Success Unlikely In Post-Election Pandemic Battle
Skeptics of the federal government's management of the pandemic are not hopeful about the next few months.
The New York Times:
Covid Experts Fear The Worst With Trump In Charge And Winter Coming
Regardless of the election’s outcome this week, President Trump will be the one steering the country through what is likely to be the darkest and potentially deadliest period of the coronavirus pandemic, and he has largely excluded the nation’s leading health experts from his inner circle. Mr. Trump will still have control of the nation’s health apparatus and the bully pulpit that comes with the Oval Office until Jan. 20, as infections approach 100,000 a day and death rates begin to rise as hospitals are strained to their breaking points. (Shear and Gay Stolberg, 11/3)
Roll Call:
Next President Will Need To Repair Trust In Health Agencies
The winner of this week's presidential contest, regardless of the outcome, will be faced next year with the challenge of leading agencies whose reputations have suffered badly during the pandemic under the direction of President Donald Trump. Two agencies in particular, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, have been among the most high-profile during the COVID-19 pandemic, and have also been among the most heavily politicized, scrutinized, and criticized — even by Trump himself. (Siddons, 11/3)
Also —
Modern Healthcare:
Trump Exec Order Could Stuff HHS With His Political Allies
A recent move by the Trump administration could further politicize HHS, severely disrupt the agency's decision-making and cause sizable policy swings each time there's a new president. Those changes would create significant uncertainty for providers, payers and the public, according to experts. President Donald Trump last month signed an executive order that would make it easier for federal agencies to hire and fire career officials "in positions of a confidential, policy-determining, policymaking or policy-advocating character … not normally subject to change as a result of a presidential transition" by reclassifying them under a new category of federal workers called Schedule F. It would let agencies sack attorneys, public health experts, regulators, scientists and other officials without cause, according to Donald Kettl, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin's Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. (Brady, 11/3)
Stat:
Critics Say New NIH Policy On Scientific Data Sharing Falls Short
After a five-year effort, the National Institute of Health late last week released its final policy for managing and sharing publicly funded scientific data. But some critics say the approach falls short, because the language may still make it possible for researchers to withhold their data. (Silverman, 11/3)
