

There’s no clear answer to why multiple myeloma affects the Black community more often than others. “It’s somewhat of a mystery,” says S. Tariq Mahmood, MD, a board-certified hematologist and medical oncologist at Atlanta Cancer Care.

With certain cancers, scientists have discovered a clear-cut link to our actions. For example, we know that smoking causes most lung cancers. But with multiple myeloma, “There’s not something that someone typically does that results in them having this cancer,” Mahmood says. 

Scientists are looking into the connection between multiple myeloma and health-related causes like carrying extra weight. But they need to do more research. Around 40% of Black men and 56% of Black women over age 20 have obesity in the U.S. Read More…

$400 M Penn Medicine cancer center project

HAYLEY DESILVA 

The 195,000-square-foot facility would adjoin Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center in Plainsboro, New Jersey.

Walgreens adds new senior leadership!

Walgreens’ newest addition to its senior leadership team is Lanesha Minnix. She will serve as executive vice president and global chief legal officer, effective April 15

Cleveland Clinic posts $911M net income in 2023 on investment, volume growth

The health system is the latest to report a financial turnaround compared to 2022, which analysts called the worst operational year on record for nonprofit hospitals.

• The Cleveland Clinic reported $64.3 million in operating income for 2023, reversing course after posting a $211.3 million operating loss in 2022.

• The nonprofit health system grew operating revenue by 11.4% year over year to $14.5 billion in 2023 on increased demand for inpatient and outpatient services. Annual operating revenue growth outpaced a 9.1% annual increase in operating expenses.

• Cleveland Clinic logged $846.9 million in nonoperating gains during 2023, primarily driven by positive investment returns. The systems reported a 9% return on investment activity in 2023 compared to a 9% investment loss in 2022. Read More..

CVS and Walgreens pharmacy chains to begin selling abortion pill

Major pharmacy chains CVS and Walgreens announced Friday they would begin selling the abortion pill mifepristone.

CVS said “We’ll begin filling prescriptions for the medication in Massachusetts and Rhode Island in the weeks ahead and will expand to additional states, where allowed by law, on a rolling basis.”

The spokesperson added that Walgreens will begin dispensing at “select locations” in New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, California and Illinois. While the company will begin by dispensing the brand name version, there are plans to provide the generic form in the future. Read More

Study finds 1 in 8 worldwide qualify as obese

One in 8 people worldwide are obese, a rate that has more than doubled since 1990, research shows.

he analysis found that although rates of undernutrition have dropped around the world, it still is a public health challenge in many places, in particular in Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Island nations in the Pacific and Caribbean as well as the Middle East and North Africa saw the highest combined rates of underweight and obesity.

Obesity has more than quadrupled among children and adolescents since 1990.

Among all adults, 43 percent were overweight in 2022, the study found. Read More..

10 Ways to Get Any Kid to Exercise

1. Make it a Game: Create fun games that involve running, jumping, or dancing. For example, you can have a race or play a game of tag.

2. Outdoor Adventures: Take them to the park or on nature walks. Kids love exploring and being outside.

3. Sports: Encourage them to join a sports team or play sports with them in the backyard.

4. Dance Parties: Have dance parties at home with their favorite music. It's a great way to get them moving and having fun.

5. Active Toys: Get them toys that encourage physical activity, such as balls, jump ropes, or hula hoops.

6. Family Time: Plan active family outings, like bike rides or hikes, to make exercise a fun family activity.

7. Limit Screen Time: Set limits on screen time and encourage them to be active instead.

8. Playdates: Organize playdates with other kids where they can play active games together.

9. Reward System: Create a reward system to encourage them to be active, such as earning points for every minute of exercise that can be exchanged for small rewards.

10. Be a Role Model: Be active yourself and show them that exercise is fun and important for staying healthy.

A Near Doubling of Hospital System Cyberattacks Triggers Bipartisan Bill

Attacks on healthcare information systems are accelerating at an extraordinary pace, according to numerous reports. In one evaluation, a threat analyst for the cybersecurity firm Emsisoft found that cyberattacks on hospital systems last year nearly doubled from those of 2022, rising from 25 to 46. Those 46 systems represented a total of 141 affected hospitals. Read More..

The proposed “Strengthening Cybersecurity” legislation pending in the U.S. Senate.

Monthly round up of Layoffs

Layoffs

1. Amazon disclosed plans to lay off hundreds of workers across its healthcare business units, such as One Medical and Amazon Pharmacy. 

2. Astarte Medical is shutting down its operations and laying off its remaining staff members.

3. Elevance Health laid off more employees. The exact number of job cuts isn’t clear, but reports say that Elevance has let go of thousands of workers in the past six months.

4. Included Health has made the decision to let go about 6% of their workforce. CEO Owen Tripp said that this new structure will create narrower leadership, narrower projects and narrower budgets.

5. Noom laid off some of its workers as well. The exact number is unknown, but Endpoints News reported the layoffs affected employees in health coaching and engineering roles.

Rush University System for Health laid off an undisclosed number of employees working in administrative and leadership positions, citing financial headwinds.

Pfizer RSV vaccine protects for more than 2 seasons in older adults: Research

Pfizer announced Thursday that its vaccine for RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, protects older adults for more than two seasons, according to a late-stage clinical trial.

Pfizer announced that its Abrysvo vaccine “maintained consistently high protective efficacy” throughout two seasons in older adults after receiving one dose. One dose of Abrysvo was 77.8 percent effective against lower respiratory tract disease associated with RSV following the second season, according to Pfizer. Read More..