Supply Chain

Billions of dollars HHS designated to boost national COVID-19 testing have yet to be spent months after Congress allocated $25 billion for federal agencies and states, The Wall Street Journal reported. 

More than 1 in 5 nursing homes have reported severe shortages of both staff and personal protective equipment since the start of the pandemic, according to a new study published Aug. 20 in Health Affairs. 

HHS has blocked the FDA from regulating many laboratory tests on the market in a move that some public health experts say could lead to unreliable COVID-19 tests. 

Bayer said Aug. 20 that it will pay $1.6 billion to resolve the majority of claims against its permanent birth control device, Essure, which thousands of women have claimed caused adverse effects including bleeding, pain, miscarriages and fetal deaths. 

Ten hospitals and health systems posted job listings for supply chain expertise in the last week:

Georgia officials knew of severe shortages of personal protective equipment before Gov. Brian Kemp announced that the state would begin reopening its economy, according to documents obtained by Kaiser Health News. 

Wake Forest Baptist Health in Winston-Salem, N.C., has launched a drone delivery service to transport medicines and personal protective equipment between its health system locations.

The FDA warned healthcare providers and labs Aug. 17 of issues with Thermo Fisher Scientific's TaqPath COVID-19 test that may lead to false results. 

While the COVID-19 outbreak is straining healthcare systems across the globe, it also is serving as an important reminder to re-focus on the critical work of emergency preparedness.

The FDA has granted emergency use authorization to the Yale School of Public Health in New Haven, Conn., for its SalivaDirect COVID-19 diagnostic test, which uses a new method of processing saliva samples.