Tag: analysis

GREATER CANNABIS COMPANY, INC. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS
OF OPERATIONS (form 10-Q)

GREATER CANNABIS COMPANY, INC. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS (form 10-Q)

Company Overview From July 2018 through mid-2021, Greater Cannabis focused on commercializing its own and licensed technologies worldwide for transmucosal and transdermal delivery of legal medical or recreational cannabis (other than in the field of oral care) and cannabinoids (“CBD”). While part of the cannabis 

Kids’ average daily screen use increased by more than an hour and twenty minutes during the pandemic, analysis finds

Kids’ average daily screen use increased by more than an hour and twenty minutes during the pandemic, analysis finds

CNN  —  Typical daily display screen use by young children in the course of the Covid-19 pandemic amplified by more than an hour and 20 minutes, according to an examination revealed in JAMA Pediatrics on Monday. Scientists appeared at display time and the sorts of 

Cannabidiol (CBD) Market will Rise at a Potential Growth Rate of 27.8{b574a629d83ad7698d9c0ca2d3a10ad895e8e51aa97c347fc42e9508f0e4325d} by 2029, Market is analyzed by Growth Insights, Upcoming Trends, Size, Share, Opportunity and Demand Analysis

Cannabidiol (CBD) Market will Rise at a Potential Growth Rate of 27.8{b574a629d83ad7698d9c0ca2d3a10ad895e8e51aa97c347fc42e9508f0e4325d} by 2029, Market is analyzed by Growth Insights, Upcoming Trends, Size, Share, Opportunity and Demand Analysis

MANCHESTER , England, Aug. 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — The comprehensive industry research on “Global Cannabidiol (CBD) Market” published by Data Bridge Market research which includes growth analysis, regional marketing, challenges, opportunities, and drivers analyzed in the report. To have best level of market insights and knowhow of the most excellent market opportunities into the specific markets, Cannabidiol (CBD) market research report is an ideal key. This Cannabidiol (CBD) market report encompasses a market data that provides a detailed analysis of the Cannabidiol (CBD) industry and its impact based on applications and different geographical regions. Additionally, this market report also gives a detailed overview about product specification, technology, and product type and production analysis by taking into consideration other major factors such as revenue, cost, and gross margin. The Cannabidiol (CBD) report is presented with full commitment by assuring the best possible service depending upon business requirements.

The global cannabidiol (CBD) market is expected to gain market growth in the forecast period of 2022 to 2029. Data Bridge Market Research analyses that the market is growing with a CAGR of 27.8{b574a629d83ad7698d9c0ca2d3a10ad895e8e51aa97c347fc42e9508f0e4325d} in the forecast period of 2022 to 2029. Technological advancements in cannabidiol (CBD) drug treatments and the rise in the healthcare sector are other factors driving the growth of the global cannabidiol (CBD) market in the forecast period.

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Cannabidiol (CBD) Market Analysis and Insights

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a chemical compound that is found in the cannabis sativa plant, and is extracted from hemp or cannabis, generally from hemp due to its naturally high cannabidiol (CBD) content. It has several benefits in treating anxiety and seizures and reducing pain. Due to its healing properties, the demand for CBD for health and wellness purposes is high, which is the major factor driving the market

The data and information about the cannabidiol (CBD) market are taken from reliable sources such as websites, annual reports of the companies, and journals, and then validated by the market experts. It covers major manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, traders, customers, investors, and major types, and major applications. The principal players of the cannabidiol (CBD) market are making moves like product launches, joint ventures, developments, mergers, and acquisitions which is affecting the market and this Industry as a whole and also affecting the sales, import, export, revenue, and CAGR values. The dependable cannabidiol (CBD) market analysis report brings into light key market dynamics of the sector.

However, side effects associated with CBD oil and counterfeit and synthetic products available in the market will restrain the market growth. Adoption of strategic alliances like partnerships and acquisitions by key market players act as an opportunity for the growth of the global cannabidiol (CBD) market.

Global CBD Market Dynamics:

Drivers

  • Increasing demand for CBD in health & fitness

Rising awareness among consumers regarding health and fitness will help the CBD market to witness rapid growth. Increasing consumer disposable income along with the legalization of medicinal cannabis is anticipated to have a positive impact on the demand for cannabidiol in this sector.

Moreover, CBD products are used to relieve various problems such as anxiety/ stress, sleep/insomnia, chronic pain, migraine, skin care, seizures, joint pain & inflammation, neurological conditions, and many others. Chronic pain treatment has gained much popularity due to the additional benefits offered by CBD when used. There have been increasing demand for cannabidiol (CBD) products over recent years owing to its widespread medical applications and pain relief treatment. CBD helps in reducing chronic pain by acting on a variety of biological processes in the body. In addition, CBD possesses antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic properties. Therefore, CBD products reduce the anxiety that is experienced by people suffering from chronic pain. Thus, the increasing demand for CBD in the treatment of chronic pain is augmenting the market to growth. This also helps people to maintain their health and fitness routines while staying away from the pain that may occur during fitness activities.

Key players in the global CBD market are:

  • CV Sciences, Inc.
  • VIVO Cannabis Inc.
  • Gaia Herbs Hemp
  • Phoena Holdings Inc.
  • Medical Marijuana, Inc.
  • The Cronos Group
  • CHARLOTTE’S WEB
  • HEXO Corp.
  • Aurora Cannabis
  • Canopy Growth Corporation
  • Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
  • Tilray
  • Curaleaf
  • KAZMIRA
  • Freedom Leaf, Inc.
  • Koi CBD
  • Groff North America Hemplex
  • Joy Organics
  • Elixinol Wellness Limited
  • Isodiol International Inc.
  • Healthy Food Ingredients, LLC
  • NuLeaf Naturals, LLC
  • Diamond CBD
  • Medterra CBD
  • ENDOCA
  • Green Roads

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Challenge

  • Side effects associated with CBD oil

Cannabidiol is well-known for its ability to cure a variety of illnesses, including anxiety, seizures, neurological problems, cancer-related nausea, chronic pain, and more. However, being useful for a variety of medical illnesses, various studies and research conducted by numerous organizations have shown that CBD-based medicines can have negative effects as well.

Some of the side effects that are commonly experienced by consumers include dry mouth, drowsiness, low blood pressure, and lightheadedness. CBD is also known to raise the level of Coumadin (a blood thinner) in the body, which can interact with other drugs and cause negative side effects. These factors might impede the future adoption of CBD for therapeutic purposes.

Market Segmentation Analysis:

The global cannabidiol (CBD) market is segmented on the basic source, grade, application, product type, and nature. The growth among segments helps you analyze niche pockets of growth and strategies to approach the market and determine your core application areas and the Difference in your target markets.

BY SOURCE

 BY PRODUCT TYPE

  • CBD OIL
  • CBD ISOLATES
  • CBD CONCENTRATES
  • OTHERS

BY NATURE

BY GRADE

  • FOOD GRADE
  • THERAPEUTIC GRADE

BY APPLICATION

  • Tincture
  •  Food
  •  Beverages
  • Pharmaceutical
  • Topicals
  • Dietary supplements
  • Others

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Country Level Analysis

The cannabidiol (CBD) market is analyzed and market size information is provided by source, grade, application, product type, nature.

The countries covered in the cannabidiol (CBD) market report are U.S., Canada, Mexico, Germany, U.K., Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland, France, Russia, Spain, Turkey, Belgium, Rest of Europe, China, Japan, India, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand and rest of Asia-Pacific, U.A.E, Israel, South Africa and rest of the Middle East and Africa, Brazil, Argentina and the rest of South America.

In 2022, North America is dominating due to the presence of key market players along the largest consumer market with high GDP. U.S is expected to grow due to rise in technological advancement in drug treatments.

Trends:

The market is projected to grow at a fast pace during the forecast period, due to various latest trends such as rising online sales of cannabidiol (CBD), use of blockchain technology, rising demand for natural products, expanding research areas, rising demand for ingestible products, etc. Due to the convenience and heavy discounts provided by the online platforms people are shifting towards e-commerce. Online platforms also widen the reach of the manufacturers and enable them to sell CBD products even to those customers who were not aware of the CBD-based products.

What to Expect from the Report, a 7-Pointer Guide

  • The cannabidiol (CBD) report dives into the holistic Strategy and Innovation for this market ecosystem
  • The cannabidiol (CBD) report keenly isolates and upholds notable prominent market drivers and barriers
  • The cannabidiol (CBD) report sets clarity in identifying technological standardization as well as the regulatory
  • framework, besides significantly assessing various implementation models besides evaluation of numerous use cases
  • The cannabidiol (CBD) report is also a rich repository of crucial information across the industry, highlighting details on novel investments as well as stakeholders and relevant contributors and market participants.
  • A through market analytical survey and forecast references through the forecast tenure, encapsulating details on historical developments, concurrent events as well as future growth probability

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Part 01: Executive Summary

Part 02: Scope Of The Report

Part 03: Research Methodology

Part 04: Market Landscape

Part 05: Pipeline Analysis

Part 06: Market Sizing

Part 07: Five Forces Analysis

Part 08: Market Segmentation

Part 09: Customer Landscape

Part 10: Regional Landscape

Part 11: Decision Framework

Part 12: Drivers And Challenges

Part 13: Market Trends

Part 14: Vendor Landscape

Part 15: Vendor Analysis

Part 16: Appendix

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Region-wise Related Reports:-

Europe Cannabidiol (CBD) Market – Industry Trends and Forecast to 2029:  Europe cannabidiol (CBD) market is expected to gain market growth in the forecast period of 2022 to 2029. Data Bridge Market Research analyses that the market is growing with a CAGR of 26.7{b574a629d83ad7698d9c0ca2d3a10ad895e8e51aa97c347fc42e9508f0e4325d} in the forecast period of 2022 to 2029. Technological advancements in cannabidiol (CBD) drug treatments and the rise in the healthcare sector are other factors driving the growth of the Europe cannabidiol (CBD) market in the forecast period.

Middle East and Africa Cannabidiol (CBD) Market – Industry Trends and Forecast to 2029: The Middle East & Africa cannabidiol (CBD) market is expected to gain market growth in the forecast period of 2022 to 2029. Data Bridge Market Research analyses that the market is growing with a CAGR of 22.7{b574a629d83ad7698d9c0ca2d3a10ad895e8e51aa97c347fc42e9508f0e4325d} in the forecast period of 2022 to 2029. Technological advancements in cannabidiol (CBD) drug treatments and a rise in the healthcare sector are other factors driving the growth of the Middle East & Africa cannabidiol (CBD) market in the forecast period.

North America Cannabidiol (CBD) Market – Industry Trends and Forecast to 2029: North America cannabidiol (CBD) market is expected to gain market growth in the forecast period of 2022 to 2029. Data Bridge Market Research analyses that the market is growing with a CAGR of 28.7{b574a629d83ad7698d9c0ca2d3a10ad895e8e51aa97c347fc42e9508f0e4325d} in the forecast period of 2022 to 2029. Technological advancements in cannabidiol (CBD) drug treatments and the rise in the healthcare sector are other factors driving the growth of the North America cannabidiol (CBD) market in the forecast period.

Asia-Pacific Cannabidiol (CBD) Market – Industry Trends and Forecast to 2029: Asia-Pacific cannabidiol (CBD) market is expected to gain market growth in the forecast period of 2022 to 2029. Data Bridge Market Research analyses that the market is growing with a CAGR of 24.1{b574a629d83ad7698d9c0ca2d3a10ad895e8e51aa97c347fc42e9508f0e4325d} in the forecast period of 2022 to 2029. Technological advancements in cannabidiol (CBD) drug treatments and the rise in the healthcare sector are other factors driving the growth of the Asia-Pacific cannabidiol (CBD) market in the forecast period.

Hemp-Derived Cannabidiol Market – Industry Trends and Forecast to 2028: Hemp-derived cannabidiol market is expected to gain market growth in the forecast period of 2021-2028. Data Bridge Market Research analyses the market to account to grow at a CAGR of 27.20{b574a629d83ad7698d9c0ca2d3a10ad895e8e51aa97c347fc42e9508f0e4325d} in the above-mentioned forecast period.

About Data Bridge Market Research:

Data Bridge Market Research is a multinational management consulting firm with offices in India and Canada. As an innovative and neoteric market analysis and advisory company with unmatched durability levels and advanced approaches. We are committed to uncovering the best consumer prospects and fostering useful knowledge for your company to succeed in the market.

Data Bridge Market Research is a result of sheer wisdom and practice that was conceived and built-in Pune in the year 2015. The company came into existence from the healthcare department with far fewer employees intending to cover the whole market while providing the best class analysis. Later, the company widened its departments, as well as expanded its reach by opening a new office in the Gurugram location in the year 2018, where a team of highly qualified personnel joins hands for the growth of the company. “Even in the tough times of COVID-19 where the Virus slowed down everything around the world, the dedicated team of Data Bridge Market Research worked round the clock to provide quality and support to our client base, which also tells about the excellence in our sleeve.”

We provide a variety of services such as market verified industry reports, technology trend analysis, Formative market research, strategic consulting, vendor analysis, production and demand analysis, and consumer impact studies among many others.

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SOURCE Data Bridge Market Research

CBD Oil Industry Market Size & Revenue Analysis

CBD Oil Industry Market Size & Revenue Analysis

  JCMR not too long ago introduced CBD Oil Business current market study which handles total in-depth review which include further research on COVID-19 impacted industry situation on World-wide CBD Oil Industry Current market. The Research Article Entitled World wide CBD Oil Sector Market place delivers 

Global .99 Bn Cannabidiol Markets (2021-2027) by Source, Distribution Channel, Product, Route of Administration, End-User, and Geography, & Competitive Analysis

Global $7.99 Bn Cannabidiol Markets (2021-2027) by Source, Distribution Channel, Product, Route of Administration, End-User, and Geography, & Competitive Analysis

DUBLIN, January 05, 2022–(Business WIRE)–The “International Cannabidiol Marketplace (2021-2027) by Source, Distribution Channel, Solution, Route of Administration, Stop-Person, and Geography, IGR Competitive Analysis, Impression of COVID-19, Ansoff Investigation” report has been extra to ResearchAndMarkets.com’s featuring. The World Cannabidiol Marketplace is estimated to be USD 2.73 

More than 10,000 patients caught Covid-19 in a hospital, analysis shows. They never made it out

More than 10,000 patients caught Covid-19 in a hospital, analysis shows. They never made it out

They left with covid-19 — if they left at all.

More than 10,000 patients were diagnosed with covid in a U.S. hospital last year after they were admitted for something else, according to federal and state records analyzed exclusively for KHN. The number is certainly an undercount, since it includes mostly patients 65 and older, plus California and Florida patients of all ages.

Yet in the scheme of things that can go wrong in a hospital, it is catastrophic: About 21{b574a629d83ad7698d9c0ca2d3a10ad895e8e51aa97c347fc42e9508f0e4325d} of the patients who contracted covid in the hospital from April to September last year died, the data shows. In contrast, nearly 8{b574a629d83ad7698d9c0ca2d3a10ad895e8e51aa97c347fc42e9508f0e4325d} of other Medicare patients died in the hospital at the time.

Steven Johnson, 66, was expecting to get an infection cut out of his hip flesh and bone at Blake Medical Center in Bradenton, Florida, last November. The retired pharmacist had survived colon cancer and was meticulous to avoid contracting covid. He could not have known that, from April through September, 8{b574a629d83ad7698d9c0ca2d3a10ad895e8e51aa97c347fc42e9508f0e4325d} of that hospital’s Medicare covid patients were diagnosed with the virus after they were admitted for another concern.

Johnson had tested negative for covid two days before he was admitted. After 13 days in the hospital, he tested positive, said his wife, Cindy Johnson, also a retired pharmacist.

Soon he was struggling to clear a glue-like phlegm from his lungs. A medical team could hardly control his pain. They prompted Cindy to share his final wishes. She asked: “Honey, do you want to be intubated?” He responded with an emphatic “no.” He died three days later.

After her husband tested positive, Cindy Johnson, trained in contact tracing, quickly got a covid test. She tested negative. Then she thought about the large number of hospital staffers flowing into and out of his room — where he was often unmasked — and suspected a staff member had infected him. That the hospital, part of the HCA Healthcare chain, still has not mandated staff vaccinations is “appalling,” she said.

“I’m furious,” she said.

“How can they say on their website,” she asked, “that the safety precautions ‘we’ve put into place make our facilities among the safest possible places to receive healthcare at this time’?”

Blake Medical Center spokesperson Lisa Kirkland said the hospital is “strongly encouraging vaccination” and noted that it follows Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and federal and state guidelines to protect patients. President Joe Biden has called for all hospital employees to be vaccinated, but the requirement could face resistance in a dozen states, including Florida, that have banned vaccine mandates.
Cindy Johnson holds a pillow made from a shirt her husband, Steven, used to wear. Steven died of covid-19 in December 2020, and Cindy believes he contracted the virus at Blake Medical Center in Bradenton, Florida, where he was admitted for an infection in his hip. (Eve Edelheit for KHN)
Overall, the rate of in-hospital spread among Medicare and other patients was lower than in other countries, including the United Kingdom, which makes such data public and openly discusses it. On average, about 1.7{b574a629d83ad7698d9c0ca2d3a10ad895e8e51aa97c347fc42e9508f0e4325d} of U.S. hospitalized covid patients were diagnosed with the virus in U.S. hospitals, according to an analysis of Medicare records from April 1 to Sept. 30, 2020, provided by Dr. James Kennedy, founder of CDIMD, a Nashville-based consulting and data analytics company.

Yet the rate of infection was far higher in 38 hospitals where 5{b574a629d83ad7698d9c0ca2d3a10ad895e8e51aa97c347fc42e9508f0e4325d} or more of the Medicare covid cases were documented as hospital-acquired. The data is from a challenging stretch last year when protective gear was in short supply and tests were scarce or slow to produce results. The Medicare data for the fourth quarter of 2020 and this year isn’t available yet, and the state data reflects April 1 through Dec. 31, 2020.

A KHN review of work-safety records, medical literature and interviews with staff at high-spread hospitals points to why the virus took hold: Hospital leaders were slow to appreciate its airborne nature, which made coughing patients hazardous to roommates and staff members, who often wore less-protective surgical masks instead of N95s. Hospitals failed to test every admitted patient, enabled by CDC guidance that leaves such testing to the “discretion of the facility.” Management often failed to inform workers when they’d been exposed to covid and so were at risk of spreading it themselves.
Spread among patients and staffers seemed to go hand in hand. At Beaumont Hospital, Taylor, in Michigan, 139 employee covid infections were logged between April 6 to Oct. 20 last year, a hospital inspection report shows. Nearly 7{b574a629d83ad7698d9c0ca2d3a10ad895e8e51aa97c347fc42e9508f0e4325d} of the Medicare patients with covid tested positive after they were admitted to that hospital for something else, the federal data shows. A hospital spokesperson said tests were not available to screen all patients last year, resulting in some late diagnoses. He said all incoming patients are tested now.
Tracking covid inside health facilities is no new task to federal officials, who publicly report new staff and resident cases weekly for each U.S. nursing home. Yet the Department of Health and Human Services reports data on covid’s spread in hospitals only on a statewide basis, so patients are in the dark about which facilities have cases.
KHN commissioned analyses of hospital billing records, which are also used more broadly to spot various hospital-acquired infections. For covid, the data has limitations. It can pick up some community-acquired cases that were slow to show up, as it can take two to 14 days from exposure to the virus for symptoms to appear, with the average being four to five days. The records do not account for cases picked up in an emergency room or diagnosed after a hospital patient was discharged.
Linda Moore, pictured with her daughter Stacey Taylor, died of covid-19 in July 2020. Her daughter Trisha Tavolazzi says Moore tested positive after at least 15 days at Havasu Regional Medical Center in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. (Stacey Taylor)

Linda Moore, 71, tested positive at least 15 days into a hospital stay for spinal surgery, according to her daughter Trisha Tavolazzi. Her mother was at Havasu Regional Medical Center in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, which did not have a higher-than-average rate of internal spread last summer.

The hospital implemented “rigorous health and safety protocols to protect all of our patients” during the pandemic, said hospital spokesperson Corey Santoriello, who would not comment on Moore’s case, citing privacy laws.

Moore was airlifted to another hospital, where her condition only declined further, her daughter said. After the ventilator was removed, she clung to life fitfully for 5½ hours, as her daughter prayed for her mother to find her way to heaven.

“I asked her mom and her dad and her family and prayed to God, ‘Please just come show her the way,'” Tavolazzi said. “I relive it every day.”

When Tavolazzi sought answers from the hospital about where her mom got the virus, she said, she got none: “No one ever called me back.”

Two Negative Covid Tests, Then ‘Patient Zero’

As the second surge of covid subsided last September, doctors from the prestigious Brigham and Women’s Hospital published a reassuring study: With careful infection control, only two of 697 covid patients acquired the virus within the Boston hospital. That is about 0.3{b574a629d83ad7698d9c0ca2d3a10ad895e8e51aa97c347fc42e9508f0e4325d} of patients ― about six times lower than the overall Medicare rate. Brigham tested every patient it admitted, exceeding CDC recommendations. It was transparent and open about safety concerns.
He survived severe Covid-19; now he's getting vaccinated, but losing friends

But the study, published in the high-profile JAMA Network Open journal, conveyed the wrong message, according to Dr. Manoj Jain, an infectious-disease physician and adjunct professor at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. Covid was spreading in hospitals, he said, and the study buried “the problem under the rug.”

Before the virtual ink on the study was dry, the virus began a stealthy streak through the elite hospital. It slipped in with a patient who tested negative twice ― but turned out to be positive. She was “patient zero” in an outbreak affecting 38 staffers and 14 patients, according to a study in Annals of Internal Medicine initially published Feb. 9.
That study’s authors sequenced the genome of the virus to confirm which cases were related ― and precisely how it traveled through the hospital.

As patients were moved from room to room in the early days of the outbreak, covid spread among roommates 8 out of 9 times, likely through aerosol transmission, the study says. A survey of staff members revealed that those caring for coughing patients were more likely to get sick.

The virus also appeared to have breached the CDC-OK’d protective gear. Two staff members who had close patient contact while wearing a surgical mask and face shield still wound up infected. The findings suggested that more-protective N95 respirators could help safeguard staff.

Even if they get breakthrough infections, vaccinated people don't get as sick with Covid-19, studies show

Brigham and Women’s now tests every patient upon admission and again soon after. Nurses are encouraged to test again if they see a subtle sign of covid, said Dr. Erica Shenoy, associate chief of the Infection Control Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital, who helped craft policy at Brigham.

She said nurses and environmental services workers are at the table for policymaking: “I personally make it a point to say, ‘Tell me what you’re thinking,'” Shenoy said. “‘There’s no retribution because we need to know.'”

CDC guidelines, though, left wide latitude on protective gear and testing. To this day, Shenoy said, hospitals employ a wide range of policies.

The CDC said in a statement that its guidelines “provide a comprehensive and layered approach to preventing transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in healthcare settings,” and include testing patients with “even mild symptoms” or recent exposure to someone with covid.

Infection control policies are rarely apparent to patients or visitors, beyond whether they’re asked to wear a mask. But reviews of public records and interviews with more than a dozen people show that at hospitals with high rates of covid spread, staff members were often alarmed by the lack of safety practices.

Nurses Sound the Alarm on Covid Spread

As covid crept into Florida in spring 2020, nurse Victoria Holland clashed with managers at Blake Medical Center in Bradenton, where Steven Johnson died.

She said managers suspended her early in the pandemic after taking part in a protest and “having a hissy fit” when she was denied a new N95 respirator before an “aerosol-generating” procedure. The CDC warns that such procedures can spread the virus through the air. Before the pandemic, nurses were trained to dispose of an N95 after each patient encounter.

When the suspension was over, Holland said, she felt unsafe. “They told us nothing,” she said. “It was all a little whisper between the doctors. You had potential covids and you’d get a little surgical mask because [they didn’t] want to waste” an N95 unless they knew the patient was positive.

Pfizer says its experimental pill reduces risk of hospitalization, death from Covid-19
Holland said she quit in mid-April. Her nursing colleagues lodged a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in late June alleging that staff “working around possible Covid-19 positive cases” had been denied PPE. Staff members protested outside the hospital in July and filed another OSHA complaint that said the hospital was allowing covid-exposed employees to keep working.

Kirkland, the Blake spokesperson, said the hospital responded to OSHA and “no deficiencies were identified.”

The Medicare analysis shows that 22 of 273 patients with covid, or 8{b574a629d83ad7698d9c0ca2d3a10ad895e8e51aa97c347fc42e9508f0e4325d}, were diagnosed with the virus after they were admitted to Blake. That’s about five times as high as the national average.

Kirkland said “there is no standard way for measuring COVID-19 hospital-associated transmissions” and “there is no evidence to suggest the risk of transmission at Blake Medical Center is different than what you would find at other hospitals.”

In Washington, D.C., 34 Medicare covid patients contracted the virus at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, or nearly 6{b574a629d83ad7698d9c0ca2d3a10ad895e8e51aa97c347fc42e9508f0e4325d} of its total, the analysis shows.

Antiviral pills for Covid-19 -- not a cure, but a great tool
Unhappy with the safety practices ― which included gas sterilization and reuse of N95s — National Nurses United members protested on the hospital lawn in July 2020. At the protest, nurse Zoe Bendixen said one nurse had died of the virus and 50 had gotten sick: “[Nurses] can become a source for spreading the disease to other patients, co-workers and family members.”

Nurse Yuhana Gidey said she caught covid after treating a patient who turned out to be infected. Another nurse ― not managers doing contact tracing ― told her she’d been exposed, she said.

Nurse Kimberly Walsh said in an interview there was an outbreak in a geriatric unit where she worked in September 2020. She said management blamed nurses for bringing the virus into the unit. But Walsh pointed to another problem: The hospital wasn’t covid-testing patients coming in from nursing homes, where spread was rampant last year.

MedStar declined a request for an interview about its infection control practices and did not respond to specific questions.

While hospitals must track and publicly report rates of persistent infections like C. diff, antibiotic-resistant staph and surgical site infections, similar hospital-acquired covid rates are not reported.
KHN examined a different source of data that Congress required hospitals to document about “hospital-acquired conditions.” The Medicare data, which notes whether each covid case was “present on admission” or not, becomes available months after a hospitalization in obscure files that require a data-use agreement typically granted to researchers. KHN counted cases, as federal officials do, in some instances in which the documentation is deemed insufficient to categorize a case (see data methodology, below).

For this data, whether to deem a covid case hospital-acquired lies with medical coders who review doctors’ notes and discharge summaries and ask doctors questions if the status is unclear, said Sue Bowman, senior director of coding policy and compliance at American Health Information Management Association.

She said medical coders are aware that the data is used for hospital quality measures and would be careful to review the contract tracing or other information in the medical record.

If a case was in the data KHN used, “that would mean it was acquired during the hospital stay either from a health care worker or another patient or maybe if a hospital allowed visitors, from a visitor,” Bowman said. “That would be a fair interpretation of the data.”

The high death rate for those diagnosed with covid during a hospital stay — about 21{b574a629d83ad7698d9c0ca2d3a10ad895e8e51aa97c347fc42e9508f0e4325d} — mirrors the death rate for other Medicare covid patients last year, when doctors had few proven methods to help patients. It also highlights the hazard unvaccinated staffers pose to patients, said Jain, the infectious-disease doctor. The American Hospital Association estimates that about 42{b574a629d83ad7698d9c0ca2d3a10ad895e8e51aa97c347fc42e9508f0e4325d} of U.S. hospitals have mandated that all staff members be vaccinated.

“We don’t need [unvaccinated staff] to be a threat to patients,” Jain said. “[Hospital] administration is too afraid to push the nursing staff, and the general public is clueless at what a threat a non-vaccinated person poses to a vulnerable population.”

Cindy Johnson believes her husband, Steven, caught covid-19 from staff at Blake Medical Center in Bradenton, Florida, in November 2020. After his death, she asked a doctor who sees patients at the hospital to take down the big "OPEN & SAFE" sign outside. (Cindy Johnson)
Cindy Johnson said the hospital where she believes her husband contracted covid faced minimal scrutiny in a state inspection, even after she said she reported that he caught covid there. She explored suing, but an attorney told her it would be nearly impossible to win such a case. A 2021 state law requires proof of “at least gross negligence” to prevail in court.

Johnson did ask a doctor who sees patients at the hospital for this: Please take down the big “OPEN & SAFE” sign outside.

Within days, the sign was gone.

KHN requested custom analyses of Medicare, California and Florida inpatient hospital data to examine the number of covid-19 cases diagnosed after a patient’s admission.

The Medicare and Medicare Advantage data, which includes patients who are mostly 65 or older, is from the Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MedPAR) file and was analyzed by CDIMD, a Nashville-based medical code consulting and data analytics firm. The data is from April 1 through Sept. 30, 2020. The data for the fourth quarter of 2020 is not yet available.

That data shows the number of inpatient Medicare hospital stays in the U.S., including the number of people diagnosed with covid and the number of admissions for which the covid diagnosis was not “present on admission.” A condition not “present on admission” is presumed to be hospital-acquired. The data is for general acute-care hospitals, which may include a psychiatric floor, and not for other hospitals such as Veterans Affairs or stand-alone psychiatric hospitals.

KHN requested a similar analysis from California’s Department of Health Care Access and Information of its hospital inpatient data. That data was from April 1 through Dec. 31, 2020, and covered patients of all ages and payer types and in general, private psychiatric and long-term acute-care hospitals. Etienne Pracht, a University of South Florida researcher, provided the number of Florida covid patients who did not have the virus upon hospital admission for all ages at general and psychiatric hospitals from April 1 through Dec. 31, 2020. KHN subtracted the number of Medicare patients in the MedPAR data from the Florida and California all-payer datasets so they would not be counted twice.

To calculate the rate of Medicare patients who got covid or died, KHN relied on the MedPAR data for April through September. That data includes records for 6,629 seniors, 1,409 of whom, or 21{b574a629d83ad7698d9c0ca2d3a10ad895e8e51aa97c347fc42e9508f0e4325d}, died. California data for all ages and payer types from April through December shows a similar rate: Of 2,115 who contracted covid after hospital admission, 435, or 21{b574a629d83ad7698d9c0ca2d3a10ad895e8e51aa97c347fc42e9508f0e4325d}, died. The MedPAR data was also used to calculate the national nosocomial covid rate of 1.7{b574a629d83ad7698d9c0ca2d3a10ad895e8e51aa97c347fc42e9508f0e4325d}, with 6,629 of 394,939 covid patients diagnosed with the virus that was deemed not present on admission.

Data on whether an inpatient hospital diagnosis was present on admission is used by Medicare for payment determinations and is intended to incentivize hospitals to prevent infections acquired during hospital care. It is also used by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to “assist in identifying quality of care issues.”

Whether covid is acquired in a hospital or in the community is measured in different ways. Some nations assume the virus is hospital-acquired if it is diagnosed seven or more days after admission, while statewide U.S. data counts cases only after 14 days.

Medical coders who examine medical records for this inpatient billing data focus on the physician’s admission, progress and discharge notes to determine whether covid was present on admission. They do not have a set number of days they look for and are trained to query physicians if the case is unclear, according to Sue Bowman, senior director of coding policy and compliance at the American Health Information Management Association.

KHN tallied the cases in which covid was logged in the data as not “present on admission” to the hospital. Some covid cases are coded as “U” for having insufficient documentation to make a determination. Since Medicare and AHRQ consider the “U” to be an “N” (or not present on admission) for the purposes of payment decisions and quality indicators, KHN chose to count those cases in the grand total.

In 409 of 6,629 Medicare cases and in 70 of 2,185 California cases, the “present on admission” indicator was “U.” The Florida data did not include patients whose “present on admission” indicator was “U.” Medical coders have another code, “W,” for “clinically undetermined” cases, which consider a condition present on admission for billing or quality measures. Medical coders use the “U” (leaning toward “not present on admission”) and “W” (leaning toward “present on admission”) when there is some uncertainty about the case.

The Medicare MedPAR data includes about 2,500 U.S. hospitals that had at least a dozen covid cases from April through September 2020. Of those, 1,070 reported no cases of hospital-acquired covid in the Medicare records. Data was suppressed for privacy reasons for about 1,300 hospitals that had between one and 11 hospital-acquired covid cases. There were 126 hospitals reporting 12 or more cases of covid that were not present on admission or unknown. For those, we divided the number of hospital-acquired cases by the total number of patients with covid to arrive at the rate of hospital-acquired cases, as is standard in health care.