First Edition: November 18, 2021

KHN: Schools, Pediatricians Look To Make Up Lost Ground On Non-Covid Vaccinations
Melissa Blatzer was determined to get her three children caught up on their routine immunizations on a recent Saturday morning at a walk-in clinic in this Denver suburb. It had been about a year since the kids’ last shots, a delay Blatzer chalked up to the pandemic. Two-year-old Lincoln Blatzer, in his fleece dinosaur pajamas, waited anxiously in line for his hepatitis A vaccine. His siblings, 14-year-old Nyla Kusumah and 11-year-old Nevan Kusumah, were there for their TDAP, HPV and meningococcal vaccines, plus a covid-19 shot for Nyla. (Ruder, 11/18)

KHN: Stranded By The Pandemic, He Had Only Travel Insurance. It Left Him With A $38,000 Bill
Duy Hoa Tran, a retired Vietnamese schoolteacher, arrived in Los Angeles in February 2020 to visit his daughter and 2-month-old grandson. Two weeks later, the door closed behind him. To prevent the spread of covid-19, Vietnam shut its borders. No commercial flights would be allowed into the country for the next 18 months. Tran’s daughter, An Tran, who has a doctorate in business administration and teaches marketing at the University of La Verne in California, did what she thought was necessary to ensure medical coverage for her then-65-year-old father during the pandemic. But the only option for a visitor on a tourist visa was travel insurance. In early March 2020, An Tran found and purchased a policy, for about $350 a month, from a company called Seven Corners. (Allen, 11/18)

KHN: Public Opinion Is Unified On Lowering Prescription Drug Prices. Why Are Leaders Settling For Less?
Democrats and Republicans are crystal clear in polls that they want government to be allowed to negotiate down high drug prices. Americans pay nearly three times as much for drugs as patients in dozens of other countries. In the past two years, numerous Democratic candidates — including President Joe Biden — have campaigned on enacting such legislation. This year, the polling group at KFF asked respondents about support for drug price negotiations after giving them the commonly offered arguments, pro and con: On the pro side, lower prices mean people can better afford their medicines; on the con side, lower profits mean the possibility of less innovation and fewer new drugs. Large majorities supported the idea of Medicare negotiating with pharmaceutical firms to get lower prices for both its beneficiaries and people with private insurance: 83% overall, including 95% of Democrats, 82% of independents and 71% of Republicans. (Rosenthal, 11/18)

The Hill: Moderna Requests Emergency Authorization For Booster Dose For All Adults
Moderna has submitted a request to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to authorize booster doses of its coronavirus vaccine for all adults, seeking to expand the number of people eligible for a third shot. The vaccine manufacturer announced that it asked the FDA to allow the 71 million adults initially vaccinated with Moderna’s shots to get a third dose, as emerging data shows boosters offer better protection. The 50 microgram dosage in Moderna’s booster is half of the 100 micrograms used for the first two shots for adults. (Coleman, 11/17)

The New York Times: The F.D.A. Could Authorize Moderna Boosters For All Adults As Early As This Week
Moderna has asked federal regulators to authorize booster shots of its coronavirus vaccine for all adults, a request that the Food and Drug Administration could grant as early as this week along with a similar request from Pfizer, according to people familiar with the planning. If the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also signs off every adult who was fully vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna shot at least six months ago would not only be eligible for a booster, but could choose which vaccine. The agency’s committee of independent experts is set to meet Friday to discuss booster shots. (LaFraniere and Weiland, 11/17)

The Washington Post: Administration To Invest Billions In Vaccine Manufacturing To Increase Supply For Poor Nations
Wednesday’s announcement marks the latest partnership between the federal government and pharmaceutical companies to bolster vaccine production during the pandemic. “The goal is to guarantee capacity to produce approximately 100 million mRNA vaccines a month against covid or other pandemic viruses upon demand for the United States or global use,” said David Kessler, the administration’s chief science officer who oversees vaccine distribution. “We are looking to enter into a historic partnership with one or more experienced pharmaceutical partners. This partnership will be used for covid and any future pandemic viruses with the goal of having enough vaccines available within six to nine months of the identification of the virus.” (Pager and Diamond, 11/17)

AP: US Overdose Deaths Topped 100,000 In One Year, Officials Say
An estimated 100,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in one year, a never-before-seen milestone that health officials say is tied to the COVID-19 pandemic and a more dangerous drug supply. Overdose deaths have been rising for more than two decades, accelerated in the past two years and, according to new data posted Wednesday, jumped nearly 30% in the latest year. President Joe Biden called it “a tragic milestone” in a statement, as administration officials pressed Congress to devote billions of dollars more to address the problem. (Stobbe, 11/18)

The New York Times: Overdose Deaths Reached Record High As The Pandemic Spread
Americans died of drug overdoses in record numbers as the pandemic spread across the country, federal researchers reported on Wednesday, the result of lost access to treatment, rising mental health problems and wider availability of dangerously potent street drugs. In the 12-month period that ended in April, more than 100,000 Americans died of overdoses, up almost 30 percent from the 78,000 deaths in the prior year, according to provisional figures from the National Center for Health Statistics. The figure marks the first time the number of overdose deaths in the United States has exceeded 100,000 a year, more than the toll of car crashes and gun fatalities combined. Overdose deaths have more than doubled since 2015. (Caryn Rabin, 11/17)

The New York Times: The White House Estimates Nearly 10 Percent Of Younger Children Have Gotten A First Shot
The pace of vaccination against the coronavirus among newly eligible younger children is accelerating, and nearly 10 percent of the nation’s 5- to 11-year olds have already had their first shot, the White House estimated on Wednesday. Last week alone, 1.7 million young children were vaccinated, about double the previous week, Jeff Zients, President Biden’s coronavirus response coordinator, said at a White House Covid-19 briefing. The administration estimates that by the end of Wednesday, 2.6 million of the 28 million children in that age group will have had their first of two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the only one currently authorized for them. (Gay Stolberg, 11/17)

Los Angeles Times: 14 Children In California Get Double Dose Of COVID-19 Vaccine
On Saturday, Denise Iserloth took her two sons, ages 8 and 11, to get vaccinated against COVID-19. A few hours later, the older boy lost his balance and fell twice. Both boys complained of stomachaches and nausea. Soon, Iserloth found out why. The clinic, Sutter Health in Antioch, had given her sons twice the dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine that children their age should receive. Twelve other children also received the double dose. (Solis, 11/17)

NBC News: Hospitalizations Rising Among Fully Vaccinated In U.S., Fauci Says
As cases of Covid-19 rise throughout the U.S., health officials warn that an increasing number of fully vaccinated people are being hospitalized or going to the emergency room. The concern about waning immunity against severe Covid infection comes as the Food and Drug Administration is expected to authorize a Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine booster shot for all adults 18 and older. “What we’re starting to see now is an uptick in hospitalizations among people who’ve been vaccinated but not boosted,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease, said Tuesday in an interview. “It’s a significant proportion, but not the majority by any means.” (Syal, 11/17)

Bloomberg: Colorado Hospitals ‘Threatened’ With Just 75 ICU Beds Open
The number of hospital intensive care unit beds available in Colorado, a state with a population of 5.7 million people, is just 75 as of Wednesday, a new pandemic low, officials said. The number of available medical-surgical unit beds also set a new low of 575, Scott Bookman, Covid-19 incident commander at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, said during an online news briefing. Bookman noted bed availability data vary hour-by-hour, but warned “our health care system is so, so threatened right now” and staffing is low. (Del Giudice, 11/17)

AP: Defense Department Will Help Relieve 2 Minnesota Hospitals
The Department of Defense will send medical teams to two major Minnesota hospitals to relieve doctors and nurses who are swamped by a growing wave of COVID-19 patients, Gov. Tim Walz announced Wednesday. The teams, each comprising 22 people, will arrive at Hennepin County Medical Center and St. Cloud Hospital next week and begin treating patients immediately, Walz said in a conference call from the Finnish capital of Helsinki. the latest stop on his European trade mission. (Karnowski, 11/17)

The New York Times: Officials Expect Travel For Thanksgiving To Approach Prepandemic Levels
Airline travel this Thanksgiving season is expected to approach prepandemic levels, Transportation Security Administration officials said Wednesday. The agency is preparing to handle about 20 million air passengers. “We are staffed and prepared for the holiday travelers,” David Pekoske, the T.S.A. administrator, said in a statement. The large volume of travelers expected comes as inoculation rates across the country have risen, allowing many families to gather safely for the first time since 2019, when T.S.A. screened 26 million people. The uptick also signals a willingness by people across the country to resume customary holiday travel. (Medina, 11/17)

Bloomberg: Gates Says Covid Deaths May Drop To Flu Levels By Mid-2022
Covid deaths and infection rates may dip below seasonal flu levels by the middle of next year assuming new dangerous variants don’t emerge in the meantime, Bill Gates said. Between natural and vaccine immunity and emerging oral treatments, “the death rate and the disease rate ought to be coming down pretty dramatically,” the billionaire founder of Microsoft Corp. said Thursday at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore. The constraints on vaccinating the world against Covid-19 will shift next year, Gates said, as supply issues are resolved and replaced by questions of how to logistically distribute them all. (Wallbank, 11/18)

The Washington Post: Vaccine Mandate: Oklahoma National Guard Commander Defends Rejecting Order As Pentagon Warns Troops Who Refuse
The Oklahoma National Guard’s commanding general Wednesday defended his directive countermanding federal requirements that all U.S. military personnel be vaccinated against the coronavirus, telling troops in a private town hall event that he was following orders from the state’s Republican governor and meant no disrespect to his superiors at the Pentagon. Brig. Gen. Thomas Mancino, speaking to several dozen members of the Oklahoma National Guard in Oklahoma City, cast himself as an apolitical leader bound by law to answer to Gov. Kevin Stitt (R), who fired the state’s previous National Guard commander last week and ordered Mancino the next day to issue a policy allowing members to avoid the vaccine. (Horton and Lamothe, 11/17)

AP: Florida GOP Limits Vaccine Mandates, Flouting White House
Florida Republicans approved a sweeping bill Wednesday to hobble coronavirus vaccine mandates in businesses, rejecting claims that they were sacrificing public health to hand Gov. Ron DeSantis a win in his fight against White House virus rules. Lawmakers in the GOP-controlled statehouse expedited the measure, along with a package of virus bills, after hours of debate in which Republicans maintained they were protecting workers from onerous mandates by the federal government. (Izaguirre, 11/18)

Bloomberg: Florida Legislature Clears Rules To Fine Employers For Vaccine Mandates
Florida’s Republican-controlled legislature approved rules on Wednesday to punish companies that enforce strict Covid-19 vaccine mandates for employees. In a special session this week in Tallahassee, lawmakers agreed with Governor Ron DeSantis that companies must give employees the chance to opt out of mandates. If a worker is fired for noncompliance, companies with fewer than 100 employees could face $10,000 fines and larger ones could be hit with penalties of $50,000. (Levin, 11/17)

AP: Idaho Legislature Adjourns After Senate Kills Vaccine Bills
The Legislature took a five-month break before returning Monday for three days that saw a final spasm of three dozen pieces of legislation. The bills mainly centered around COVID-19 vaccines and mask mandates. But the only one to make it through both chambers was a non-binding declaration stating opposition to President Joe Biden’s vaccine requirements for federal workers and contractors and vaccine requirements for large employers and health care employers. (Ridler, 11/18)

Politico: Legal Brawl Over Biden's Vaccine Mandate Could Curb Other Workplace Safety Efforts
Some of the legal challenges argue, in part, that Congress didn’t give the Occupational Safety and Health Administration — the agency that issued the mandate — the authority to do so, and even if Congress did, then it shouldn’t have. If the Supreme Court were to embrace that line of thinking, it could “have serious implications on the constitutionality” of other OSHA rules and regulations, said Benjamin Noren, associate chair of the Labor and Employment group at the law firm Davidoff Hutcher & Citron. (Rainey, 11/17)

The Hill: Disney Cruises Will Require Vaccines For All Passengers Over 5 Years Old
Disney Cruise Line on Wednesday announced a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all passengers ages 5 and up. The new requirement goes into effect on Jan. 13. Prior to that date, children ages 5 through 11 who aren't vaccinated can instead complete a testing requirement. Starting on Jan. 13, all passengers over 5 must be fully vaccinated to board. Passengers under 5 will need to show proof of negative COVID-19 test results from between three days and 24 hours before the cruise departs. (Polus, 11/17)

The Hill: NFL Revises COVID-19 Protocols Ahead Of Thanksgiving
The NFL is revising its COVID-19 protocols for players and team staff ahead of its Thanksgiving slate of games. In a memo sent to teams Tuesday, the league said it would mandate that both vaccinated and unvaccinated team personnel wear masks indoors for a week beginning on Thanksgiving. Team personnel will also be required to undergo two COVID-19 tests on Monday, Nov. 29, and Wednesday, Dec. 1, according to the memo, obtained by The Hill. (Oshin, 11/17)

Capital & Main: Surprise, Surprise. The COVID Vaccine Mandates Are Working
In San Francisco earlier this month, a 17-year veteran of the city’s police force died while on leave from his job. Jack Nyce tested positive for COVID-19 on a Tuesday and passed away four days later after being rushed to a hospital, his wife said. Nyce, 46, had been placed on leave for his failure to get vaccinated by Nov. 1 as required by the city. The tragic story obscures a larger point that ought to be examined on its own: As of Nov. 2, the day after the city-imposed deadline, 97.5% of the S.F. Police Department was fully vaccinated. That is 2,747 out of a possible 2,817 workers. Even by San Francisco’s robust standards, that’s more than 20% higher than the fully-vaccinated rate for the city’s residents at large. (Kreidler, 11/16)

AP: New Mexico Governor: Full Vaccination Means Boosters Too
Going a step beyond federal guidance, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Wednesday that she believes being fully vaccinated means three shots and she pushed for all adults in her state who are eligible to get their boosters. She made the comments during a virtual pandemic briefing, citing the increasing number of COVID-19 infections among residents who received their vaccinations more than six months ago. (Montoya Bryan, 11/18)

Bloomberg: As States Defy U.S. On Boosters, Health Experts Raise Concerns 
Currently, booster shots in the U.S. should be limited to those with pre-existing medical conditions and people 65 or older, according to guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But so far, health departments in New York, New Jersey, California and six other states have independently broadened access to Covid-19 boosters, and that number is expected to grow. The diverging guidance has some health experts worried. “I think that it is a very bad idea and precedent for states and localities to jump the gun,” said Jesse Goodman, a professor of medicine at Georgetown University and former Food and Drug Administration chief scientist. “Even if well intentioned, acting locally injects politics and undermines the national system of expert and transparent vaccine assessment.” (Rutherford, 11/17)

The Wall Street Journal: The Ottawa Senators Have A 100% Vaccination Rate—And 40% Of The Team Has Tested Positive For Covid
The NHL announced the suspension of the Senators’ season through at least Nov. 20 after 10 players and one coach tested positive in recent days. The team says it is fully vaccinated, but hasn’t specified which shots players have received. After nearly two years in which sports have delivered some of the most vivid case studies in public health, the Senators are presenting yet another: just how much Covid can still spread when a vaccinated group of people gather in poorly ventilated places and get up in each other’s bare faces. That’s a problem for every sport that plays indoors—and a warning for every coming holiday party. (Radnofsky and Higgins, 11/17)

Modern Healthcare: CMS Officially Delays Drugmakers' Best Price Requirement
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Wednesday gave drugmakers six more months to comply with the Trump-era regulation requiring them to calculate the "best price" for drugs under Medicaid's drug rebate program using discounts they offer patients. The new final rule will officially delay best prices reporting from Jan. 1, 2022, to July 1, 2022. (Devereaux, 11/17)

Modern Healthcare: Air Ambulance Trade Association Sues Feds Over Surprise Billing Law
The Association of Air Medical Services sued the federal government to block regulations shaping a new law that wouldn't make patients pay for unexpected out-of-network charges associated with emergency care. The air ambulance trade association alleged that the "overreaching" interim final rules unilaterally adopted by HHS, the U.S. Labor Department and other federal agencies would give insurers too much power in the arbitration process, force the air ambulance providers to accept "deflated" rates and limit access to emergency care, according to a complaint filed Tuesday in a Washington D.C. federal court. The No Surprises Act, which levels cost-sharing across in-network and out-of-network claims, holds patients harmless from balance bills and provides an independent resolution process, will go into effect Jan. 1. (Kacik, 11/17)

Modern Healthcare: Feds Require Health Plans To Report Drug, Coverage Costs Under New Rule
Health insurers, employers and other group health plan sponsors must report prescription drug and health coverage costs for consumers under a federal regulation published Wednesday. The interim finale rule is the fourth regulation to date implementing the No Surprises Act. The Health and Human Services Department, Labor Department, Treasury Department and Office of Personnel Management promulgated the regulation. (Goldman, 11/17)

Modern Healthcare: Congress Targets Uncompensated Care Pools In Non-Expansion States
Congressional Democrats are renewing a fight with states like Texas and Florida that haven't expanded Medicaid to low-income adults, targeting one of their key sources of funding for hospitals: uncompensated care pools. President Joe Biden's $1.75 trillion domestic policy package, which the House could vote on as soon as this week, would limit federal payments for uncompensated care in states that haven't expanded Medicaid. (Hellman, 11/17)

The Wall Street Journal: SEC Investigating Cassava Sciences, Developer Of Experimental Alzheimer’s Drug
The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating claims that Cassava Sciences Inc., SAVA -23.70% the sixth-best performing U.S. stock this year, manipulated research results of its experimental Alzheimer’s drug, according to people familiar with the matter. Cassava disclosed Monday in a securities filing that it is cooperating with government investigations, without naming any agency. Cassava said an investigation isn’t a sign that wrongdoing occurred. An SEC spokeswoman declined to comment. The National Institutes of Health, which awarded $20 million in grants to Cassava and its academic collaborators since 2015 for drug development, is also examining the claims, according to the company’s chief executive officer. (Michaels and Walker, 11/17)

The Wall Street Journal: Catholic Bishops Drop Effort To Ban Communion For Politicians Who Support Abortion Rights
The Catholic bishops of the U.S. ended a nearly yearlong debate Wednesday over whether to bar politicians who support abortion rights from receiving the Eucharist, passing new guidance on Communion that doesn’t address the issue. The measure passed by a vote of 222-8 and was followed by applause at a gathering here of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The vote was the culmination of a debate that has taken most of the year and exposed deep ideological divisions in the church—particularly between U.S. bishops and Rome. (Lovett and Rocca, 11/17)

AP: Women Sue Yale Over Fentanyl Switch-Up At Fertility Clinic
Seven women who say they suffered excruciating pain after a nurse stole fentanyl for her personal use and replaced it with saline sued Yale University on Wednesday, alleging it of failing to safeguard its supply of the painkilling opioid at a fertility clinic. The women say they underwent painful and invasive procedures for in vitro fertilization and were supposed to receive fentanyl at the Yale University Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility clinic in Orange, Connecticut, last year. Unbeknownst to them, they received saline instead of fentanyl, and when they told staff of their extreme pain during and after the procedures, their concerns were dismissed, according to the lawsuit filed in state court in Waterbury by the women and their spouses. (Collins, 11/17)

The Hill: More Than 100 Democrats Sign Onto Bill Ensuring Access To Birth Control
More than 100 Democrats in the House and Senate signed onto a bill aimed at ensuring access to birth control and preventing pharmacies from refusing to provide contraceptives. Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday reintroduced the bicameral legislation designed to protect people’s ability to get Food and Drug Administration-approved birth control, including emergency contraception and medication, from pharmacies. (Coleman, 11/17)

AP: Massachusetts Senate Approves Sweeping Mental Health Bill
The Massachusetts Senate unanimously approved a bill Wednesday that would guarantee Massachusetts residents are eligible for annual mental health wellness exams at no cost — akin to annual physical exams. The sweeping bill, which passed on a 39-0 vote, would also create an online portal to help smooth the transition from emergency to longer-term care; establish a panel to help resolve barriers to care for children with complex behavioral health needs who find themselves in an emergency room; and dedicate $122 million to support nearly 2,000 behavioral professionals. (LeBlanc, 11/17)

AP: Rittenhouse Trial Arguments Worry Mental Health Advocates
Joseph Rosenbaum had been on medication for bipolar disorder and depression, and he was trying to take Rittenhouse’s rifle, attorney Mark Richards said, suggesting there could have been more bloodshed if Rittenhouse hadn’t acted. “I’m glad he shot him because if Joseph Rosenbaum got that gun I don’t for a minute believe he wouldn’t have used it against somebody else,” Richards said during closing arguments in the 18-year-old Illinois man’s trial for killing Rosenbaum and another man and wounding a third during a chaotic night of protests in August 2020. To some legal experts and other observers, Richards’ remarks were a smart courtroom strategy and an accurate depiction of the threat faced by Rittenhouse, who says he shot the men in self-defense. But mental health advocates heard something different: a dangerous assumption that people living with mental illness are homicidal and need to be killed, and terminology such as “crazy” that they say is pejorative and adds to the stigma surrounding mental health issues. (Burnett, 11/18)

AP: Callers To Global Helplines Voiced Similar Pandemic Worries
Fears of infection. Loneliness. Worries about physical health. As the coronavirus spread across borders early in the pandemic, calls to global helplines showed a striking similarity in the toll on mental health — from China to Lebanon, Finland to Slovenia. An analysis of 8 million calls to helplines in 19 countries, published Wednesday in Nature, reveals a collective response to unprecedented, uncertain times. (Tanner, 11/17)

AP: Texas Abortion Ban Stays In Force As Justices Mull Outcome
More than two weeks have passed since the Supreme Court’s extraordinarily rushed arguments over Texas’ unique abortion law without any word from the justices. They raised expectations of quick action by putting the case on a rarely used fast track. And yet, to date, the court’s silence means that women cannot get an abortion in Texas, the second-largest state, after about six weeks of pregnancy. That’s before some women know they’re pregnant and long before high court rulings dating to 1973 that allow states to ban abortion. There has been no signal on when the court might act and no formal timetable for reaching a decision. (Sherman, 11/18)

ABC News: State Health Department Raises Alarm As Campus Flu Outbreak Climbs To Over 500 Cases
Public health officials are investigating an influenza outbreak at a Michigan university that has resulted in more than 500 cases, as several schools have also seen surges in flu activity. The University of Michigan's Ann Arbor campus in Washtenaw County has reported over 525 cases among students since Oct. 6 -- about three-quarters of them among people unvaccinated against the flu, school officials said this week. (Deliso, 11/18)

NPR: Head Lice Are Spreading Again, Despite Physical Distancing At Schools
The Marker family opened their door on a recent evening in Parker, Colo., to a woman dressed in purple, with a military attitude to cleanliness. Linda Holmes, who has worked as a technician with LiceDoctors for five years, came straight from her day job at a hospital after she got the call from a dispatcher that the Marker family needed her ASAP. (Bichell, 11/18)

CBS News: Rare Monkeypox Case Reported In Maryland
A Maryland resident who recently returned to the country on a flight from Nigeria has tested positive for monkeypox, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday. It is the second confirmed case of the rare disease in the U.S. since an outbreak infected 43 people in 2003. The infected person is experiencing mild symptoms. They are not hospitalized but remain in isolation in Maryland, the Maryland Department of Health said in a press release. The CDC said lab tests confirmed the case is the same strain of the virus that has been re-emerging in Nigeria since 2017. The Nigerian strain is generally less severe, the state's health department said. (Powell, 11/17)

The New York Times: Second U.S. Case Of Monkeypox This Year Is Discovered In Maryland
A case of monkeypox, a rare but potentially serious viral illness, was identified in a Maryland resident who had recently returned from Nigeria, making it the second case in the United States this year, health officials said. They said the risk that the virus would spread was low. The person was in isolation with mild symptoms but was not hospitalized, the Maryland Department of Health said in a statement on Tuesday. The agency did not identify the traveler. (Lukpat, 11/17)

Bloomberg: Millions Miss Out On Antibiotics In Echo Of Vaccine Inequity
Efforts to widen access to antibiotics and reduce the threat of superbugs are running into the same problems that have kept Covid vaccines out of reach in many lower-income nations, a report shows. Only a third of vital antibiotics and antifungals have strategies or licensing agreements to expand their availability, according to the Access to Medicine Foundation, based in Amsterdam. That’s limiting supplies in regions where the risk of drug-resistant infections is highest. (Paton, 11/18)

Reuters: AstraZeneca COVID-19 Antibody Drug Offers 83% Protection Over Six Months
AstraZeneca (AZN.L) on Thursday cemented its lead in bringing a preventative COVID-19 shot for the non-infected to market for people who do not respond well to vaccines, saying its antibody drug cocktail offered 83% protection over six months. The injected therapy, called AZD7442 or Evusheld, had previously been shown to confer 77% protection against symptomatic illness after three months, in an earlier readout of the late-stage PROVENT trial in August. (Aripaka, 11/18)

CIDRAP: Monoclonal Antibodies Shown Effective For Breakthrough COVID-19 Cases
New research from the Mayo Clinic shows monoclonal antibodies reduce the risk of hospitalization 77% in 1,395 patients who had breakthrough COVID-19 infections. The research was published yesterday in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. To conduct the retrospective study, researchers compared outcomes of confirmed COVID-19 patients who were fully vaccinated treated with either bamlanivimab, bamlanivimab-etesevimab, or casirivimab-imdevimab, as single infusion from January to August 16, 2021, to those who did not receive treatment. (11/17)

CIDRAP: Study: Immune-Suppressed Not At Higher Risk Of Poor COVID Outcomes
A large US study finds that hospitalized COVID-19 patients taking medications that suppress the immune system, including cancer patients, are not at overall higher risk for dying of their infection or requiring invasive mechanical ventilation than those not taking these drugs. Early in the pandemic, immunosuppressed patients were thought to be at elevated risk of poor COVID-19 outcomes. Some damage to the lungs and other organs in severe infections are believed to result from overactivation of the immune system, and by summer 2020, physicians were treating severe COVID-19 with immunosuppressive drugs such as dexamethasone, the researchers noted. (Van Beusekom, 11/17)

Reuters: Antibody Protection After Mild COVID-19 May Not Last
Nearly everyone who had a mild case of COVID-19 still has antibodies to the coronavirus a year later, but that might not protect them from new variants, a small study suggests. Among 43 Australians who dealt with mild COVID-19 early in the pandemic, 90% still had antibodies 12 months later. But only 51.2% had antibodies that showed "neutralizing activity" against the original version of the virus and only 44.2% had antibodies that could neutralize the early Alpha variant, the research team at the University of Adelaide reported on Thursday on medRxiv ahead of peer review. (Lapid, 11/17)

Reuters: UK Study Suggests Delta Subvariant Less Likely To Cause Symptoms
A subvariant of Delta that is growing in Britain is less likely to lead to symptomatic COVID-19 infection, a coronavirus prevalence survey found, adding that overall cases had dropped from a peak in October. The Imperial College London REACT-1 study, released on Thursday, found that the subvariant, known as AY.4.2, had grown to be nearly 12% of samples sequenced, but only a third had "classic" COVID symptoms, compared with nearly a half of those with the currently dominant Delta lineage AY.4. (Smout, 11/18)

The New York Times: Biogen’s Alzheimer’s Drug Is Unlikely To Win E.U. Approval
The drug maker Biogen said on Wednesday that a panel of drug reviewers in the European Union had indicated that its new Alzheimer’s drug was unlikely to be approved there, the latest setback for a medication that has been mired in controversy since it was approved in the United States in June. Biogen said a committee of experts that advises the European Medicines Agency had issued a “negative trend vote” — a preliminary signal that typically precedes a recommendation that the drug not be approved — on the company’s application for the drug, Aduhelm, this month. The panel will formalize its recommendation at a meeting next month. (Robbins, 11/17)

AP: New Research Offers Glimpse Into Early Human Development
Scientists have been able to get a rare glimpse into a crucial, early stage of human development by analyzing an embryo in its third week after fertilization — a moment in time that has been difficult to study because of both practical and ethical considerations. European researchers looked at a single embryo that was 16 to 19 days old, donated by a woman who ended her pregnancy. Until now, experts said, researchers have lacked a full understanding of this stage of development because human embryos at this stage are difficult to obtain. Most women don’t yet know they’re pregnant by this point and decades-old global guidelines have until recently prohibited growing human embryos in a lab beyond 14 days. (Ungar, 11/17)

The New York Times: The DNA Of Roma People Has Long Been Misused, Scientists Reveal
For decades, geneticists have collected the blood of thousands of Roma people, a marginalized group living in Europe, and deposited their DNA in public databases. The ostensible purpose of some of these studies was to learn more about the history and genetics of the Roma people. Now, a group of scientists has argued this research, which has made the Roma the most intensely studied population in Europe over the past 30 years in forensic genetic journals, is rife with ethical issues and may harm the Romani people. (Imbler, 11/17)

The Wall Street Journal: Pfizer Searches For New CFO As Frank D’Amelio Retires
Pfizer Inc. is looking for a new chief financial officer following the retirement of its longtime CFO, Frank D’Amelio. The New York-based drugmaker said Wednesday that it is conducting an external search for Mr. D’Amelio’s successor. Mr. D’Amelio has served as CFO since joining the company in 2007 from telecommunications giant Alcatel-Lucent. He plans to remain with Pfizer until a successor is found. (Broughton, 11/17)

Los Angeles Times: Whistleblower Or Flamethrower? California Medical Board Member Calls Out His Colleagues
The pleas for help find him. They arrive by email or seep into his social media account. One showed up in a tightly sealed letter to his home. After years of feeling ignored by the Medical Board of California, the writers hope he’ll finally be the one who hears them. Eserick “TJ” Watkins can guess the types of allegations that could be waiting inside: the stories of a doctor’s misconduct that left an over-prescribed teen addicted, a father missing a limb, a daughter dead. He has heard hundreds of these cases as a member of the medical board, which oversees the discipline of doctors in the state. (Gutierrez, 11/17)

Modern Healthcare: Aetna Sues COVID-19 Testing Companies, Alleges Fraud
Aetna is taking a group of related radiology companies to court and accusing them of overcharging for unauthorized COVID-19 tests to the tune of at least $580,000. (Tepper, 11/17)

Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Professional Data Startup H1 Reels In $100 Million In Funding
H1 Inc., a startup that pitches itself as a social network and database for healthcare professionals, raised $100 million in new financing, according to a company blog post on Tuesday. Altimeter Capital led the Series C funding round, with additional investments from Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Flex Capital. H1 plans to use the new money to grow its existing business and expand into new markets, having primarily focused on helping life sciences companies connect with doctors for clinical trials to this point. (Brady, 11/17)

Modern Healthcare: ProMedica, AAA Pilot Joint Venture For Aging Americans
ProMedica and AAA Club Alliance on Wednesday announced plans for a new healthcare joint venture targeting aging Americans. AAA HealthCONNECT powered by ProMedica will officially launch in early 2022 in Ohio and will be available to those 55 and older who sign up for a membership. The goal is for the offering to be a "one-stop shop" that will help people "navigate the aging process," said Tom Wiedemann, president and CEO of AAA Club Alliance. (Christ, 11/17)

The Wall Street Journal: Nurse Salaries Rise As Demand For Their Services Soars During Covid-19 Pandemic
Nurses are winning raises worth thousands of dollars a year from hospitals, the latest employer reckoning with a tight labor market. HCA Healthcare Inc., HCA 0.89% one of the nation’s largest hospital chains, increased nurse pay this year to handle heavy Covid-19 pandemic case loads and keep pace with rivals that are also trying to fill vacancies and hold on to existing staff, the company’s human resources chief said. Raises varied by market; an HCA spokesman declined to say by what amounts. (Evans, 11/17)

Los Angeles Times: In South L.A., A Legacy Of Limbs Lost To Diabetes Tells A Larger Story
The loss of limbs embodies the enduring grief of generations in South L.A. — of entrenched poverty, the dearth of both supermarkets with fresh food and parks to promote exercise, and a deeply deficient primary healthcare system that relies on low payouts from the state’s Medi-Cal program and a scant number of qualified doctors. “The tragedy is our community lacks almost every type of healthcare that you can think of and that most of us take for granted,” said Dr. Elaine Batchlor, the chief executive of Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital. (Mozingo, 11/17)

The Wall Street Journal: Former Pittsburgh Steel Mill To Become Biomedical-Manufacturing Plant With Mellon Grant 
The Richard King Mellon Foundation announced a $100 million grant to fund a center for biomedical manufacturing, the latest piece in a plan to redevelop a stretch of riverfront outside Pittsburgh nearly half the size of the city’s downtown. The 178-acre property known as Hazelwood Green is the site of a former LTV Steel mill that shut in the 1990s. The $100 million grant will fund a bio-manufacturing facility called the Pitt BioForge to be run by the University of Pittsburgh, with the aim of attracting companies that produce cell and gene therapies to treat cancer and other health conditions. (Maher, 11/17)

AP: WHO: Europe Is Only Region With Increasing COVID Deaths
The World Health Organization says coronavirus deaths in Europe rose 5% in the last week, making it the only region in the world where COVID-19 deaths increased. The U.N. health agency said confirmed cases jumped 6% globally, driven by increases in the Americas, Europe and Asia. In its weekly report on the pandemic issued late Tuesday, WHO said COVID-19 deaths in all regions other than Europe remained stable or declined, and totaled 50,000 worldwide last week. Of the 3.3 million new infections reported, 2.1 million came from Europe. (11/17)