Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, JPMorgan healthcare venture gets COO
Jack Stoddard, who most recently served as at Comcast, has been selected to serve as the chief operating officer for Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase’s joint healthcare venture.
Stoddard’s first day on the job was Tuesday after he left a position as digital health manager at Comcast to join the company. He’ll work alongside famed researcher and surgeon Atul Gawande, who was named CEO of the venture in June.
Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, told Bloomberg that there is no “hurry” to fill leadership roles at the venture.
“We’d like to be in a hurry, but we’re not going to try and do something faster than it can be done,” Buffett said. (Bloomberg)
FDA posts its policies for inspecting drug manufacturing facilities
The Food and Drug Administration publicly posted its policies around inspections of drug manufacturing facilities, a move Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said is crucial as more manufacturing moves overseas.
The policy explains how the FDA sets priorities and schedules for inspections. The agency weighs a facility’s compliance history, the length of time since it was last inspected and the risks associated with drugs under production when setting these priorities, Gottlieb said.
“We need to make sure our inspections are prioritized based on potential risks to patients, and that we’re using our resources efficiently,” Gottlieb said.
The FDA also took multiple steps to ease the device approval process on Wednesday. (Statement)
Healthcare costs remain a crucial concern for voters, Kaiser Family Foundation poll finds
Healthcare is a key issue—particularly for Democrats—ahead of the midterm elections, with costs of particular concern.
The Kaiser Family Foundation released the results of its latest Tracking Poll—in which more than 1,200 voters were polled in late August—and found that 32% of Democrats consider healthcare issues a top priority going into the midterms. In addition, 26% of independents and 20% of Republicans said the same.
Among the respondents who said healthcare was an issue they wanted candidates to focus on, 29% of Democrats, 29% of independents and 25% of Republicans said costs were the main concern. The next-highest issue—increasing access—was noted by 13% of Democrats, 9% of independents and 4% of Republicans. (Poll)