First Edition: Sept. 10, 2020

Kaiser Health News: Hospitals, Nursing Homes Fail To Separate COVID Patients, Putting Others At Risk 
Nurses at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center were on edge as early as March when patients with COVID-19 began to show up in areas of the hospital that were not set aside to care for them. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had advised hospitals to isolate COVID patients to limit staff exposure and help conserve high-level personal protective equipment that’s been in short supply. (Jewett, 9/10)

Kaiser Health News: Most Adults Wary Of Taking Any Vaccine Approved Before The Election 
The public is deeply skeptical about any coronavirus vaccine approved before the November election, and only 42% would be willing to get a vaccine in that scenario, according to a new poll. The results of the poll by KFF reveal widespread concern that the Trump administration will bring pressure on drug regulators to approve a vaccine before the election without ensuring it is safe and effective. (KHN is an editorially independent program of KFF.) (Rau, 9/10)

Kaiser Health News and Politifact HealthCheck: What Is The Risk Of Catching The Coronavirus On A Plane? 
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis tried to alleviate fears of flying during the pandemic at an event with airline and rental car executives. "The airplanes have just not been vectors when you see spread of the coronavirus,” DeSantis said during a discussion at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Aug. 28. “The evidence is the evidence. And I think it’s something that is safe for people to do.” Is the evidence really so clear? (Kim, 9/10)

The Washington Post: Trump Acknowledges He Intentionally Downplayed Deadly Coronavirus, Says Effort Was To Reduce Panic 
President Trump acknowledged Wednesday that he intentionally played down the deadly nature of the rapidly spreading coronavirus last winter as an attempt to avoid a “frenzy,” part of an escalating damage-control effort by his top advisers to contain the fallout from a forthcoming book by The Washington Post’s Bob Woodward. Trump’s comments came hours after excerpts from the book and audio of some of the 18 separate interviews he conducted with the author were released, fueling a sense of outrage over the president’s blunt description of knowing that he was not telling the truth about a virus that has killed nearly 190,000 Americans. (Dawsey, Sonmez and Kane, 9/9)

The New York Times: Trump Admits Downplaying the Virus Knowing It Was ‘Deadly Stuff’
As part of the White House’s effort at damage control, Mr. Trump told reporters that his recorded remarks to Mr. Woodward were vastly different from what he was telling the public because he was worried about frightening people. “We don’t want to instill panic,” the president said on Wednesday. “We don’t want to jump up and down and start shouting that we have a problem that is a tremendous problem” and “scare everybody.” (Haberman, 9/9)

Politico: ‘This Is Deadly Stuff’: Tapes Show Trump Acknowledging Virus Threat In February 
Woodward conducted 18 on-the-record interviews with the president between last December and July to gather material for the veteran journalist’s forthcoming book on the Trump White House. Excerpts of those conversations were published Wednesday by the Post, including an exchange between Trump and Woodward in which the president revealed he was eager to downplay the coronavirus outbreak so as not to alarm Americans. “I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down,” Trump said on March 19. “Because I don’t want to create a panic.” (Forgey and Choi, 9/9)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump, In Bob Woodward Interview, Said He Played Down Coronavirus’s Severity
Mr. Trump, asked about his comments at the White House later Wednesday, defended his remarks and said it was important to express confidence. He called Mr. Woodward’s book a “political hit job.” “We had to show calm,” he said. “The last thing we can show is panic or excitement or fear or anything else. We had to take care of the situation we were given.” (Ballhaus, 9/9)

AP: 'Deadly Stuff': Trump's Own Words Bring Focus Back To Virus
On Wednesday, Trump didn’t deny his remarks playing down the virus, he sought to justify them. “The fact is I’m a cheerleader for this country. I love our country and I don’t want people to be frightened. I don’t want to create panic,” Trump told reporters. “Certainly, I’m not going to drive this country or the world into a frenzy. We want to show confidence. We want to show strength.” (Miller, 9/10)

Fox News: Trump Defends Coronavirus Response After Woodward Interview Audio Published: 'I Don't Want To Scare People' 
President Trump defended comments he made earlier this year about the coronavirus pandemic in interviews with journalist Bob Woodward, telling Fox News' "Hannity" Wednesday that he wanted to "show a calmness." "I'm the leader of the country, I can't be jumping up and down and scaring people," Trump told host Sean Hannity. "I don't want to scare people. I want people not to panic, and that's exactly what I did." (Creitz, 9/9)

USA Today: Bob Woodward Book Takeaways: Playing Down COVID, Nuclear Program
An admission by President Donald Trump that he was "playing" down the threat posed by COVID-19. A new secretive nuclear program. Copies of dozens of never-before-seen letters between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Those are just a few of the jarring details included in "Rage," a new book written by veteran Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward about Trump's tenure. ... Here are some of the most extraordinary details included in the book, according to CNN and The Post, which obtained early copies. The book is set to hit shelves next week. (Hayes and Cummings, 9/9)

Politico: ‘He Knowingly And Willingly Lied’: Biden Rips Trump Over Woodward Book Revelations 
Former Vice President Joe Biden slammed Donald Trump over the revelation that Trump acknowledged how “deadly” the coronavirus could be back in February, accusing the president of “a life-and-death betrayal of the American people” that he contended was “almost criminal.““He knew how deadly it was. It was much more deadly than the flu,” Biden said during an event with autoworkers in the swing state of Michigan. “He knew and purposely played it down. Worse, he lied to the American people. He knowingly and willingly lied about the threat it posed to the country for months.” (Oprysko, 9/9)

The New York Times: Biden Pushes A Jobs Plan And Tears Into Trump's Covid Response In Michigan 
“He had the information,” Mr. Biden said during a trip to the critical battleground state of Michigan. “He knew how dangerous it was. And while this deadly disease ripped through our nation, he failed to do his job on purpose. It was a life-and-death betrayal of the American people.” “It’s beyond despicable,” Mr. Biden added, detailing the crises the nation faces as a result of the pandemic that go far beyond the staggering public health costs. “It’s a dereliction of duty. It’s a disgrace.” (Kaplan, Glueck and Tankersley, 9/9)

Politico: Murphy Goes After Trump For Withholding Information About Severity Of Virus
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy went after President Donald Trump on Wednesday over the revelation that the president withheld information about the severity of the coronavirus, saying that fewer people would have died if the president had been more forthright. “If we knew, specifically, that it was transmitted airborne ... If we had known that earlier, we would have shut the state meaningfully earlier. We would have gotten to a mandatory masking policy meaningfully earlier. We would have had a stay-at-home mandate put in place,” Murphy said during an afternoon appearance on CNN. (Landergan, 9/9)

Politico: Fauci Denies Hearing Trump Distort Facts On Coronavirus 
Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, defended President Donald Trump on Wednesday after audio recordings revealed that the president wanted to downplay the severity of the coronavirus early in the pandemic. Speaking with Fox News’ John Roberts, Fauci denied that he ever heard the president “distort” the threat of the coronavirus and maintained that Trump’s presentations to the public were largely in line with discussions he’d had with medical experts. When asked whether he ever felt Trump was downplaying the severity of the coronavirus, Fauci said no. (Choi, 9/9)

The Washington Post: Should Bob Woodward Have Reported Trump’s Virus Revelations Sooner? Here’s How He Defends His Decision. 
Two waves of outrage greeted the news on Wednesday of Bob Woodward’s latest White House chronicle, a book titled “Rage.”The first was Trump’s disclosure to Woodward that he knew as early as February — even as he was dismissing the novel coronavirus publicly — that the looming pandemic was far deadlier than the flu. The second was that Woodward, long associated with The Washington Post, didn’t reveal this to the public sooner. (Sullivan, 9/9)

Politico: Emails Show HHS Official Trying To Muzzle Fauci 
A Trump administration appointee at the Department of Health and Human Services is trying to prevent Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, from speaking about the risks that coronavirus poses to children. Emails obtained by POLITICO show Paul Alexander — a senior adviser to Michael Caputo, HHS’s assistant secretary for public affairs — instructing press officers and others at the National Institutes of Health about what Fauci should say during media interviews. The Trump adviser weighed in on Fauci’s planned responses to outlets including Bloomberg News, BuzzFeed, Huffington Post and the science journal Cell. (Owermohle, 9/9)

Roll Call: Top Health Experts Try To Prop Up Public Confidence In Coronavirus Vaccine
Two of the Trump administration’s top medical experts tried to prop up shaky public confidence in a COVID-19 vaccine at a Senate hearing Wednesday amid questions of political interference in this campaign year. “We have unprecedented levels of vaccine hesitancy in our country and globally,” said Surgeon General Jerome Adams, appearing with National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins before the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. “I think it’s also important to understand we have a once-in-a-century pandemic superimposed on top of a presidential election, and that’s made messaging even more difficult and concerning. (Kopp, 9/9)

The New York Times: N.I.H. Director Undercuts Trump’s Comments On Covid-19 Vaccines 
Dr. Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health, took issue on Wednesday with President Trump’s suggestion that a coronavirus vaccine would be available by Election Day, as he repeatedly sought to reassure senators and the public that a vaccine would not be made available to the public unless it was safe and effective. “Certainly, to try to predict whether it happens on a particular week before or after a particular date in early November is well beyond anything that any scientist right now could tell you and be confident they know what they are saying,” Dr. Collins told a Senate panel at a hearing on the effort to find a vaccine. (9/9)

Stat: Public Trust In CDC, Fauci, Other Officials Is Evaporating, Poll Finds
A new poll paints a bleak picture of Americans’ views toward the coronavirus pandemic. The poll, from the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, finds that the public’s trust in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S.’s top doctors, like Anthony Fauci, is rapidly dropping, particularly among Republicans. It also finds that a sizable percentage of Americans still hold a number of incorrect beliefs about the pandemic, and that less than half of Americans surveyed would want to get vaccinated against Covid-19 if a vaccine was available before November. (Florko, 9/10)

Yahoo News: Exclusive: White House Orders End To COVID-19 Airport Screenings For International Travelers
The U.S. government on Monday will stop conducting enhanced screening of passengers on inbound international flights for COVID-19, Yahoo News has learned. The screening operations have been held at select airports since January, when the first cases of the disease began to emerge from Wuhan, China. Since March, incoming international flights from select high-risk countries, including much of Europe, China and Iran, among other regions, have been funneled through 15 designated airports in the United States. (Winter, 9/9)

Politico: Senate Paralyzed Over Coronavirus Relief
With the coronavirus pandemic still battering the United States, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell asked his fellow senators on Wednesday whether they “want to do something? Or do you want to do nothing?” The answer looks to be … nothing. (Bresnahan, Levine and Desiderio, 9/9)

The Washington Post: White House Looks At More Executive Actions As Coronavirus-Relief Talks Appear Finished 
With the Senate poised to vote Thursday on a slender GOP coronavirus relief bill that’s certain to fail, chances for a bipartisan deal on new economic stimulus look more remote than ever. This impasse has prompted top White House officials to consider a new round of executive actions that they hope could direct funding to certain groups amid fears that the nascent economic recovery could fail to gain momentum. White House officials have discussed efforts to unilaterally provide support for the flagging airline industry while also bolstering unemployment benefits, according to two people aware of the deliberations who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share internal policy discussions. (Werner and Stein, 9/9)

AP: Dem Report: Postal Service Changes Delay Prescription Drugs
Prescription drug orders filled by mail have risen by one-fifth during the coronavirus pandemic, the report found, and delivery times for medications generally increased by as much as one-third. That means deliveries that previously took two days or three days now take an extra day, the report said. Some delays were much longer. One mail-order pharmacy, not identified in the report, said there was “a marked increase in July in the number of patients experiencing shipment delays of seven days or more.” A different pharmacy reported that orders taking over five days have “risen dramatically.″ (Daly and Izaguirre, 9/9)

Fox News: Pelosi’s San Francisco Salon Going Out Of Business, Owner Describes Receiving 'Nothing But Negativity' 
San Francisco hair salon owner Erica Kious is shutting her doors for good after controversy over a visit by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last week destroyed her business, she told “Tucker Carlson Tonight" Wednesday. “I am actually done in San Francisco and closing my doors, unfortunately,” she announced. (Stabile, 9/9)

AP: NC: Trump Rally Exceeded Pandemic Limits, But Not Illegal
A crowed political rally hosted by President Donald Trump put people’s health at risk but was legal under state pandemic rules that exempt certain gatherings where people exercise free speech, a spokeswoman for North Carolina’s governor said Wednesday. Trump spoke at Smith Reynolds Airport in Winston-Salem on Tuesday. Thousands of supporters crammed together without the 6 feet (1.8 meters) of social distancing the White House itself has recommended. An executive order issued by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper earlier this month mandated masks in public and limited mass outdoor gatherings to 50 people. (Anderson, 9/9)

The Wall Street Journal: Vaping Drops Among Young People In U.S. 
Youth vaping fell significantly this year, according to new government data, after federal restrictions raised the legal purchase age for tobacco products to 21 and took fruity-flavored e-cigarette cartridges off the U.S. market. About 20% of U.S. high-school students, or 3.02 million, said they had used e-cigarettes on at least one day in the past 30 days, down from nearly 28%, or 4.11 million, last year. The data are based on a national survey conducted between Jan. 16 and March 16. (Maloney, 9/9)

AP: Big Drop Reported In Vaping By US Teenagers
Experts think last year’s outbreak of vaping related illnesses and deaths may have scared off some kids, but they believe other factors contributed to the drop, including higher age limits and flavor bans. In a national survey, just under 20% of high school students and 5% of middle school students said they were recent users of electronic cigarettes and other vaping products. That marks a big decline from a similar survey last year that found about 28% of high school students and 11% of middle school students recently vaped. (Stobbe and Perrone, 9/9)

The New York Times: E-Cigarette Use Falls Sharply Among Teenagers, C.D.C. Finds 
The number of high school students regularly using e-cigarettes dropped significantly over the past year, after several years of soaring use, according to a new government survey of teenagers. But the data suggested that even greater progress may have been stymied by the growing popularity of a new product — disposable e-cigarettes, which, under a loophole in federal regulations, are still allowed to be sold in youth-friendly flavors. (Richtel, 9/9)

Reuters: AstraZeneca Says Should Know If Vaccine Works By Year-End If Trials Resume 
AstraZeneca’s chief executive Pascal Soriot said on Thursday that it should know before the end of the year whether its experimental vaccine would protect people from COVID-19, if the British drugmaker is allowed to resume trials which were paused this week. It suspended the late-stage trials after an illness in a study subject in Britain. The patient was reportedly suffering from neurological symptoms associated with a rare spinal inflammatory disorder called transverse myelitis. (Miller and Burger, 9/10)

Stat: AstraZeneca CEO Says Participant Had Neurological Symptoms, Could Be Discharged Today
The participant who triggered a global shutdown of AstraZeneca’s Phase 3 Covid-19 vaccine trials was a woman in the United Kingdom who experienced neurological symptoms consistent with a rare but serious spinal inflammatory disorder called transverse myelitis, the drug maker’s chief executive, Pascal Soriot, said during a private conference call with investors on Wednesday morning. The woman’s diagnosis has not been confirmed yet, but she is improving and will likely be discharged from the hospital as early as Wednesday, Soriot said. (Feuerstein, 9/9)

AP: Vaccine By Nov. 3? Halted Study Explains Just How Unlikely
The suspension of a huge COVID-19 vaccine study over an illness in a single participant shows there will be “no compromises” on safety in the race to develop the shot, the chief of the National Institutes of Health told Congress on Wednesday. AstraZeneca has put on hold studies of its vaccine candidate in the U.S. and other countries while it investigates whether a British volunteer’s illness is a side effect or a coincidence. (Neergaard, 9/9)

Politico: The Upside Of The Vaccine Slowdown 
AstraZeneca halted its coronavirus vaccine trials this week while it investigates whether a participant’s serious health problem — reportedly spinal cord inflammation — was caused by the shot. The company’s decision to pause the studies while it reviews safety data is encouraging, because it shows the system is working. But it’s a good reminder that developing safe and effective vaccines is a tricky process. And it’s rarely followed so closely by the general public as it has been during this pandemic. (Morello, 9/9)

Stat: An Open Letter To AstraZeneca's CEO On Transparency
Dear Pascal Soriot, I’d like to talk to you about your priorities. Your company, AstraZeneca, is investing heavily in the development of a Covid-19 vaccine — and you have said you have no intention of turning a profit on any vaccine in the midst of a pandemic. But I have concerns about your commitment to transparency. When the news broke late Tuesday that a participant in your late-stage Covid-19 vaccine trial experienced a serious reaction, the company would only confirm the trial was put on hold in order to review safety data due to a “potentially unexplained illness.” (Ed Silverman, 9/9)

Fox News: Trio Of Antiviral Drugs Eyed As Possible Coronavirus Treatment 
Researchers at the University of Florida are studying a trio of antiviral drugs as a potential treatment against COVID-19. Galidesivir, remdesivir and favipiravir are under study because they’ve already been federally approved for other viral diseases or been tested as antiviral therapy, according to Ashley Brown, Ph.D., associate professor in the UF College of Medicine and affiliated associate professor in the UF College of Pharmacy, per a university news release. (Rivas, 9/9)

The New York Times: How The Coronavirus Attacks The Brain 
The coronavirus targets the lungs foremost, but also the kidneys, liver and blood vessels. Still, about half of patients report neurological symptoms, including headaches, confusion and delirium, suggesting the virus may also attack the brain. A new study offers the first clear evidence that, in some people, the coronavirus invades brain cells, hijacking them to make copies of itself. The virus also seems to suck up all of the oxygen nearby, starving neighboring cells to death. (Mandavilli, 9/9)

Fox News: Severity Of Coronavirus Infection May Be Determined By Face Mask Use, Study Suggests
Face masks may limit the severity of coronavirus cases, University of California San Francisco researchers said in a paper published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. Although face coverings are more effective in preventing droplets from being expelled into the air than they are in preventing droplets from being breathed in, masks still may be able to mitigate how severe an illness an individual gets if infected by COVID-19, researchers explained in the release. (McGorry, 9/9)

CIDRAP: Groups Emphasize Pandemic Risk For Chinese Swine H1N1 Flu Subtype
Three global health groups today issued a joint statement that strongly urged countries to be aware of the pandemic potential for an H1N1 swine influenza subtype circulating in Chinese pigs. The statement is from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), and the World Health Organization (WHO). The 1C.2.3 ("G4") genetic clade of H1N1 swine influenza was first identified by Chinese researchers in 2016 and has become the dominant genotype circulating in China's pigs. Two variant H1N1 cases involving the subtype have recently been detected in humans, and a small seroprevalence study in Chinese swine workers suggested that 10% had been exposed to the virus. The WHO Collaborating Center in China has developed a candidate vaccine virus targeting the strain. (9/9)

CIDRAP: NSAIDs Like Ibuprofen Not Tied To Severe COVID-19, Death
Contrary to early reports, the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen is not associated with severe COVID-19 disease or death, according to a cohort study published yesterday in PLOS One. Researchers analyzed data from all 9,236 Danish residents who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, from Feb 27 to Apr 29, of whom 248 (2.7%) had filled a prescription for an NSAID in the 30 days before their diagnosis. In Denmark, a prescription is needed for obtaining NSAIDs, except for low-dose (200-milligram) ibuprofen. (Van Beusekom, 9/9)

CIDRAP: Study Shows Lower Case-Fatality Rate In COVID-19 Second Wave
A new study in Transboundary and Emerging Disease calculated the case-fatality rate (CFR) of COVID-19 infections in 53 countries or regions that experienced a second wave—or resurgence—of coronavirus activity, and found a significantly lower death rate among all confirmed cases than in the first wave. This is the first study to compare the CFR in the first and second waves of the pandemic. (9/9)

Fox News: Coronavirus Could Reverse Decades Of Progress On Reducing Child Mortality, Health Agencies Warn 
Disruptions to health services due to the coronavirus pandemic could reverse decades of progress in reducing child mortality, the United Nations said Wednesday. The number of infant deaths dropped to 5.2 million in 2019 – the lowest point on record – from 12.5 million in 1990, according to data jointly released by the World Health Organization, UNICEF and other organizations. The disruptions, these organizations said, “are putting millions of additional lives at stake.” (Genovese, 9/9)

Fox News: Amid Coronavirus Pandemic, Americans In 'Denial' Over Poor Mental Health: Survey 
A new survey revealed that nearly half of its respondents did not seek mental health treatment amid the coronavirus pandemic due to cost or lack of access and time. The small-scale survey from LifeStance Health, a behavioral healthcare services provider, gathered responses from 1,623 Americans in late August on the state of their mental health and outlook on the nation’s civil unrest, economy, and the upcoming election, among other topics. The results of the survey were exclusively provided to Fox News. The age of respondents tipped toward 45 to 60. Respondents’ race and ethnicity were not disclosed. (Rivas, 9/9)

Reuters: Speak Softly And Scatter Fewer Coronavirus Particles, Say Researchers 
More quiet zones in high-risk indoor spaces, such as hospitals and restaurants, could help to cut coronavirus contagion risks, researchers have said, after a study showed that lowering speaking volume can reduce the spread of the disease. In efforts to rein in transmission, a reduction of 6 decibels in average speech levels can have the same effect as doubling a room’s ventilation, scientists said on Wednesday, in an advance copy of a paper detailing their study. (Swift, 9/10)

Fox News: Second Wave Of Coronavirus May Arrive In Spring, Not Winter, One Scientist Says 
A Texas scientist predicts a second wave of coronavirus will occur in the spring and not the winter months. Professor Ben Neuman, chairman of biological sciences at Texas A&M University-Texarkana said coronaviruses commonly “peak” in the spring months, according to a Yahoo report. (McGorry, 9/9)

ABC News: How Do Pandemics Usually End? And How Will This One Finish? 
Just over 100 years ago, a new strain of influenza infected a third of the world's population — but within just three years, the threat of this deadly flu had all but passed. This was a time before modern medical care and even before humans understood what viruses were. So what's changed since then? It's a question plenty of you have asked in recent months: how do pandemics end? And how will the one we're currently living through end? (Taylor, 9/8)

AP: Teacher Deaths Raise Alarms As New School Year Begins
Teachers in at least three states have died after bouts with the coronavirus since the dawn of the new school year, and a teachers’ union leader worries that the return to in-person classes will have a deadly impact across the U.S. if proper precautions aren’t taken. AshLee DeMarinis was just 34 when she died Sunday after three weeks in the hospital. She taught social skills and special education at John Evans Middle School in Potosi, Missouri, about 70 miles (115 kilometers) southwest of St. Louis. (Salter and Willingham, 9/9)

CNN: Demetria Bannister: Third-Grade Teacher Dies Of Coronavirus In South Carolina 
An elementary school teacher died of coronavirus complications a week into the start of the school year in South Carolina. Demetria Bannister was diagnosed with the virus Friday and died Monday. The 28-year-old had taught at the Windsor Elementary School in Columbia for five years, CNN affiliate WIS reported. She started her third year of teaching third-grade students on August 31. (Karimi, 9/10)

AP: Rutgers: 4 Student-Athletes Test Positive For COVID-19
Rutgers says four student-athletes and a member of its athletic staff have tested positive for COVID-19. The Big Ten university based in New Jersey said Wednesday evening the positive results were for student-athletes in men’s lacrosse, gymnastics, and wrestling. (9/9)

AP: UNL Suspends Sororities, Frats Over COVID-19 Violations
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has suspended six sorority and fraternity chapters on its campus after photos and videos showed students in those organizations violating local public health guidelines and university policies. The suspensions were handed down Tuesday, the Lincoln Journal Star reported, and include Alpha Omicron Phi, Alpha Xi Delta, Delta Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta, Phi Delta Thea and Sigma Phi Epsilon. During the suspensions, the Greek chapters may not host or participate in any activities or events, or participate in university-wide events as an organization. (9/9)

CNN: A Travel Nurse's Life: Rewards And Risks During The Pandemic 
Two years into travel nursing, Sierra Levin had no plans to settle down. Working around three months at a time at hospitals in California, Massachusetts and Texas — and taking time off in between to explore France, Australia and New Zealand — the 26-year-old was enjoying the adventure too much to stop. Ryan Cogdill knows the feeling. "It's an addiction for me, the freedom I have," says Cogdill, who's cared for patients throughout his native California, in Denver and in Austin. He's even taken assignments in Maui and Guam. (Gottfried, 9/9)

Stat: How Common Is Burnout Among Physicians? It Depends On How It's Defined
There’s a vast body of research showing that physicians and other health care professionals experience high rates of burnout, their roles leaving them exhausted, overworked, or detached. But a new study makes the case that it’s difficult to capture how common burnout actually is because how it’s defined varies so widely. (Gopalakrishna, 9/9)

Politico: Nursing Homes Fret Over Trump's Testing Mandate 
The Trump administration’s efforts to scale up rapid coronavirus testing in nursing homes is running into a set of hurdles – just as the White House moves to a new pandemic strategy that stresses shielding the most vulnerable. Machines that process rapid tests are sitting idle in some nursing homes because of confusion and fears the results are less accurate than widely used lab-based tests. Other nursing homes worry about being able to quickly obtain more of the fast-turnaround tests. And conflicts between state and federal regulations over which tests can be used on nursing home staff are complicating the situation. (Roubein, 9/8)

The Washington Post: Palliative Care Offers More Than Treatment For Dying 
Palliative care has an image problem. It’s a medical specialty that focuses on providing relief from the symptoms and stress of a serious illness to improve the quality of life for both patient and caregivers. But while the specialty’s goal is to help all patients with a serious, potentially life-threatening illness, palliative care specialists are almost always involved with patients approaching the end of life. The result is that the very phrase “palliative care” has become frightening to many people with critical illnesses and their families, wrongly raising the idea that they are being sent to specialists who will help them die. Now a growing movement is advocating to rename palliative care so that patients — and doctors — won’t fear using it. (Warraich, 9/7)

The New York Times: A New Theory Asks: Could A Mask Be A Crude ‘Vaccine’? 
As the world awaits the arrival of a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine, a team of researchers has come forward with a provocative new theory: that masks might help to crudely immunize some people against the virus. The unproven idea, described in a commentary published Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, is inspired by the age-old concept of variolation, the deliberate exposure to a pathogen to generate a protective immune response. First tried against smallpox, the risky practice eventually fell out of favor, but paved the way for the rise of modern vaccines. (Wu, 9/8)

Stat: Is The Covid-19 Pandemic A Tipping Point For Digital Health?
Covid-19 may turn out to be digital health’s tipping point, two Silicon Valley venture capitalists said Wednesday. The industry’s rapid shift could be beneficial for patients, providers, and some industry players — but it also might prove detrimental to companies that swerved toward Covid-19 and away from the bedrock of their businesses. (Cooney, 9/9)

The Washington Post: Masks Can Cause Dry Eye, Experts Say
When the elderly man came in to see Ohio-based ophthalmologist Darrell White in early May complaining of a burning sensation in his eyes and occasional blurry vision, White knew exactly what he was dealing with: another case of dry-eye syndrome. What didn’t entirely make sense, though, was that White, a dry-eye expert, had been caring for the man for 20 years, and not once had his patient shown any symptoms of the common condition. (Chiu, 9/9)

AP: Scarcity Of Key Material Squeezes Medical Mask Manufacturing
Rachel Spray is still grieving the loss of her fellow nurse who died after being exposed to the novel coronavirus at Kaiser Permanente Fresno Medical Center. Now, as she stands in front of the gleaming glass and concrete hospital, she says she “dreads going in there” and fears she’ll be next. That’s because like those in many U.S. hospitals, management is rationing supplies, she says, keeping medical-grade masks under lock and key. (Mendoza, Linderman, Peipert and Hwang, 9/10)

NPR: Ex-Columbia University Gynecologist Accused Of Abusing Dozens Of Patients Is Indicted
For nearly 20 years, a Columbia University gynecologist in New York City sexually abused dozens of female patients, including minors, according to a federal indictment unsealed Wednesday.Robert Hadden, 62, was arrested that morning in connection with sexual abuse that took place from 1993 to 2012, including acts against a young girl whom Hadden had delivered at birth, court documents say. (Kennedy, 9/9)

The Washington Post: New York OB/GYN Robert Hadden Indicted On Federal Charges Of Sexual Assault 
The gynecologist accused of sexual assault by the wife of former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang was indicted on federal charges for the sexual abuse of six women over nearly two decades, according to federal prosecutors. Former Manhattan doctor Robert A. Hadden is charged with six counts of enticing women to engage in illegal sex acts, Audrey Strauss, the acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced Wednesday at a joint news conference with FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr. (Kornfield, 9/9)

USA Today: Black Women Dying In Childbirth; Race Plays Into Maternal Health Care
At six months pregnant, Iaishia Smith asked her nutritionist to recommend a snack high in protein to control her blood sugar level. The nutritionist's first suggestion? "Something left over from dinner such as fried chicken."“Here I am, 35 years old, pregnant, there's diabetes, history of stillbirth. And you're telling me, a Black woman, to eat fried chicken?" said Smith, a program manager at Cisco Systems who lives in Avenel, New Jersey. "I told her: 'I can't imagine that fried chicken is a good nighttime snack. Is that something that you'd recommend to all of your patients?'" (Ramaswamy, 9/9)

Stat: Covid-19 Is Taxing The Support System For Pregnant Women In Recovery
[Carrie] Diehl’s work as a doula includes what you might expect: talking pregnant people through aches and pains, providing labor support, helping parents learn how to breastfeed. But as a peer mentor doula for mothers in recovery, she also supports clients when they relapse, models sobriety coping skills, and celebrates recovery anniversaries. Most of Diehl’s work involves personal contact, often holding a newborn while a single mom takes a precious half hour to herself. But Covid-19 has complicated all of her work, from offering transportation to the physical closeness of postpartum doula care. (Proujansky, 9/10)