First Edition: Oct. 15, 2020

KHN: Sleepless Nights, Hair Loss And Cracked Teeth: Pandemic Stress Takes Its Toll 
In late March, shortly after New York state closed nonessential businesses and asked people to stay home, Ashley Laderer began waking each morning with a throbbing headache. “The pressure was so intense it felt like my head was going to explode,” recalled the 27-year-old freelance writer from Long Island. (Pattani, 10/15)

KHN: Outnumbered On High Court Nomination, Democrats Campaign For A Different Vote 
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee know that, barring something unexpected, they lack the votes to block President Donald Trump from installing his third justice in four years on the Supreme Court and creating a 6-3 conservative majority. They also know that, in a normal year, by mid-October Congress would be out of session and members home campaigning. But 2020 is obviously no normal year. So, while the rest of Congress is home, Democratic Judiciary members are trying something very different in the hearings for nominee Amy Coney Barrett. Rather than prosecuting their case against Barrett, currently a federal appeals court judge, they are refighting the war that helped them pick up seats in 2018 — banging on Republicans for trying to eliminate the Affordable Care Act. (Rovner, 10/15)

KHN: COVID Crackdowns At Work Have Saved Black And Latino Lives, LA Officials Say
Los Angeles County officials attribute a dramatic decline in COVID-19 death and case rates among Blacks and Latinos over the past two months to aggressive workplace health enforcement and the opening of tip lines to report violations. Now, officials intend to cement those gains by creating workplace councils among employees trained to look for COVID-19 prevention violations and correct or report them — without fear of being fired or punished. (Almendrala, 10/15)

The Washington Post: Amy Coney Barrett Testimony Ends With GOP Predicting Clear Path To Confirmation 
Senate Republicans predicted clear sailing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett as she concluded her confirmation testimony Wednesday, and said she will forge a new and prominent path as a conservative, religious woman who opposes abortion. “There is nothing wrong with confirming to the Supreme Court of the United States a devout Catholic, pro-life Christian,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said as he pledged his support for Barrett. (Barnes, Min Kim and Marimow, 10/14)

USA Today: Democrats Concede Amy Coney Barrett Likely To Be Confirmed But Warn Of 'Conservative Judicial Activism'
Democrats warned Wednesday that Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett's almost certain confirmation could launch a new chapter of conservative judicial activism, though the federal appeals court judge sought to portray herself as a mainstream jurist without any agenda. As the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing drew toward a close Wednesday, several Democrats acknowledged Barrett would be confirmed to succeed the late liberal Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, most likely by a party-line vote before Election Day. (Wolf, 10/14)

NPR: Pressed On Landmark Contraception Case, Barrett Again Declines To Answer
Judge Amy Coney Barrett declined to answer a question Wednesday from Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., about whether the Supreme Court ruling that protects the right to buy and use contraception was correctly decided. The 7-2 decision in Griswold v. Connecticut is viewed as the basis for Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalized a woman's right to abortion nationwide. Instead of directly answering Coons' question about whether the Supreme Court made the appropriate ruling in Griswold, Barrett said she found it unlikely that decision would ever be overturned. (Raphelson, 10/14)

Politico: 5 Takeaways From The Amy Coney Barrett Hearings 
Despite the political fireworks over Senate Republicans’ decision to proceed with Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court confirmation days before a presidential election, the second day of her questioning on Capitol Hill offered few flashes of light or heat. Democrats again sought to grill the former Notre Dame law professor about her views, but she remained tight-lipped on issues like abortion, Obamacare, climate change and the possibility of a contested election, offering scant new hints about how she would vote on hot-button matters that are already at the high court or may wind up there soon. (Gerstein, 10/14)

The Hill: Barrett Signals ObamaCare Could Survive Mandate Being Struck Down 
Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett on Wednesday signaled that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could survive a court challenge from the Trump administration. Top senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee quizzed President Trump's nominee on a looming case that could determine the fate of the ACA. (Carney, 10/14)

NPR: Barrett Aware President Trump Critical Of Obamacare
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee continued to question Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett regarding her views on the Affordable Care Act, as Barrett continued to avoid stating them. The constitutionality of the ACA is being challenged by the Trump administration and a group of Republican state attorneys general, and the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on the case next month. (Naylor, 10/14)

The Washington Post: Takeaways From Day 3 Of Amy Coney Barrett’s Confirmation Hearing
Wednesday was the final day of questioning in the confirmation hearing for President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Amy Coney Barrett. Republicans have the votes to approve her nomination out of the Judiciary Committee and onto the Senate floor, where it’s likely she could be confirmed by a Republican-only vote before the election — and be on the court in time to hear a case this November on the Affordable Care Act, as well as any election-related cases. (Phillips, 10/14)

The Atlantic: Will Amy Coney Barrett Overturn Roe V. Wade? 
Amy Coney Barrett could no longer avoid the question that has defined her nomination to fill Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat on the Supreme Court: “Do you agree,” asked Senator Dianne Feinstein of California during confirmation hearings today, “that Roe was wrongly decided?” “I completely understand why you are asking the question,” Barrett responded, looking grave. But “I can’t pre-commit or say, ‘Yes, I’m going in with some agenda,’ because I’m not. I don’t have any agenda.” The question may be unavoidable, but that doesn’t mean she will answer it. (Green, 10/13)

The New York Times: Federal Judge Strikes Down Waiting Period For Abortion In Tennessee
The ruling was significant, as it was the first by a federal court to strike down a waiting period since a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court decision upheld a 24-hour waiting period in Pennsylvania, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights, which represented the Tennessee clinics that sued to stop the law. And although it is unlikely to have an immediate effect in other states, it sets a precedent for other federal courts to cite when reviewing similar laws. Waiting periods are one of a number of abortion restrictions that could ultimately be ruled upon by the Supreme Court, which could tip further to the right if President Trump’s latest nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, is confirmed, as expected, by the U.S. Senate. (Levenson and Tavernise, 10/14)

NPR: Barron Trump Tested Positive For Coronavirus, But Now Negative 
Barron Trump, the 14-year-old son of President Trump and Melania Trump, tested positive for COVID-19, after initially testing negative. The First Lady made the announcement on Wednesday in a post called, "My personal experience with COVID-19," on the White House website, adding it was one of her greatest fears as a parent. A wave of relief washed over her when the boy first appeared to be untouched by the virus after she and the president were diagnosed with the highly contagious coronavirus. But that relief was short lived. "I couldn't help but think 'what about tomorrow or the next day?' " she wrote. (Romo, 10/14)

Politico: Melania Trump Says Barron Had Coronavirus 
The first lady noted that Barron, 14, exhibited no symptoms, a departure from herself and the president, who have both said they experienced mild symptoms. ... She also acknowledged “just how fortunate my family is to have received the kind of care that we did,” expressing her gratitude to first responders and others dealing with the virus. (Oprysko, 10/14)

The Hill: Trump Cites Barron Trump's Coronavirus Case In Arguing For Schools To Reopen 
President Trump on Wednesday invoked his son Barron’s positive coronavirus case in a push to physically reopen U.S. schools, saying that the 14-year-old was unaffected by the virus because of his immune system. (Chalfant, 10/14)

The New York Times: Trump May Be Immune To The Coronavirus. But For How Long?
After receiving a heavy infusion of monoclonal antibodies to treat his bout of Covid-19, President Trump has declared that he is immune to the virus that causes it and talked privately about wearing a Superman T-shirt under his dress shirt when he left the hospital. Even as the president has exulted in his supposed imperviousness to the coronavirus that is resurging across parts of the country, he has delighted in portraying former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. as vulnerable and cloistered, wearing masks “every time you see him.” (Mandavilli, 10/14)

The Atlantic: Trump's COVID-19 Comments Hurt Victims' Families 
Losing a loved one to COVID-19 is devastating in much the same way losing someone to any illness is. There are stages of grief—periods of confusion, anger, and immense sadness. But for many families experiencing a coronavirus-related loss, another feeling is tangled up with all the others: a penetrating and persistent sense of regret. For Sabila Khan, whose father contracted COVID-19 at a short-term rehabilitation center, that regret takes the form of impossible what-ifs and if-onlys. What if they’d brought him home during the first week of March? she often wonders. What if she could have been there in the emergency room to advocate for him, as he waited three days for an open bed? ... There are thousands of Americans like Khan, for whom the past few months have been nothing less than a nightmare. (Godfrey, 10/15)

USA Today: Trump Holds Iowa Campaign Rally As State Faces Uptick In COVID-19 Cases
Facing tightening polls with less than three weeks before Election Day, President Donald Trump sought to appeal to rural voters at a campaign rally in Iowa, a state he won handily just four years ago. "You're a big state to me," Trump told thousands of mostly maskless supporters at Des Moines International Airport in a nearly 90-minute speech. "You have tremendous influence and tremendous power and you've never let me down." (Fritze and Subramanian, 10/14)

The Washington Post: Emboldened By His Covid-19 Recovery, Trump Pushes Return To Normalcy 
President Trump is using his recovery from covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, to reinforce the message that the pandemic is receding and Americans should return to work — resisting entreaties to change his tone and behavior three weeks ahead of the presidential election. Despite the outbreak at the White House that also infected the first lady, their son and nearly a dozen top aides, Trump and his allies continue to downplay the virus, arguing that the country is “turning the corner” and holding campaign events with thousands of supporters even as cases are increasing rapidly, especially in the Midwest. (Dawsey and Abutaleb, 10/14)

USA Today: Herd Immunity: Scientists Say Trump-Endorsed COVID Strategy Is Deadly
The idea that the public can infect its way out of the COVID-19 pandemic is "a dangerous fallacy unsupported by the scientific evidence," 80 researchers said Wednesday in a letter published in the Lancet. They strongly denounced the idea, advocated by the White House, of achieving "herd immunity" against the virus that causes the disease by letting healthy people with a low risk of serious illness get infected.  (Weise, 10/14)

AP: Dueling Town Halls For Trump, Biden After Debate Plan Nixed
President Donald Trump and challenger Joe Biden will compete for TV audiences in dueling town hall meetings instead of meeting face-to-face for their second debate as originally planned. The two will take questions in different cities on different networks Thursday night: Trump on NBC from Miami, Biden on ABC from Philadelphia. Trump backed out of plans for the presidential faceoff originally scheduled for the evening after debate organizers shifted the format to a virtual event following Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis. (Miller, Barrow and Madhani, 10/15)

The New York Times: Biden’s Covid Response Plan Draws From F.D.R.’s New Deal 
Joseph R. Biden Jr. is preparing for the biggest challenge he would face if elected president — ending the coronavirus pandemic — by reaching back nearly a century to draw on the ideas of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose big-government policies lifted the country out of the Great Depression and changed the shape of America. With infection rates ticking back up in much of the country as the weather cools and social distancing becomes tougher, addressing the public health crisis could reach new levels of urgency by Inauguration Day. If current trends hold, as many as 400,000 Americans may have died from Covid-19 by then, recent projections show. (Goodnough and Gay Stolberg, 10/14)

Stat: STAT Examination: Pharma Showers State Capitols With Campaign Cash
By the time Will Guzzardi, a state legislator in Illinois, called a vote on his controversial drug pricing reform bill, the crowd in the Springfield hearing room had suspiciously thinned. Three committee Democrats were suddenly missing, and, as a result, his bill failed by three votes. (Facher, 10/15)

The Washington Post: Americans May Need To ‘Bite The Bullet’ And Cancel Thanksgiving, Fauci Warns 
Surging coronavirus cases in many areas of the country may make it unwise to hold large family gatherings at Thanksgiving this year, particularly if elderly relatives or out-of-state travel are involved, Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease expert, told “CBS Evening News” on Wednesday. “You may have to bite the bullet and sacrifice that social gathering, unless you’re pretty certain that the people that you’re dealing with are not infected,” Fauci said. (Noori Farzan, 10/15)

AP: Postal Service Agrees To Reverse Service Changes
The U.S. Postal Service agreed Wednesday to reverse changes that slowed mail service nationwide, settling a lawsuit filed by Montana Gov. Steve Bullock during a pandemic that is expected to force many more people to vote by mail. The lawsuit filed against Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and the U.S. Postal Service on Sept. 9 argued changes implemented in June harmed access to mail services in Montana, resulting in delayed delivery of medical prescriptions, payments, and job applications, and impeding the ability of Montana residents to vote by mail. (Samuels, 10/15)

Reuters: Judge Says Absentee Ballots In North Carolina Must Have Witness Signatures 
A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that absentee ballots in the presidential battleground state of North Carolina must have a witness signature, a boost for Republican groups seeking to enforce stricter rules on mail-in voting. U.S. District Judge William Osteen in Greensboro issued an injunction essentially barring voters from being able to “fix” an absentee ballot they had already sent in if it lacked a third-party signature attesting that the voter, and not somebody else, signed the ballot. (Reid, 10/14)

The Washington Post: Across The Country, Democratic Enthusiasm Is Propelling An Enormous Wave Of Early Voting 
With less than three weeks to go before Nov. 3, roughly 15 million Americans have already voted in the fall election, reflecting an extraordinary level of participation despite barriers erected by the coronavirus pandemic — and setting a trajectory that could result in the majority of voters casting ballots before Election Day for the first time in U.S. history. (Gardner and Viebeck, 10/14)

The Washington Post: USPS, Already Drowning In Packages, Now Juggling Prime Day, Holiday Sales On Top Of Ballots
With millions of mailed ballots already pouring in, early holiday shopping and mega retail events like Amazon’s Prime Day threaten to expose vulnerabilities inside the nation’s mail service, which already is dragging from skyrocketing package volumes. Amazon’s decision to delay its signature sales event, which ends Wednesday, prompted rivals to reschedule their usual counterprogramming. That means the resulting spike in packages runs up against the Nov. 3 election, adding a new stressor on the U.S. Postal Service as it struggles to reverse service slowdowns that experts and postal workers say could ensnare ballots. (Bogage and Bhattarai, 10/14)

The New York Times: As Coronavirus Spread, Reports Of Trump Administration’s Private Briefings Fueled Market Sell-Off 
The president’s aides appeared to [give] wealthy party donors an early warning of a potentially impactful contagion at a time when Mr. Trump was publicly insisting that the threat was nonexistent. ... Interviews with eight people who either received copies of the memo or were briefed on aspects of it as it spread among investors in New York and elsewhere provide a glimpse of how elite traders had access to information from the administration that helped them gain financial advantage during a chaotic three days when global markets were teetering. (Kelly and Mazzetti, 10/14)

Science: The Inside Story Of How Trump’s COVID-19 Coordinator Undermined The World’s Top Health Agency 
When Deborah Birx, a physician with a background in HIV/AIDS research, was named coordinator of the task force in February, she was widely praised as a tough, indefatigable manager and a voice of data-driven reason. But some of her actions have undermined the effectiveness of the world’s preeminent public health agency, according to a Science investigation. Interviews with nine current CDC employees, several of them senior agency leaders, and 20 former agency leaders and public health experts—as well as a review of more than 100 official emails, memos, and other documents—suggest Birx’s hospital data takeover fits a pattern in which she opposed CDC guidance, sometimes promoting President Donald Trump’s policies or views against scientific consensus. (Piller, 10/14)

CIDRAP: Trust In COVID Info Sources Varies By Demographics, Beliefs 
People seek COVID-19 information from different sources based on sex, age, education level, political bent, and beliefs about the pandemic, according to a study published last week in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance. ... The vast majority of the 11,242 participants who completed the survey (91.2%) said they turned to traditional news sources such as television, radio, podcasts, and newspapers. But the largest single source of COVID-19 information was government websites (87.6%), which were also the most trusted source (43.3%). Another large source was social media (73.6%), although participants said they trusted government information far more. (Van Beusekom, 10/14)

The Wall Street Journal: Ahead Of Covid-19 Vaccine, Half Of Americans Indicate Reluctance
About 70% of registered voters surveyed said they would take a Covid-19 vaccine, although many want to wait until it has been available for a while to see if there are major problems or side effects, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows. The survey found that 20% of respondents said they would take a vaccine as soon as one becomes available, while about half the respondents wanted to wait until they learned more information about the shot. (Hopskins, 10/15)

Georgia Health News: MMWR Conflict, Other Controversies Cloud Image Of The CDC 
Almost 40 years ago, a CDC report described mysterious pneumonia cases among five previously healthy young men in Los Angeles. That led to reporting of similar cases — and the eventual identification of AIDS. Since then, those same weekly CDC reports have published important articles on SARS, Ebola and Zika, among other major disease trends. And this year, many Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) articles have presented updated research and critical health information about COVID-19. But the MMWR, known as “the voice of the CDC,’’ has come under recent political pressure, according to media reports. (Miller, 10/13)

AP: US Warned Nevada Not To Use Chinese COVID Tests From UAE
U.S. diplomats and security officials privately warned the state of Nevada not to use Chinese-made coronavirus test kits donated by the United Arab Emirates over concerns about patient privacy, test accuracy and Chinese government involvement, documents obtained by The Associated Press show. The documents illustrate how the U.S. government actively — if quietly — tried to keep the state out of a project involving the Chinese firm BGI Group, which is the world’s largest genetic sequencing company and which has expanded its reach during the coronavirus pandemic. (Gambrell and Price, 10/15)

NPR: Misinformation And Conspiracy Theories Can Spread In COVID-19 Patient Groups
For decades, people struggling with illnesses of all kinds have sought help in online support groups, and during 2020, such groups have been in high demand for COVID-19 patients, who often must recover in isolation. But the fear and uncertainty regarding the coronavirus have made online groups targets for the spread of false information. And to help fellow patients, some of these groups are making a mission of stamping out misinformation. (Smith, 10/15)

The Washington Post: New Bailout Deal Unlikely Before Election, Says Mnuchin 
Asked whether Democrats are unwilling to make a deal because they don’t want to give Trump a win three weeks before the election, Mnuchin replied: “I think that definitely is part of the reality. That’s definitely an issue. But the president is very focused on when he wins we will need to do more. So that’s part of the reason to continue to work on this," the treasury secretary added. "The clock will not stop.” (Werner and Stein, 10/14)

Politico: Prospects Diminish For Covid Deal Ahead Of Election 
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has become Washington’s latest pessimist on the odds of delivering a massive coronavirus relief package ahead of the Nov. 3 election in just three weeks.“ At this point, getting something done before the election and executing on that will be difficult,” Mnuchin said at the Milken Institute Global Conference on Wednesday. (Ferris, 10/14)

AP: Russia Approves 2nd Virus Vaccine After Early Trials
Russian authorities have given regulatory approval to a second coronavirus vaccine after early-stage studies, two months after a similar move prompted widespread criticism from scientists both at home and abroad. Russian President Vladimir Putin made the announcement on Wednesday, during a televised meeting with government officials. “We now need to increase production of the first vaccine and the second vaccine,” Putin said, adding that the priority was to supply the Russian market with the vaccines. (Litvinova, 10/14)

NPR: Russia Says It Has Another (Unproven) Coronavirus Vaccine
Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced the approval of a second new coronavirus vaccine in as many months – but neither has completed the kind of extensive and rigorous three-phase trials required in the U.S. Speaking during a televised news conference, Putin said the new vaccine developed by Siberian biotech company Novosibirsk's Vektor [State Virology and Biotechnology Center], a former Soviet-era bioweapons lab. (Neuman, 10/14)

The Wall Street Journal: China Drugmaker Gives Unproven Covid-19 Vaccine To Students Going Abroad 
China is expanding distribution of its coronavirus vaccines outside of clinical trials, with a state-owned company offering them to students going abroad amid a campaign by officials to boost public confidence in homegrown inoculations. China National Biotec Group Co., a division of state-owned Sinopharm that is developing two Covid-19 vaccines, was giving them free to Chinese students planning to study abroad, according to a company website and students who applied for it. (Deng, 10/14)

Reuters: 'Long COVID' May Affect Multiple Parts Of Body And Mind, Doctors Say
Ongoing illness after infection with COVID-19, sometimes called “long COVID,” may not be one syndrome but possibly up to four causing a rollercoaster of symptoms affecting all parts of the body and mind, doctors said on Thursday. In an initial report about long-term COVID-19, Britain’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) said one common theme among ongoing COVID patients is that symptoms appear in one physiological area, such as the heart or lungs, only to abate and then arise again in a different area. (Kelland, 10/14)

Stat: AI Will Soon Face A Major Test: Can It Differentiate Covid-19 From Flu? 
It’s long past hackathon time. With Covid-19 cases surging in parts of the U.S. at the start of flu season, developers of artificial intelligence tools are about to face their biggest test of the pandemic: Can they help doctors differentiate between the two respiratory illnesses, and accurately predict which patients will become severely ill? (Ross, 10/15)

AP: Does The Flu Vaccine Affect My Chances Of Getting COVID-19?
Does the flu vaccine affect my chances of getting COVID-19?The flu vaccine protects you from seasonal influenza, not the coronavirus — but avoiding the flu is especially important this year. Health officials and medical groups are urging people to get either the flu shot or nasal spray, so that doctors and hospitals don’t face the extra strain of having to treat influenza in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. (10/15)

CIDRAP: Study Finds No Increased COVID-19 Risk For Childcare Workers
In one of the first large-scale studies of COVID-19 transmission in US childcare programs, no association was found between day care exposure and COVID-19 transmission risk for providers. The Pediatrics study analyzed online survey data from 57,335 childcare workers—identified through a variety of national childcare organization contact lists—who reported activity from Apr 1 to May 27. (10/14)

The Atlantic: Teens Did Surprisingly Well in Quarantine
According to data collected by the Census Bureau, anxiety and depression rose even further among American adults in June and July, after the killing of George Floyd sparked nationwide protests. How American teenagers fared during this time is more of a mystery. With teens no longer going to school and few able to see friends, many people worried about how teens would adapt. However, teens’ experiences of these events might differ from adults’, just as responses to the Great Depression varied by age. (Twenge, 10/13)

The Atlantic: How to Tell If Socializing Indoors Is Safe
For months now, Americans have been told that if we want to socialize, the safest way to do it is outdoors. ... [But] next month, America will celebrate a holiday that is marked by being inside together and eating while talking loudly to old people. Federal and local officials have offered little guidance on whether and how people should be socializing this winter. That has left even medical experts confused about what’s safe, and what’s not. (Khazan, 10/12)

The New York Times: ‘Diamond Sweet 16’ Party Leaves 37 Infected And 270 In Quarantine 
The “Diamond Sweet 16 Package” at the Miller Place Inn, an opulent Long Island catering hall, includes options like virgin frozen daiquiris and a make-your-own s’mores bar. But those treats are unavailable for now. The inn has closed temporarily and its owners have been fined after one such party there last month left 37 people infected with the coronavirus and forced over 270 to quarantine, officials said. (Slotnik and Gold, 10/14)

AP: US Regulators Approve 1st Treatment For Ebola Virus
U.S. regulators Wednesday approved the first drug for the treatment of Ebola. The Food and Drug Administration OK’d the drug developed by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals for treating adults and children with the Zaire Ebola virus strain, the most deadly of six known types. It typically kills 60% to 90% of patients. The drug was one of four tested during an outbreak in Congo that killed nearly 2,300 people before it ended in June. Survival was significantly better in study participants given Regeneron’s Inmazeb or a second experimental drug. (Johnson, 10/15)

Stat: First Ebola Therapy Approved By The FDA
For the first time, an Ebola therapy has been approved for use. The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved Inmazeb, an antibody cocktail made by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. With the approval, there are now both a vaccine — Merck’s Ervebo — and a therapeutic to battle Ebola Zaire, tools that for decades were out of reach for Ebola, which is one of the deadliest infections known to humankind. There is currently an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the third in the last three years in that country. (Branswell, 10/14)

NPR: Brain Cells That Regulate Thirst Also Influence What Type Of Drink We Crave 
Researchers appear to have shown how the brain creates two different kinds of thirst. The process involves two types of brain cells, one that responds to a decline in fluid in our bodies, while the other monitors levels of salt and other minerals, a team reports in the journal Nature. Together, these specialized thirst cells seem to determine whether animals and people crave pure water or something like a sports drink, which contains salt and other minerals. (Hamilton, 10/14)

The New York Times: Scientists Synthesize Jawbones From Pig Fat 
In patients with congenital defects or who have suffered accidental injuries, the jawbone is nearly impossible to replace. Curved and complex, the bone ends with a joint covered with a layer of cartilage. Both parts must withstand enormous pressures as people chew. “It is one of the most loaded bones in the human body,” said Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, a professor of biomedical engineering, medicine and dental medicine at Columbia University in New York. In a paper published in Science Translational Medicine on Wednesday, she and her colleagues reported a surprising success: They managed to grow replacement bones, along with their joints, from the stem cells of pigs. A clinical trial will soon begin in patients with severe birth defects. (Kolata, 10/14)

Stat: Vertex Shelves Experimental Rare Lung Disease Drug
Vertex Pharmaceuticals said Wednesday that it has shelved an experimental drug to treat a rare, inherited lung disease due to liver toxicity reported in a mid-stage clinical trial. The discontinuation of the drug, called VX-814, is a rare clinical development setback for Vertex, which has strung together a long list of successful treatments for cystic fibrosis. (Feuerstein, 10/14)

Stat: AstraZeneca Loses First-Of-Its-Kind Lawsuit Filed By Dutch Insurer Over Patent Maneuver 
After a two-year battle, a Dutch health insurer has won a lawsuit that accused AstraZeneca (AZN) of creating an unfair monopoly for one of its most popular medicines by relying on an invalidated patent to thwart lower-cost competition. At issue was a patent for the antipsychotic tablet Seroquel, which the District Court of the Hague ruled AstraZeneca used to charge “unjustifiably” high prices to health insurers. (Silverman, 10/14)

The New York Times: Nick Saban, Alabama’s Football Coach, Tests Positive For Coronavirus 
Nick Saban, the football coach at the University of Alabama and one of the most powerful figures in college sports, said Wednesday that he had tested positive for the coronavirus, deepening the pandemic’s turmoil throughout the Southeastern Conference. Saban, whose second-ranked team is scheduled to host No. 3 Georgia on Saturday, said in a statement that he was asymptomatic and isolating at his home in Tuscaloosa. Alabama’s athletic director, Greg Byrne, also tested positive, the university said. (Blinder, 10/14)

The Washington Post: Florida-LSU Football Game Postponed After Gators’ Covid Outbreak 
Saturday’s college football game between No. 10 Florida and LSU has been postponed, the Southeastern Conference announced Wednesday, after the Gators’ program was placed on hold Tuesday because of a number of positive coronavirus tests. Florida Athletic Director Scott Stricklin said the team’s trip to Texas A&M for a game last weekend was “the root” of the outbreak and told reporters that some players did not report having symptoms of covid-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, before leaving on Friday. Stricklin said the players thought they were suffering from allergies. (Boren and Bonesteel, 10/14)

The Washington Post: NCAA Allows Winter-Sport Athletes Extra Season Of Eligibility
The NCAA’s Division I Council voted to give eligibility relief to winter-sport athletes regardless of how many games they play during the 2020-21 academic year. Athletes now have the opportunity to play five seasons within a six-year span rather than the typical four seasons in five years. Winter sports are set to begin in the upcoming months, and some of those seasons will resemble a normal schedule. However, the circumstances presented by the novel coronavirus pandemic will make the experience different from what athletes envisioned when they pursued college sports. (Giambalvo, 10/14)

The Wall Street Journal: The NFL Tries To Prevent Its Own Covid-19 Second Wave 
The Tennessee Titans played a football game Tuesday night, and there was a phenomenal sigh of relief from the NFL. It didn’t matter that the Titans beat the Buffalo Bills, 42-16, to improve to 4-0. The Titans were marooned playing the NFL’s second Tuesday game since 1946 (when a team called the Boston Yanks took the field) because Tennessee was home to the NFL’s first coronavirus outbreak. The Titans were sidelined for more than two weeks because of more than 20 infections inside the team, part of a growing Covid-19 problem in the NFL that also caused postponement of a New England Patriots’ game last weekend. Worried that the same situation could play out over and over again with even thornier consequences, the league is taking one more stab at beefing up protocols to prevent further scheduling chaos. (Beaton, 10/14)

AP: Health Issues As Wildfire Smoke Hits Millions In US
Wildfires churning out dense plumes of smoke as they scorch huge swaths of the U.S. West Coast have exposed millions of people to hazardous pollution levels, causing emergency room visits to spike and potentially thousands of deaths among the elderly and infirm, according to an Associated Press analysis of pollution data and interviews with physicians, health authorities and researchers. (Brown and Fassett, 10/15)

AP: Pope Apologizes For Keeping Distance As Virus Cases Spike
Pope Francis apologized to the faithful Wednesday for not being able to greet them and shake their hands as Italy posted a record spike in coronavirus infections that is threatening to once again spiral out of control. Instead of wading into the crowd to embrace the sick and kiss babies during his weekly general audience Wednesday, Francis walked in through a back door directly onto the stage to begin his catechism lesson. (Winfield, 10/14)

AP: Hong Kong, Singapore Agree To New Travel Bubble
Hong Kong and Singapore say they have agreed to a bilateral air travel bubble, re-establishing travel links as coronavirus infections in both cities decline. Under the air travel bubble, travelers from Hong Kong and Singapore will not be restricted on their travel purposes, Hong Kong commerce minister Edward Yau said at a news conference on Thursday. This means that tourists from each city will be able to visit the other. (10/15)