First Edition: Oct. 19, 2020

KHN: UVA Health Still Squeezing Money From Patients — By Seizing Their Home Equity
Doris Hutchinson wanted to use money from the sale of her late mother’s house to help her grandchildren go to college. Then she learned the University of Virginia Health System was taking $38,000 of the proceeds because a 13-year-old medical bill owed by her deceased brother had somehow turned into a lien on the property. “It was a mess,” she said. “There are bills I could pay with that money. I could pay off my car, for one thing.” (Hancock, 10/19)

KHN: Health Care Groups Dive Into Property Tax Ballot Fight, Eyeing Public Health Money
A November ballot initiative to raise property taxes on big-business owners in California is drawing unconventional political support from health care power players and public health leaders. They see Proposition 15 as a potential savior for chronically underfunded local health departments struggling to respond to the worst public health crisis in more than a century. The initiative would change California’s property tax system to tax some commercial properties higher than residential properties, which backers say could generate billions to help local governments pay for critical public health infrastructure and staffing. (Hart, 10/19)

KHN: ‘An Arm And A Leg’: Vetting TikTok Mom’s Advice For Dealing With Debt Collectors 
TikTok mom Shaunna Burns used to be a debt collector, so she knows a few things about what’s legal and what’s not when a company contacts you to settle a debt. We fact-checked her advice with a legal expert: Jenifer Bosco, an attorney with the National Consumer Law Center. Bosco said most of Burns’ advice totally checks out. A recent report from ProPublica shows that debt collectors have thrived during the pandemic; they’re out in force to get people to pay up. But we have rights. Scroll down for some consumer protection resources. (Weissmann, 10/19)

Reuters: Global Coronavirus Cases Surpass The 40 Million Milestone
Worldwide coronavirus cases crossed 40 million on Monday, according to a Reuters tally, as the onset of winter in the northern hemisphere fuelled a resurgence in the spread of the disease. The Reuters tally is based on official reporting by individual countries. Experts believe the true numbers of both cases and deaths are likely much higher, given deficiencies in testing and potential under-reporting by some countries. The Reuters data shows the pace of the pandemic continues to pick up. It took just 32 days to go from 30 million global cases to 40 million, compared with the 38 days it took to get from 20 to 30 million, the 44 days between 10 and 20 million, and the three months it took to reach 10 million cases from when the first cases were reported in Wuhan, China, in early January. (Ahluwalia and Abraham, 10/19)

CNBC: U.S. May Face 'Substantial Third Wave' Of Coronavirus Cases, Experts Warn
Colder temperatures are arriving in the Northern Hemisphere, and an insidious rise in new coronavirus cases in the U.S. and Europe is underway. For months, health officials have warned against this possibility, and as these trends begin to materialize, countries are weighing whether to impose stricter measures to contain the virus’ spread. (Higgins-Dunn, Feuer and Rattner, 10/17)

The New York Times: Pfizer Says It Won’t Seek Vaccine Authorization Before Mid-November
Close watchers of the vaccine race had already known that Pfizer wouldn’t be able to meet the requirements of the Food and Drug Administration by the end of this month. But Friday’s announcement represents a shift in tone for the company and its leader, who has repeatedly emphasized the month of October in interviews and public appearances. In doing so, the company had aligned its messaging with that of [President Trump], who has made no secret of his desire for an approved vaccine before the election. (Thomas and Weiland, 10/18)

AP: Pfizer: Mid-November Earliest It Can Seek Virus Vaccine OK
Pfizer Inc. cannot request emergency authorization of its COVID-19 vaccine before the third week of November -- and that’s if everything goes well, the company’s CEO announced Friday. Despite President Donald Trump’s repeated promises of a vaccine before Election Day, scientists have been cautioning that it’s unlikely data showing a leading shot actually works would come until November or December. (10/16)

Stat: Pfizer Won't Seek Covid-19 Vaccine Approval Before Mid-November 
An analysis of the efficacy of the vaccine could be available sooner, the company said in an open letter from its CEO, Albert Bourla, but required safety data will take longer. The timelines included in the letter are not new, based on disclosures the company has previously made about the status of its vaccine effort with the German biotechnology firm BioNTech. But the need for Bourla, who had previously said a vaccine could be available by October, to make a public announcement emphasizes the tense political conditions surrounding the race for a vaccine. (Herper, 10/16)

The Washington Post: Federal Judge Strikes Down Trump Plan To Slash Food Stamps For 700,000 Unemployed Americans 
In a scathing 67-page opinion, Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell of D.C. condemned the Agriculture Department for failing to justify or even address the impact of the sweeping change on states, saying its shortcomings had been placed in stark relief amid the coronavirus pandemic, during which unemployment has quadrupled and rosters of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program have grown by more than 17 percent, with more than 6 million new enrollees. (Hsu, 10/18)

The Hill: Federal Judge Strikes Down Trump's Cuts On Food Stamps For Unemployed 
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., moved Sunday to end the Trump administration's changes to the federal food stamps program that would have likely ended the benefits for tens of thousands of Americans. In a ruling reported by The Washington Post, Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell wrote that the Department of Agriculture had not adequately addressed how its decision to remove the ability of cities to waive work requirements for the program in economically-distressed areas would affect states around the country. (Bowden, 10/18)

USA Today: Trump Administration To Labs: Finish COVID-19 Tests In Two Days Or Face Payment Cuts
Labs that take longer than two days to complete coronavirus tests will see federal payments cut $25 per test under a new policy to begin Jan. 1. The agency overseeing Medicare will pay labs $100 per coronavirus test completed on a high-volume machine within two days of collecting a specimen. Labs that take longer will get only $75 per test next year, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (Alltucker, 10/18)

McKnight's Long Term Care News: CMS Will Pay More To Labs That Process COVID-19 Tests Quicker Starting Jan. 1
In mid-April the agency announced that it was doubling the pay rate to $100 per test to labs using high throughput technology, meaning that, in essence, Thursday’s announcement reveals a $25 penalty to those labs that don’t produce results within two days. The agency explained the new payment amounts ($100 and $75) reflect the resource costs laboratories face for completing COVID-19 diagnostic tests using high throughput technology. (Brown, 10/16)

AP: Twitter Blocks Tweet From Trump Adviser Downplaying Masks
Twitter blocked a post Sunday from an adviser to President Donald Trump who suggested that masks do not work to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Scott Atlas, who joined the White House in August as a science adviser, had tweeted “Masks work? NO,” and said widespread use of masks is not supported. (Bussewitz, 10/18)

Politico: Whitmer To Trump: Talk About The Pandemic, Not Me 
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Sunday that although President Donald Trump incites violence against public servants and inspires domestic terrorism, she would rather focus on his handling of the coronavirus pandemic than his incendiary rhetoric. “Every moment that we are not focused on the fact that there are 220,000 Americans who died from this virus is good for him,” Whitmer, a Democrat, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” in an interview. (Forgey, 10/18)

NPR: Gov. Whitmer Responds To 'Lock Her Up!' Chants At Trump Rally
During his rally in Muskegon, Mich., on Saturday, Trump blamed Whitmer for imposing what he sees as too severe restrictions on the state during the coronavirus pandemic. That led to a chorus of "lock her up!" chants. And instead of condemning the chants, Trump seemed to egg on his supporters, smiling and saying, "You got to get your governor to open up your state," and "Lock them all up." (Sprunt, 10/18)

Politico: ‘He Was Having Fun’: Lara Trump Defends President’s Attack On Whitmer 
Lara Trump, a senior adviser to President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign, on Sunday defended her father-in-law’s suggestion that Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer should be imprisoned alongside his other political rivals. In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Lara Trump insisted the president was merely “having fun at a Trump rally” when he criticized Whitmer, a Democrat, at a campaign event this weekend. (Forgey, 10/18)

AP: Trump Plays Down Virus As He Steps Up Pitch For Second Term
Gone are the days when President Donald Trump held forth daily at the White House podium flanked by members of his coronavirus task force. And the days when Vice President Mike Pence and other task force officials would head to Trump’s office to brief him immediately after their meetings. The White House won’t say when Trump last met with the task force. In the week since he emerged from coronavirus isolation, Trump has demonstrated new determination to minimize the threat of the virus that has killed more than 215,000 Americans and complicated his chances of winning another four years in the White House. (Madhani and Miller, 10/17)

Axios: Trump Warns Of Lockdowns If Biden's Elected: "He'll Listen To Scientists" 
The Biden campaign slammed President Trump after he said at a Nevada rally Sunday if his Democratic presidential rival Joe Biden were elected there'd be more coronavirus pandemic lockdowns because "he'll listen to the scientists. "What he's saying: "If I listened totally to the scientists, we would right now have a country that would be in a massive depression," Trump said. (Falconer, 10/18)

The Hill: Biden: Trump 'Continues To Lie To Us' About Coronavirus 
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Sunday slammed President Trump for continuing to "lie about the circumstances" of the coronavirus pandemic. Biden reportedly hammered Trump during a rally in North Carolina for comments the president has made claiming that the U.S. is turning the corner and getting past the worst of the COVID-19 outbreak. Most states in the U.S. are seeing rates of COVID-19 infections rise. (Bowden, 10/18)

AP: AP FACT CHECK: Trump's Falsehoods On Virus, Taxes And Bidens
Back fully campaigning after COVID-19 sidelined him, President Donald Trump returned to familiar form, spreading a litany of falsehoods. Over the weekend, he asserted yet again the virus was “rounding the corner” when it isn’t, misrepresented Democratic rival Joe Biden’s tax proposals and resurrected unfounded claims about Biden and the business dealings of his son, Hunter Biden, in Ukraine. (Yen, Woodward and Boak, 10/19)

CBS News: Fauci Admits Administration Has Restricted His Media Appearances, Says He's Not Surprised Trump Got COVID
In a wide-ranging 60 Minutes interview, Dr. Anthony Fauci expresses his frustration with a Trump campaign ad; explains why, early in the pandemic, masks were largely recommended for health care workers; and says whether he plans to vote in person. (LaPook, 10/18)

The Hill: Fauci Says He Was 'Absolutely Not' Surprised Trump Got Coronavirus After Rose Garden Event 
Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House's COVID-19 response team, said in a new interview that he was not surprised that President Trump was sickened with coronavirus after seeing him and others maskless at a White House event for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. Fauci, who is the nation's top infectious disease expert, told CBS News in an interview that images he saw of the event alarmed him even before it was revealed that numerous attendees had tested positive for the virus. He worried that numerous people would be infected, he said. (Bowden, 10/18)

ProPublica: Who Decides When Vaccine Studies Are Done? Internal Documents Show Fauci Plays A Key Role. 
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease official, will oversee most of the ongoing COVID-19 vaccine trials in the U.S., but not that of the current front-runner made by Pfizer, documents obtained by ProPublica show. According to a draft charter spelling out how most of the advanced COVID-19 vaccine trials will be monitored, Fauci is the “designated senior representative” of the U.S. government who will be part of the first look at the results. That puts Fauci in the room with the companies — including Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca — in deciding whether the vaccines are ready to seek approval from the Food and Drug Administration. (Arnsdorf, Chen and Gabrielson, 10/16)

Axios: Ex-FDA Head: White House Coronavirus Strategy Of Waiting For Vaccine Is "Problematic" 
Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said on CBS's "Face the Nation" Sunday the White House strategy to combat the spread of coronavirus appears to be "to endure the spread until we get to that vaccine." That strategy, which leaves much of the mitigation efforts up to the states and excludes a national mask mandate, is "problematic" because the "first tranche of people to get vaccinated really won't be protected ... probably until February and maybe March," even if companies apply in November with the FDA to administer the vaccine, Gottlieb said. (Allassan, 10/18)

The Hill: Whatever Happened To Deborah Birx? 
Deborah Birx is nowhere to be found at the White House these days. Though she retains the title of coordinator of the White House coronavirus response, Birx has not attended any of President Trump's press briefings on the pandemic since he started them anew in late July, nor was she at a recent event to tout the administration's advances in testing. (Samuels, 10/18)

AP: White House Puts ‘Politicals’ At CDC To Try To Control Info
The Trump White House has installed two political operatives at the nation’s top public health agency to try to control the information it releases about the coronavirus pandemic as the administration seeks to paint a positive outlook, sometimes at odds with the scientific evidence. The two appointees assigned to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Atlanta headquarters in June have no public health background. They have instead been tasked with keeping an eye on Dr. Robert Redfield, the agency director, as well as scientists, according to a half-dozen CDC and administration officials who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal government affairs. (Dearen, Stobbe and Lardner, 10/16)

The New York Times: As The Virus Surges, Stark Differences Over What Is Around The Corner
As the coronavirus continued to surge in many parts of the United States, officials and experts offered starkly different outlooks on Sunday about what was to come and when the situation might improve. Alex Azar, the secretary of Health and Human Services, noted that many people had grown tired of pandemic precautions, and tried to paint an optimistic picture of how much longer they would be needed. (Delkic, Kolata and Tompkins, 10/18)

Politico: McConnell Sets Up Votes On Narrow Coronavirus Relief Proposal 
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Saturday that the Senate will hold two votes next week on a half-trillion-dollar coronavirus relief package, even as the chances of Congress approving a broader deal before the election remain slim. The Senate will vote Tuesday on additional money for the Paycheck Protection Program and Wednesday on the rest of the package. Democrats have already dismissed the GOP approach as inadequate, and are not expected to support the proposals. (Levine, 10/17)

The Hill: Pelosi: White House Made 'Unacceptable Changes' To Testing Language During Negotiations On Coronavirus Stimulus 
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) accused White House officials of making "unacceptable changes" to language concerning funding for COVID-19 testing efforts in the framework of an emerging coronavirus relief deal. In a letter to House Democrats released by the Speaker's office Sunday afternoon, Pelosi accused the White House of refusing to commit funding for a national coronavirus testing and contact tracing program as well as trying to create a "slush fund" from which the administration could offer grants to various entities at its own discretion. (Bowden, 10/18)

The Wall Street Journal: Pelosi Tells White House It Has Until Tuesday To Reach Relief Deal Before Election 
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) told the White House it had until Tuesday to reach a deal with Democrats, or legislation to provide additional coronavirus relief to struggling households and businesses couldn’t be passed before the election. “That depends on the administration,” Mrs. Pelosi said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” when asked about whether a deal could still be struck. The 48-hour deadline “only relates to if we want to get it done before the election, which we do,” she said. (Peterson, 10/18)

The Hill: Expiring Benefits Raise Economic Stakes Of Stalled Stimulus Talks 
Washington's inability to pass a much-needed stimulus bill ahead of November's election is expected to inflict further damage on the economy, potentially kneecapping its recovery as the expiration of key benefits looms. Haggling between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has progressed, with Mnuchin saying he is willing to sign on to a $1.8 trillion deal, but the sides say they remain far apart on key issues. (Elis, 10/18)

Scientific American: Physician-Politicians Tout Medical Credentials In Key U.S. Congressional Races 
Hiral Tipirneni spent nearly a decade working in emergency medicine in Arizona. She started out 23 years ago at Banner Good Samaritan Hospital in downtown Phoenix, treating patients with broken bones, failing hearts and a lot of other problems. Then some health tragedies hit home. “Our family suffered a great loss to cancer: my mom and nephew,” she says. Tipirneni felt she should do something to combat the illness that took her loved ones. In 2010 she accepted a position as a scientific review officer for the Society of Research Administrators International, a global research management group overseeing cancer studies. But when Donald Trump was elected U.S. president in 2016, “I was terrified of the threats of ‘repeal and replace’ of the Affordable Care Act,” she recalls. “After years spent in the ER seeing thousands of families come through with no access to health care..., it was too much to stand by. That prompted me to throw my hat into the ring.” (Dickie, 10/15)

Reuters: Early Voting Begins In Crucial Florida As Campaign Enters Closing Stretch
Early voting for the Nov. 3 presidential election begins in the crucial battleground state of Florida on Monday as a record 28 million Americans have already cast ballots with barely two weeks remaining in the campaign. President Donald Trump, running out of time to change the dynamics of a race that polls show him losing, will visit Arizona on Monday after holding a rally in Nevada on Sunday and urging his supporters to vote amid signs that Democrats are leading the surge in early voting. (Ax, 10/19)

NPR: Emergency Rooms Sign Up New Voters Ahead Of Election
This year, there aren't as many large public events with volunteers signing people up to vote in the weeks before the election, due to the pandemic. But doctors' offices are stepping in to fill the void, through programs like VotER and Vote Health 2020, nonpartisan efforts to register patients in free clinics, community centers and emergency rooms. (Silver, 10/18)

Reuters: Young U.S. Poll Workers Brace For Election Day As Virus Fears Keep Elders Home 
After scrambling to replace an aging force of poll workers most at risk from the coronavirus, U.S. election officials face the challenge of running the Nov. 3 voting with untested volunteers tasked with following strict health protocols in an intensely partisan environment. A nationwide drive that recruited hundreds of thousands of younger poll workers - the people who set up equipment, check in voters and process ballots - means most battleground states will not be understaffed, a Reuters review of Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin found. (Harte and Whitesides, 10/18)

AP: Feds Planning Now To Get Coronavirus Shots To Nursing Homes
Federal health officials on Friday unveiled a plan to get yet-to-be-approved coronavirus vaccines to nursing home residents free of charge, enlisting two national pharmacy chains to help. Such a vaccine is not yet available. The distribution program is contingent on the Food and Drug Administration authorizing a vaccine, which does not appear to be imminent. While one nursing home industry group endorsed the administration’s effort, another one was guarded in its reaction. (Alonso-Zaldivar and Johnson, 10/16)

FierceHealthcare: CVS, Walgreens Make Deal With Trump Admin To Quickly Distribute COVID-19 Vaccines To Nursing Homes 
Retail pharmacy chains CVS Health and Walgreens reached a deal with the Trump administration to quickly provide and administer COVID-19 vaccines directly to nursing homes with no out-of-pocket costs. The agreement, announced Friday, focuses on the distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine to the highest-risk individuals ahead of a potential vaccine approval either this year or in early 2021. (King, 10/16)

CNBC: CVS To Hire 15,000 Employees As It Prepares More Covid-19 Cases, Vaccine
CVS Health said Monday that it wants to immediately hire 15,000 employees to prepare for an expected rise in Covid-19 and flu cases this fall and winter. More than 10,000 of those will be full-time and part-time licensed pharmacy technicians who can help dispense medications and administer Covid-19 tests. (Repko, 10/19)

FierceHealthcare: CVS Pushing For Pharmacy Technicians To Be Able To Administer COVID-19 Vaccines
CVS Health is pushing for pharmacy technicians to be allowed to administer COVID-19 vaccines. The healthcare giant is hiring more than 10,000 full- and part-time pharmacy technicians in Q4 in anticipation of flu season, and urging for them to have an expanded scope of practice that would allow them to vaccinate patients for the novel coronavirus under supervision from an immunization-certified pharmacist. (Minemyer, 10/19)

The New York Times: Governors Ask How Vaccines Will Be Distributed
With the first coronavirus vaccines in the final stages of testing, the National Governors Association has some pressing questions for the Trump administration: Who is going to pay for the administration of vaccines? And how will scarce supplies be allocated among the states? The association, a bipartisan group headed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York, posted its questions on Twitter. (10/18)

AP: Vaccine Storage Issues Could Leave 3B People Without Access
The chain breaks here, in a tiny medical clinic in Burkina Faso that went nearly a year without a working refrigerator. From factory to syringe, the world’s most promising coronavirus vaccine candidates need non-stop sterile refrigeration to stay potent and safe. But despite enormous strides in equipping developing countries to maintain the vaccine “cold chain,” nearly 3 billion of the world’s 7.8 billion people live where temperature-controlled storage is insufficient for an immunization campaign to bring COVID-19 under control. The result: Poor people around the world who were among the hardest hit by the virus pandemic are also likely to be the last to recover from it. (Hinnant and Mednick, 10/19)

AP: UK Space Agency Backs Medical Drone Delivery Project
A medical drone delivery service founded by trainee doctors that aims to transport coronavirus samples, test kits and protective equipment between hospitals has won the backing of Britain’s Space Agency. The start-up project can help free up healthcare staff, avoid courier waiting times and minimize the risk of virus transmission, authorities said Saturday. (10/17)

The Washington Post: Should You Get A Covid-19 Test If You Have A Cold? 
If you fell ill last winter, it probably didn’t really matter whether your sore throat and sniffles were the result of a cold or the flu. This year, with covid-19 added to the mix of look-alike winter maladies, it’s more important to know which virus is causing your illness, because the coronavirus is so contagious and can result in such serious outcomes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that people with any symptoms of covid-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, be considered for testing. However, not all experts agree that those with mild symptoms resembling a cold should. (Chang, 10/16)

The New York Times: Some Signs Of Recovery From Severe Covid Lung Damage
Lingering shortness of breath and diminished stamina have dogged many Covid patients whose lungs were viciously attacked by the coronavirus. Early in the pandemic, doctors worried that Covid might cause irreversible damage leading to lung fibrosis — progressive scarring in which lung tissue continues to die even after the infection is gone. ... While global or nationwide statistics on post-Covid lung recovery are not yet available, hospitals and clinics are assessing their cases. (Zeldovich, 10/18)

CIDRAP: US Emergency Sick Leave Act Tied To Reduced COVID-19 Cases
The emergency sick leave provision of the March 18 bipartisan Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) appears to have reduced the spread of the virus. A Health Affairs study yesterday found that states where workers could get up to 2 weeks of paid sick leave showed 417 fewer confirmed cases per day, or an average of 1 prevented case per day per 1,300 workers. The lack of universal access to paid sick leave in the United States makes it an outlier among nations in Europe and the Americas. Twenty-seven percent of all US workers and more than half of food and accommodation industry workers are ineligible for paid sick leave. The emergency sick leave provision of the FFCRA is estimated to provide paid sick leave benefits to roughly half of the US workforce. (10/16)

Reuters: Evotec Secures Grant To Evaluate Antibody Drugs For COVID-19 
German biotech company Evotec EVTG.DE said on Monday it had received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help identify and develop potential monoclonal antibody (mAbS) drugs for the prevention of severe COVID-19. Several drugmakers are testing antibody treatments for COVID-19 to help patients’ immune systems fight the coronavirus that causes the disease which has killed more than 1 million people worldwide. (10/19)

NPR: How Many COVID Deaths Could U.S. See This Winter? Here's What Experts Project
Coronavirus cases are rising rapidly in many states as the U.S. heads into the winter months. And forecasters predict staggering growth in infections and deaths if current trends continue. It's exactly the kind of scenario that public health experts have long warned could be in store for the country, if it did not aggressively tamp down on infections over the summer. (Stone, 10/16)

USA Today: Asian Americans In San Francisco Are Dying At Alarming Rates From COVID-19: Racism Is To Blame
Mandy Rong was terrified her 12-year-old daughter had COVID-19. It was 2 a.m. and the young girl was hours into a fierce fever and a racking cough. She was weak and didn’t want to eat. What few medications were on hand had expired. She sipped warm water instead. “Mommy, why are my eyes on fire?” asked Amy Rong. The mother and daughter, along with Rong’s parents, live in an 80-square-foot windowless single-room-occupancy Chinatown building that is a home of last resort for many impoverished Asian immigrants. Hallways are cramped, bathrooms and kitchens are communal. A ripe setting for the spread of the highly contagious novel coronavirus.  (della Cava, 10/18)

The Washington Post: Why The Coronavirus Is Killing More Men Than Women 
Early in the coronavirus outbreak, hospital data from China revealed a startling disparity: Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, was killing far more men than women. That difference persisted in other Asian countries, such as South Korea, as well as in European countries, such as Italy. Then, it appeared in the United States. (Guarino, 10/17)

USA Today: Dentists, Reeling From Pandemic, To Raise Fees, Sell Practices
Millions of Americans are delaying dental appointments over concerns about coronavirus infection, and that's likely to trigger increased fees for patients, job cuts for workers and fewer family practices. When the pandemic began this spring, essentially all dentists temporarily shut down for all but emergency appointments, putting hundreds of thousands of Americans out of work.  While 99% of dentists have reopened, the number of patients visiting offices remains about 20% below usual levels, according to the American Dental Association. (Bomey, 10/19)

Becker's Hospital Review: Kansas Hospital CEO, Employees Infected With COVID-19
Fifty employees at Gove County Medical Center in Quinter, Kan., including CEO David Caudill, tested positive for COVID-19 in the last two to three weeks, Mr. Caudill confirmed to Becker's Hospital Review. Twenty-six of the infected employees have recovered and two remained hospitalized Oct. 16. (Gooch, 10/16)

Boston Globe: Disarm Therapeutics Bought By Lilly For $135 Million
Disarm Therapeutics, a Cambridge biotechnology firm working on new potential drugs for neurological diseases such as ALS and multiple sclerosis, will be bought by the pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Company for $135 million up front. Under the deal announced Thursday, investors in the four-year-old, privately held biotech could reap up to $1.225 billion in additional payments, depending on how well Lilly does developing and marketing new medicines resulting from the acquisition. (Saltzman, 10/16)

Reuters: AstraZeneca Wins Two Approval Recommendations From EU Agency 
The European medicines watchdog has recommended approving AstraZeneca Plc's treatments for a form of heart failure and a lung disorder, the British drugmaker said on Monday. The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended approving Forxiga for treating a form of heart failure and Trixeo Aerosphere for a form of lung disorder known as “smoker’s lung”. (10/19)

Stat: How Biotechs Are Cramming Multiple Fundraising Rounds Into A Single Year
Historically, biotech startups have tried to bring in new money every eighteen months or so — ideally raising enough to keep them going for the next few years. But in the last year, that timeline has become noticeably compressed. Several companies have crammed multiple venture financings into a single year this year, and some have even managed to go public less than eighteen months after launch. (Sheridan, 10/19)

Stat: AMAG Wants An FDA Hearing Rather Than Withdraw Its Premature Birth Drug
In a defiant move, AMAG Pharmaceuticals (AMAG) is refusing to voluntarily withdraw its controversial treatment for preventing premature births, despite a request to do so made earlier this month by the Food and Drug Administration. Instead, the drug maker is seeking a hearing to review the rationale given by the regulator for wanting its Makena medication pulled off the market. (Silverman, 10/16)

AP: Hard Hit By Virus, Airlines Push For Tests Over Quarantines
What will it take to get people flying again? International air traffic is down 92% this year as travelers worry about catching COVID-19 and government travel bans and quarantine rules make planning difficult. One thing airlines believe could help is to have rapid virus tests of all passengers before departure. Scattered experiments on improving safety are under way around the world, and a UN organization is leading talks to set guidelines. There is a lot at stake. With no end in sight to the pandemic, the near total halt to international travel will hinder economies as they try to bounce back from recession and return to normal levels of business activity. Millions of jobs - at airlines, airports and travel related businesses such as hotels and restaurants - are affected. (McHugh, 10/19)

FierceHealthcare: BCBSA: Millennials' Mental Health Is On The Decline—And COVID-19 Is Making It Worse 
Millennials' health is on the decline, due in large part to rising rates of several behavioral health conditions, according to a new report. The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) released an analysis looking at the health of millennials and found that rates of major depression in this cohort increased by 12% between 2017 and 2018. In that same window, rates of alcohol use disorder increased by 7% and rates of tobacco use disorder and substance use disorder increased by 5%. (Minemyer, 10/16)

MarketWatch: 'This Is A Moment In History When Suicide Prevention Must Be Prioritized As A Serious Public-Health Concern'
A pandemic-era rise in the suicide rate is not “inevitable,” argues a new journal article that offers strategies for leaders in policy, business and health care to help reduce suicide risk. While evidence from the coronavirus pandemic’s first six months has pointed to “specific effects on suicide risk,” real-time suicide-mortality data isn’t available in most parts of the world, and data surveillance varies widely, wrote Christine Moutier, the chief medical officer of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), in a JAMA Psychiatry article published Friday. Meanwhile, “emerging data from several countries finds no evidence of increased suicide rates during the pandemic thus far.” (Jagannathan, 10/19)

NPR: Empathy Overload? How To Care For Yourself While Supporting Others
Feeling overwhelmed? Maybe the parent of a preschooler in your family just called to say they need extra help with child care, and a sick neighbor wants to know if you can pick up some groceries for her. Meanwhile, your best friend keeps calling, wanting to vent. In less stressful times, perhaps, you'd have jumped to help out and lend an ear. But after months of social isolation, juggling work demands, and caring for loved ones, the balance has started to tip. Suddenly your own need for emotional support is outweighing your capacity for kindness. (Fraga and Crowe, 10/17)

The Washington Post: Fatal Police Shootings Of Mentally Ill People More Likely In Small And Midsized Areas
The final moments of Stacy Kenny’s life are captured on a recorded 911 call. Kenny, who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, begs an emergency operator to explain why she’s been pulled over. Amid screaming and rustling sounds, police officers smash the windows on her red Nissan, Taser her twice, punch her in the face more than a dozen times and try to pull her out by her hair. But Kenny, 33, who legally had changed her gender but still appeared to be a man, was anchored to the car by a locked seat belt. Her life ends, as does the 911 call, when she tries to flee by driving away with one of the officers still inside the car. There’s a burst of gunfire, then an officer says: “We are all okay. Bad guy down.” (Kindy, Tate, Jenkins and Mellnik, 10/17)