Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Pennsylvania Contact Tracing Provider Struggles To Seal Data Breach
Philadelphia Inquirer: Fired Pa. Contractor Seeks To Secure Contact Tracing Data After Learning Personal Info Still Online
The company responsible for administering Pennsylvania’s contact tracing program has called on current and former employees to help it locate and secure documents online that might still contain the personal information of those who were contacted. In an email sent Friday to current and former employees, a copy of which was obtained by Spotlight PA, a lawyer for Insight Global asked them to contact the company’s information security team if they had any paper or electronic records, internet links and files, or Google Drive documents related to the program. (Martines, 6/17)
ABC News: Texas Man Who Declined COVID-19 Vaccine Speaks Out After Undergoing Double Lung Transplant
Joshua Garza had a chance to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in January but he passed it up, thinking he didn't really need it. Now, the 43-year-old Texan is hoping to inspire others to get the shot after he became so ill following his COVID-19 diagnosis that he needed a rare double lung transplant to survive. (Deliso, 6/16)
CNN: Families Mourn The Loss Of Loved Ones Who Hesitated On The Covid-19 Vaccine
Mike Lewis Jr. was on a call with the doctor last month when he heard the sudden and frantic beeping of machines.His father, also named Mike Lewis, was being treated for Covid-19 at a hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida. The doctor called to say Lewis' heart had stopped earlier in the day, but they revived him and put him on a ventilator. During that call, however, his heart stopped again. Lewis Jr. described hearing a chaotic scene in the background before the doctor quickly hung up. (Killough and Lavandera, 4/16)
KHN: Unvaccinated, Homebound And Now Hospitalized With Covid In New York City
Dr. Leora Horwitz treats fewer and fewer covid patients at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. Still, she thinks there are too many. And they almost all have something in common. “I’ve only had one patient who was vaccinated, and he was being treated for cancer with chemotherapy,” she said, reflecting recent research on the vaccines’ limited effectiveness for cancer patients. “Everyone else hasn’t been vaccinated.” (Mogul, 6/16)
In other covid updates —
Reuters: Pfizer's Rheumatoid Arthritis Drug Shows Benefit In COVID-19 Pneumonia
Pfizer Inc. said on Wednesday its oral rheumatoid arthritis drug Xeljanz reduced death or respiratory failure in hospitalized COVID-19 patients with pneumonia in Brazil, meeting the study's main goal. Results of the study, which tested the drug in 289 hospitalized adult patients with the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus, were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. (6/16)
Modern Healthcare: AMA Policy Will Support Long-Haul COVID Research
The policy, adopted during a special meeting of the AMA's House of Delegates, calls for federal funding to research prevention, control, and treatment of long haul COVID—also known as post-acute sequelae infection, or PASC. Various studies have shown that between 10% and 30% of patients suffer from long-term symptoms. A JAMA Network study published in February found that 30% of patients who were followed for up to nine months post infection reported persistent symptoms, including fatigue, loss of sense of smell or taste, and brain fog. And a study by FAIR Health showed 19% of individuals who recovered from an asymptomatic COVID-19 inflection developed symptoms of PASC. (Gellman, 6/16)
The Washington Post: As Coronavirus Recedes, Colds And Common Viruses Are Back — Especially Among Children
The comeback of ordinary viruses is widely regarded as a dark underside of a season in which the coronavirus has been receding in much of the nation as vaccinations provide protection. As a result, people are shedding masks and abandoning social distancing — and resuming spreading viral droplets. (Goldstein and Nirappil, 6/16)
