Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Judge Rejects Houston Medical Workers' Anti-Vaccine Mandate Lawsuit
Houston Chronicle: Judge Tosses Houston Methodist Vaccine Mandate Lawsuit
A federal judge tossed a lawsuit against Houston Methodist over its policy to terminate workers who refuse to get the COVID vaccine, calling it “reprehensible” that plaintiffs compared the requirement to those made under Nazi Germany. In the lawsuit on behalf of 117 Houston Methodist employees, lawyers likened the vaccine requirement to the Nuremberg Code, a set of medical ethics standards created at the end of World War II following medical experiments by the Nazis on German citizens. (Wu, 6/13)
NBC News: Judge Dismisses Lawsuit By Houston Hospital Employees Over Covid-19 Vaccinations
The employees' lawyer, Jared Woodfill responded in a statement Saturday, "This is just one battle in a larger war to protect the rights of employees to be free from being forced to participate in a vaccine trial as a condition for employment." He said they would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court "if necessary." On Tuesday, hospital officials said they had suspended 178 employees who refused to be inoculated. (Romero, 6/13)
In other news about health care personnel —
Becker's Hospital Review: America's Physician Shortage Could Top 139,000 By 2033
The U.S. could face a shortage of between 54,100 and 139,000 physicians by 2033, according to new data from the Association of American Medical Colleges. The estimate is higher than AAMC's 2019 report, which projected a shortage of up to 121,900 physicians by 2032."This annual analysis continues to show that our country will face a significant shortage of physicians in the coming years," AAMC President and CEO David Skorton, MD, said in a news release. (Gooch, 6/11)
AP: Worker Shortage Causes Long Waits For Child Psychiatric Care
Psychiatric facilities have enough beds to treat children in Kansas in need of intensive mental health care, but a worker shortage means that about 100 of those spots remain empty. Kansas News Service reports that in recent years, children have often waited months for openings in specialized facilities that offer long-term psychiatric care. In mid-2018, the average wait was nearly 200 days. (6/13)
Fierce Healthcare: More Physicians Have Become Millionaires Since Before The Pandemic, Survey Finds
Many physicians increased their net worth over the last year of quarantine despite reporting relatively steady incomes and COVID-19-related practice issues, according to new survey data. Among nearly 18,000 physician respondents polled by Medscape, the proportion of those reporting a net worth greater than $1 million increased from 50% the previous year to 56% in 2020. (Muoio, 6/11)
AP: AMA Doctors Meet Amid Vocal Backlash Over Racial Equity Plan
The nation’s largest, most influential doctors’ group is holding its annual policymaking meeting amid backlash over its most ambitious plan ever — to help dismantle centuries-old racism and bias in all realms of the medical establishment. The dissenters are a vocal minority of physicians, including some white Southern delegates who accuse the American Medical Association of reverse discrimination. (Tanner, 6/12)
Modern Healthcare: COO Of Network Security Company Charged With Hospital Cyberattack
Vikas Singla, the chief operating officer of an Atlanta-based Securolytics, a network security company serving healthcare organizations, was arraigned last week on charges that in 2018 he caused a cyberattack on a Georgia hospital. According to the Department of Justice, Singla allegedly caused a cyberattack on Gwinnett Medical Center that "involved disrupting phone service, obtaining information from a digitizing device, and disrupting network printer service." The indictment further alleges that the cyberattack was conducted, in part, for financial gain. (6/13)
