Philadelphia Inquirer: A Cancer Cure? Penn Treatment Kept 2 Men’s Chronic Leukemia In Remission For A Decade
The first two recipients of a groundbreaking cancer treatment developed at the University of Pennsylvania remained cancer-free a decade later, leading researchers to utter a word that’s typically taboo in cancer circles: cure. Penn researchers in 2010 treated their first chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients with CAR-T therapy, which uses the body’s own immune system to fight cancer. In a paper published Wednesday in the journal Nature, researchers report that their first two patients were still cancer-free 10 years after their treatment. What’s more, the cells were still present, protecting against future lymphoma invaders. (Gantz, 2/2)

AP: Doctors: Cancer Patients Cured A Decade After Gene Therapy
In 2010, doctors treated Doug Olson’s leukemia with an experimental gene therapy that transformed some of his blood cells into cancer killers. More than a decade later, there’s no sign of cancer in his body. The treatment cured Olson and a second patient, according to the University of Pennsylvania doctors, who said it was the first time the therapy had been studied for so long. “I’m doing great right now. I’m still very active. I was running half marathons until 2018,” said Olson, 75, who lives in Pleasanton, California. “This is a cure. And they don’t use the word lightly.” (Ungar, 2/2)

Stat: Researchers Label Early CAR-T Cancer Therapy Patient 'Cured'
“It was, at the time, an idea way out there,” Carl June, an immunologist at the University of Pennsylvania and the senior researcher on the experiment, said in a call Tuesday with reporters. “In the informed consent document that Doug signed, we thought [the CAR-T cells] would be gone in a month or two.” But as the researchers tracked Olson and another patient, what they saw was remarkable: Year after year, the CAR-T cells persisted, actively watching for cancer cells. Olson has now been cancer-free for a decade, June and his colleagues reported Wednesday in Nature. The results are so enduring that June dared to use a word that oncologists are usually loath to say: cured. (Chen, 2/2)

CNN: T-Cell Immunotherapy Tied To 10-Year Remission In Two Leukemia Patients, Study Finds
Based on the study results, "we can now conclude that CAR-T cells can actually cure patients with leukemia," June said. The CAR-T cells are an immunotherapy treatment designed to treat leukemia by harnessing the body's own immune system to target the cancer. The therapy sends a patient's immune cells to a lab to be genetically modified using a virus and gives the cells the ability to recognize and kill the source of the cancer. (Howard and Hassan, 2/2)

USA Today: After A Decade, Blood Cancer Treatment Deemed A 'Cure' In Two Patients
"Oncologists, cancer doctors, researchers don't use words like 'cure' lightly or easily or frankly very often," said Dr. Doug Porter, who treated Olson for his leukemia. "We really believe we can start to use the word 'cure.' "Others are stopping short of that word but remain impressed by the promise of so-called CAR-T cells, a "living drug" that has now been given to tens of thousands of patients, regularly providing extra years of healthy life. In a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature, the Penn team showed that CAR-T cells given to Olson and another patient, William Ludwig, in 2010 were still present. In a dish those cells were still able to kill leukemia cells. (Weintraub, 2/2)

The New York Times: A Cancer Treatment Makes Leukemia Vanish, But Creates More Mysteries 
Although most patients will not do as well, the results hold out hope that, for some, their cancer will be vanquished. But mysteries remain. The treatment involves removing T cells, white blood cells that fight viruses, from a patient’s blood and genetically engineering them to fight cancer. Then the modified cells are infused back into a patient’s circulation. (Kolata, 2/2)

Also —

Stat: With Cancer Biomarkers, Experts Say The Future Has Finally Arrived 
Back in 2000, when President Clinton called a tie in the race to map the human genome, scientists forecasted a medicinal revolution, one in which scientists could ferret out the genetic roots of every known cancer and match patients with personalized treatments. That did not happen, for reasons of biological complexity, technological immaturity, and perhaps a little scientific hubris. But after two decades of mapping the kaleidoscopic details of human DNA, researchers believe they finally have the tools and techniques to live up to those lofty promises. (Garde, 2/2)

NPR: Here's How The Biden Administration Says It Will Halve Cancer Death Rates By 2047
President Biden announced on Wednesday that he is reigniting "Cancer Moonshot," the project he spearheaded as vice president during the Obama administration. "My message today is this: We can do this. I promise you, we can do this," Biden said in Wednesday remarks at the White House. "All those we lost, all those we miss. We can end cancer as we know it." The initiative aims to dramatically reduce the national death rate from cancer, as well as improve the experience of survivors and family members of those living with the disease. In a seven-page fact sheet announcing the relaunch, the White House said it would cut "today's age-adjusted death rate from cancer by at least 50 percent" over the next 25 years. (Treisman, 2/2)

AP: Biden Aims To Reduce Cancer Deaths By 50% Over Next 25 Years 
The American Cancer Society estimates there will be 1,918,030 new cancer cases and 609,360 cancer deaths this year. Biden is essentially aiming to to save more than 300,000 lives annually, which the administration believes is possible because the age-adjusted death rate has already fallen by roughly 25% over the past two decades. The cancer death rate is currently 146 per 100,000 people, compared with nearly 200 in 2000. Dr. Otis Brawley, a professor of oncology and epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University and former chief medical and scientific officer for the American Cancer Society, said advances in medical research have led to a “better understanding of the biology of cancer and will do even more for us in the future.” (Boak and Miller, 2/3)

ABC News: Biden Relaunches Cancer 'Moonshot' Initiative To Help Cut Death Rate
The initiative is personal for Biden, who lost his son Beau to brain cancer in 2015 and who first launched the initiative as vice president. "I committed to this fight when I was vice president," Biden said Wednesday. "It's one of the reasons why quite frankly why I ran for president. Let there be no doubt, now that I am president, this is a presidential, White House priority. Period." (Gittleson, 2/2)

In other Biden administration news —

AP: Sen. Luján To Be Out At Least 4 Weeks, Biden Agenda At Risk 
The Democrats’ fragile hold on the Senate majority became vividly apparent Wednesday with the sudden illness of New Mexico Sen. Ben Ray Luján, who won’t be back to work for at least four weeks, throwing President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court pick and lagging legislative agenda in doubt. The 49-year-old Democrat remained hospitalized after suffering a stroke and is expected to make a full recovery. But Senate colleagues were blindsided by the news — even top-ranking leaders were reportedly unaware that Luján fell ill last Thursday, a stunning oversight. Barring any complications, he is expected to be back at work in four to six weeks, according to a senior aide granted anonymity to discuss the situation. (Mascaro and Amiri, 2/3)

And in updates on "Havana Syndrome" —

The Wall Street Journal: Some Havana Syndrome Cases Likely Caused By Electromagnetic Waves, Panel Finds
Some incidents of the debilitating medical condition known as Havana Syndrome are most likely caused by directed energy or acoustic devices and can’t be explained by other factors, a panel of U.S. intelligence analysts and outside experts reported on Wednesday. The signs and symptoms of suspected Havana Syndrome are “genuine and compelling,” the executive summary of the panel’s report states. (Strobel, 2/2)

The Washington Post: External Energy Source May Explain ‘Havana Syndrome,’ Panel Finds, Renewing Questions About Possible Foreign Attack 
An external energy source may explain disorienting and sometimes debilitating symptoms suffered by U.S. government personnel, a panel of experts has found, reaching a conclusion that, while not definitive, suggests a foreign power could have mounted attacks on U.S. diplomats, intelligence officers and military personnel serving overseas. The findings by the expert panel, which was convened by U.S. intelligence agencies, are the latest attempt to solve the years-long mystery of what, or who, is behind a constellation of symptoms known as “Havana syndrome.” (Harris, 2/2)

Fox News: US Daily COVID-19 Cases Fall Below 500K, Data Shows
For the first time in weeks, new daily COVID-19 cases in the U.S. were reported below the 500,000 mark. Data from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center showed Wednesday that new cases tallied 398,914. New deaths, however, have been on an upward trend amidst this winter's surge of the omicron variant of the coronavirus, and the university's data showed 3,622 new deaths in the past day. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), case numbers have been trending downward over the last 30 days. (Musto, 2/2)

San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area COVID-19 Health Data Shows More Promising Signs That The Omicron Wave Has Crested
In another promising sign that the omicron-fueled COVID-19 surge in the Bay Area is slowing, cases and hospitalizations continued trending downward in every Bay Area county this week. Data from state and Bay Area health agencies offered another encouraging sign that the wave that ripped through the region last month had crested, as officials openly contemplate what the region might look like post-omicron. (Echeverria, 2/2)

But, as predicted, deaths are still climbing —

Axios: COVID Deaths Are Rising Even As Omicron Dies Down
Omicron is finally on its way out, but it's leaving behind a death toll that is still rising. New cases are plunging. The U.S. is now averaging just under 425,000 new cases per day, down from over 750,000 per day just two weeks ago. And for the first time since the Omicron wave set in, almost the whole country is sharing in that improvement. Average daily cases have fallen over the past two weeks in all but five states... But deaths are still on the rise. The virus is killing roughly 2,600 Americans per day, on average. (Baker and Beheraj, 2/3)

Detroit Free Press: Michigan Surpasses 30,000 COVID-19 Deaths
The Michigan health department reported 18,803 new COVID-19 cases over a two-day period Wednesday, an average of 9,402 per day, bringing Michigan to 1,999,416 confirmed cases since the beginning of the pandemic. Another 327 coronavirus-related deaths were also reported Wednesday, 239 of which were identified in a regular vital records review. This increases the state's COVID-19 death toll to 30,170. Of 44,669 confirmatory tests reported by the health department Tuesday, 7,838 yielded positive results for a positivity rate of 17.55%. (Marini, 2/2)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: 32 New Nursing Home Deaths Reported As Omicron Drives Surge In Louisiana Nursing Homes
Even as the omicron-driven coronavirus surge shows signs of having peaked, it has ravaged Louisiana's nursing homes, where more than 50 deaths have been at least partly attributed to COVID over the last two weeks, state data shows. There were 32 deaths in the seven days leading up to Wednesday, making that week the deadliest in nursing homes since at least last spring. It was worse than than the deadliest week during the delta surge, when there were two weeks during September with 19 deaths each. Two weeks ago was also particularly deadly, with 26 deaths reported among Louisiana's roughly 270 nursing homes on Jan. 26. The surge comes on the heels of an explosive rise in cases that pushed COVID levels even higher than during the delta surge. (Roberts III, 2/2)

USA Today: CDC Forecast Predicts Up To 75,000 More Deaths By Feb. 26
Even though infections from the omicron variant are decreasing across the country, the CDC's national ensemble forecast predicts the U.S. will reach 933,000 to 965,000 COVID deaths by Feb. 26, the higher figure being nearly 75,000 more than the current total. That's in part because deaths from the coronavirus typically lag infections by about three weeks, and the nation experienced an unprecedented spike in cases in January. The weekly ensemble, a compilation of predictions from diverse sources that the CDC says has been "among the most reliable forecasts in performance over time,'' envisions a stable or uncertain trend in the number of fatalities reported over the rest of the month. (Ortiz, Bacon and Tebor, 2/2)

CIDRAP: High BMI More Strongly Connected With COVID Death In Racial Minorities
Body mass index (BMI) was more strongly associated with COVID-19–related death in racial minorities than among White patients, according to a study today in Nature Communications. A team led by the University of Leicester in England examined the electronic health records and census and death data of 12.6 million adults older than 40 years who had a recorded BMI from January to December 2020. (2/2)

In other news about the spread of the coronavirus —

Los Angeles Times: Omicron Hit Poor L.A. Communities Of Color Hardest
The Omicron wave swept through Los Angeles over the last two months with unprecedented speed, but ultimately traced a grim path that is becoming increasingly familiar two years into the pandemic. Cases first exploded in affluent communities, where air travel likely introduced the latest coronavirus variant, which got a head start in places like South Africa, London and New York. At first, it appeared the variant might be a “great unifier,” spreading equally throughout the county, but then it took a hard turn toward lower-income communities of color that had already suffered the most throughout the pandemic. (Smith, 2/2)

Fox News: California Woman, 29, Hospitalized With Coronavirus Complications Needs Double Lung Transplant: Report
A 29-year-old California woman was clinging to life this week in need of a double lung transplant to survive after coronavirus complications left her on a ventilator last month, according to reports. Brittany Romena, 29, was hospitalized in Madera, California, with the virus on Jan. 11 and remained in a medically induced coma, according to FOX 26 in Fresno. Her mother Kristina Chapa told the station her daughter has Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome and was now on a long waiting list for a lung transplant. (Stimson, 2/3)

Houston Chronicle: Texas Tech Joins Study Testing Unproven Ivermectin, Other Controversial 'Repurposed Drugs' For COVID Effects
Texas universities, including Texas Tech's Health Science Center in El Paso, are now recruiting subjects for a nationwide study to test the effects of unproven repurposed drugs against non-severe COVID cases. Ivermectin, an anti-parasitic medication that local and federal health agencies have warned against using for COVID symptoms, is a candidate in the clinical trial known as ACTIV-6, along with fluticasone, an asthma medication, and fluvoxamine, an anti-depressant. (Zong, 2/2)

CIDRAP: First COVID-19 Human Challenge Study Yields Infection Clues
COVID-19 infection has a shorter incubation period than originally thought, and rapid tests performed well at tracking virus levels, a research team based at Imperial College London reported today in a preprint study that describes the results of the first human challenge trial. ... With the goals of exploring infection dynamics and whether the human challenge model is safe studying vaccines, treatments, and tests, Imperial College researchers conducted the study in young adults ages 18 to 30 who had not been vaccinated. Participants were inoculated with nose drops containing a low dose of the original SARS-CoV-2 virus, then monitored in a controlled setting for 2 weeks. (Schnirring, 2/2)

USA Today: Boosted Americans 97 Times Less Likely To Die Of COVID Than Unvaxxed
Fully vaccinated Americans are 14 times less likely to die of COVID-19 than those who haven’t gotten the shots. Boosted Americans are 97 times less likely. Those were the figures presented Wednesday by Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, based on reports from 25 jurisdictions in the week ending Dec. 4. For every 100,000 people, 9.7 of those who were unvaccinated were killed by the coronavirus, compared to 0.7 of those fully vaccinated and 0.1 of the boosted. She said more recent information during the omicron wave further underscores the value of getting boosted, prompting Dr. Anthony Fauci to say, “The data are really stunningly obvious why a booster is really very important.’’ (Ortiz, Bacon and Tebor, 2/2)

CIDRAP: Imaging Shows Post-Vaccine Breakthrough COVID-19 Less Severe
A study yesterday in Radiology used imaging to determine that breakthrough infections are less severe when a patient is fully vaccinated against COVID-19 compared with patients who are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated. (2/2)

In other updates on the vaccine rollout —

The Atlantic: How Many COVID Vaccine Doses Do Little Kids Need?
This pivot is, at first glance, bizarre. Six weeks ago, right before Christmas, Pfizer announced that late-stage trials of two mini shots had produced somewhat lackluster antibody results in 2-to-4-year-olds, and a third dose could be necessary to clinch protection. Nothing about the vaccine itself has changed since then; no new data (actually, no data at all) have been publicized. Pfizer still says that a third dose will probably be necessary, and may report results on the effects of that dose around early spring. And yet, the stance on the shots for this group of kids has shifted substantially. Somehow, we’ve gone in an instant from two doses aren’t enough to actually, they kind of are. And both statements, somehow, are meant to be true at once. (Wu, 2/2)

The New York Times: The Surgeon General Assures Parents Covid Vaccines For Young Children Will Get A Rigorous F.D.A. Review.
The surgeon general sought to reassure parents who are nervous about their toddlers and preschoolers being vaccinated against the coronavirus, after federal regulators took a step toward authorizing vaccines for young children despite questions about their effectiveness. Dr. Vivek Murthy, the surgeon general, said Wednesday during a White House briefing that Pfizer’s application for emergency authorization by the Food and Drug Administration would “undergo the same independent, rigorous and transparent review process” that was used to authorize Covid-19 vaccines for adults. (Stolberg, 2/2)

The New York Times: Why Nasal Covid Vaccines May Make Better Boosters 
Nasal vaccines may be the best way to prevent infections long term, because they provide protection exactly where it is needed to fend off the virus: the mucosal linings of the airways, where the coronavirus first lands. Bharat Biotech is among the world’s leading vaccine manufacturers. Its best known product, Covaxin, is authorized to prevent Covid in India and many other countries. But its experimental nasal vaccine may prove to be the real game changer. (Mandavilli, 2/2)

AP: Army To Immediately Start Discharging Vaccine Refusers 
The Army said Wednesday it will immediately begin discharging soldiers who have refused to get the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine, putting more than 3,300 service members at risk of being thrown out soon. The Army’s announcement makes it the final military service to lay out its discharge policy for vaccine refusers. The Marine Corps, Air Force and Navy have already discharged active-duty troops or entry-level personnel at boot camps for refusing the shots. So far, the Army has not discharged any. (Baldor, 2/2)

In other vaccine mandate news —

AP: Judge Rules In Favor Of Hawaiian Airlines Vaccine Policy
A U.S. judge on Wednesday denied an attempt by seven employees to block Hawaiian Airlines’ policy requiring workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or face termination. The airline required U.S.-based employees to receive full doses of a vaccine by Nov. 1, while allowing employees to request accommodations based on disabilities or religious beliefs. (Kelleher, 2/3)

Bay Area News Group: COVID: 200 Santa Clara County Workers Disciplined Over Booster Mandate
About 200 Santa Clara County employees are being disciplined for not following a stringent health order that mandates workers in high-risk settings like jails and hospitals to receive a booster shot or a first round of vaccination by Feb. 1 — or risk their jobs. The affected departments include 171 healthcare workers, 22 correctional deputies and 16 probation staff members, according to figures provided by the county, which represents slightly less than 2% of a workforce of around 12,000 who were under the health order. The county fire department’s administration, who had a couple dozen employees that are were trying to avoid the booster shot, said that they expect a total of seven firefighters to be removed from their positions out of a total workforce of 220 people. (Greschler, 2/2)

AP: NC Panel Rejects Vaccine Mandate For High School Seniors 
A North Carolina state health panel declined on Wednesday to require high school seniors to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, a decision that aligns with the wishes of Gov. Roy Cooper and other state health leaders who’ve said such a mandate was premature. The North Carolina Commission for Public Health voted unanimously against a formal petition from four University of North Carolina system professors to add the vaccine to state immunization requirements for those who are 17 years old or entering 12th grade as of July 1, news outlets reported. (2/2)

In related news —

Salt Lake Tribune: Gov. Cox Signs Bill Giving Utah Legislative Leaders Control Over Individual School Closings For COVID
Gov. Spencer Cox signed a bill Wednesday that has raised concerns about government overreach by granting legislative leaders the power to sign off on individual school closings due to COVID-19 outbreaks. The measure, HB183, has drawn pushback from teachers and district administrators, as well as prominent attorneys in the state. They say it impedes a school’s ability to react quickly to a surge in virus cases, takes away their local authority and potentially violates the Utah Constitution. (Tanner, 2/2)

CNBC: Airlines Ask Biden To Drop Covid Testing For Vaccinated Travelers Before U.S.-Bound Flights
Airlines and other travel-industry groups asked the Biden administration on Wednesday to drop Covid test requirements for vaccinated passengers before U.S.-bound flights, a bid to invigorate the sluggish recovery in international travel. “Doing so is justified by the pervasiveness of COVID cases in all 50 states, increased immunity and higher vaccination rates as well as new treatments,” said an industry letter to White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeffrey Zients, which was seen by CNBC. “Removing the requirement will greatly support the recovery of travel and aviation in the United States and globally without increasing the spread of COVID-19 and its variants.” (Josephs, 2/2)

AP: Travel Groups Want To Scrap Testing Requirement To Enter US
Airline and tourism groups are pushing to eliminate the government requirement that international travelers provide a negative test for COVID-19 before boarding a U.S.-bound plane. They believe the testing rule is discouraging people from booking international trips. They point to the United Kingdom, which eliminated a similar rule last month. (Koenig, 2/2)

In other news about covid testing —

The New York Times: Biden Promised 500 Million Free Covid Tests. Then He Had To Find Them. 
As the United States saw a nearly vertical increase in coronavirus cases in late December and a growing backlash over a shortage of rapid tests, President Biden promised that his administration would mail 500 million of them to Americans, free of charge. There was a major hitch: The administration had yet to secure a single test kit for the program. The announcement sent officials hunting for stockpiles in warehouses around the country and uncommitted supply from large manufacturers. (Weiland, Thomas and Silver-Greenberg, 2/2)

The Wall Street Journal: Fraudulent Covid-19 Test Sites Proliferate, Triggering Consumer Warnings 
Officials nationwide are trying to stay ahead of a proliferation of Covid-19 test sites that they say are offering fraudulent services to the public. Attorneys general in states including New Mexico, Oregon, Florida, Minnesota, New York and Illinois have shut down pop-up test locations, or issued warnings, citing late or false test results and theft of people’s personal information. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has warned that “scammers are preying on people looking for Covid tests.” (Levitz, 2/2)

ABC News: When You Should Be Using Your At-Home COVID Tests 
Public health specialists say rapid tests are good for a range of scenarios, including testing after symptoms and to lower the risk of passing the virus to others, including children not yet eligible for vaccination or those at higher risk for severe illness. "In the last two months alone, I've used home testing for all three of the major indications: experiencing COVID symptoms, after a known COVID exposure and prior to a gathering indoors with higher-risk individuals," said Dr. Alok Patel, clinical assistant professor of pediatrics at Stanford University. (Rajeshuni, 2/3)

Modern Healthcare: Medicare Advantage Plans Could See Nearly 8% Increase In Revenue
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Wednesday proposed increasing Medicare Advantage payment by 7.98% in 2023 as they eye future changes to its risk adjustment model. In a proposed payment policy for 2023, the agency asked for feedback on whether MA's risk adjustment model and star ratings could address the impacts of social determinants of health and health equity. Medicare Advantage organizations could see an almost 8% increase in revenue next year compared to 2022, according to the proposed changes. The proposed increase is almost double the 4.08% pay increase plans saw for 2022. (Goldman, 2/2)

In other news about Medicare Advantage —

Modern Healthcare: Humana To Cut Costs, Invest $1B In Medicare Advantage
Humana will cut nearly $1 billion from its business after increased competition led the insurer to lose half the new Medicare Advantage members it expected to gain during open enrollment. The nation's second-largest Medicare Advantage carrier will invest in automation to more efficiently run its business, increase commissions paid to outside sales reps, grow its home health and primary care services and cut non-essential business lines, including axing some portions of its real estate and its hospice business, said President and CEO Bruce Broussard. (Tepper, 2/2)

In more Medicare news —

Gloucester Times: Baker's Budget Plan Would Expand Medicare 
Gov. Charlie Baker wants to expand Medicare coverage for low-income seniors as part of his proposed spending package for the next fiscal year. The plan calls for expanding the state’s Medicare Savings Program — which pays a portion of premiums and deductibles — to include individuals who are 65 years and older, and whose income doesn’t exceed 200% of the federal poverty level. The state’s current limit is 165% of the federal poverty level. (Wade, 2/2)

KGET 17: Future Of Kingston Healthcare Center In Jeopardy As It Is Set To Lose Its Agreement With Medicare, Medicaid 
Kingston Healthcare Center’s future is in jeopardy due to multiple health violations. The California State Medical Agency issued a notice to the nursing home Wednesday that its Medicare and Medicaid Services agreement will be terminated by the Secretary of Human Services effective Feb. 6. (Salzano, 2/2)

The Denver Channel: Medicare Makes Nursing Home Staff Turnover Stats Public
The pandemic has made staffing at nursing homes even more challenging. But for the first time, it's easier for people in the U.S. to find out what staff turnover is like at nursing homes in their area. Medicare is now posting those details on its Care Compare website. Visitors can select a particular nursing home and then click to view staffing information. (2/2)

Fingerlakes1.Com: Medicare: I Have Part A, How Do I Get Part B? 
Some people are enrolled in Part A already, but for whatever reason aren’t enrolled in Part B. So how do you go about getting enrolled in Medicare Part B in you’re already in Part A? (2/2)

King5.Com: Get To Know Your Medicare Plan And Take Charge Of Your Health 
Being proactive about your healthcare coverage doesn’t end after enrollment. Now is the time to learn about your Medicare plan and how to optimize the benefits. “Really be proactive as it comes to your preventative services,” said Dr. Dinelli Monson, Chief Medical Officer, UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement of Washington. “Get your colonoscopy, mammograms and other vital services you can get to maximize your benefit.” (Hanson, 2/1)

In Medicaid news —

New Hampshire Public Radio: Granite Staters Face Various Barriers In Accessing Medicaid, A New Study Says
When Melissa Bernardin of Concord applied for Medicaid coverage for the first time during the COVID-19 pandemic, she said the application process was confusing and difficult. She expected it would take her around 30 minutes. “It took three hours,” Bernardin said. Despite applying for an income-based program, she said she needed to provide unexpected documentation like the amount of savings in her retirement account and debt she owed on her cars. A spokesperson for the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services says someone applying for an income-based program should not have to provide the department with asset information. (Fam, 2/3)

The Wall Street Journal: Melinda French Gates No Longer Pledges Bulk Of Her Wealth To Gates Foundation 
Melinda French Gates is no longer pledging to give the bulk of her wealth to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and instead plans to spread it among philanthropic endeavors, according to people familiar with the matter. The billionaire made the change official in late 2021 following her divorce from Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates, the people said, when she published her first individual Giving Pledge letter. ... Bill Gates, in his most recent letter, reiterated that most of his wealth will go toward philanthropy, specifying that it will be through the Gates Foundation. “The foundation is my top philanthropic priority, even as my giving in other areas has grown over the years—primarily in mitigation of climate change and tackling Alzheimer’s disease,” he wrote. (Glazer, 2/2)

Barrons: Where Melinda Gates Might Give Her Money Now 
Melinda French Gates will likely focus on issues related to gender and equality, while remaining committed to global health and global development causes, after she withdrew her pledge to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, experts say. ... Gates has an estimated net worth of US$6 billion, according to Forbes. (Block, 2/2)

In case you missed it —

The New York Times: Who Is On The New Gates Foundation Board? 
For the first time ever, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will be governed by a board that includes people who are not named Gates or Buffett. The question is whether they will have the power to change anything, or even want to. The foundation on Wednesday named the head of the London School of Economics, a fellow billionaire philanthropist and a founder of a nonprofit management consulting firm to join Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates on a newly created governing board that will oversee the charity. (Kulish, 1/26)

Reuters: Gates, Wellcome Pledge $150 Mln Each To Pandemic Preparedness Group 
Global health charities the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Wellcome Trust each pledged $150 million to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to fund its COVID-19 pandemic response and help put it on better footing for future major health crises. (1/18)

Politico: TSA Defends Unaccommodating Screening Policy On Passengers With Disabilities 
The TSA Wednesday contended that people with disabilities who can’t comply with security screening protocols due to their disability essentially won’t be able to fly, in a case heard before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. The court was hearing arguments related to the case of Rohan Ramsingh v. TSA, where the agency fined Ramsingh for interfering with the security screening process during a 2019 incident at the Tampa International Airport. ... According to the petition filed in August, Ramsingh was moving through the security checkpoint process when he set off the explosive trace detection device and needed further screening. Screeners moved him to an imaging machine, but Ramsingh informed the agents that he was physically unable to raise his arms as directed. (Pawlyk, 2/2)

And more on people with disabilities —

Press Association: Covid Pandemic Affects Particularly Badly Those With Long-Term Disabilities
Around one in five disabled people believe life will never return to normal following the coronavirus pandemic, a survey suggests. Some 18% of those questioned by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said they do not think life will ever get back to normal. This compared with 11% of non-disabled respondents. Disabled people said the pandemic has affected their lives more than non-disabled people in two key areas. These were access to healthcare and treatment for non-coronavirus related issues (58% for the disabled compared with 31% for non-disabled people), and wellbeing (55% versus 35%). (2/2)

In other public health news —

CIDRAP: Harvesting Equipment Pinpointed As Source Of Dole Salad Listeria Outbreak
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday announced that the source has been found for a multistate Listeria outbreak linked to Dole prepackaged salad that has sickened at least 17 people since 2019, 2 of them fatally. In an outbreak update, the CDC said Dole collected samples from its facilities and equipment and found Listeria monocytogenes on equipment used to harvest iceberg lettuce. Genome testing conducted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determined that the Listeria on the equipment matched the outbreak strain. (2/2)

CBS News: People Mistakenly Assume Consumer Products Are Safe, Top Regulator Says
Just because a product is for sale doesn't mean it's safe, says the man leading the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the federal agency charged with protecting the public against unreasonably dangerous or deadly products.  "I do know in talking to people, they often think because it's on the shelves, it's been pre-approved by the government, which is not the case," CPSC Chair Alexander Hoehn-Saric told CBS MoneyWatch. The agency's task is a monumental one — and literally a matter of life and death. The CPSC is charged with protecting the public from injury and death, along with property damage, linked with thousands of different products. Such incidents cost the U.S. more than $1 trillion per year, according to the agency. (Gibson, 2/2)

Fox News: Men Who Tend To Worry Have Increased Risk Factors For Heart Disease, Stroke: Study
You can worry yourself into facing a greater risk of heart disease and stroke. Particularly if you're a middle-aged man, according to a new study. Middle-aged men who worry more or are prone to feeling overwhelmed, compared to those with lower levels of worry and anxiety, developed more high-risk factors for heart disease, stroke, and Type 2 diabetes earlier in life, according to a published study in Journal of the American Heart Association Report. The findings also raise the possibility that treating anxiety disorders may lower cardiometabolic disease risk. (McGorry, 2/2)

The Wall Street Journal: What Parents Can Do When Kids Have Suicidal Thoughts 
Suicidal thoughts are increasingly common among teens, and cause for alarm among parents. Most kids don’t act on those thoughts, scientists say, but researchers are learning to better understand which youngsters are most at risk—and what parents can do to keep them safe. New research links certain behaviors to an imminent risk of a child’s suicide attempt, including a dramatic increase in the time spent at home and a sharp rise in the use of negative words in texts and social-media posts. (Petersen, 2/3)

North Carolina Health News: The Therapeutic Power Of Art In Mental Health Recovery 
For Iggy Cosky, music has been the one constant in his life. “The therapeutic value of music was very obvious to me at a very young age,” he said. At 7 years old, he fell in love with the guitar when he first heard Eric Clapton playing on the car radio. After that, Cosky’s father found the young boy strumming tennis rackets and broomsticks; he bought Cosky his first guitar. “I love recording music,” explained the now 32-year-old Raleigh-based musician. “I use it as a process to psychoanalyze what’s going on with myself because subconsciously lyrics will come up to the surface. I don’t know what I’m saying but they tell me what’s going on with me. The song tells me how I’m feeling.” (Knopf, 2/3)

KHN: Mental Health Therapists Seek Exemption From Part Of Law To Ban Surprise Billing
Groups representing a range of mental health therapists say a new law that protects people from surprise medical bills puts providers in an ethical bind and could discourage some patients from care. The therapists take no issue with the main aim of the legislation, which is to prevent patients from being blindsided by bills, usually for treatment received from out-of-network medical providers who work at in-network facilities. Instead, they are concerned about another part of the law — a price transparency provision — that requires most licensed medical practitioners to give patients detailed upfront cost estimates, including a diagnosis, and information about the length and costs involved in a typical course of treatment. That’s unfitting for mental health care, they say, because diagnoses can take time and sometimes change over the course of treatment. (Appleby, 2/3)

Modern Healthcare: Telehealth Use Differs By Race, Economic Status
Black, Latino and Asian adults are more likely than their white counterparts to use audio telehealth services rather than video, according to new federal data released Wednesday. Telehealth usage was similar across demographic groups, but white people, young adults, people earning at least $100,000 and the privately insured were most likely to use video services, according to national survey data analyzed by the Health and Human Services Department. People of color, people with lower incomes, adults without a high school degree and seniors skewed toward using audio-only services. (Hellmann and Hartnett, 2/2)

Stat: As Internet Access Limits Telehealth's Reach, Insurers Are Starting To Cover It
Billions of dollars have been poured into telehealth during the pandemic: Insurers loosened the purse strings on virtual appointments, digital health companies pulled in astronomical investments, and the public markets minted multiple unicorns. But while virtual care’s proponents are fighting to cement its future, many Americans still can’t sign on at all. (Palmer, 2/3)

In other health care industry news —

Modern Healthcare: Bottom-Tier Hospitals Got Better At Infection Control, But Still Hit With 1% Medicare Pay Cuts
Hospitals with the worst rates patient infections have, on average, improved since 2018. Despite moving the needle on healthcare-associated infections, however, there will always be losers under the CMS Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program. The bottom 25%—749 hospitals—are subject to 1% Medicare payment cuts in fiscal 2022. The Affordable Care Act established the penalty program as a way to put a spotlight on persistent patient safety problems. But the hospital industry questions whether the system is is fair, especially because healthcare-associated infections were declining prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Gillespie, 2/2)

Houston Chronicle: UTHealth Houston Unveils New Public Psychiatric Hospital, The First In Texas In 25 Years
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston on Wednesday unveiled a new public psychiatric hospital, which will bolster the city’s mental health treatment options and expand the state’s overburdened psychiatric resources. Built in partnership with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, the $126 million, 264-bed facility at the Texas Medical Center is the first public psychiatric hospital to be built in the state in 25 years, the university said. Combined with the adjacent UTHealth Harris County Psychiatric Center, the 538-bed campus is the largest academic psychiatric hospital in the country, the university said. (Gill, 2/2)

The Boston Globe: New President Of Brigham And Women’s Hospital Makes Medical Staff Diversity A Top Priority
From his first job as a doctor more than three decades ago to his current role in the upper echelons of academic medicine, Dr. Robert S. D. Higgins has grown accustomed to being the first Black person to hold a position. Higgins, an accomplished heart and lung transplant surgeon, is now the first Black person to serve as president of Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He is charged with leading the prestigious hospital through a complex integration with Massachusetts General Hospital and the other institutions that make up the Mass General Brigham system. His history of career firsts is critical to how he’s approaching the job. (Dayal McCluskey, 2/2)

Stat: A Scientific Pioneer Is On The Sidelines Of The Race In Xenotransplantation
The last few months have seen a flurry of firsts for the field of xenotransplantation, sparking new hope that the science of making human-friendly organs from pigs — and with it the potential to solve the severe shortage of donated human organs — is finally ready for prime time. The companies now in the race to start human trials are a mix of old and new: Revivicor, eGenesis, Recombinetics. But one company has been notably absent from the recent frenzy — Qihan Biotech, the brainchild of Luhan Yang, the intensely driven CRISPR superstar whose work kicked the xeno field up a few dozen notches. (Molteni, 2/3)

KHN: Pandemic-Fueled Shortages Of Home Health Workers Strand Patients Without Necessary Care 
Frail older adults are finding it harder than ever to get paid help amid acute staff shortages at home health agencies. Several trends are fueling the shortages: Hospitals and other employers are hiring away home health workers with better pay and benefits. Many aides have fallen ill or been exposed to covid-19 during the recent surge of omicron cases and must quarantine for a time. And staffers are burned out after working during the pandemic in difficult, anxiety-provoking circumstances. (Graham, 2/3)

Stat: Key Lawmaker: ARPA-H Won’t Be Part Of NIH 
A new research agency aimed at developing breakthrough medical technologies won’t be housed within the National Institutes of Health, a key lawmaker said on Wednesday. Instead, the agency, known as ARPA-H, will exist as a distinct unit within the Department of Health and Human Services, said Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.). In a brief interview, Eshoo said that two House lawmakers who had pushed to create the new agency as a unit within NIH — Reps. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) and Fred Upton (R-Mich.) — had backed off their positions. (Facher, 2/3)

In pharmaceutical news —

Stat: Analysis: First Injectable For HIV Prevention Isn't Cost-Effective
A long-acting injectable to prevent HIV infection may be generating hope that a new era in the battle against AIDS is about to begin. But a newly published analysis suggested the medicine will not be cost-effective unless the price is considerably lower, since much cheaper pills to prevent HIV are available. At issue is Apretude, which was approved late last year by U.S. regulators as the first alternative to a pill — known as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP— that must be taken daily to prevent HIV. (Silverman, 2/2)

USA Today: Americans Are Taking Higher Doses Of Melatonin, Study Warns Of Risks
More Americans rely on melatonin to help them fall asleep, but how much is too much? In 2018, Americans took more than twice the amount of the over-the-counter aid that they did a decade earlier, according to research published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study warns there is not enough research to determine how dangerous or healthy long-term overuse of melatonin may be. Although short-term use of the pill appears to be safe, high dose usage hasn't been tested for overall safety, according to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. (Miranda, 2/2)

In updates on the opioid crisis —

San Francisco Chronicle: Dramatic Policy Overhaul Needed To Curb Exploding Opioid Crisis, Stanford Researchers Say
Pointing to an explosion of opioid overdose deaths during the coronavirus pandemic, Stanford researchers called Wednesday for a series of dramatic changes to how governments and society treat those addicted to the drugs, including the ending of incarceration for possession or use of illicit drugs. In a paper published in the medical journal the Lancet, the group recommended that policymakers in the United States and Canada also offer addiction-related health services during and after incarceration, better monitor prescription drugs post-approval and improve knowledge of addiction in medical education. (Ho and Fagan, 2/2)

NPR: Mississippi Is 37th State To Legalize Medical Marijuana
Mississippi is legalizing medical marijuana for people with debilitating conditions such as cancer, AIDS and sickle cell disease. Republican Gov. Tate Reeves signed the legislation Wednesday and it became law immediately. It could be months before the first marijuana dispensaries open. "There is no doubt that there are individuals in our state who could do significantly better if they had access to medically prescribed doses of cannabis," Reeves wrote in a statement posted to Twitter. "There are also those who really want a recreational marijuana program that could lead to more people smoking and less people working, with all the societal and family ills that that brings." (2/2)

In news about abortion in Tennessee, Ohio and Florida —

AP: Appeals Court Restores Tennessee Down Syndrome Abortion Ban 
A federal appeals court on Wednesday once again reinstated a Tennessee ban on abortions because of a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome, or because of the race or gender of the fetus. The ban is part of a sweeping anti-abortion measure that has faced multiple legal challenges since it was enacted in 2020 by Republican Gov. Bill Lee. Notably, the law banned abortion as early as six weeks — a time frame when most women don’t know they’re pregnant — but that portion has remained blocked from going into effect. (Kruesi, 2/2)

NBC News: Ohio Judge Again Blocks Law Requiring Cremation Or Burial Of Fetal Remains
An Ohio judge this week blocked enforcement of a state law that would require the cremation or burial of fetal remains from surgical abortions, marking the second time in the past year the judge has halted its implementation. Hamilton County Judge Alison Hatheway said in an order dated Monday that the law is on hold until she issues a final judgment in the case. Before the order, abortion providers were expected to comply with the law by Feb. 8. (Fulton, 2/2)

WUSF 89.7: A 15-Week Abortion Ban Is Set For Its First Hearing In The Florida Senate
State senators on Wednesday will begin considering a proposal to ban some abortions in Florida. A similar bill in the House has already advanced through two hearings. The measure, filed by Republican Senator Kelli Stargel of Lakeland, is on the Senate Health Policy Committee's agenda. It states that a doctor may not terminate a pregnancy after 15 weeks. The proposal mirrors a Mississippi abortion law under review by the U.S Supreme Court. Mary Ziegler, a law professor at Florida State University, says Florida voters are generally more liberal on reproductive rights than those in neighboring states like Georgia and Alabama. (Carter, 2/2)

In other news from across the U.S. —

Wyoming Public Radio: National Blood Shortage Also Felt In Wyoming 
The nation is experiencing a blood shortage. Companies that collect blood in Wyoming are also desperate for more donors. Vitalant is a non-profit that collects and provides blood to most of the hospitals in the state. The company's communication manager Tori Robbins, said the blood shortage has been going on for a couple of weeks. That means they have less than four days worth of blood on hand of each blood type. "That means that we are not supplying or we're in danger of not supplying the hospitals with those life saving units that they need," said Robbins. 90 percent of the blood usage is used for planned medical events while the other ten is used for emergencies. (Kudelska, 2/2)

The Texas Tribune: Leader Of Texas State Bone Marrow Registry Program Under Investigation
For over a decade, Texas State University students across the San Marcos campus — and at public universities across South Texas — have urged schoolmates to help cancer patients by joining the national bone marrow registry. After a quick cheek swab, a student’s name and tissue profile are entered into a national database. That directory is used by patients diagnosed with blood cancers, including leukemia, who are in desperate need of a bone marrow match. So far, Texas State’s Cancer Advocacy Movement for Colleges and Outreach, or CAMCO, has registered 20,000 students on campus as potential bone marrow donors. The campus group is housed in the radiation therapy program and led by the program chair, Reynaldo Lozano. (McGee, 2/2)

Dallas Morning News: Dallas To Consider New Rule Allowing Mental Health Leave For Firefighters, Paramedics
Dallas officials will consider creating a new policy that would allow city firefighters and paramedics who experience a traumatic event while on duty to take paid time off for mental health reasons. Council members plan to discuss the possibility of a new mental health leave policy during a Feb. 14 public safety committee meeting. The proposal came from Mayor Eric Johnson, citing city rules that cover up to five days of paid mental health leave only for police officers. A new state law went into effect in September requiring law enforcement agencies to create mental health leave policies for officers impacted by an on-duty traumatic incident. (Bailey Jr., 2/2)

AP: House Panel OKs Death Penalty Ban For Some Mental Illnesses
A Kentucky House committee advanced a bill Wednesday that would ban the application of the death penalty for some people diagnosed with severe mental illnesses. The measure easily cleared the House Judiciary Committee, moving on to the full House. The bill represents the latest effort to chip away at the death penalty in Kentucky. (Schreiner, 2/3)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Amid Pandemic, Critics Knock State Funding For Public Health
Georgia’s public health commissioner told state legislators they had addressed a critical problem in the fight against the coronavirus: pay so low that state epidemiologists were leaving for jobs at places like school systems and even fast food chains. But there was only one problem, Dr. Kathleen Toomey conceded. A proposed $5,000 across-the-board raise would amount to less than a third of what was needed to pay these key employees the market rate. (Hart, 2/3)

The Boston Globe: Attorney General Subpoenas RIPTA, UnitedHealthcare Over Data Breach
Attorney General Peter F. Neronha’s office has issued administrative subpoenas to the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority and UnitedHealthcare over a data breach that compromised the personal information of 22,000 people. The subpoenas, or civil investigative demand letters, say the attorney general’s office was notified on Dec. 23 of a “significant information security breach,” which had first been detected on Aug. 5. And “subsequent information” led the office to conclude “that one or more entities may have departed from industry standard information safeguards in relation to this breach,” and “in contravention of their notices of privacy practices,” the letters say. (Fitzpatrick, 2/2)

American Academy Of Pediatrics: Risk Factors For Severe COVID-19 In Children
Results identify children at potentially higher risk of severe COVID-19 who may benefit from prevention efforts, including vaccination. Rates establish a baseline for monitoring changes in pediatric illness severity after increased availability of COVID-19 vaccines and the emergence of new variants. (Woodruff et al, 12/23)

CIDRAP: COVID Patients With Disability Prone To Longer Hospital Stay, Readmission 
Hospitalized COVID-19 patients with a disability were more likely than peers without a disability to have a longer hospital stay and be readmitted—but were no more likely to die in the hospital or be admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU), finds a retrospective study today in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ). (Van Beusekom, 1/31)

CIDRAP: Medicare Patient Care-Seeking For Severe Mental Illness Down In COVID-19
Significantly fewer adult Medicare beneficiaries with schizophrenia or bipolar 1 disorders had mental health-related outpatient, emergency department (ED), and hospital visits, as well as fills for antipsychotics and mood-stabilizing drugs in the first 8 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings, published late last week in JAMA Network Open, suggest that people with serious mental illness experienced substantial disruptions in care amid the pandemic, especially among the disadvantaged, the researchers said. (1/31)

The Lancet: High-Dose Immunoglobulins From Convalescent Donors For Patients Hospitalised With COVID-19 
Many studies investigating hIVIG for COVID-19 are ongoing. The few published studies vary substantially in their setup, such as the characteristics of the studied intervention being non-human in origin (eg, horse or swine IgG)10, 11 or human-derived hIVIG.12, 13 Studies so far have been small—ranging from 18 to 245 participants—making interpretation of their results challenging. Although the studied interventions were cautiously deemed safe, there is currently not enough evidence to support the use of these passive immunisation strategies for COVID-19. (So-Osman and Valk, 1/27)

Also —

ScienceDaily: First Virus Infection Linked With Infections Later In Life 
Asymptomatic viral infections in the first days and weeks of a baby's life are associated with an increased risk of respiratory infections later in life, research suggests. (University of Edinburgh, 2/1)

ScienceDaily: Paternal Alcohol Use Increases Frequency Of Fetal Development Issues 
Prenatal visits have traditionally focused almost exclusively on the behavior of mothers, but new research continues to suggest that science should be looking more closely at the fathers' behavior as well. (Texas A&M University, 2/1)

ScienceDaily: Scientists Unveil Promising New Approach To Diabetes Prevention
A team of scientists has conducted promising early tests of a new strategy that might one day be used to prevent or treat type 2 diabetes. The scientists tested an experimental compound called IXA4 in obese mice. They showed that the compound activates a natural signaling pathway that protects the animals from harmful, obesity-driven metabolic changes that would normally lead to diabetes. (Scripps Research Institute, 2/1)

ScienceDaily: Instability Of Brain Activity During Sleep And Anesthesia Underlies The Pathobiology Of Alzheimer's Disease, Study Finds
A new study revealed a pathological brain activity that precedes the onset of Alzheimer's first symptoms by many years: increased activity in the hippocampus during anesthesia and sleep, resulting from failure in the mechanism that stabilizes the neural network. The researchers believe that the discovery of this abnormal activity during specific brain states may enable early diagnosis of Alzheimer's, eventually leading to a more effective treatment of a disease that still lacks effective therapies. (Tel-Aviv University, 2/1)

Bloomberg: Covid Omicron Subvariant BA.2: What Do We Know About Vaccines, Infections? 
Viruses mutate. So it came as little surprise that the fast-spreading omicron variant (known as BA.1) has a faster-spreading subvariant, BA.2. The latter is becoming dominant in Denmark, increasing in the U.K. and quickly spreading elsewhere. New studies show that getting a mild omicron infection may not give a robust enough immune response to protect against another omicron infection, of either BA.1 or BA.2. (Therese Raphael and Sam Fazeli, 2/2)

The Boston Globe: We Can Help Many Of The 2,200 People Dying Of COVID Every Day 
Again, Americans are facing the problem of medical rationing. First it was personal protective equipment, then ventilators, then vaccines, and now antibodies and antiviral therapeutics. Federal, state, and hospital officials are having to decide who gets first access to potentially lifesaving drugs like Pfizer’s Paxlovid. Unlike in March 2020, they have faced almost two years of managing scarcity. What can they learn from earlier shortages about how to fairly and effectively allocate these therapies? (Ezekiel J. Emanuel and Govind Persad, 2/1)

New England Journal of Medicine: Studying Long Covid 
The continuing spread of SARS-CoV-2 remains a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. What physicians need to know about transmission, diagnosis, and treatment of Covid-19 is the subject of ongoing updates from infectious disease experts at the Journal. (Eric J. Rubin, M.D., Ph.D., Lindsey R. Baden, M.D., Clifford J. Rosen, M.D., and Stephen Morrissey, Ph.D., 2/3)

The Tennessean: Unvaccinated, Unmasked Present Unnecessary Danger For Cancer Patients
Each Friday in April last year, I climbed into the vinyl recliner at the cancer center to receive a monoclonal antibody infusion. The Rituxan, in combination with previous rounds of chemotherapy, tamped down the hairy cell leukemia, but it also left my body in an immunocompromised state, like 7 million other Americans. This, of course, is not ideal during a pandemic. (Catherine Berresheim, 2/2)

The Star Tribune: Our Best Shot: Addressing Hesitations About The Coronavirus Vaccines 
The faster we vaccinate, the faster the COVID-19 pandemic ends. But the speed with which the shots were developed has led to understandable questions. The Editorial Board's #OurBestShot series enlists Minnesota health and community leaders to deliver timely, trustworthy answers. Here's a collection of articles, videos and other resources presented so far, with more planned: (2/2)

USA Today: End Mask Mandates For Children In Schools But Encourage Vaccine
As scientists and physicians, we are concerned that COVID-19 mitigation measures for children are doing more harm than good. Too many policymakers have viewed health as the mere absence of COVID-19, putting children into a loop of mitigation measures that are uncoupled from actual risk. After two years of living with one disruption after another, the evidence is clear: The pandemic and the loss of normalcy are taking a tremendous toll on students, with the data on mental health being particularly alarming. (Dr. Scott Balsitis, Dr. Lucy McBride, Dr. Kristen Walsh and Dr. Carol Vidal, 2/3)

The Washington Post: Can Mark Cuban Help Save The Pharmaceutical Industry From Itself? 
It’s nice to see initiatives such as billionaire investor Mark Cuban’s latest effort, the Cost Plus Drug Co. The online pharmacy, which opened for business recently, will almost certainly be, in some cases, literally a lifesaver. It is offering a select group of generic medications for the manufacturer’s cost plus a 15 percent markup and a $3 service fee. (Helaine Olen, 2/2)

USA Today: Cancer Moonshot: Biden Plans To Dramatically Reduce Death Rates
The experience of cancer – of getting a cancer diagnosis, surviving cancer, losing someone to cancer – has touched virtually every American family. So, even as we continue to respond to COVID-19, we must renew our urgency in fighting cancer.This is personal for us, and for President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, who lost their son Beau to brain cancer in 2015. The president then led the Cancer Moonshot: an audacious initiative to dramatically accelerate progress against cancer. (Dr. Eric S. Lander and Dr. Danielle Carnival, 2/2)

The Lancet: Managing The Opioid Crisis In North America And Beyond 
2020 marked the deadliest year yet in the North American opioid epidemic: more than 100 000 drug overdoses were recorded in the USA, nearly 76 000 of them attributed to opioids, an increase of approximately 30% over 2019; in Canada, deaths rose by 67% in a single year, to more than 6200. The exceptional circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic may have contributed to many overdose deaths by disrupting treatment programmes and access to life-saving medications such as naloxone, and by limiting support networks. Yet the opioid epidemic has been a constant, complex, and decades-long crisis, since its inception in 1995 when OxyContin was approved and erroneously marketed as a safe and low-risk extended-release opioid analgesic. (2/2)

Stat: Hospitals' Cash Prices Offer A New Look At Health Care Pricing 
There are several common narratives about variations in health care prices: Uninsured consumers are dunned for full chargemaster prices, consumer advocates complain. Insurers with outsized market power drive down physician reimbursement, say the medical societies. Providers offer the best prices to payers with larger market shares who bring a high patient volume, doctors say. Recent research exploiting hospital price disclosures has debunked these canards. (Jackson Williams, 2/3)

Stat: To Improve Trust In Public Health Agencies, Start With A New Mantra 
Be first, be right, be credible. That’s the mantra public health leaders follow when it comes to communicating with the public in a crisis. Though it is officially promulgated by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it is taught in public health schools all over the world and is a governing philosophy that permeates public health communication. Yet the decrease in public trust for U.S. public health agencies during the pandemic — a poll indicates that only 52% of Americans trust the CDC, compared to 37% who trust the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration — makes clear that public health needs a new philosophy for risk communication, and a new mantra to go with it. (Evan J. Zimmerman, 2/3)

Kansas City Star: Black Kansas City Skin Specialist Retires After 45 Years 
Only 3% percent of dermatologists in the country are Black. Bertram Caruthers Jr., is one of them, and quite possibly the first African American skin specialist in the metropolitan area to open his own practice. For decades, Caruthers was considered the go-to dermatologist for minorities in Kansas City. He called it a career this week after 45 years in private practice. “There was no one else (African American) here when I started my practice” in 1977, Caruthers said inside his office on East 63rd Street just west of Prospect in Kansas City. When we talk Black history in Kansas City, we cannot forget Caruthers, who served predominantly Black clientele on both sides of the state line. (Toriano Porter, 2/3)