First Edition: Feb. 8, 2022

KHN: Health Care Paradox: Medicare Penalizes Dozens Of Hospitals It Also Gives Five Stars
The federal government has penalized 764 hospitals — including more than three dozen it simultaneously rates as among the best in the country — for having the highest numbers of patient infections and potentially avoidable complications. The penalties — a 1% reduction in Medicare payments over 12 months — are based on the experiences of Medicare patients discharged from the hospital between July 2018 and the end of 2019, before the pandemic began in earnest. The punishments, which the Affordable Care Act requires be assessed on the worst-performing 25% of general hospitals each year, are intended to make hospitals focus on reducing bedsores, hip fractures, blood clots, and the cohort of infections that before covid-19 were the biggest scourges in hospitals. Those include surgical infections, urinary tract infections from catheters, and antibiotic-resistant germs like MRSA. (Rau, 2/8)

KHN: Federal Investigation Into Spine Surgeries Uses Mob Laws To Target Health Care Fraud 
A Texas consulting company that arranges spine surgery and other medical care for people injured in car crashes has come under scrutiny in a widening federal bribery investigation. Meg Health Care, run by Dallas personal injury attorney Manuel Green and his wife, Melissa Green, is the focus of a search warrant recently unsealed by a Massachusetts federal court in an alleged health care fraud prosecution there. The probe is unusual because it uses a little-known law meant to crack down on organized crime racketeering across state lines. (Schulte, 2/8)

Stat: Lander Resigns, Potentially Imperiling The Rest Of Biden’s Scientific Agenda
When President Biden tapped Eric Lander as White House science adviser in January 2021, he tasked the renowned genomics researcher with “reinvigorating” American science. Following Lander’s stunning resignation on Monday evening, however, the question is no longer whether he’ll reinvigorate the U.S. scientific enterprise. It’s whether he’s derailed it. ... In interviews with STAT, White House aides and outside research experts worried that the scandal will delay or undercut several of the administration’s key scientific priorities: appointing a new biomedical research chief; relaunching the “Cancer Moonshot”; retooling federal pandemic preparedness; and creating a new agency geared toward biomedical breakthroughs. (Facher, 2/7)

The Washington Post: Eric Lander, A Top White House Scientist, Apologizes After Internal Report Found That He Bullied Staff
Eric Lander, President Biden’s top science adviser, resigned Monday night after he acknowledged mistreating his subordinates and apologized for demeaning them, a pattern of behavior that put him at odds with one of Biden’s earliest promises — to run an administration marked by respect and professionalism. An internal review by the White House found credible evidence that Lander, director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, bullied staff in violation of the White House’s “safe and respectful workplace policy,” which was intended in part to draw a contrast with the Trump administration. (Pager, 2/7)

ABC News: Overdose Deaths Cost US $1 Trillion Annually, Bipartisan Report Finds
The drug overdose epidemic in the United States, now primarily driven by synthetic opioids like ultra-deadly fentanyl, costs the nation roughly $1 trillion a year, according to a new bipartisan congressional report released Tuesday. "Whether measured in lives or in dollars, the United States' drug overdose epidemic should shock everyone," the report reads. "It is unacceptable." (Owen, 2/8)

AP: Report: New Strategy For Opioids And A Cabinet-Level Leader 
The U.S. needs a nimble, multipronged strategy and Cabinet-level leadership to counter its festering overdose epidemic, a bipartisan congressional commission advises. With vastly powerful synthetic drugs like fentanyl driving record overdose deaths, the scourge of opioids awaits after the COVID-19 pandemic finally recedes, a shift that public health experts expect in the months ahead. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 2/8)

CNN: US Report Finds Mexico Is Dominant Source Of Fentanyl Trafficked Into US
A new government report out Tuesday details how opioid trafficking in the United States has changed in recent years, with Mexico now a "dominant source" of the country's fentanyl supply and synthetic opioids rapidly saturating drug markets. In its report, the federal Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking -- a bipartisan group of US lawmakers, experts and officials from federal departments and agencies -- warns that if the US does nothing to change its response to the new challenges, more American lives will be lost. (Stracqualursi, 2/8)

AP: Justice Dept. Signals It May Allow Safe Injection Sites 
A year after winning a major court battle against the opening of so-called safe injection sites -- safe havens for people to use heroin and other narcotics with protections against fatal overdoses — the Justice Department is signaling it might be open to allowing them. In response to questions from The Associated Press, the Justice Department said it is “evaluating” such facilities and talking to regulators about “appropriate guardrails.” (Peltz and Balsamo, 2/8)

USA Today: Signs Point To U.S. Death Rate From COVID Dropping
Daily U.S. deaths from the most recent coronavirus surge may finally be ready to decline. Most states are now reporting fewer deaths than they had been a week ago, a USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. Twenty states still had more deaths than the previous week, but that's a decrease of 14 states. The U.S. continues to average about 2,400 to 2,500 deaths per day, a daily human cost about equal to the losses at Pearl Harbor. The number of fatalities from COVID surpassed 900,000 on Friday. If the pace of American deaths falls at the same rate it increased during the current omicron surge, the nation will reach 1 million in about 55 days, or the beginning of April. (Ortiz, Bacon and Tebor, 2/7)

Politico: Biden Officials Trying To Recalculate U.S. Covid-19 Hospitalizations 
The Biden administration is working on recalculating the number of Covid-19 hospitalizations in the U.S., according to two senior officials familiar with the matter. A task force comprised of scientists and data specialists at the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are working with hospitals nationwide to improve Covid-19 reporting. The group is asking hospitals to report numbers of patients who go to the facility because they have Covid-19 and separate those from individuals who go in for other reasons and test positive after being admitted, the two officials said. (Banco, 2/7)

San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area COVID Deaths Rise Sharply, Even As Cases Fall
The number of daily COVID deaths reported in the Bay Area has doubled from two weeks ago but appears to be leveling off in recent days. At the same time, cases and hospitalizations of patients with COVID continue to plunge from the height of the omicron surge. Coronavirus fatalities in the region have ticked up since Jan. 24, from 11 per day to 22 per day as of Monday, according to state data on seven-day averages of new daily deaths. Statewide, the number of people dying from COVID-19 has climbed from 120 per day to 184 per day over the same period. With the rapid transmission rate of the now-dominant omicron variant of the coronavirus, and continued high case numbers, people are now dying at a much higher rate than they were during the delta summer surge. (Vaziri, 2/7)

Billings Gazette: COVID Cases Rise In Youth, RiverStone Health Offers Incentive For Vaccination
Over the last week, 37 more Montanans died from COVID-19 related illness. Active COVID cases came to 10,256. Though cases are still high, the active case count is down from 18,607 last Monday. Over the last two weeks, hospitalizations have increased 16% with 310 active hospitalizations on Monday. Missoula County currently leads the state in active cases with 1,966, according to the state dashboard. Over the weekend, the county had 3,647 active cases. Though Missoula County is following the statewide decrease in cases, the county’s public health officer D’Shane Barnett says it’s not safe yet to relax mitigation efforts. (Schabacker, 2/7)

Houston Chronicle: Houston COVID-19 Cases Continue To Plummet After Record-Breaking Omicron Peak, But ICUs Still Full
New data from Houston hospitals Monday showed COVID-19 cases continue to plummet from January’s omicron-fueled peak, evidence the omicron wave is receding almost as quickly as it arrived. But the encouraging figures come after a brutal few weeks, in which Texas approached 80,000 fatalities from COVID and Houston area hospitals scrambled to treat an influx of patients, many unvaccinated. And federal health forecasts predict the state could log up to 4,000 more deaths by the end of February as omicron infections continue to churn through vulnerable populations. (Mishanec, 2/7)

Anchorage Daily News: Alaska’s Hospitals Report Declining Numbers Of COVID-19 Patients And Fewer Staff Call-Outs
Alaska’s waning COVID-19 surge associated with the omicron variant appeared to be loosening its grip on the state’s hospitals this week. Hospital capacity has been limited by staff sick calls linked to the virus as well as supply chain disruptions and a high number of ill patients, including those with COVID-19, health and hospital officials say. At times, hospitals in Anchorage reported hundreds of workers out sick or quarantined. Now, the number of COVID-positive patients is dropping, but more importantly, the state’s larger hospitals say worker call-outs are declining too, according to Jared Kosin, president and CEO of the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association. (Hollander, 2/7)

AP: Pressure On Nebraska Hospitals Eases As COVID-19 Cases Fall 
The pressure is easing on Nebraska hospitals as the surge in COVID-19 cases driven by the highly contagious omicron variant continues to subside, but hospitals remain quite busy. Nebraska hospital officials said Monday that they are cautiously optimistic that virus hospitalizations will continue to decline, but they worry about the possibility of another surge. Hospitalizations have been increasing almost continuously since the delta variant arrived in the state last summer. (2/7)

Los Angeles Times: Nursing Home Infamous For High Number Of COVID Deaths To Close
Kingston Healthcare Center in Bakersfield — a long-troubled nursing home that saw 19 residents die during an early COVID outbreak — announced it would close after the Department of Health and Health Services said the facility could no longer receive Medicare or Medicaid payments. The department cited a long history of health code and other violations. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services office in San Francisco notified Kingston that its contract would be terminated Feb. 6 because it “failed to attain substantial compliance with multiple Medicare and Medicaid requirements,” including infection control, resident rights, quality of life, quality of care, food and nutrition, and dental and physician services. (Mozingo, 2/7)

Stat: For Health Workers, Exhaustion Mixes With A Sense Of Betrayal
Beneath the bone-deep exhaustion, burned-out health care workers say they are grappling with another feeling: betrayal. Many clinicians have felt that with the waves of Covid have come waves of abandonment — by employers unable or unwilling to protect workers, by lawmakers undercutting public health measures, and by a public resigned to the ongoing crisis. And ultimately, health workers can feel betrayed by themselves, as circumstances outside their control make it painfully difficult to care for their patients or colleagues. (Cueto, 2/8)

Los Angeles Times: California To Lift Mask Mandate In Indoor Public Places
With the Omicron coronavirus surge rapidly receding, California will lift its universal mask mandate for indoor public places next week, state officials announced Monday. The lifting of the mandate will apply to counties without local mask orders of their own, such as San Diego, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, as well as swaths of the San Joaquin Valley. Counties can still opt to retain local mask orders, as Los Angeles County will do. (Lin II, Money and Willon, 2/7)

AP: Oregon To Lift Indoor Mask Requirement By End Of March
Oregon’s statewide mask requirement for indoor public places will be lifted no later than the end of March, health officials announced Monday. In addition, mask requirements for schools will be lifted on March 31. Education and health officials will meet in coming weeks to revise guidance to “ensure schools can continue operating safely and keep students in class” after mask rule is lifted, said Dr. Dean Sidelinger, the state medical officer and epidemiologist. (Cline, 2/7)

NPR: 4 States Plan To End School Mask Mandates
Oregon is the latest state to set plans to lift its statewide mask mandate for schools, following earlier announcements Monday from New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware. The loosening guidelines are signs that the four states are changing how they manage the COVID-19 pandemic as cases from the omicron surge continue to subside.Oregon health officials announced Monday its end date for indoor mask requirements for public places and inside schools is March 31. "The evidence from Oregon and around the country is clear: masks save lives by slowing the spread of COVID-19," Oregon state health officer Dr. Dean Sidelinger said in a news release. (Hernandez and Franklin, 2/7)

AP: Virginia Supreme Court Dismisses Mask Mandate Petition
The Supreme Court of Virginia on Monday rejected on procedural grounds a petition from parents seeking to invalidate Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s executive order prohibiting school systems from enforcing mask mandates in the classroom. Youngkin and Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares are battling in court on multiple fronts to defend the executive order. But the ruling is far from definitive. In a footnote, the justices say they offer “no opinion on the legality of EO 2,” the executive order that seeks to undo mask mandates, which are aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus. (Barakat, 2/7)

The Washington Post: American University Unknowingly Distributed Counterfeit KN95 Masks, Officials Confirm
American University began distributing new KN95 masks on campus Monday after learning an initial batch of face coverings handed out by the school recently were counterfeit, officials said. The university began its new semester virtually to help mitigate the spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus, and it resumed in-person classes on Jan. 31. It also set a new masking policy, requiring people to wear N95, KN95 or KF94 masks while indoors, saying those versions “provide the best protection.” The campus set up sites where people could pick up a mask if they have a university ID. (Asbury, 2/7)

NPR: Paying Bills Or Buying A Mask — The Mounting Costs Of COVID Hit Some Homes Hard
As the human toll of the coronavirus continues to mount, so does the cost that comes with living during a pandemic. Cloth and disposable surgical masks have become staples of pandemic life as many stores, restaurants and businesses require staff and customers to wear them. And many school districts around the country still have mask mandates in place. At-home rapid tests have also become familiar as the surge of coronavirus cases over the new year caused a frenzy as millions of Americans rushed to get their hands on one. Some school districts also require negative tests before students return to campus. For the most part, people have had to cover these expenses up front. (Yu and Isackson, 2/8)

Los Angeles Times: New COVID-19 Sick Pay Approved By California Lawmakers
California lawmakers passed legislation on Monday to provide most workers with up to two weeks of COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave, a move policymakers hope will slow the spread of the coronavirus across the state. “We all are quite aware of the surge of COVID-19 cases, and this act will help ensure that those employees that are sick can take the paid sick leave that they need so all of us are protected,” said Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley). (Luna, 2/7)

USA Today: Vaccination A Major Benefit For Expectant Mothers, New Studies Show
Pregnant women have long been advised to avoid alcohol and tobacco and to take folic acid. In the age of the coronavirus, getting the COVID-19 vaccine is also strongly recommended. Vaccination helps protect not only expectant mothers but also their babies, both in utero and after birth, according to two separate studies whose conclusions run counter to common misinformation about the vaccine and pregnancy. A study funded by the National Institutes of Health suggests pregnant women with at least moderate COVID-19 symptoms are at greater risk for pregnancy complications -- besides the health impacts of the disease -- than those not infected or with mild or no symptoms. (Ortiz, Bacon and Tebor, 2/7)

Stat: Some Long Covid Patients See Improvement, But Full Recovery Is Elusive
How long does long Covid last? And what does it mean to achieve full recovery? If you ask Joni White, she’ll tell you she just wants to feel like herself again — or something close to it. And she’s almost there. Retired from federal law enforcement, White now describes herself as a glass artist but she’s been out of her studio for more than a year. On New Year’s Eve 2020, Covid-19 hit her so hard she thought she might die. Her infected but asymptomatic sister cared for her for three weeks in a house on the Outer Banks in North Carolina until her crushing headaches, chest tightness, and brain fog eased. But back home in Hillsborough, N.C., White’s headaches and brain fog were still there in April, along with frustration and depression at not being able to carry out what had been ordinary tasks, much less fusing glass into art. (Cooney, 2/8)

CIDRAP: Omicron Strain Much Less Likely To Cause Severe Outcomes, Study Finds
The first peer-reviewed US study of COVID-19 outcomes in patients infected with the Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant shows that, relative to patients infected with previous variants Delta (B1617.2) and Alpha (B117), Omicron patients were younger, had significantly higher vaccine breakthrough rates, and were significantly less likely to be hospitalized. The study, published late last week in the American Journal of Pathology, also found that, when hospitalized, Omicron patients needed less intense respiratory support and had shorter stays, consistent with early reports of the generally milder nature of cases caused by the highly transmissible strain. (2/7)

The New York Times: New York Deer Infected With Omicron, Study Finds 
White-tailed deer on Staten Island have been found carrying the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus, marking the first time the variant has been reported in wild animals. The findings add to a growing body of evidence that white-tailed deer are easily infected by the virus. The results are likely to intensify concerns that deer, which are widely distributed across the United States and live near humans, could become a reservoir for the virus and a potential source of new variants. (Anthes and Imbler, 2/7)

CIDRAP: High-Risk COVID Outpatients Least Likely To Receive Monoclonal Antibodies
Nonhospitalized COVID-19 patients at highest risk for severe outcomes are often the least likely to receive monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), finds a study of more than 1.9 million Medicare beneficiaries published late last week in JAMA. (2/7)

Axios: Pharmacies Feel Stiffed On Payments For Pfizer And Merck COVID Pills 
Some pharmacies are getting paid as little as $1 to dispense the COVID antiviral pills made by Pfizer and Merck. Most pharmacies want to offer the drugs, especially the one from Pfizer that drastically cuts the odds of hospitalization and death. But low payments could hurt Americans' ability to access the pills in some areas if pharmacies decide they can't afford to stock them. (Herman, 2/7)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: What You Need To Know About Antiviral COVID Pills Still In Short Supply
Two new antiviral pills considered powerful tools to fight COVID-19 are trickling into Georgia, and doctors are eagerly reaching for them to lessen the odds of hospitalization at a time when the number of new infections remains high. But how quickly patients can get the required prescription and then locate a pharmacy with the pills has proven to be a hurdle. Initial supplies in Georgia and elsewhere have been low as manufacturers have raced to ramp up production. And, from a medical point of view, the scarcity of the new antivirals is only one of the challenges for doctors. Both drugs, Paxlovid, manufactured by Pfizer, and molnupiravir, made by Merck, come with a list of interactions and possible side effects that limit who can take them. (Oliviero and Hart, 2/8)

MarketWatch: Four Drug Makers Raked In $14 Billion In Sales Of COVID-19 Treatments In 2021. How Will They Do This Year? 
Four drug makers brought in more than $14 billion in sales of COVID-19 treatments in 2021, but the lucrative, new market will be tempered if the virus is kept under control this year.  The tally includes full-year sales of Eli Lilly & Co.’s monoclonal antibodies ($2.2 billion), Gilead Sciences Inc.’s COVID-19 antiviral Veklury ($5.5 billion), Merck & Co. Inc.’s molnupiravir (nearly $1 billion), and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s monoclonals ($5.8 billion), according to year-end earnings from those companies. (Lee, 2/7)

Modern Healthcare: 5 Takeaways From New At-Home COVID-19 Test Coverage Guidelines
The federal government last month required private insurers to begin covering at-home COVID-19 tests for their enrollees. Officials on Friday released additional information on what insurers need to cover in response to stakeholder questions that came up since the initial policy was released. Here are five things to know about the updated guidelines: 1. Plans won't be penalized for temporarily failing to provide at-home tests at network pharmacies free of charge because of supply shortages. However, if an enrollee is able to buy eligible tests despite supply shortages, insurers need to reimburse them, according to federal policy. (Goldman, 2/7)

Miami Herald: Closed Miami-Dade Jail Became COVID Ward As Omicron Surged 
In early 2020, as COVID-19 ran rampant within South Florida jails, Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation wanted to evaluate how to curb the virus’ spread. One option — reopening the Miami-Dade Training and Treatment Center, a jail shuttered since 2016 — was quickly shot down by officials monitoring the county’s jail system for the federal government due to the facility’s inability to “meet the minimal constitutional standards for inmate confinement,” according to a memo from then-Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez. But in January, as the omicron variant ripped through Miami, the county turned the jail into a COVID ward, sending at least 70 people into the facility to try and isolate contagious detainees. (Smalls II, 2/7)

Miami Herald: Unvaccinated Oral Surgeon Sues After Medical Practice Banned
An unvaccinated oral surgeon has filed a lawsuit in Rhode Island after his medical practice, which saw over 800 patients each month, was shut down over him not getting a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the New Civil Liberties Alliance. (Marnin, 2/7)

Modern Healthcare: Physician Partners Of America To Pay $3.3 Million To Settle Alleged Non-Compete Violations
Physician Partners of America and its top executives agreed to pay $3.3 million to settle allegations that they violated non-compete contract provisions when the surgery center operators hired physicians from area competitors. Surgery Partners, which operates Tampa Pain Relief Center and Armenia Ambulatory Surgery Center, sued Physician Partners of America after it hired four of its doctors in late 2018 and early 2019. Physician Partners of America and two of its top executives will have to pay its competitors for hiring their former employees while under non-compete contract provisions, a Florida appellate court ruled Friday. (Kacik, 2/7)

Modern Healthcare: Black, Hispanic And Low-Income Patients Face A Little-Known Care Gap
Black, Hispanic and low-income patients on Medicare have less access to high-quality home health agencies, according to new research. The same is true for those who live in neighborhoods with a greater share of Black, Hispanic and low-income residents. A new Health Affairs study found that there is 5.5 percentage points between Black and white patients' use of high-quality home health agencies, 11.9 percentage points between Hispanic and white patients' use and a 3.9 percentage-point difference between higher-income and low-income patients' use, making high-quality care "out of reach" for some. More than 3 million Medicare beneficiaries receive home health services. (Christ, 2/7)

Modern Healthcare: CVS Adds Eliquis, Other Vital Drugs To Formulary Exclusions
The formulary exclusion comes as PBMs increasingly drop medications from their coverage lists, attracting attention from federal and state lawmakers aiming to reign in non-medical switching, said Ryan Gough, executive director of the Partnership to Advance Cardiovascular Health, a patient advocacy group. "I've never seen an issue galvanize the cardiovascular community like this," Gough said. The decision sparked outcry from 14 patient advocacy groups, which wrote to CVS Health's chief medical officer in December calling for him to reverse the "dangerously disruptive" decision. Experts from the American College of Cardiology and American Society of Hematology also continue to meet with CVS Caremark about the move. (Tepper, 2/7)

Stat: Unexpected Groups Pressure Medicare Over Its Alzheimer’s Drug Decision
Medicare has already received more than 4,300 comments on its recent proposal to limit coverage for Biogen’s controversial Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm, and other similar drugs. But most aren’t from drug makers, Alzheimer’s advocacy groups, or even neurologists. They’re from two unexpected letter writing campaigns. The largest campaign is being organized by an “advocacy news” operation, More Perfect Union, which was founded by a former campaign manager for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and which is part of a cadre of overtly political organizations that produce viral explainer videos, like this one on Aduhelm, that often include calls for viewers to take an action like emailing Medicare. (Florko, 2/8)

Modern Healthcare: Acadia CEO Gets $900,000 To Delay Retirement
Behavioral health provider Acadia Healthcare will pay outgoing CEO Debbie Osteen $900,000 to delay her retirement for two months. Osteen announced her retirement from the 225-location network in October and was set to transition to an advisory role on Jan. 31. She will now stay on as CEO through March 31 "to assist with and ensure a smooth transition of leadership," the company wrote in a submission to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Jan. 31. The Nashville Business Journal first reported that she would extend her tenure. (Hartnett, 2/7)

AP: Lung Expert: Officers Could Have Saved George Floyd's Life 
George Floyd could have been saved if Minneapolis police officers had moved him into a position to breathe more easily, and his chances of survival “doubled or tripled” if they had performed CPR as soon as his heart stopped, a lung specialist testified Monday at the trial of three former officers charged with violating Floyd’s civil rights. Floyd died because his upper airway was compressed by Officer Derek Chauvin’s knee, while his position on hard asphalt with his hands cuffed behind his back — as two other officers helped hold him down — did not allow his lungs to expand, Dr. David Systrom said. (Karnowski and Webber, 2/7)

AP: Tennessee House Advances Anti-Abortion Resolution 
Tennessee House Republicans on Monday advanced an anti-abortion resolution commemorating the day the medical procedure became legal nearly 50 years ago. The resolution states that Jan. 22 will be known as the “Day of Tears,” and suggested that Tennesseans should mourn aborted embryos and fetuses. It was adopted on a 72-20 vote after no debate. (2/8)

The Washington Post: Fla. Republicans Ditch Texas-Style Abortion Law For 15-Week Ban 
It took just one day after Texas enacted its controversial “heartbeat bill,” banning abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, for a top Florida Republican to endorse passing the same law in his state — with the leader of the state Senate declaring that a similar measure was “something we’re already working on.” But by the time the measure was introduced in September, drawing national headlines as the first Texas copycat ban to emerge nationwide, Florida GOP leaders effectively shrugged it off. (Kitchener, 2/7)

AP: UCLA Settles Gynecologist Abuse Suit For More Than $100M
The University of California has agreed to pay more than $100 million to settle allegations that several hundred women were sexually abused by a former UCLA gynecologist, lawyers announced. The settlement was announced Monday by some of the attorneys representing 203 women who said they were groped or otherwise abused by Dr. James Heaps over a 35-year career. Details weren’t released. (Jablon, 2/8)

The Washington Post: D.C. Had Mixed Results In Fight Against HIV In 2020 
The number of new HIV cases in D.C. sharply declined in 2020, but the city made no progress toward other key goals in the decades-long fight to end the epidemic, according to a report released Monday, which said the coronavirus crisis has greatly hampered the District’s effort to combat the virus that causes AIDS. While the city recorded 217 new HIV cases in 2020, down from 282 the year before, the percentage of D.C. residents with HIV who were in treatment dropped to 76 percent, from 80 percent in 2019, according to the Health Department’s annual Epidemiology & Surveillance Report. (Duggan, 2/7)

Bloomberg: U.S. Fertilizer Plant Fire Leaks Harmful Chemicals Into Nearby Creeks
A North Carolina fertilizer plant that was engulfed in flames last week and put Winston-Salem at risk of a devastating explosion is now putting local waterways at risk. Winston-Salem is warning residents to stay out of creeks around Winston Weaver Co.’s fertilizer plant because runoff from the plant fire has caused elevated levels of nitrates, nitrites, ammonia nitrogen and other potentially harmful chemicals in the waterways, the city said on its Facebook page. (Elkin, 2/7)

The New York Times: ‘Errors’ At Treatment Plant Force 1 Million In Austin To Boil Their Water 
Roughly one million people in Austin have had to boil their water since Saturday after officials said “errors” at a treatment plant resulted in potentially unsafe water flowing into homes and businesses in one of the largest and fastest-growing American cities. It was the second time in a year that residents of the Texas capital have been told to boil water before drinking. Last February, the problems were caused by the collapse of the state’s electricity grid, which resulted in power failures at Austin’s largest water treatment plant. (Sandoval and Goodman, 2/7)

AP: Spending Bill Has $403M For Leaky Hawaii Fuel Tank Facility 
Hawaii members of Congress said Monday a spending bill that must pass to avoid a government shutdown includes $403 million to address the crisis caused by the leaking of petroleum from a Navy fuel storage tank facility into Pearl Harbor drinking water. The money incorporates $100 million to drain fuel from the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility. It also directs the Defense Department to comply with an emergency order from the state of Hawaii to defuel the tanks. The military last week appealed Hawaii’s order in both state and federal court. (McAvoy, 2/8)

The Washington Post: Inflation Hits Guacamole, Range Of Fresh Fruits And Veggies 
In the past year, inflation swerved around grocery stores like a wobbly shopping cart, slamming into the meat department, milk, eggs and even toothpaste. Fresh fruits and vegetables were largely spared. Until recently. The percentage increase in produce prices from November to December, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, was twice that of other food categories. (Prices for meats, poultry, fish and eggs actually declined a bit in December after rising for seven months straight). (Reiley, 2/7)

CNN: Cut Nearly 300 Calories A Day By Doing Something You Already Do 
Want to lose weight from sleeping? Try extending your sleep time so you are not sleep deprived. That's the startling outcome of a randomized trial that asked young, overweight adults who typically slept less than six and a half hours to try to sleep about eight and a half hours a night for two weeks. At the end of that short amount of time, many of those who did extend their sleep to a healthier length decreased their calorie intake by an average of 270 calories a day, according to the study published Monday in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. Some of the study participants cut their intake by 500 calories each day, the study found. (LaMotte, 2/7)

CNN: Over 40% Of People Using Alcohol Or Cannabis Drove Under The Influence, Study Says 
More than 40% of drivers reporting alcohol and cannabis use in a national survey also reported driving under the influence of one or both of the substances, a new study found. "Alcohol and cannabis are two of the most common substances involved in impaired driving and motor vehicle crashes" in the United States, said Priscila Dib Gonçalves, the study's first author, in a news release. Gonçalves is a postdoctoral research fellow in the epidemiology department at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. (Rogers, 2/8)