Health care is America's top concern; FTC launches health care task force; Pfizer's Lyme Disease vaccine — Morning Medical Update Weekly Recap

Health care is America’s top worry, again

A new Gallup poll puts health care back at number one.

A Gallup survey of 1,000 U.S. adults conducted March 2–18 found that 61% of Americans worry a great deal about the availability and affordability of health care, making it the top domestic concern for the first time since 2020 and putting it 10 points ahead of the economy in second place. The numbers are notably bipartisan, with 80% of Democrats, 66% of independents and 31% of Republicans considering it a top worry.

Health care held the number one spot from 2015 to 2020 before being displaced by inflation and economic concerns in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall national anxiety across all 16 issues surveyed has actually declined from last year, driven largely by reduced worry among Republicans — but health care is one of the few concerns that has held steady or grown.

FTC launches health care task force

The Federal Trade Commission is taking a coordinated aim at consolidation, anticompetitive conduct and high drug costs across health care.

FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson announced the formation of a dedicated Healthcare Task Force on March 20th, directing the agency's bureaus of Competition, Consumer Protection and Economics, along with its offices of Policy Planning and Technology, to take a unified approach to enforcement and advocacy across the health care sector. Ferguson cited consolidation and anticompetitive conduct as key drivers of higher prices, reduced access and stifled innovation, with rural communities, seniors and veterans bearing the worst of it. The task force plans to expand its membership to include HHS and the DOJ. Read more.

Pfizer’s Lyme Disease vaccine shows 70% efficacy

The shot missed its statistical threshold for success.

Pfizer and Valneva say their experimental Lyme disease vaccine reduced tick-borne infections by more than 70% in a late-stage trial of 9,400 people ages 5 and up, and the companies plan to submit the data to regulators despite the trial narrowly missing its statistical threshold for success, largely because Lyme disease cases were fewer than expected among participants. If approved, it would be the only Lyme vaccine on the market; the last one, LYMErix, was approved in 1998 with 76% efficacy but withdrawn four years later after public concerns about adverse events, even though regulators found no causal link. The trial results have not yet been published or peer reviewed. The Washington Post has more, and Fierce Biotech spoke with Valneva CEO Thomas Lingelbach.