DOJ Investigating Abbott Laboratories After Baby Formula Incident
Abbott has denied there's any conclusive evidence linking its products to the infant illnesses and deaths attributed to Cronobacter sakazakii found in its Michigan factory, Axios says, but the Department of Justice is now investigating. Former covid czar Jeff Zients is also in the news.
NBC News:
After Baby Formula Problems, Abbott Laboratories Under DOJ Investigation
Abbott Laboratories is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, the company confirmed Friday, almost a year after it shut down a Michigan baby-formula plant after illnesses were reported. Abbott did not specify what aspect of the company is under Justice Department scrutiny. (Strickler, 1/21)
Axios:
DOJ Investigating Abbott Over Infant Formula Plant
Abbott has maintained that there is no conclusive evidence linking its formulas to the infant illnesses and deaths attributed to Cronobacter sakazakii, the bacterium that was found in an area of the Michigan plant. The company says it did not come into contact with the formula.(Chen, 1/20)
President Biden's former covid czar will become his chief of staff —
Politico:
What Kind Of Chief Of Staff Will Zients Be? Look At His Stint As Covid Czar
When Joe Biden won the presidency, he promised that his first priority would be to end the Covid crisis responsible at the time for more than 3,000 deaths a day. He then turned to Jeff Zients to make that pledge come true. A longtime corporate executive, Zients had no public health experience and little in the way of expertise in fighting pandemics. But during more than a year as the White House’s Covid response czar, he led a sweeping governmental effort to rein in the virus, spearheaded a complex national campaign to vaccinate the vast majority of the nation, and ultimately charted a path for the nation out of a once-in-a-century health emergency. It set Zients, who won internal praise for his managerial prowess, on course for his next high-profile job as Biden’s newest chief of staff. (Cancryn, 1/22)
The Washington Post:
Jeff Zients To Be Biden’s Next Chief Of Staff
Zients first entered government during the Obama administration and ended up serving in multiple senior roles, including running the Office of Management and Budget and the National Economic Council. He developed a reputation as “Mr. Fix-It” for his strong operational skills, including helping to fix the troubled rollout of the Obama administration’s health-care website, healthcare.gov. (Pager and Abutaleb, 1/22)
In health news from Capitol Hill —
Reuters:
Trump Warns U.S. House Republicans Not To Touch Social Security, Medicare
Former President Donald Trump warned his fellow Republicans on Friday not to "destroy" federal retirement and health benefits as they try to exact spending cuts from President Joe Biden and his Democratic allies in the looming debate over the debt ceiling. "Under no circumstances should Republicans vote to cut a single penny from Medicare or Social Security," Trump said in a two-minute video message posted to social media that could test his influence among Republicans who now control the U.S. House of Representatives. (Morgan, 1/20)
The New York Times:
The December Omnibus Bill’s Little Secret: It Was Also A Giant Health Bill
The giant spending bill passed by Congress last month kept the government open. But it also quietly rewrote huge areas of health policy: Hundreds of pages of legislation were devoted to new health care programs. The legislation included major policy areas that committees had been hammering away at all year behind the scenes — like a big package designed to improve the nation’s readiness for the next big pandemic. It also included items that Republicans had been championing during the election season — like an extension of telemedicine coverage in Medicare. And it included small policy measures that some legislators have wanted to pass for years, like requiring Medicare to cover compression garments for patients with lymphedema. (Sanger-Katz, 1/22)
