New York Gave Regeneron President Special Access To Covid Tests: Report
The company requested tests from the state last year after a “member of his household became infected,” a company spokeswoman said. Elsewhere, a Tennessee law would ban LGBTQ textbooks, and Florida again examines laws limiting vaping.
The New York Times:
Executive With Ties To Cuomo Got Special Access To Virus Testing
The president of Regeneron, a pharmaceutical company with longstanding ties to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, received special access to coronavirus testing last year as the first wave of the pandemic tore through New York and tests were severely limited. The company requested tests from the state for its president, Dr. George Yancopoulos, and his family after a “member of his household became infected with Covid-19,” a company spokeswoman said. State officials granted the request and tested the family at home in March. (Goodman, Ferré-Saduriní and McKinley, 3/25)
The New York Times:
A Tenth Of N.Y.C.'s Covid Dead May Be In Mass Graves On Hart Island
As many as one-tenth of the people who have died from the coronavirus in New York City may go unclaimed and be buried on Hart Island, the city’s potter’s field, according to an analysis of city data. The analysis, a collaboration between Columbia Journalism School’s Stabile Center of Investigative Journalism and a nonprofit news website, The City, found a huge increase in burials on Hart Island in 2020 — 2,334 adults were buried there, up from 846 in 2019. The reporters, citing public health officials, attributed the increase largely to the pandemic: people killed by the coronavirus or by other medical issues that went unaddressed because of the crisis. (Slotnik, 3/25)
In updates from California, Arizona, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida —
The New York Times:
U.S.C. Agrees To $1.1 Billion Settlement In Gynecologist Abuse Case
The University of Southern California on Thursday announced that it will pay more than $1.1 billion to the former patients of a campus gynecologist accused of preying sexually on hundreds of patients, marking what university officials called “the end of a painful and ugly chapter in the history of our university.” The staggering sum — a combination of three sets of settlements with thousands of alleged victims of Dr. George Tyndall — sets a record for collegiate sex abuse payouts, compensating a generation of young U.S.C. women. (Hubler, Arango and Hartocollis, 3/25)
Politico:
VA Asking California If Net Neutrality Law Will Snag Veterans' Health App
Officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs are privately sounding the alarm that California's new net neutrality law could cut off veterans nationwide from a key telehealth app, according to a government communication between federal agencies obtained by POLITICO. Two internet providers in California have told the VA that the new law could force them to end agreements offering free, subsidized data to veterans participating in the telehealth app called VA Video Connect, according to the email from one VA official, who described the department as having "concerns" about the possibility. Such a cutoff "would be nationwide and not limited to Veterans and caregivers in California," the official wrote. (Hendel, 3/25)
Arizona Republic:
Arizona Landlords Who Received Rental Aid Filed Evictions Anyway
Arizona landlords who received money from a state program that aimed to prevent evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic filed nearly 2,500 eviction notices during the pandemic, an Arizona Republic investigation found. Gov. Doug Ducey's office launched the Arizona Rental Property Owner Preservation Fund in August with $5 million to assist landlords whose tenants were not paying their rent during the COVID-19 crisis. The state added an additional $5 million to the fund in September after the initial funds quickly ran out. (Boehm, Reagor and Chapoco, 3/25)
The Hill:
Tennessee GOP Bill Would Ban Textbooks With LGBTQ Content
A bill proposed by Republican Tennessee state lawmakers would ban textbooks and teaching materials that contain LGBT content. The bill, H.B. 800, was introduced by state Rep. Bruce Griffey (R) in February and is slated to be considered by the state's Education Instruction Subcommittee on March 30, according to KENS5. (Jenkins, 3/25)
Georgia Health News:
Showdown With House Looms After Senate Panel Guts Patient Visit Bill
A Senate committee has gutted legislation that would require hospitals and long-term care facilities to allow a “legal representative’’ to visit a patient or resident during a health emergency. A stripped-down House Bill 290 was approved by the Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Wednesday after about 90 minutes of testimony and debate. (Miller, 3/25)
WFSU:
Southern Poverty Law Center Reports On Use Of Baker Act On Children
More than 37,000 children were sent for involuntary psychiatric exams in the 2018-19 fiscal year. The number has grown every year for the past decade. Lawmakers are aware of it. So are advocates, law enforcement and state agencies. Legislative solutions remain elusive and proposals on the Baker Act this year appear to be going nowhere. (Hatter, 3/25)
Health News Florida:
Florida Lawmakers Look Again At Vaping Regulations
More than two years after the U.S. surgeon general declared youth vaping an epidemic, Florida lawmakers again are working on an effort to regulate the sale of electronic cigarettes and raise the age to use tobacco and vaping products from 18 to 21. Gov. Ron DeSantis last year vetoed a proposal that would have banned the sale of nearly all flavored e-cigarette products and brought the state into compliance with federal laws aimed at curbing teen vaping. (Kam, 3/25)
In news about tuberculosis —
Anchorage Daily News:
For Second Straight Year, Alaska Ranks No. 1 In The Nation For Highest Rate Of Tuberculosis
In 2020 Alaska once again recorded the highest rate of tuberculosis infections in the country, with 58 documented cases, according to a federal report released this month. Although the nation as a whole saw a 20% reduction in incidence of TB last year, Alaska’s rate remained equally high in 2020 as it was in 2019, at 7.9 cases per 100,000 people, the report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates. (Berman, 3/25)
Axios:
WHO: Pandemic Is Prolonging Countdown To Halt Tuberculosis
Various organizations including the World Health Organization are saying early data indicate there may be a significant increase in diseases like tuberculosis in the years ahead due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 12 years of progress for worldwide programs to halt TB have been lost over the past 12 months of the pandemic — endangering the goal of eliminating the disease by 2030, some experts say. (O'Reilly and Snyder, 3/25)
