MON AM News: Digital health platform improves asthma metrics: Lac Du Flambeau tribe sues opioid manufacturers, distributors for crisis

— Propellor Health’s digital health platform has been linked to a reduction in asthma symptoms and need for medication, according to a recent collaborative study.

This Madison-based company has developed a respiratory management system including connected inhalers, digital interfaces and easy connections to specialists. The system has been used by patients with asthma and COPD in over 65 programs in major health care systems.

The results of this latest study, called AIR Louisville, were published in the journal Health Affairs.

Funding came from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the American Lung Association, with the involvement of 25 public private and nonprofit groups. Paul Tarini, senior program officer for RWJF, says it was the first of its kind in the nation.

By deploying the respiratory management system, researchers were able to pinpoint when local residents used their asthma inhalers, analyze the environmental conditions there and give the data to participants and city officials.

With the system in place participants had a 78 percent reduction in rescue inhaler use and a 48 percent improvement in days without symptoms.

This information was used in making policy recommendations to the city like expanding tree canopy, removing fewer trees, creating air pollution emission buffers, altering truck routes and establishing a community asthma notification system.

See more: http://wisbusiness.com/index.Iml?Article=390770

— The Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians is suing prescription drug makers, distributors and pharmacies, seeking to lay blame for the national opioid crisis that’s hitting tribes particularly hard.

As noted by President Joseph Wildcat, Sr., the epidemic has been building for years with increasing effects on Lac Du Flambeau residents.

“While we continue to fight drug abuse alongside our Tri-County partners to eliminate the scourge, the Tribe seeks financial resources to adequately abate the epidemic,” Wildcat said.

According to a release, the tribe and its members have experienced “substantial loss of resources, economic damages, addiction, disability, and harm to their health and welfare.”

Medical bills have become “overwhelming” as foster care costs, child welfare costs and education/addiction therapy costs have only risen.

“The wrongful conduct of the opioid industry has allowed millions of opioid pills to be diverted from legitimate channels of distribution to the illicit black market in quantities that have fueled the opioid epidemic affecting the Tribe,” said Andrew Adams III, tribal attorney with Hogen Adams PLLC.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court of Western Wisconsin. It lists over 20 businesses as defendants, including CVS Health Corporation, Wal-Mart, Johnson & Johnson and others.

See the release: http://wisbusiness.com/1008/LDF_Tribe_FIles_Opioid_Lawsuit_FINAL.pdf

See the lawsuit: http://files.constantcontact.com/e66f57b7501/765d561d-140c-4ca4-bba6-295a95b3e7f1.pdf

— Bon-Ton Stores, parent company of the Boston Store and Younkers, has notified the state it plans on closing 12 locations and a corporate office in Wisconsin.

According to a notice sent to the state Department of Workforce Development, approximately 2,250 workers will be laid off as a result of this action. The separations are due to begin June 5, and are expected to take several months.

BizTimes Milwaukee reports the company could be sold at an auction this week.

The locations named in the release are in Green Bay, Milwaukee, Glendale, Greendale, Wauwatosa, Marshfield, Madison, Racine, Janesville, Eau Claire and Brookfield.

Affected workers can access re-employment services at no cost through the state’s job centers. This program’s rapid response teams will help with resources and events aimed at helping them get back in the workforce.

See the release: http://wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Article=390769

— Registration for the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce Business World is now open, with events planned in De Pere, Madison and Stevens Point.

This program from the WMC Foundation provides high school students with financial literacy education and stressing the importance of the free market. Three four-day camps are held every year, and smaller one-day programs are held throughout the school year at various school districts.

Since 1982, Business World has been attended over 20,000 students. Students must pay $50 each and the rest of the cost is covered by corporate sponsorship.

See a sample program schedule: http://files.constantcontact.com/4f43c9fb301/0a71f781-90d0-4511-b7f8-810e0c8bc7ba.pdf

— The state Department of Health Services is warning Wisconsin consumers about the dangers of synthetic marijuana, also known as K2 or spice.

Synthetic cannabinoids have various forms and are often smoked after being applied to dried plant material. They can also be inhaled through a vaporizing device.

These compounds are sold all over the country in convenience stores, gas stations and elsewhere. Severe bleeding has recently been reported in people who’ve used these drugs, including one confirmed case in Wisconsin.

“These recent cases of severe bleeding are evidence of the risks associated with synthetic cannabinoids and the harm these products can cause,” said State Health Officer Karen McKeown. “We are working with state and local partners to make people aware of these dangers and identify potential cases in Wisconsin.”

See more: http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/news/releases/040518.htm

— The latest installment in WARF’s ongoing series on innovation and the Wisconsin Idea focuses on investment in the state.

The blog post was co-written by: John Neis, executive managing director of Venture Investors, an early stage venture capital firm; and Cory Nettles, founder and managing director of Generation Growth Capital, a private equity firm with headquarters in Milwaukee.

They emphasize the importance of the state’s university system in transforming ideas into businesses while touching on some of Wisconsin’s weaknesses as well.

“VCs like to stay close to their projects, spending time counseling and guiding in addition to just writing the checks,” they wrote. “That’s one of the key reasons 80 percent of American venture capital is managed and invested in just three states: New York, Massachusetts and California.”

To achieve a transformation in the state’s startup VC ecosystem, they say it will take leadership from institutions as well as participation from political leaders and the “mature companies” in Wisconsin’s top industries.

“What policies will help attract and retain the necessary human capital? What more can we do to encourage the licensing of our intellectual capital in Wisconsin, instead of letting it go out of state to the highest bidder?” they wrote.

See more here: http://www.warf.org/about-us/innovation-and-the-wisconsin-idea/neis-nettles.cmsx

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April 12: WisPolitics.com Election Year Preview

More information and registration: http://wispolitics.com/2018/wispolitics-com-election-year-preview/



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