First Edition: Sept. 25, 2020

Kaiser Health News: Trump Approves Final Plan To Import Drugs From Canada ‘For A Fraction Of The Price’ 
The final plan clears the way for Florida and other states to implement a program bringing medications across the border despite the strong objections of drugmakers and the Canadian government. Florida, the biggest swing state in the presidential election, is one of six states to pass laws seeking federal approval to import drugs. Trump’s announcement came the same day counties in Florida began sending out vote-by-mail ballots. (Galewitz, 9/25)

Kaiser Health News: Heartbreaking Bills, Lawsuit And Bankruptcy — Even With Insurance  
Matthew Fentress was just 25 when he passed out while stuffing cannolis as a cook for a senior living community six years ago. Doctors diagnosed him with viral cardiomyopathy, heart disease that developed after a bout of the flu. Three years later, the Kentucky man’s condition had worsened, and doctors placed him in a medically induced coma and inserted a pacemaker and defibrillator. Despite having insurance, he couldn’t pay what he owed the hospital. So Baptist Health Louisville sued him and he wound up declaring bankruptcy in his 20s. (Ungar, 9/25)

Kaiser Health News: In Los Angeles, Latinos Hit Hard By Pandemic’s Economic Storm  
Working as a fast-food cashier in Los Angeles, Juan Quezada spends a lot of his time these days telling customers how to wear a mask. “They cover their mouth but not their nose,” he said. “And we’re like, ‘You gotta put your mask on right.'” Quezada didn’t expect to be enforcing mask-wearing. Six months ago, he was a restaurant manager, making $30 an hour, working full time and saving for retirement. But when Los Angeles County health officials shut down most restaurants in March because of the spreading pandemic, Quezada lost his job. The only work he could find pays a lot less and is part time. (Fortier, 9/25)

Reuters: U.S. Coronavirus Cases Surpass Seven Million As Midwest Outbreak Flares Up 
The number of novel coronavirus cases in the United States topped 7 million on Thursday - more than 20% of the world’s total - as Midwest states reported spikes in COVID-19 infections in September, according to a Reuters tally. The latest milestone comes just days after the nation surpassed over 200,000 COVID-19 deaths, the world’s highest death toll from the virus. Each day, over 700 people die in the United States from COVID-19. (Maan and Abraham, 9/24)

The New York Times: Trump Again Sows Doubt About Election As G.O.P. Scrambles To Assure Voters 
President Trump declined for a second straight day to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he lost the election, repeating baseless assertions that the voting would be a “big scam,” even as leading Republicans scrambled to assure the public that their party would respect the Constitution. “We want to make sure that the election is honest, and I’m not sure that it can be,” Mr. Trump told reporters on Thursday before leaving the White House for North Carolina. (Epstein, Cochrane and Thrush, 9/24)

The Washington Post: GOP Senators Reject Trump’s Assertion About Transfer Of Power — With No Direct Criticism Of The President 
Senate Republicans opposed President Trump’s assertion that he might reject a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the November election, trying to deflect his challenge to a foundation of American democracy as bravado that will not actually occur. Republicans, with almost no direct criticism of Trump’s statements, uniformly asserted that if Joe Biden wins the election, they will support a peaceful transition to the Democrat’s inauguration in January. (Kane and Bade, 9/24)

Buffalo News: Michael Caputo Receives 'Metastatic Head And Neck Cancer' Diagnosis 
Michael R. Caputo, the East Aurora political consultant at the center of controversy over the Trump administration's Covid-19 messaging, has been diagnosed with cancer. Assemblyman David J. DiPietro, R-East Aurora, acting as Caputo's spokesman, said Thursday that the Health and Human Services spokesman on leave from his assistant secretary post has "squamous cell carcinoma, a metastatic head and neck cancer which originated in his throat." (McCarthy, 9/24)

Politico: HHS Spokesperson Caputo Announces Cancer Diagnosis 
Caputo began a 60-day medical leave last week, following reports that he and his team sought to meddle in reports produced by the Centers for Disease Control and further pressure government scientists on their response to Covid-19. Caputo also recorded a Facebook video where he accused CDC scientists of seeking to undermine President Donald Trump and warned of armed insurrection. Caputo, a longtime Trump loyalist, was installed at HHS in April at the president's direction. (Diamond, 9/24)

USA Today: Top HHS Spokesperson Michael Caputo Diagnosed With Cancer
HHS officials announced last week that Caputo, who had been in charge of the administration's coronavirus communications strategy, would be taking time off "to focus on his health and the well-being of his family." Caputo said last Wednesday that he planned to undergo "necessary screenings for a lymphatic issue discovered last week." He said he initially attributed his weight loss to a new exercise and diet regiment, before realizing something was wrong. (Behrmann, 9/24)

The Washington Post: After Years Of Promising His Own Health Care Plan, Trump Settles For Rebranding Rather Than Repealing Obamacare 
President Trump capped his fruitless four-year journey to abolish and replace the Affordable Care Act by signing an executive order Thursday that aims to enshrine the law’s most popular feature while pivoting away from a broader effort to overhaul the nation’s health insurance system. The order declares it is the policy of the United States for people with preexisting health conditions to be protected, avoiding the thorny details of how to ensure such protections without either leaving the ACA, or Obamacare, in place or crafting new comprehensive legislation. (Olorunnipa, 9/24)

AP: Trump Promotes Health Care 'Vision' But Gaps Remain
Trump spoke at an airport hangar in swing-state North Carolina to a crowd that included white-coated, mask-wearing health care workers. He stood on a podium in front of a blue background emblazoned with “America First Healthcare Plan.” His latest health care pitch won accolades from administration officials and political supporters but failed to impress others. (Alonso-Zaldivar and Colvin, 9/25)

The Hill: Trump Signs Largely Symbolic Pre-Existing Conditions Order Amid Lawsuit 
President Trump on Thursday signed a largely symbolic executive order aimed at protecting people with pre-existing conditions as he takes fire for a lawsuit seeking to overturn ObamaCare, which enacted those protections. “The historic action I am taking today includes the first-ever executive order to affirm it is the official policy of the United States government to protect patients with pre-existing conditions,” Trump said during a speech in North Carolina, a key swing state. “So we're making that official.” (Sullivan, 9/24)

The Hill: Pelosi Slams Trump Executive Order On Pre-Existing Conditions: It 'Isn't Worth The Paper It's Signed On' 
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday took aim at an executive order from President Trump which he has claimed will ensure coverage for people with pre-existing conditions.“ President Trump’s bogus executive order on pre-existing conditions isn’t worth the paper it’s signed on. It is an insult to every family with someone with a pre-existing condition that President Trump thinks he can get away with this farce while he races a justice onto the Supreme Court to strike down the lifesaving protections enshrined into law by the Affordable Care Act,” Pelosi said in a statement. (Budryk, 9/24)

The Washington Post: Pelosi Abruptly Shifts Course, Restarts Relief Push Amid Signs Economy Is Straining
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi abruptly shifted course Thursday and moved to assemble a new coronavirus relief bill to form the basis for renewed talks with the White House, amid mounting pressure from moderates in her caucus and increasingly alarming economic news. The new legislation would be significantly narrower in scope than the $3.4 trillion Heroes Act the House passed in May. Pelosi (D-Calif.) has more recently focused on an additional $2.2 trillion in aid — a figure Republicans say is still too high. But in a meeting with House Democratic leaders Thursday she said the new bill would be around $2.4 trillion, because of urgent needs arising from restaurants and airlines. Details were provided by a person familiar with the meeting who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it was private. (Werner and Bade, 9/24)

The New York Times: Stalled Talks Over Covid-19 Stimulus In The U.S. Show Signs Of Life 
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday that he and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had agreed to resume talks on a new economic relief package. “I’ve probably spoken to Speaker Pelosi 15 or 20 times in the last few days on the C.R.,” said Mr. Mnuchin, referring to a continuing resolution to extend government funding. “And we’ve agreed to continue to have discussions about the CARES Act.” (9/24)

The Hill: Vulnerable Democrats Tell Pelosi COVID-19 Compromise 'Essential' 
A group of vulnerable House Democrats on Thursday began circulating a new letter calling on Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) to hold a vote on a bipartisan coronavirus relief package before Election Day. The moderates, led Problem Solvers Caucus Co-Chairman Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and freshman Reps. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) and Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), said they did not support a GOP resolution to force a vote on emergency aid for small businesses — a tactic that had gained some momentum in recent days from centrist Democrats anxious about heading home without money for constituents struggling with the pandemic. (Wong, 9/24)

The Washington Post: Internal USPS Documents Link Changes Behind Mail Slowdowns To Top Executives 
A senior executive at the U.S. Postal Service delivered a PowerPoint presentation in July that pressed officials across the organization to make the operational changes that led to mail backups across the country, seemingly counter to months of official statements about the origin of the plans, according to internal documents obtained by The Washington Post. David E. Williams, the agency’s chief of logistics and processing operations, listed the elimination of late and extra mail trips by postal workers as a primary agency goal during the July 10 teleconference. He also told the group that he wanted daily counts on such trips, which had become common practice to ensure the timely delivery of mail. Several top-tier executives — including Robert Cintron, vice president of logistics; Angela Curtis, vice president of retail and post office operations; and vice presidents from the agency’s seven geographic areas — sat in. (Bogage, 9/24)

The Washington Post: Justice Dept. Statement On Mail-In Ballot Investigation Appalls Election Law Experts 
The Justice Department alarmed voting-law experts Thursday by announcing an investigation into nine discarded ballots found in northeastern Pennsylvania, a case immediately seized upon by the Trump campaign as evidence of a dark Democratic conspiracy to tamper with the presidential election. President Trump also appeared to cite the case, telling reporters at the White House that ballots had been found “in a wastepaper basket in some location. . . . We want to make sure that the election is honest, and I’m not sure that it can be.” (Barrett, 9/24)

The New York Times: Battles Over Voting Rules Fuel Concern About Postelection Fights 
With less than six weeks until Election Day, laws governing how Americans vote remain in flux in many battleground states, with the two parties locked in an intensive fight over the rules as President Trump continues to suggest he will challenge any outcome unfavorable to him. The combination of the pandemic, doubts about the capacity of the Postal Service to handle a flood of mail ballots and an aggressive push by Democrats to expand access to voting rights and counter Republican efforts to limit them has fueled litigation and legislative battles across the country that have not been resolved even as early voting has gotten underway. (Corasaniti and Vogel, 9/24)

AP: Despite Trump Attacks, Both Parties Vow Orderly Election
Congressional leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, rejected Trump’s assertion that he’ll “see what happens” before agreeing to any election outcome. Many other lawmakers -- including from Trump’s own Republican Party -- vowed to make sure voters’ wishes are followed ahead of Inauguration Day in January. And some Democrats were taking action, including formally asking Trump’s defense secretary, homeland security adviser and attorney general to declare they’ll support the Nov. 3 results, whoever wins. (Mascaro, Madhani and Freking, 9/25)

Roll Call: House Report: Medical Neglect, Falsified Records Harmed Detained Immigrants
Medical mismanagement and falsified records may have contributed to the deaths of immigrants held at for-profit detention centers that are run under contract with the federal government, according to a report released Thursday by the House Oversight and Reform Committee. The report, based on a year-long investigation by Democratic committee staffers, recounts numerous examples of medical misdiagnoses, incomplete or incorrect treatment for chronic illnesses and “grossly negligent” responses to infectious diseases including hepatitis, tuberculosis, meningitis and HIV. It also notes severe delays in emergency response to strokes and heart attacks, negligent suicide watches and deficiencies in psychiatric care that led one detainee to self-mutilate. (Misra, 9/24)

The Hill: Tillis Appears To Reinforce Question About COVID-19 Death Toll 
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) on Thursday appeared to reinforce doubts about the total number of Americans who have died from COVID-19 after a woman called into a virtual town hall saying many of the fatalities include deaths "from things like heart attacks and slip and falls." His comments come as others in the GOP, including President Trump, Sen. Joni Ernst (Iowa) and Rep. Roger Marshall (Kan.), have downplayed the extent of the coronavirus pandemic by pointing to a conspiracy theory that the number of deaths is much lower. (Weixel, 9/24)

The Hill: Roy Moore Sues Alabama Over COVID-19 Restrictions 
Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore and a conservative legal advocacy group he founded have sued Gov. Kay Ivey (R) over restrictions imposed during the coronavirus pandemic. Moore and the Foundation for Moral Law accused Ivey and State Health Officer Scott Harris of infringing on citizens’ rights with requirements that masks be worn in public. (Budryk, 9/24)

Roll Call: Why Obamacare Might Survive The Supreme Court 
The Supreme Court might not be as ready to wipe out the full 2010 health care law as its ideological balance would suggest, even if a new conservative justice fills the seat of the reliably liberal late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The Trump administration and a coalition of Republican-led states have asked the Supreme Court to strike down President Barack Obama’s signature law that expanded insurance coverage to more than 20 million people, including popular provisions such as required coverage of preexisting medical conditions. (Ruger, 9/24)

Politico: Trump Walks Abortion Tightrope On SCOTUS Pick
In 2016, Trump vowed to appoint Supreme Court justices who would “automatically” overturn Roe v. Wade. Now the White House is insisting there is no such abortion litmus test for Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s replacement. The change in tone reflects the tightrope Trump is currently walking on abortion with conservatives — and especially religious conservatives — ahead of the November election. Trump needs to both nod to concerns of powerful religious groups that have spent years trying to overturn Roe, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that cemented legal abortion, while not turning off the sizable faction of more moderate religious voters and Republicans who support legal abortion. (McGraw and Cook, 9/25)

Politico: Member Of Health Secretary's Security Detail Tests Positive For Coronavirus 
A member of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar's security detail this week tested positive for coronavirus, according to two people with knowledge of the diagnosis. Azar, who is typically flanked by a security detail in his role as a member of President Donald Trump's cabinet, had to undergo testing for Covid-19 as a result of the security agent's positive diagnosis, one person said. HHS has taken other steps to prevent the spread of the virus, such as additional cleaning in the headquarters. (Diamond, 9/24)

AP: Health Officials Seek To Block Trump Rally In Virginia
A Virginia health official is warning of a “severe public health threat” if a planned campaign rally for President Donald Trump goes forward Friday evening. Dr. Natasha Dwamena, a Department of Public Health district director, said in a letter Thursday that the 4,000 people expected to attend Trump’s rally at the Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport would be breaking Gov. Ralph Northam’s executive order generally banning gatherings of more than 250 people. She said the rally should be canceled, rescheduled or scaled down to comply with the governor’s order. (Suderman, 9/24)

The Washington Post: Virginia Health Officials Warn Planned Trump Rally Poses Health Risk, Violates Coronavirus Crowd Limits 
State and local health officials are raising alarms about President Trump's plans for a "gargantuan" rally at a Virginia airport Friday night, saying it could pose a "severe public health threat" if it violates the state's 250-person limit on public gatherings. In a letter to the company that operates the hangar at Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport where the rally is planned, the director of the local health district asked that the crowd be limited to 250. (Vozzella, 9/24)

The New York Times: Novavax Enters Final Stage Of Coronavirus Vaccine Trials 
The vaccine maker Novavax said Thursday that it would begin the final stages of testing its coronavirus vaccine in the United Kingdom and that another large trial was scheduled to begin next month in the United States. It is the fifth late-stage trial from a company supported by Operation Warp Speed, the federal effort to speed a coronavirus vaccine to market, and one of 11 worldwide to reach this pivotal stage. Novavax, a Maryland company that has never brought a vaccine to market, reached a $1.6 billion deal with the federal government in July to develop and manufacture its experimental vaccine, which has shown robust results in early clinical trials. (Thomas and Zimmer, 9/24)

AP: Chinese Company Says Coronavirus Vaccine Ready By Early 2021
A Chinese pharmaceutical company said Thursday the coronavirus vaccine it is developing should be ready by early 2021 for distribution worldwide, including the United States. Yin Weidong, the CEO of SinoVac, vowed to apply to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to sell CoronaVac in the United States if it passes its third and final round of testing in humans. Yin said he personally has been given the experimental vaccine. (McNeil, 9/25)

The Hill: FBI Director Warns That Chinese Hackers Are Still Targeting US COVID-19 Research
FBI Director Christopher Wray on Thursday said Chinese hackers are continuing to target U.S. companies involved in COVID-19 research and described China as the nation’s “greatest counterintelligence threat.” “We are seeing very aggressive activity by the Chinese, and in some cases by others, to target our COVID-related research, whether it’s vaccines, treatments, testing technology, etc.,” Wray testified to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee during a hearing on threats to the U.S. (Miller, 9/24)

Reuters: Exclusive: AstraZeneca Gets Partial Immunity In Low-Cost EU Vaccine Deal 
European governments will pay claims above an agreed limit against AstraZeneca over side-effects from its potential COVID-19 vaccine, under different terms to a deal struck with Sanofi, an EU official told Reuters. The deals reflect different strategies by two of the world’s top drugmakers for protecting themselves as a debate rages about liabilities for vaccines aimed at ending the pandemic. AstraZeneca has secured the European Union’s backing in a confidential agreement which reflects the lower price sought by the British drugmaker, the official said. (Guarascio, 9/25)

CNBC: AstraZeneca Gets Partial Immunity In Low-Cost EU Vaccine Deal
European governments will pay claims above an agreed limit against AstraZeneca over side-effects from its potential COVID-19 vaccine, under different terms to a deal struck with Sanofi, an EU official toldReuters. The deals reflect different strategies by two of the world’s top drugmakers for protecting themselves as a debate rages about liabilities for vaccines aimed at ending the pandemic. AstraZeneca has secured the European Union’s backing in a confidential agreement which reflects the lower price sought by the British drugmaker, the official said. “If a company asks for a higher price we don’t give the same conditions,” said the official, who was involved in the talks but declined to be identified as the contracts are confidential. (9/25)

The Hill: NY Health Officials To Review Any Vaccine Approved By Trump 
New York health officials will review any COVID-19 vaccine approved by the Trump administration, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said Thursday, citing his distrust of the federal government. “Frankly, I’m not going to trust the federal government’s opinion, and I wouldn’t recommend to New Yorkers based on the federal government’s opinion,” Cuomo said at a press conference. (Hellmann, 9/24)

The Hill: Leaders Of Science Academies Sound Alarm Over Political Interference 
Two of the most prominent science advisory groups on Thursday issued a warning about the consequences of political interference in science. The leaders of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) in a joint statement said the reports about political meddling in science and public health are "alarming." (Weixel, 9/24)

Politico: How Trump Is Undermining His Own Vaccine Race 
Almost since the start of the coronavirus crisis, Trump has promised a vaccine is just around the corner, repeatedly contradicting his own experts on the timeline and the standards necessary for approval. The goal, he’s made clear, is a viable vaccine just before Election Day – the centerpiece of his own claims that the administration deserves an “A-plus” for its response to Covid-19.But that single-minded pursuit has left a string of damaging episodes in its wake and hopelessly intertwined the delicate drug development process with Trump’s political aims, according to interviews with a dozen public health experts both inside and outside the administration. (Cancryn, 9/24)

CNBC: Sanofi Isn’t Cutting Corners In Coronavirus Vaccine Development Despite Acceleration, CEO Says
Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson told CNBC on Thursday that the pharmaceutical company is not cutting any corners in its pursuit of developing a coronavirus vaccine. “We have been making vaccines for over 100 years. We haven’t changed anything in the way we do things, we’ve just accelerated,” Hudson said in an interview with Jim Cramer on “Mad Money.” “We need to be there. We need to be safe and effective.” (Stankiewicz, 9/24)

Stat: In Groups Asked To Join Covid-19 Vaccine Trials, Concerns About Inequities Run Deep
While presenting the Covid-19 vaccine study she’s running, Susan Little was asked for a promise she didn’t have the power to make. A respected local politician refused to support the trials unless Little could ensure that the people of color being prioritized as volunteers would also be prioritized once an effective vaccine was approved. “They wanted some sort of guarantee that the communities we are asking to participate now are not left behind,” said Little, the infectious disease doctor leading the AstraZeneca vaccine trial at University of California, San Diego. (Boodman, 9/25)

Reuters: Brazil To Join COVAX Vaccine Facility, As Chile, Israel, UAE Also Sign Up
Brazil, which has the world’s second-highest coronavirus death toll, has decided to join the global COVID-19 vaccine partnership known as COVAX and will earmark 2.5 billion reais ($454 million) for securing vaccines through it, President Jair Bolsonaro’s office said. Brazil plans to use the COVAX facility, which gives access to several vaccine candidates in development globally, to buy enough supplies to immunize 10% of its population by the end of 2021, the office said in a statement on Thursday. That should cover Brazil’s “priority populations,” it said. (9/25)

USA Today: Rapid, Cheap COVID Tests Are Ready But Regulatory Barriers Remain
Nearly two months after federal regulators unveiled rules for at-home coronavirus tests, no company has federal approval to sell these fast and cheap tests even though the technology is ready. Molecular PCR tests processed at medical labs remain the standard of accurate testing, but they are more expensive and results can take days to process. Antigen tests are less expensive, plentiful and deliver results in minutes. Three companies gained Food and Drug Administration authorization to sell antigen testing instruments to labs or clinics. A fourth company, Abbott Laboratories, won approval to market a $5 rapid, credit card-sized test administered by a health care professional. (Alltucker and Padilla, 9/24)

Chicago Sun-Times: Nurses, University Of Illinois Hospital Reach Contract Agreement After Strike 
Union nurses and the University of Illinois Hospital have reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year contract that includes smaller patient loads. The agreement comes after a weeklong strike by 800 nurses that ended Saturday morning when they went back to work without a new contract. Nurses will vote on the agreement Monday. The contract includes a promise to hire 160 more nurses to cut down on patient loads, promises of more protective gear, hazard pay for working during the coronavirus pandemic and other guarantees, the Illinois Nurses Association said in a statement. (Chase, 9/24)

Stat: Pharmacies Are Bracing For A Surge In Flu Shot Demand Amid Pandemic
With flu season fast approaching, and the Covid-19 pandemic raging on, hospitals and pharmacies across the country are stockpiling far more flu vaccines than normal, anticipating a surge in demand. The drug store chain Rite Aid has purchased 40% more influenza vaccines than other years to meet an expected uptick in demand. Walgreens has also increased its flu vaccine stockpile this year, anticipating a 30% to 50% jump in customers who will want flu shots, the company’s chief medical officer told STAT. (Runwal, 9/25)

Becker's Hospital Review: California Adds Rules To 'No Pharmacist Left Alone' Law
California's board of pharmacy approved the addition of new regulations to its "No Pharmacist Left Alone Law," which requires pharmacies to ensure pharmacists aren't the only person working in a pharmacy, according to JD Supra, a company that provides legal information. The state originally passed the law in 2018 to address concerns of inadequate staffing in community pharmacies. Inadequate staffing impairs pharmacists' judgment and ability to do their jobs, and endangers public health because it leaves pharmacists unable to do their job safely, according to JD Supra. (Anderson, 9/24)

Becker's Hospital Review: Mayo Clinic Health System President To Retire
Mayo Clinic Health System President Bobbie Gostout, MD, is retiring. Dr. Gostout will retire at the end of the year after five years as president, according to the system, which consists of clinics, hospitals and other facilities in  Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.  Dr. Gostout joined Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic's department of obstetrics and gynecology 24 years ago. She was the first woman to participate in Mayo's gynecology oncology fellowship and join the division of gynecology surgery in Rochester, hospital officials said. (Gooch, 9/24)

Becker's Hospital Review: Albertsons Names Former Amazon Exec As New Head Of Pharmacy
Former Amazon executive Omer Gajil was named senior vice president of pharmacy and health at Albertsons, which operates 1,726 pharmacies in the U.S., Supermarket News reported. Albertsons, based in Boise, Idaho, is one of the nation's largest retail pharmacy operations and the second-largest U.S. supermarket operator.  (Anderson, 9/24)

Stat: Former Aceto Controller Is Charged With Insider Trading
File this under ‘What was he thinking?’ After spending nearly 17 years as controller at Aceto, a supplier of active pharmaceutical ingredients, Ed Kelly retired in March 2018 and, one month later, was hired as a consultant to help the company close its books for the recently ended fiscal quarter. But then he came across information that he apparently could not ignore — and committed insider trading by acting on it, according to a complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission. (Silverman, 9/24)

The New York Times: Losing Your Hair Can Be Another Consequence Of The Pandemic
Annrene Rowe was getting ready to celebrate her 10th wedding anniversary this summer when she noticed a bald spot on her scalp. In the following days, her thick shoulder-length hair started falling out in clumps, bunching up in the shower drain. “I was crying hysterically,” said Mrs. Rowe, 67, of Anna Maria, Fla. (Belluck, 9/24)

CIDRAP: Inflammation Linked To Higher Death Risk, Could Shed Light On COVID In Men
A large study of German patients presented online at this week's European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) Conference on Coronavirus Disease found that men have a 62% higher risk of death from COVID-19, possibly due to higher levels of inflammation. The retrospective study followed 3,129 hospitalized adults from March through July in the LEOSS registry, an open-access database of clinical COVID-19 information established by the German Society of Infectious Diseases (DGI). Patient demographics and comorbidities were evaluated using the Charlson Comorbidity Index, which reflects the number of pre-existing conditions. (9/24)

The New York Times: Nothing Eats Viruses, Right? Meet Some Hungry Protists 
On the dinner plate that is planet Earth, there exists a veritable buffet of viruses — an amount of biomass that is the equivalent of about 25 billion human beings. So perhaps it’s a bit baffling that scientists have yet to pinpoint a species that deliberately eats viruses for energy. (Wu, 9/24)

Stat: A Sadly Familiar Disappointment In Alzheimer’s Research 
After years of failed attempts to treat Alzheimer’s disease by targeting a toxic brain plaque called amlyoid, a critical mass of scientists turned their attention to a seemingly more promising target: a tangled cranial protein called tau. But the failure of a closely watched tau treatment suggests history may repeat itself for neurology’s next-best idea. (Garde, 9/24)

NPR: Inside A Push To Include More African Americans In Brain Research 
Mental illness can run in families. And Dr. Kafui Dzirasa grew up in one of these families. His close relatives include people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression. As a medical student, he learned about the ones who'd been committed to psychiatric hospitals or who "went missing" and were discovered in alleyways. Dzirasa decided to dedicate his career to "figuring out how to make science relevant to ultimately help my own family. "He became a psychiatrist and researcher at Duke University and began to study the links between genes and brain disorders. Then Dzirasa realized something: "I was studying genes that were specifically related to illness in folks of European ancestry." (Hamilton, 9/24)

Politico: Here’s How The Pandemic Finally Ends
The microscopic bundles of RNA, wrapped in spiky proteins, latch on to human cells, hijack them, use them as factories to replicate, and then leave them for dead. It’s a biological blitzkrieg—an invasion so swift and unexpected that the germs are free to jump from host to host with little interference. Fast forward to the future. Now, when the prickly enemies invade the lungs, they slip past the human cells, unable to take hold. They’re marked for destruction, soon to be surrounded and eliminated. Though some escape through the airways, they confront the same defenses in their next target—if, that is, they can get anywhere near the human cells. There are so few people left to infect that the germs have nowhere to replicate, nowhere to survive. (Ralph, 9/25)

The Washington Post: Colleges Target Student Parties, Other Gatherings To Limit Coronavirus Spread 
University officials planned for months for the resumption of fall classes amid the pandemic, with experts advising them on the rapidly evolving understanding of the novel coronavirus. They spent tens of billions of dollars creating massive testing programs, clearing out dorm space for quarantines, sticking reminder dots six feet apart on sidewalks, overhauling ventilation systems and crafting public health campaigns centered around feisty mask-wearing mascots. But as cases of the coronavirus have popped up on campuses, forcing some schools to empty their dorms or switch to virtual classes, one factor cannot be ignored: Students like to party. And good luck reining that in. (Svrluga, 9/24)

The Washington Post: Pandemic Hammers College Enrollment This Fall, Report Says 
A snapshot of fall enrollment shows fewer students are pursuing undergraduate degrees this semester as the coronavirus continues to sow fears of infection and devastate the economy. The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center on Thursday released its first look at fall enrollment through Sept. 10, confirming what many in higher education already suspected: that the public health crisis would lower head counts at the nation’s colleges and universities. (Douglas-Gabriel, 9/24)

USA Today: Some College Students Didn't Show Up Amid COVID-19, Recession – Especially At Community College
When Hannah Hyatt imagined her freshman year at Clemson University, she had a clear picture in mind: crisp fall mornings hustling by Bowman Field on her way to class, hanging with new friends at her dorm and Saturdays spent at a packed Memorial Stadium, cheering on one of the best college football teams in the country. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the related economic collapse, Hyatt, 18, is instead 250 miles away in Charleston, South Carolina, nannying for a 5-month-old baby girl, after deferring her enrollment.  (Schnell, 9/24)

Politico: ‘That’s What College Kids Do.’ DeSantis Wants Protections For Partying Students
Gov. Ron DeSantis suggested on Thursday that Florida could create a “bill of rights” to protect college students who face expulsion for attending parties under the strict Covid-19 guidelines schools are attempting to enforce. Calling the policies “incredibly draconian” at a public health event, the Republican governor said the state is exploring its options for students without going into much detail. The idea comes as school leaders in Florida and beyond threaten stiff penalties for breaking social distancing rules in an effort to keep coronavirus transmission low and campuses open throughout the full semester. (Atterbury, 9/24)

The Washington Post: United To Be First U.S. Airline To Offer Covid-19 Tests For Passengers 
In what the aviation industry hopes will be a new strategy for getting people flying again, United Airlines will become the first U.S. carrier to offer customers covid-19 tests. Starting Oct. 15, United customers traveling between San Francisco and Hawaii will have the option of taking a covid-19 test before they board their flight. A negative result would allow them to skip the mandatory 14-day quarantine requirement for travelers headed to the state. (Aratani, 9/24)

The Washington Post: Pac-12 Football Will Be Played In The Fall After Reversal 
The Pac-12 Conference announced Thursday that it will begin its football season Nov. 6, after initially postponing it in August because of the novel coronavirus pandemic. All five of college football’s major conferences now plan to play this fall despite the Pac-12 and Big Ten’s previous decisions against holding a fall season. The Pac-12 will play a seven-game schedule, including a conference title game scheduled for Dec. 18. The conference also announced Thursday that its basketball season will start Nov. 25, with other winter sports commencing around dates consistent with the NCAA calendar. (Giambalvo, Bonesteel and Bieler, 9/24)

AP: Iditarod Preps For Any Scenario As 2021 Race Plans Proceed
The world’s most famous sled dog race will go forward in 2021, and amid the ongoing pandemic, officials now are preparing for every possible contingency for what the race and the world might look like in March when the Iditarod starts. It’s not the mushers who worry Iditarod CEO Rob Urbach; they’re used to social distancing along the 1,000-mile trail. The headaches start with what to do with the 1,800 volunteers and staff needed to stage the race, some scattered in 21 villages that serve as checkpoints along the trail between Anchorage and Nome, and how to protect them and the village residents from the coronavirus. The goal is zero community transmission. (Thiessen, 9/25)

The Hill: Google Searches Related To Anxiety, Panic Attacks Spike During Pandemic 
A new study found that people are increasingly turning to Google for knowledge about ways to relieve anxiety amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The study from researchers at Tulane University, Loyola University New Orleans and Central Michigan University found a spike in Google search trends related to anxiety and techniques used to manage its symptoms, such as yoga. Researchers say the increased anxiousness is due to the pandemic. (Bowden, 9/24)