First Edition: March 2, 2020

Kaiser Health News: Nursing Home Outbreak Spotlights Coronavirus Risk In Elder Care Facilities
An outbreak of coronavirus disease in a nursing home near Seattle is prompting urgent calls for precautionary tactics at America’s elder care facilities, where residents are at heightened risk of serious complications from the illness because of the dual threat of age and close living conditions. The emergence of the novel contagious illness at the Life Care Center of Kirkland, Washington, has left one resident dead and four others hospitalized, with three in critical condition, local health officials said late Sunday. (Aleccia, 3/1)

Kaiser Health News: In An Exchange About Coronavirus, Homeland Security Chief Gets Flu Mortality Rate Wrong
During a Senate appropriations Feb. 25 subcommittee hearing, Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of Homeland Security, said the U.S. flu mortality rate was about the same as the current estimated global mortality rate of the coronavirus outbreak. He made this statement during an exchange with Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.) regarding what the acting secretary knew about the coronavirus, which causes a disease known as COVID-19. This C-SPAN video shows the full discussion between the two. (Knight, 3/2)

Kaiser Health News: Watch: Reviewing Public Health Record Of New Coronavirus Commander Mike Pence
KHN Midwest editor and correspondent Laura Ungar appeared on “CNN Newsroom with Brooke Baldwin” to discuss Vice President Mike Pence’s appointment to lead the nation’s response to the novel coronavirus in light of how he handled a 2015 HIV outbreak when he was governor of Indiana. (2/28)

Kaiser Health News: HHS Removed Images Of Condoms From HIV/AIDS Awareness Fliers
The Department of Health and Human Services stripped from a government website HIV/AIDS educational material that featured condoms, calling the images “unapproved,” according to official correspondence obtained by Kaiser Health News. The images had been included in a 2017 fact sheet posted by HHS’ Office on Women’s Health to mark National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. A directive to remove it from HHS servers was contained in an Aug. 1, 2017, email from a junior department employee to Palladian Partners, a federal contractor that specializes in communications about health and science education. (Pradhan, 3/2)

California Healthline: Corralling Hard-To-Reach Voters With Traveling Voting Machines
Instrumental string music filtered into the sprawling multipurpose room, where a dozen people rolled their hips, stretched their arms and twisted from side to side. Nearby, small groups of women huddled over elaborate needlepoint embroidery while men and women shuffled dominoes and mahjong tiles at game tables. A crowd formed outside an adjoining room of the AltaMed Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) center in Chinatown, where several seniors, some using canes, walkers and wheelchairs, lined up in chairs. (Almendrala, 2/28)

The Associated Press: Authorities Announce 2nd Coronavirus Death In US
Health officials in Washington state said Sunday night that a second person had died from the coronavirus — a man in his 70s from a nursing facility near Seattle where dozens of people were sick and had been tested for the virus. Researchers said earlier the virus may have been circulating for weeks undetected in Washington state. (Johnson and Flaccus, 3/1)

The New York Times: 2nd Death Near Seattle Adds To Signs Coronavirus Is Spreading In U.S.
With testing now ramping up, the Seattle suburb of Kirkland has become an epicenter of both illness and fear, much of it focused on a nursing facility where six coronavirus cases have been confirmed and many more residents and employees have complained of illness. Health authorities in King County, Wash., announced on Sunday evening that one of the six, a resident of the nursing home, had died of the virus at the EvergreenHealth hospital in Kirkland, and that three more were in critical condition. The death was the second on U.S. soil from the virus; the first also occurred at that hospital. One-quarter of Kirkland’s firefighters were in quarantine on Sunday because they had been to the nursing facility. A nearby college spent the day cleansing its campus because students had visited the nursing home. The hospital has asked visitors to stay away. (Baker, Fink, Bogel-Burroughs and Healy, 3/1)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus May Have Spread Undetected For Weeks In Washington State, Which Reported First Two Deaths In U.S.
The researchers conducted genetic sequencing of two virus samples. One is from a patient who traveled from China to Snohomish County in mid-January and was the first person diagnosed with the disease in the United States. The other came from a recently diagnosed patient in the same county, a high school student with no travel-related or other known exposure to the coronavirus. The two samples look almost identical genetically, said Trevor Bedford, a computational biologist at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle who announced the results of the research on Twitter late Saturday night. “This strongly suggests that there has been cryptic transmission in Washington State for the past 6 weeks,” Bedford wrote. “I believe we’re facing an already substantial outbreak in Washington State that was not detected until now due to narrow case definition requiring direct travel to China.” (Achenbach, Mettler, Sun and Guarino, 3/1)

The Associated Press: Wash. State Sees 1st Virus Death In US, Declares Emergency
Gov. Jay Inslee directed state agencies to use “all resources necessary” to prepare for and respond to the coronavirus outbreak. The declaration also allows the use of the Washington National Guard, if necessary. “We will continue to work toward a day where no one dies from this virus," the governor vowed. (Selsky, 2/29)

The New York Times: Coronavirus In N.Y.: Manhattan Woman Is First Confirmed Case In State
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Sunday confirmed New York State’s first case of the coronavirus, saying that a woman contracted the virus while traveling in Iran and is now in New York City isolated in her home. “The patient has respiratory symptoms, but is not in serious condition and has been in a controlled situation since arriving to New York,” Governor Cuomo said in a statement. The woman, who is in her late 30s, is in Manhattan, according to state officials. She returned from Iran last week, and was tested after going to a hospital in the city; she has since been staying at home, officials said. (Goldstein and McKinley, 3/1)

The Washington Post: Alabama Residents Rejected Plan To Relocate Quarantined Coronavirus Patients After Rumors, Poor Planning
Not long before local leaders decided, in the words of one of them, that federal health officials “didn’t know what they were doing" with their plan to quarantine novel coronavirus patients in town, a doctor here set out in a biohazard suit to stage a one-man protest along the highway with a sign. “The virus has arrived. Are you ready?” it asked. The town didn’t think it was. Residents already were unnerved by strange stories posted on Facebook and shared via text messages about helicopters secretly flying in sick patients, that the virus was grown in a Chinese lab, that someone — either the media or the government — was lying to them about what was really going on. (Frankel, 3/1)

Reuters: Additional U.S. Coronavirus Cases Are 'Likely,' Trump Says
President Donald Trump said additional coronavirus cases in the United States were "likely" but that the country was prepared for any circumstance, at a news conference on Saturday after reports of the first U.S. patient death from the virus. The first U.S. death from the flu-like illness was a medically high-risk patient in her late fifties in the state of Washington, Trump told reporters at the White House conference. (2/29)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Considering New Steps To Take On Coronavirus
Mr. Trump said that he was considering restricting travel from additional countries that are experiencing major coronavirus outbreaks, without specifying which countries he had in mind. “We’re looking at that right now and we’re looking at a couple of countries—a few countries—that have a little bit disproportionately high number,” he told reporters, adding that he would make a decision “very soon.” Mr. Trump had previously signaled he was considering restrictions on travelers from Italy and South Korea, on top of existing restrictions rolled out last month regarding China, the epicenter of the outbreak. (Restuccia and Buehren, 2/28)

The New York Times: U.S. Plans ‘Radical Expansion’ Of Coronavirus Testing
After weeks of stalled testing for the coronavirus, the United States now has enough diagnostic kits to test 75,000 people, with more on the way, Alex M. Azar II, the health and human services secretary, said on Sunday. The Trump administration has faced widespread criticism for a slow and scattered delivery of testing materials to states, where only 12 labs are capable of diagnosing the virus. (Sheikh, 2/29)

The Wall Street Journal: FDA To Allow Labs To Begin Use Of High-Complexity Tests For Coronavirus
The FDA said the new policy is for certain laboratories that develop and begin to use validated Covid-19 diagnostics before the FDA has completed review of their Emergency Use Authorization requests. The FDA estimated that between 300 and 400 academic medical centers and a few large community hospitals can immediately begin testing. Until Saturday’s announcement, the U.S. had been limited to a relatively few diagnostic tests done so far by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Burton, 2/29)

Stat: ‘Speed Is Critical': As Coronavirus Spreads In U.S., Officials Trace Contacts
This weekend, as it became clearer and clearer that Covid-19 has been spreading stealthily through the Pacific Northwest, the task facing health officials has become more and more monumental. To try to stop the virus’ transmission and restrain the outbreak, they need to identify every single person with whom patients have come into contact, isolate those at risk of harboring the illness, and monitor the entire network of people for symptoms. (Boodman, 3/1)

Reuters: U.S. Still Unsure How First American Fatality Contracted Virus: Azar
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said on Sunday it remained unclear how the first American to die of coronavirus contracted the disease, and that there was no evidence he had a connection to someone who had traveled to an outbreak area. (3/2)

The Wall Street Journal: Manufacturing Defect In Some Early CDC Test Kits Being Probed
The Health and Human Services Department has launched an investigation into a manufacturing defect in an early testing kit for the coronavirus, according to an administration official. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn said in a statement Sunday that the FDA was alerted to possible issues with the test by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Restuccia, 3/1)

Politico: Alex Azar: War Powers On The Table To Increase Medical Supplies
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the administration could use the War Powers Act to increase the production of protective medical gear in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Speaking with Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday,“ Azar said the administration is already using authority under the Defense Production Act to make its orders the top priority for private contractors, specifically for personal protective equipment such as gloves and masks. (Choi, 3/1)

Politico: The Glaring Loophole In U.S. Virus Response: Human Error
Even as the Trump administration and Congress prepare to direct billions of dollars to coronavirus prevention, human error remains a formidable threat to preventing the spread of the virus. Mistakes already abound as federal, state and local public health departments scramble to prepare for outbreaks in the United States — or detect those that may already have begun. Flaws in a test developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, coupled with initial federal rules limiting who should be tested, delayed the ability to diagnose patients. (Ehley, 3/2)

The New York Times: How Prepared Is The U.S. For A Coronavirus Outbreak?
In 2005, the federal government sought to assess how a respiratory-related pandemic might play out in the United States. Its report estimated that a severe influenza pandemic would require mechanical ventilators for 740,000 critically ill people. Today, as the country faces the possibility of a widespread outbreak of a new respiratory infection caused by the coronavirus, there are nowhere near that many ventilators, and most are already in use. Only about 62,000 full-featured ventilators were in hospitals across the country, a 2010 study found. More than 10,000 others are stored in the Strategic National Stockpile, a federal cache of supplies and medicines held in case of emergencies, according to Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, a former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Jacobs and Fink, 2/29)

The New York Times: Coronavirus May Have Spread In U.S. For Weeks, Gene Sequencing Suggests
Researchers who have examined the genomes of two coronavirus infections in Washington State say the similarities between the cases suggest that the virus may have been spreading in the state for weeks. Washington had the United States’ first confirmed case of coronavirus, announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Jan. 20. Based on an analysis of the virus’s genetic sequence, another case that surfaced in the state and was announced on Friday probably was descended from that first case. The two people live in the same county, but are not known to have had contact with one another, and the second case occurred well after the first would no longer be expected to be contagious. (Fink and Baker, 3/1)

The New York Times: Who’s On The U.S. Coronavirus Task Force
President Trump formed a coronavirus task force in late January, and members have been meeting regularly. But as the virus began to spread around the globe and infections were confirmed in the United States, Mr. Trump named Vice President Mike Pence as his point person at the end of February, and more administration officials were added to the panel. Among them are internationally known AIDS experts; a former drug executive; infectious disease doctors; and the former attorney general of Virginia. (2/29)

The New York Times: Kept At The Hospital On Coronavirus Fears, Now Facing Large Medical Bills
Frank Wucinski and his 3-year-old daughter, Annabel, are among the dozens of Americans the government has flown back to the country from Wuhan, China, and put under quarantine to check for signs of coronavirus. Now they are among what could become a growing number of families hit with surprise medical bills related to government-mandated actions. Mr. Wucinski, a Pennsylvania native who has lived in China for years, accepted the U.S. government’s offer to evacuate from Wuhan with Annabel in early February as the new coronavirus spread. His wife, who is not an American citizen and remains in China, developed pneumonia that doctors think resulted from Covid-19, the disease caused by the respiratory virus. Her father, whom she helped care for, was infected and recently died. (Kliff, 2/29)

Stat: Health Experts Warn Congress: Don’t Let Politics Delay Coronavirus Money
Public health experts have a warning for Congress: don’t treat emergency coronavirus aid like business as usual.Partisan bickering has often frustrated lawmakers’ attempts to speedily approve emergency spending packages. Congress, for example, dawdled for seven months because of an acrimonious fight over funding for Zika in 2016. That left health departments around the country cash-strapped and forced to cut back on existing public health programs, like responding to STD outbreaks. (Florko, 3/2)

The New York Times: How Coronavirus Is Already Being Viewed Through A Partisan Lens
Rob Maness, a Republican commentator, recently wrote a column, outlining his concerns about how the coronavirus outbreak could disrupt supplies of medicine. He was not ready for the backlash — from his fellow conservatives. “I got accused of being alarmist and trying to hurt the president,” said Mr. Maness, a staunch President Trump supporter, describing the response on social media. “I actually said the government’s doing a pretty good job.” (Healy, Robertson and Tavernise, 3/1)

The New York Times: A Virus Spreads, Stocks Fall, And Democrats See An Opening To Hit Trump
Democratic presidential candidates have seized on President Trump’s response to the spreading global coronavirus outbreak, and the growing threat it poses to America’s record-long economic expansion, to attack the president on what has been his greatest strength with voters: the economy. Until last week, the candidates had largely attacked Mr. Trump’s economic management on inequality grounds, at a time when growth has been steady and unemployment has sunk to a half-century low. (Jim Tankersley and Thomas Kaplan, 3/1)

Politico: Schumer Calls For Medicare To Cover Coronavirus Vaccine That Is Still In Development
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Sunday called for Medicare to cover the coronavirus vaccine, which is still being developed and is at least months away from being widely available. Schumer’s plan is to add a provision into the spending package being negotiated in Congress, which would ensure seniors can be immunized at no cost. (Goldberg, 3/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Cases Mount As Second Person Dies In U.S.
Public health experts said that a shortage of tests had limited the ability to identify and contain cases and likely contributed to the virus’ spread. There had been relatively few diagnostic tests conducted in the U.S., with most state and local health departments sending patient samples to the CDC and waiting days for results. (Abbott and Mullins, 3/1)

The Washington Post: What Is Coronavirus: Symptoms, How It Spreads, How To Avoid It
What began with a handful of mysterious illnesses in a vast central China city has traveled the world, jumping from animals to humans and from obscurity to international headlines. First detected on the last day of 2019, the novel coronavirus has infected tens of thousands of people — within China’s borders and beyond them — and has killed more than 2,500. It has triggered unprecedented quarantines, stock market upheaval and dangerous conspiracy theories. Most cases are mild, but health officials say the virus’s spread through the United States appears inevitable. As the country and its health-care system prepares, much is still unknown about the virus that causes the disease now named covid-19. (2/29)

The New York Times: How To Prepare For Coronavirus: Masks, Washing Hands, Masks And More
The coronavirus continues to spread in Asia, Europe and the Middle East, with more than 70 cases and one death confirmed in the United States. While the Food and Drug Administration announced this weekend that testing in the United States would be greatly expanded, health experts have been warning that the virus’s spread in the country is inevitable. That means it’s time to prepare your home and family in case your community is affected. (3/1)

The Wall Street Journal: How To Prepare For The Coronavirus
Face masks? Zinc? Gloves? Americans are grasping for ways to brace for what public health experts say is inevitable: an outbreak of the new coronavirus. Public health experts advise staying calm and following the same precautions recommended for preventing flu or any other respiratory virus. Stick with the basics: Wash your hands, cover your coughs and sneezes, and stay at home from work or school when you’re sick. (Reddy, 3/1)

The New York Times: Surgeon General Urges The Public To Stop Buying Face Masks
The surgeon general on Saturday urged the public to stop buying masks, warning that it won’t help against the spread of the coronavirus but will take away important resources from health care professionals. “Seriously people — STOP BUYING MASKS!” the surgeon general, Jerome M. Adams, said in a tweet on Saturday morning. “They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if health care providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!” (Cramer and Sheikh, 2/29)

The New York Times: Stop Touching Your Face!
Want to improve your chance of staying healthy? Stop touching your face! One of the more difficult challenges in public health has been to teach people to wash their hands frequently and to stop touching the facial mucous membranes — the eyes, nose and mouth, all entry portals for the new coronavirus and many other germs. (Parker-Pope, 3/2)

Los Angeles Times: How This Coronavirus Kills Its Victims
As the virus starts to destroy the lungs, “people become unable to breathe properly,” Yang said. Even worse, the body’s efforts to fight the virus can cause inflammation in the lungs — making breathing even more difficult. Blood vessels damaged in the war between the virus and immune system may begin leaking fluid into lung tissues, which can be visible as white spots on chest X-rays. The fluid may drown some of the lung’s tiny air sacs, preventing them from delivering oxygen to the blood and removing carbon dioxide. It is this kind of inflammation and destruction that is called pneumonia. (Lin, 2/29)

The New York Times: Talking To Teens And Tweens About Coronavirus
The psychologist Lisa Damour, author of “Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls,” said parents can help lessen their anxiety, and that of their kids, by learning all they can about the novel coronavirus and how to protect themselves. “Reinforce basic stuff kids know and understand: Wash your hands, get a good night’s sleep, protect your immune system,” Dr. Damour said. “Tell your kids you know what to do to reduce the chances of getting sick.” (De La Cruz, 3/2)

The Washington Post: Deadly 1918 Flu Pandemic’s Lessons Ignored In Trump’s Coronavirus Response, Historian Says 
The first wave wasn’t that bad. In the spring of 1918, a new strain of influenza hit military camps in Europe on both sides of World War I. Soldiers were affected, but not nearly as severely as they would be later. Even so, Britain, France, Germany and other European governments kept it secret. They didn’t want to hand the other side a potential advantage. Spain, on the other hand, was a neutral country in the war. When the disease hit there, the government and newspapers reported it accurately. Even the king got sick. (Brockell, 2/29)

The New York Times: Avoiding Coronavirus May Be A Luxury Some Workers Can’t Afford
Stay home from work if you get sick. See a doctor. Use a separate bathroom from the people you live with. Prepare for schools to close, and to work from home. These are measures the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended to slow a coronavirus outbreak in the United States. Yet these are much easier to do for certain people — in particular, high-earning professionals. Service industry workers, like those in restaurants, retail, child care and the gig economy, are much less likely to have paid sick days, the ability to work remotely or employer-provided health insurance. (Miller, Kliff and Sanger-Katz, 3/1)

The New York Times: They Recovered From The Coronavirus. Were They Infected Again?
Can people who recover from a bout with the new coronavirus become infected again — and again? The Japanese government reported this week that a woman in Osaka had tested positive for the coronavirus for a second time, weeks after recovering from the infection and being discharged from a hospital. Combined with reports from China of similar cases, the case in Japan has raised some uncomfortable questions. Reinfections are common among people who have recovered from coronaviruses that cause the common cold. (Mandavilli, 2/29)

The New York Times: In Coronavirus Fight, China Gives Citizens A Color Code, With Red Flags
As China encourages people to return to work despite the coronavirus outbreak, it has begun a bold mass experiment in using data to regulate citizens’ lives — by requiring them to use software on their smartphones that dictates whether they should be quarantined or allowed into subways, malls and other public spaces. But a New York Times analysis of the software’s code found that the system does more than decide in real time whether someone poses a contagion risk. It also appears to share information with the police, setting a template for new forms of automated social control that could persist long after the epidemic subsides. (Mozur, Zhong and Krolik, 3/1)

Reuters: Wuhan Closes Makeshift Hospital As New Coronavirus Cases In China Drop Sharply
The Chinese city at the center of the coronavirus epidemic closed its first makeshift hospital, one of 16 hurriedly built to handle the epidemic, after it discharged the last recovered patients, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Monday. ... China’s central Hubei province, the epicenter of the country’s coronavirus outbreak, reported less than 200 cases of new infections for the first time since January. Hubei had 196 new confirmed cases on Sunday, the National Health Commission said on Monday, sharply down from 570 cases a day earlier and the lowest since Jan. 24. (3/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Spreading Faster Outside China Than Within
The number of confirmed cases has grown more quickly outside China than in China over the past week, raising the total in other countries past 9,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. In the past day, South Korea, Italy and Iran each reported more new cases than China, which added 202 to bring its tally of confirmed coronavirus infections to 80,026. (Craymer, 3/2)

The Wall Street Journal: ‘This Will Be A Long Battle’: More Countries Report First Coronavirus Deaths
More countries reported their first coronavirus fatalities and the toll grew in places such as China, as the number of deaths from the epidemic globally nears 3,000. Hours after the U.S. reported its first fatality, Australia on Sunday announced its first death from the disease known as Covid-19. So did Thailand, more than a month after it became the first country outside of China to report an infection. Italy added five more deaths, with 528 new confirmed cases since Saturday. (Fan, 3/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Iran Battles Coronavirus—And The Black Market For Medical Supplies
Iranian authorities have seized millions of medical supplies being hoarded by black-market traders, an effort to alleviate their own shortfall as they battle to contain the world’s second-deadliest national coronavirus outbreak. The death toll from the epidemic in Iran rose to 54 people Sunday, the health ministry said, up from 43 the previous day. The number of confirmed cases rose 65% from the day before to 978. (Eqbali and Rasmussen, 3/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Japan Sees Silver Lining To Coronavirus As Flu Cases Drop
If there is a positive impact of the coronavirus epidemic, look for it in Japan, where people are observing better hygiene and the number of influenza cases is far below a typical year. The trend hasn’t been clearly seen in Europe or the U.S., where the threat of the epidemic has begun to hit home only in recent weeks, but if people elsewhere begin to take flu-prevention measures, thousands of lives could be saved. (Inada and Landers, 3/1)

The Associated Press: Q&A: What's Next For The Tokyo Olympics As Virus Spreads?
The spreading virus from China has been reported in more than 60 countries and puts the Tokyo Olympics at risk. The Olympics are to open on July 24 — less than five months away. The Paralympics follow on Aug. 25. IOC President Thomas Bach, in an interview last week limited to Japanese media, said the “IOC is fully committed to have the opening ceremony there on July 24th in Tokyo.” He declined to speculate about a postponement, cancellation, or any combination of those possibilities. (Wade, 3/2)

The Associated Press: A Clinic Prepares For Supreme Court Abortion Fight
The Hope Medical Group for Women in northern Louisiana fields phone calls every day from anxious pregnant women who ask if abortion is still legal and if the clinic, one of only three that provides abortions in the state, is still open. Despite the protesters who sometimes gather outside, the threats that forced the clinic to board up all the windows and the repeated restrictions put upon abortion providers in this staunchly anti-abortion state, the clinic stands. (3/2)

Reuters: Extended-Release Drugs Could Be Costing U.S. Healthcare System Billions
If doctors prescribed short-acting medications that must be taken twice a day instead of once-a-day extended-release versions, billions in healthcare costs could be saved, a new study suggests. Based on Medicare and Medicaid spending between 2012 and 2017, prescriptions for extended-release drugs cost the healthcare system almost $14 billion more than would have been spent on equivalent twice-a-day medications, researchers report in JAMA Network Open. (2/29)

Reuters: Sanofi To Pay $11.9 Million To Resolve U.S. Drug Charity Kickback Probe
Sanofi did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement. The drugmaker in a statement defended the practice of providing financial support to such charitable organizations, saying it "believes these programs help patients lead healthier lives." Drug companies are prohibited from subsidizing co-payments for patients enrolled in the government’s Medicare healthcare program for those aged 65 and older. Companies may donate to non-profits providing co-pay assistance as long as they are independent. (2/28)

Stat: Novartis Employee Claims She Was Fired For Flagging Incorrect Data 
As Novartis (NVS) geared up to win approval for a new eye medication that was pegged to become a blockbuster, an employee tried to push the company to disclose incorrect safety data and claims she was fired for her trouble. And at the heart of the dispute is the same drug about which a leading association of eye physicians raised serious safety concerns to its members earlier this week. (Silverman, 2/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Maine Referendum Targets Vaccine-Exemption Limits
Maine residents heading to the polls on Super Tuesday will decide whether to override a new law that eliminates nonmedical vaccine exemptions for school children. Supporters of the law say limiting the ways in which people can opt out of vaccines will help keep preventable diseases like measles at bay by curbing a growing rate of unvaccinated children. Democratic Gov. Janet Mills is urging voters to keep the new law, citing outbreaks of whooping cough in some Maine schools. (Kamp, 2/29)

Stat: When Hoofbeats Really Are A Zebra’s, A Rare-Disease Community Helps Me
While hospitalized for pneumonia a few months ago, my daughter’s doctors detected some unusually low blood sugar that needed to be investigated. “Common things being common,” I asked her endocrinologists during a follow-up visit, “what do you think is the most likely diagnosis?” As a new parent I was trying to understand what was wrong with my baby, and how much I needed to worry. As a doctor I was relying on probability to guide how I conceptualized her care. (Adaeze Okwerekwu, 3/2)

The New York Times: Before Prostate Surgery, Consider ‘Active Surveillance’
Howard Wolinsky is a medical journalist in Flossmoor, Ill., who knows better than to go forward with potentially life-changing surgery without first seeking a second opinion. Nine years ago, at age 63, when a PSA blood test followed by a biopsy revealed cancer in his prostate gland, the diagnosing urologist said he could operate to remove the offending organ the following week. Not so fast, Mr. Wolinsky thought, knowing this was not a minor operation that often left men temporarily or permanently impotent, incontinent or both. (Brody, 3/2)

The New York Times: Fatal Car Crashes Rise With Spring Clock Reset
Losing an hour’s sleep at the spring change to daylight saving time is at best inconvenient. Now new research suggests that it may be dangerous. A study in Current Biology reports that the risk of having a fatal traffic accident increases significantly in the week following the spring clock reset. (Bakalar, 3/2)

The Washington Post: Exercise Can Help Young Cancer Patients Endure Chemotherapy
The day before Matthew Simon was to begin crew practice in 2015 as a sophomore at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, he was diagnosed with leukemia. Simon was a rower who worked out daily. His initial stay for treatment at Children’s Hospital was three weeks long, and the sedentary routine of chemotherapy was tough. “I got stir crazy,” Simon said. “Patients in a pediatric oncology unit are immunocompromised, so we couldn’t leave the floor. There’s not much to do but walk around.” (Opipari, 3/1)