First Edition: May 18, 2022

KHN: How Better Ventilation Can Help ‘Covid-Proof’ Your Home 
For two years, you beat the odds. You masked, kept your distance, got your shots. Now, despite those efforts, you, your child, or someone else in your home has come down with covid-19. And the last thing you want is for the virus to spread to everyone in the family or household. But how do you prevent it from circulating when you live in close quarters? (Szabo, 5/18)

KHN: ‘That’s Just Part Of Aging’: Long Covid Symptoms Are Often Overlooked In Seniors
Nearly 18 months after getting covid-19 and spending weeks in the hospital, Terry Bell struggles with hanging up his shirts and pants after doing the laundry. Lifting his clothes, raising his arms, arranging items in his closet leave Bell short of breath and often trigger severe fatigue. He walks with a cane, only short distances. He’s 50 pounds lighter than when the virus struck. Bell, 70, is among millions of older adults who have grappled with long covid — a population that has received little attention even though research suggests seniors are more likely to develop the poorly understood condition than younger or middle-aged adults. (Graham, 5/18)

KHN: New Covered California Leader Urges Renewal Of Enhanced Federal Aid For Health Premiums
When she was Pennsylvania’s insurance commissioner, Jessica Altman, the appointee of a Democratic governor, often bumped against the political limits of health care policy in a state where Republicans controlled the legislature. Despite the constraints of a divided government, Altman played a key role in persuading lawmakers in 2019 to join Gov. Tom Wolf in passing legislation that established Pennsylvania’s state-run Affordable Care Act marketplace, known as Pennie. And she had a big hand in its launch in November 2020, as the first chairperson of its board. In March, Altman took the reins of Covered California, the Golden State’s ACA insurance marketplace, following the departure of its first executive director, Peter Lee. Altman will earn $450,000 annually. (Wolfson, 5/18)

AP: House Dems Propose $28 Million To Address Formula Shortage
House Democrats unveiled a $28 million emergency spending bill Tuesday to address the shortage of infant formula in the United States. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the Democratic chair of the House Appropriations Committee, said the money would increase Food and Drug Administration staffing to boost inspections of domestic and international suppliers, prevent fraudulent products from getting onto store shelves and acquire better data on the marketplace. (Freking, 5/17)

The New York Times: 2 Children Have Been Hospitalized Because Of Formula Shortage 
Two children in Tennessee were recently hospitalized because their families could not find the specific formula they need during a nationwide shortage that has grown more acute over the past month, sending parents frantically searching for interim solutions. Both children have short bowel syndrome, which prevents them from absorbing nutrients properly because part of their small intestine is missing, according to Dr. Mark Corkins, a pediatric gastroenterologist at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, where the children were treated. Their condition requires special dietary interventions. (Morris, 5/17)

The Hill: Pelosi Floats Indictments For Baby Formula Deaths As Democrats Unveil Emergency Funding 
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) Tuesday suggested there could be indictments for the people found to be responsible for the deaths of two infants who consumed baby formula that may have been contaminated.  Speaking at a press conference to unveil Democrats’ $28 million aid bill to help put formula back on store shelves, Pelosi said the possibility that contaminated formula killed at least two babies is “sinful.” (Weixel, 5/17)

Bloomberg: Baby Formula Shortage: Executives To Face House As Pelosi Warns Of Charges
Executives from Abbott Nutrition and other major formula companies have agreed to testify May 25 before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on the root causes of the nationwide formula shortage. Abbott, which has been at the center of the firestorm over the shortages due to a contamination-driven shutdown of its main facility in Michigan after the deaths of two babies, will be represented by Senior Vice President Christopher Calamari. (Wasson, 5/17)

The Hill: Former FDA Official Says Parents Should Have Been Warned Sooner Of Baby Formula Shortage 
A former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) associate commissioner on Monday said the federal government should have warned parents sooner of a coming baby formula shortage after it shut down a major production plant in Michigan. Peter Pitts told Hill.TV the FDA did the right thing in shutting down the Abbott Nutrition plant in February, saying safety is always paramount. But the FDA failed to adequately prepare the public for the shutdown, he added. (Dress, 5/17)

CBS News: Mayorkas Decries GOP Attacks Over Baby Formula At Border Facilities As "Repugnant" 
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday forcefully denounced the connection some Republican lawmakers have made between the national baby formula shortage and the availability of formula at migrant holding facilities along the U.S.-Mexico border. "We are taking care of the basic needs of people in our custody. We are taking care of the basic needs of babies, and that includes baby formula," Mayorkas told CBS News during an interview Tuesday near the Texas border. "The connection between honoring our humanitarian and legal obligation to those babies and a supply issue in the interior of the United States is false and repugnant." (Montoya-Galvez and Sganga, 5/17)

Roll Call: Despite Congress’ Efforts, It’ll Take Time To Refill The Baby Bottles 
Lawmakers are throwing nearly every tool in their arsenal, including a proposed $28 million in taxpayer dollars, at the baby formula shortage. But it isn’t clear how quickly those solutions will result in cans on grocery store shelves. The shortage is dire — right now, roughly 40 percent of infant formula is missing from shelves in the United States. And while new actions announced by the Food and Drug Administration on Monday night will help stem the shortage, it may take up to two months to see a difference. (Cohen, 5/18)

Detroit Free Press: Michigan Judge Issues Injunction Against 1931 Abortion Law
A Michigan Court of Claims judge on Tuesday issued a preliminary injunction against Michigan's 1931 abortion law, finding Planned Parenthood is likely to prevail in a lawsuit saying the law violates the state constitution. Judge Elizabeth Gleicher granted the injunction sought by Planned Parenthood of Michigan in a lawsuit brought against the state attorney general. "As of the date this opinion is issued, it is unknown whether the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn Roe v. Wade," leaving the 1931 state law, which bans abortions except to save the life of the mother, the law in Michigan, Gleicher wrote. (Egan and Boucher, 5/17)

AP: Abortion Rights Group Files Longshot Arizona Initiative Bid
A newly organized group of abortion rights supporters on Tuesday filed an initiative that seeks to amend the Arizona Constitution to protect the right to abortion. The effort by a group called Arizonans for Reproductive Freedom is a longshot to make the ballot, since the group needs to collect more than 356,000 signatures from registered voters by July 7. Initiative proponents often aim to collect at least an extra 30% over the minimum as a buffer, meaning the group needs about 460,000. (Christie, 5/17)

The Washington Post: Citing Religious Freedom, Hundreds Of Jews Rally At The U.S. Capitol Against Roe's Overthrow
More than 1,000 Jews from progressive to orthodox — including dozens of rabbis — rallied outside the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday for abortion rights, holding signs that read “Thou shalt not steal my rights,” “democracy not theocracy,” and “we will live by the mitzvot, not die by them.” Jewish views on abortion are complex across the ideological spectrum, but law and tradition do not ban it and don’t recognize an unborn fetus as a full legal person. And 83 percent of U.S. Jews say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to Pew Research. (Boorstein and Silverman, 5/17)

The Washington Post: FDA Authorizes A Coronavirus Vaccine Booster Shot For Children As Young As 5 
Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are scheduled to meet Thursday and are expected to recommend the booster, which was shown in laboratory tests to strengthen children’s immune defenses — particularly against the omicron variant. The shot from Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech, is the only vaccine available to children in this age group, and two shots have provided disappointing protection to children in this age group in real-world studies. Protection against infections and hospitalizations waned quickly in children. (Johnson and McGinley, 5/17)

The New York Times: New York City Coronavirus Cases Reach ‘High’ Alert Level
New York City health officials put the city on “high Covid alert” on Tuesday, after rising case counts and hospitalizations reached a level that could put substantial pressure on the health care system. The announcement was triggered by a color-coded alert system that the city introduced in March. But so far, the system has had little impact on the city’s disease control strategy or the public’s perception. (Goldstein, 5/18)

San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area COVID Cases Keep Swelling As Pandemic Persists
There’s no relief for Bay Area counties on the COVID-19 front, as the latest numbers from the state show new cases and hospitalizations driven by subvariants of the coronavirus continuing their steady climb. The Bay Area reported about 42 new daily cases per 100,000 residents on Tuesday, up from 35 a week ago. Eight of the nine counties in the region are among those that have the highest infection rate in California, with San Francisco reporting 54 daily cases per 100,000 residents. Health officials say the actual number of infections is probably much higher because of people testing at home or not getting tested at all. (Vaziri, 5/17)

AP: New Orleans: Now Is The Time To Head Off Summer COVID Surge
Now is the time to head off a COVID-19 surge like the one that swamped area hospitals last summer, the head of the New Orleans Health Department said Tuesday. Case counts average 155 a day, five times higher than a month ago, and wastewater tests show increased coronavirus concentrations in both residential and tourist areas, Dr. Jennifer Avegno said. She noted that many people use home tests, so the case count “is a big underrepresentation.” (McConnaughey, 5/17)

The Washington Post: How Big Is The Latest U.S. Covid Wave? No One Really Knows. 
Eileen Wassermann struggles to calculate her daily risks at this stage of the coronavirus pandemic — with infections drastically undercounted and mask mandates gone. The immunocompromised 69-year-old ensconces herself in her SUV for the half-hour ferry ride across the Puget Sound from her home on Bainbridge Island to Seattle, where she undergoes treatment for the rare inflammatory condition sarcoidosis. ... Experts say Americans can assume infections in their communities are five to ten times higher than official counts. (Nirappil, Shepherd and Keating, 5/17)

Bloomberg: Covid Drugs Might Run Out In US This Summer, Official Warns
Supplies of key Covid-19 therapies are in danger of running out as soon as this summer, a senior health official said, as the Biden administration seeks more funds to fight the pandemic. Stocks of Eli Lilly & Co.’s monoclonal Covid antibody, bebtelovimab, are expected to be exhausted by July, the official said on a call, and newer omicron variants have already rendered other monoclonal treatments ineffective. Supplies of AstraZeneca Plc’s Evusheld antibody treatment could run dry by the fall, according to the official, who requested not to be identified as a condition of participation in the briefing. (Muller, 5/17)

AP: Delaware Governor Isolating After Positive COVID-19 Test 
Delaware Gov. John Carney has announced that he has tested positive for COVID-19 after experiencing mild symptoms. Carney, who turns 66 on Friday, has received the coronavirus vaccine and two booster shots. (5/17)

Los Angeles Times: Eric Clapton Tests Positive For COVID-19, Delays Concerts
Rock musician Eric Clapton, an outspoken critic of pandemic safety regulations and the COVID-19 vaccines, has tested positive for the coronavirus. Representatives for Clapton announced Monday via Facebook that the 77-year-old singer and guitarist had postponed upcoming tour dates in Zurich and Milan after “having tested positive shortly after the second concert at the Royal Albert Hall” on May 8. A year ago, Clapton said he had experienced “disastrous” side effects after getting his second dose of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine. (Carras, 5/17)

AP: 2 More Bills Targeting COVID Rules Head To Ducey's Desk
Two more bills restricting responses to the coronavirus pandemic are heading to [Arizona] Republican Gov. Doug Ducey’s desk, including one that would impact the ability of future state leaders to respond to another airborne-spreading disease and a second blocking the state from ever requiring schoolchildren to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Tuesday’s state Senate votes were the latest moves by GOP lawmakers to limit what they have called government overreach. (Christie, 5/17)

AP: Small California School District Reinstates Indoor Masking 
A small California school district began requiring indoor masking again Tuesday due to rising cases of COVID-19. Pacific Grove Unified School District at the south end of Monterey Bay announced the requirement Monday after the Monterey County Health Department reported a seven-day average test positivity rate of 5.2% and a seven-day average of 12.4 cases per 100,000 residents. (5/17)

The Washington Post: People’s Convoy Returns To D.C. Region. Here’s What You Need To Know
A group of truckers calling itself the “People’s Convoy,” which protested vaccine mandates and aired other right-wing grievances by driving around the Washington region in March, returned to the Hagerstown Speedway in Maryland on Tuesday. ... Organizers have not publicized their plans. A statement on the People’s Convoy’s official Telegram channel included calls for “civil disobedience” and apparent regret over how the demonstrations were handled in March, and an incendiary quote from participant David Riddell. (Silverman, 5/17)

Los Angeles Times: Los Angeles Doctor Accused Of Issuing Fake COVID Vaccine Cards
A Tujunga doctor accused of issuing fake COVID-19 vaccination cards and injecting some of his patients with blood plasma that he received from donors faces multiple felony and misdemeanor charges. Dr. Donald Plance, 68, was accused of forging vaccination cards and giving them to his patients between August and November, Los Angeles County prosecutors said Tuesday. The cards appeared genuine and had the seals of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Health and Human Services. (Yee, 5/17)

The Washington Post: Apple Delays Plan To Require Workers In The Office Three Days A Week 
Apple has tabled a policy that would have required workers to be in the office on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, citing the rising wave of covid-19 cases for the latest delay in its return to full-scale, in-person work. (Telford, 5/17)

CIDRAP: Estrogen Treatment Linked To Reduced COVID-19 Mortality
Women who received prescriptions for hormone replacement therapy (HRT) with estrogen within 6 months of a COVID-19 diagnosis had reduced mortality, according to a new study in Family Practice. The findings, coupled with data on sex differences between male and female COVID-19 severity, suggests estrogen may have protective role against the virus. (Soucheray, 5/17)

CIDRAP: Machine-Learning Models May Detect Patients At Risk For Long COVID-19
Machine-learning models created by a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-supported research team can identify, with high accuracy, patients likely to have long COVID, according to a study yesterday in The Lancet Digital Health. ... The three machine-learning models were designed to detect patterns of symptoms, healthcare use, demographics, and prescriptions to identify all COVID-19 patients likely to have lingering symptoms, including both hospitalized and non-hospitalized patients. (5/17)

CIDRAP: Trained Scent Dogs Detect Airline Travelers With COVID-19 
At the Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport, the dogs sniffed skin swabs from 303 incoming passengers also tested for COVID-19 using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from September 2020 to April 2021. Relative to PCR, the canines had an estimated accuracy in detecting SARS-CoV-2 of 92%, a sensitivity of 92%, and a specificity of 91%. They were much less accurate in detecting infections caused by the Alpha variant (89% for wild-type virus vs 36% for Alpha. But the latter finding also illustrates how well dogs can distinguish between different scents, the team said. "This observation is remarkable as it proves the scent dogs' robust discriminatory power," they wrote. (Van Beusekom, 5/17)

ProPublica: The COVID Testing Company That Missed 96% Of Cases
“These parents were pretty adamant that their kid was not a case and that they could play,” said Heather Kerwin, epidemiology program manager for the Washoe County Health District. A pattern emerged. Athletes would test positive on the rapid test. But before a contact tracer could call, parents would learn from the testing company that their children’s PCR tests, typically the gold standard of COVID-19 testing, were negative, even for students with symptoms. Kerwin investigated and learned the University of Nevada Reno campus was seeing similarly conflicting results. The university and school district had something in common. Both had recently hired the same company to conduct their testing: Northshore Clinical Labs. (Damon, 5/17)

The New York Times: Mayor Adams Unveils Program To Address Dyslexia In N.Y.C. Schools 
Mayor Eric Adams announced Thursday the details of a plan to turn around a literacy crisis in New York City and, in particular, to serve thousands of children in public schools who may have dyslexia, an issue deeply personal to the mayor, who has said his own undiagnosed dyslexia hurt his academic career. School officials plan to screen nearly all students for dyslexia, while 80 elementary schools and 80 middle schools will receive additional support for addressing the needs of children with dyslexia. The city will also open two new dyslexia programs — one at P.S. 125 Ralph Bunche in Harlem and the other at P.S. 161 Juan Ponce de Leon in the South Bronx — with a goal of opening similar programs in each borough by 2023. (Fadulu, 5/12)

The New York Times: Judge Faults Medical Care For Detainees In Latest Sign Of Rikers Crisis 
A state judge ruled on Tuesday that New York City’s Correction Department had failed to provide detainees with timely medical care. The ruling came the same day that city officials and a federal monitor produced a plan to potentially avoid a federal takeover of the troubled Rikers Island jail complex. (Ransom, 5/17)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: ‘Superbug’ Outbreaks Reported At Nevada Hospitals, Nursing Facilities
State and federal health authorities are investigating ongoing outbreaks at Nevada hospitals and nursing homes of a drug-resistant “superbug” that can lead to serious illness and even death. As of mid-April, the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services has been investigating outbreaks of a fungus called Candida auris at acute-care hospitals, long-term acute-care hospitals and skilled nursing facilities, according to a technical bulletin sent by the state to health care providers. (Hynes, 5/17)

CIDRAP: HPV Vaccination Programs Tied To Direct And Herd Protection In US
An analysis of US data shows the increasing impact of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination efforts that started more than a decade ago, suggesting direct protection as well as herd effects, according to a study in Annals of Internal Medicine. ... Overall, compared to pre-vaccination years, HPV prevalence decreased by 85% for females in the United States, and by 90% among vaccinated females in 2015 to 2018. Among unvaccinated females, HPV prevalence dropped 75% compared with pre-vaccination years. (5/17)

USA Today: Army Rushes Counselors To Alaska Amid Suicide Crisis
The Army is rushing more than 40 mental health counselors and chaplains to Alaska in coming weeks to address its suicide crisis among soldiers there. The move, announced by Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, follows a USA TODAY investigation that found soldiers in Alaska who had sought help for suicidal thoughts often waited weeks to see behavioral health counselors. In 2021, 17 soldiers died by confirmed or suspected suicide, more than the two previous years combined. The Army plans to send five behavioral health counselors, 17 family life counselors and 19 chaplains to meet the urgent demand among soldiers for help with mental health, Wormuth told the House Armed Services Committee. (Vanden Brook, 5/18)

Bay Area News Group: Woman Charged With Faking Credentials As Dental Hygienist In South Bay
An Arizona woman has been criminally charged with lying about her credentials and using stolen identities to work as a dental hygienist in the South Bay for at least five years, according to the Santa Clara County [California] District Attorney’s Office. Elizabeth “Mina” Larijani, 50, is charged with 16 felony and misdemeanor counts based on allegations she lied about being a state-licensed dental assistant or hygienist between 2015 and 2020. According to prosecutors’ formal complaint and investigative summary, she either worked at or applied to 11 dental offices in San Jose and Campbell. (Salonga, 5/17)

Stat: Study: Drugmakers Use Monopoly Tactics To Thwart Generic Competition For Inhalers
For more than three decades, drugmakers have used various tactics to win and extend monopolies on inhalers for combating asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which thwarted lower-cost generic competition that could have saved patients and payers countless dollars, a new analysis finds. These moves included winning patents on the devices, not just the medications in the devices; combining old ingredients into new inhalers; shifting ingredients from one inhaler to another; and adding new patent and exclusive rights bestowed by regulators after approvals. As a result, the average time from approval to the last expired patent or regulatory exclusivity was 28 years. (Silverman, 5/17)

Stat: Blood Pressure Pills Are Costly, Hard To Find In Some Lower-Income Countries
A clutch of serious challenges — high prices, a lack of effective combination pills, and a failure to register some medicines with government authorities — has restricted access to many high blood pressure drugs in a sample of low and middle-income countries, a new analysis finds. As a result, the ability to control a widespread medical condition that is a risk factor for the leading cause of death worldwide is being hindered, according to the analysis conducted by the nonprofit Resolve to Save Lives and Doctors Without Borders. The groups noted that nearly three-quarters of all people who have high blood pressure live in low- and middle-income countries, but less than 10% are effectively treated. (Silverman, 5/17)

Stat: Report Cites 'Urgent' Need To Recruit More Diverse Clinical Trial Participants
The persistent lack of diversity among participants in clinical trials is a critical issue that is harming both populations that have long been left out of pivotal medical studies and the entire biomedical research enterprise, according to the authors of a report released Tuesday by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. Describing the need to move away from trials that focus largely on white men as “urgent,” the report’s authors called for a paradigm shift that gives less power to institutions that fund and conduct clinical research and more to communities under study. The sternly worded report said funding to include and recruit more diverse participants should be a priority that is enforced and said such investments could eventually lead to massive cost savings as the nation’s health disparities are reduced. (McFarling, 5/17)

Bloomberg: Cerebral Investors Push For Founder Kyle Robertson's Dismissal
Investors in Cerebral Inc., the online mental health startup that’s the subject of a federal investigation into its prescribing practices, have pushed to dismiss its founder and chief executive officer, Kyle Robertson, according to people familiar with the matter. Robertson remains CEO, though his access to the company’s internal communications systems was revoked late Monday, said one of the people, all of whom requested anonymity discussing the attempted ouster. (Melby, Tan and Mosendz, 5/17)

The Washington Post: Pollution Caused 1 In 6 Deaths Globally For Five Years, Study Says 
In 2015, 1 in 6 deaths worldwide stemmed from poor air quality, unsafe water and toxic chemical pollution. That deadly toll — 9 million people each year — has continued unabated through 2019, killing more people than war, terrorism, road injuries, malaria, drugs and alcohol. The new findings, released Tuesday by the Lancet Planetary Health journal, shows that pollution continues to be the world’s largest environmental health threat for disease and premature deaths, with more the 90 percent of these deaths taking place in low- and middle-income countries. (Patel, 5/17)

NPR: Cutting Fossil Fuel Air Pollution Saves Lives
Tens of thousands of lives would be saved every year in the United States if common air pollution from burning fossil fuels is eliminated, according to a new study. The research underscores the huge health benefits of moving away from coal, oil and gasoline. Using data from the Environmental Protection Agency, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison estimate that about 50,000 premature deaths would be avoided every year if microscopic air pollutants called particulates were eliminated in the U.S. "These [particles] get deep into the lungs and cause both respiratory and cardiac ailments," says Jonathan Patz, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and one of the authors of the study. "They are pretty much the worst pollutant when it comes to mortality and hospitalization." (Hersher, 5/17)

Reuters: Mexico's Guerrero State Becomes Ninth To Allow Abortions 
Lawmakers in Mexico's southwestern state of Guerrero voted on Tuesday to allow abortions, making it the ninth of the country's 32 federal entities where women can legally end pregnancies amid a recent wave of loosening restrictions around the procedure. (5/17)

Stat: CDC Concerned About Possible Undetected Monkeypox Spread In U.K.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expressed concern Tuesday about an unusual outbreak of monkeypox in the United Kingdom, suggesting there appears to be at least some undetected transmission of the virus there and warning of the possibility that the outbreak could spread beyond U.K. borders. “We do have a level of concern that this is very different than what we typically think of from monkeypox. And I think we have some concern that there could be spread outside the U.K associated with this,” Jennifer McQuiston, a senior CDC official, told STAT in an interview. (Branswell, 5/17)

CIDRAP: CDC Assesses H5N1 Avian Flu Zoonotic Risk As Moderate
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently added the Eurasian H5N1 avian flu strain that is circulating globally, including in US wild birds and poultry, to the list of animal flu viruses with zoonotic potential that it is monitoring. The CDC conducted its assessment in March, after the first human case had been detected in the United Kingdom but before the second human case was reported in the United States, which involved a poultry culler in Colorado. (5/17)

AP: Pope's Recipe To Heal His Painful Knee? A Shot Of Tequila
Doctors have prescribed a wheelchair, cane and physical therapy to help heal Pope Francis’ bad knee. He has other ideas. According to a viral video of the pope at the end of a recent audience, Francis quipped that what he really needs for the pain is a shot of tequila. (5/17)