Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Administration Eyes Broader Revamp Of State Public Health Data Reporting
Politico: Trump Plots Broad Health Data Overhaul After Troubled Rollout Of Covid-19 Database
The Trump administration wants to overhaul how state and local health departments and providers report public health data to the government, a month after its separate, trouble-plagued rollout of a new coronavirus reporting system for hospitals. The new effort is billed as a necessary upgrade to an outdated system that still relies on faxes and paper records and has slowed efforts to track the spread of Covid-19. The project would be funded by money Congress gave the CDC in coronavirus relief bills; an HHS spokesperson declined to comment on any projected cost. (Tahir and Roubein, 8/19)
Modern Healthcare: HHS Reveals 10-Year Plan To Tackle Nation's Public Health
HHS on Tuesday set more than 350 measureable goals as part of its 10-year plan to tackle the nation's most pressing public health issues. The initiative—dubbed "Healthy People 2030"— addresses a wide range of health conditions, health behaviors, populations and social determinants of health. ... The effort will take on continuing problems like opioid use disorder and youth e-cigarette use. It also includes "resources for adapting Healthy People 2030 to emerging public health threats like COVID-19," the agency said. (Brady, 8/18)
In other administration news —
CBS News: Trump Says "We'll Look At" Oleandrin, A Toxic Plant Extract Touted By MyPillow CEO As COVID Treatment
President Trump suggested he's open to looking at a botanical extract being touted by a major donor, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, as a treatment for COVID-19, even though it comes from a poisonous plant and there have been no medical studies to show if it's safe or effective in people. Asked on Monday by CBS News' Paula Reid whether he's urging the Food and Drug Administration to authorize the use of oleandrin, extracted from the Nerium oleander plant, to treat the virus, the president responded, "No, I haven't." He added, "I've heard of it, yes." (8/18)
The Hill: Anderson Cooper To MyPillow CEO: 'You Really Are Like A Snake Oil Salesman'
CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Tuesday slammed MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, an ardent President Trump supporter, for pushing an unproven therapeutic treatment for coronavirus, sales of which could benefit him. “You really are a snake oil salesman. I mean, you could be in the Old West standing on a box telling people to drink your amazing elixir that there's no proof [of],” Cooper told Lindell in an interview. (Klar, 8/18)
