AP: White House: Top Scientist Resigns Over Treatment Of Staff
President Joe Biden’s top science adviser Eric Lander resigned, hours after the White House confirmed that an internal investigation found credible evidence that he mistreated his staff, marking the first Cabinet-level departure of the Biden administration. An internal review last year, prompted by a workplace complaint, found evidence that Lander, the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and science adviser to Biden, bullied staffers and treated them disrespectfully. The White House rebuked Lander over his interactions with his staff, but initially signaled Monday that he would be allowed to remain on the job, despite Biden’s Inauguration Day assertion that he expected “honesty and decency” from all who worked for his administration and would fire anyone who shows disrespect to others “on the spot.” (Miller, 2/8)

Stat: Lander Resigns, Potentially Imperiling The Rest Of Biden’s Scientific Agenda
When President Biden tapped Eric Lander as White House science adviser in January 2021, he tasked the renowned genomics researcher with “reinvigorating” American science. Following Lander’s stunning resignation on Monday evening, however, the question is no longer whether he’ll reinvigorate the U.S. scientific enterprise. It’s whether he’s derailed it. ... In interviews with STAT, White House aides and outside research experts worried that the scandal will delay or undercut several of the administration’s key scientific priorities: appointing a new biomedical research chief; relaunching the “Cancer Moonshot”; retooling federal pandemic preparedness; and creating a new agency geared toward biomedical breakthroughs. (Facher, 2/7)

Politico: Biden’s Top Science Adviser, Eric Lander, Resigns Amid Reports Of Bullying
POLITICO was first to report that the White House had launched a two month investigation into Lander that found “credible evidence” that he bullied his then-general counsel, Rachel Wallace. The investigation also concluded that there was “credible evidence of disrespectful interactions with staff by Dr. Lander and OSTP leadership,” according to a recording of a January White House briefing on the investigation’s findings. In addition, 14 current and former OSTP staffers shared descriptions of a toxic work environment under Lander where they say Lander frequently bullied, cut off and dismissed subordinates. Several shared specific accusations that he belittled and demeaned women subordinates in particular. (Thompson, 2/7)

Also —

USA Today: Can Biden's 'Cancer Moonshot' Succeed? It's Possible, Experts Say, But It Will Take More Than Words
President Biden has promised to cut the cancer death rate in half over the next 25 years and improve the experience of patients and families, "ending cancer as we know it." Cancer doctors, patients and researchers, not surprisingly, were thrilled by the "Cancer Moonshot" coming out of the Oval Office. But as with any big plan, the devil is in the details. "How do you go from the locker room motivational speech to plays on the field? You have to connect the two," said Dr. David Tuveson, president of the American Association for Cancer Research. (Weintraub, 2/6)

ABC News: Overdose Deaths Cost US $1 Trillion Annually, Bipartisan Report Finds
The drug overdose epidemic in the United States, now primarily driven by synthetic opioids like ultra-deadly fentanyl, costs the nation roughly $1 trillion a year, according to a new bipartisan congressional report released Tuesday. "Whether measured in lives or in dollars, the United States' drug overdose epidemic should shock everyone," the report reads. "It is unacceptable." (Owen, 2/8)

AP: Report: New Strategy For Opioids And A Cabinet-Level Leader 
The U.S. needs a nimble, multipronged strategy and Cabinet-level leadership to counter its festering overdose epidemic, a bipartisan congressional commission advises. With vastly powerful synthetic drugs like fentanyl driving record overdose deaths, the scourge of opioids awaits after the COVID-19 pandemic finally recedes, a shift that public health experts expect in the months ahead. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 2/8)

CNN: US Report Finds Mexico Is Dominant Source Of Fentanyl Trafficked Into US
A new government report out Tuesday details how opioid trafficking in the United States has changed in recent years, with Mexico now a "dominant source" of the country's fentanyl supply and synthetic opioids rapidly saturating drug markets. In its report, the federal Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking -- a bipartisan group of US lawmakers, experts and officials from federal departments and agencies -- warns that if the US does nothing to change its response to the new challenges, more American lives will be lost. (Stracqualursi, 2/8)

NPR: Synthetic Opioids Contribute To The Rising Rate Of Drug Overdoses
NPR's Leila Fadel talks to Bryce Pardo, from the RAND Drug Policy Research Center, on the findings of a new opioid trafficking report. (2/8)

And the federal government suggests it might allow safe havens for injections —

AP: Justice Dept. Signals It May Allow Safe Injection Sites 
A year after winning a major court battle against the opening of so-called safe injection sites -- safe havens for people to use heroin and other narcotics with protections against fatal overdoses — the Justice Department is signaling it might be open to allowing them. In response to questions from The Associated Press, the Justice Department said it is “evaluating” such facilities and talking to regulators about “appropriate guardrails.” (Peltz and Balsamo, 2/8)

In other news on the opioid crisis —

Reuters: Teva, Texas Strike Opioid Settlement Worth $225 Million 
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (TEVA.TA) has reached a settlement worth $225 million to resolve claims the drugmaker fueled an opioid epidemic in Texas by improperly marketing addictive pain medications, the state's attorney general said on Monday. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Teva agreed to pay $150 million over 15 years and provide $75 million worth of generic Narcan, a medication used to counter the effects of opioid overdoses. (Raymond, 2/7)

AP: CDC: Maine 2020 Opioid Prescription Rate Top In New England
Maine had the highest opioid prescription rate in New England in 2020 even though overall prescriptions of opioids in the state have decreased over the last decade, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The state’s opioid prescription rate has dropped lower than the national rate since 2017, due to laws restricting access to opioids, but Maine still has a relatively high rate for New England, The Bangor Daily News reported Monday. (2/7)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: GOP Plan To Gut Medicaid Advances To Floor Of Missouri House 
Despite winning the support of 53% of Missouri voters in 2020, Republicans who control the state Legislature are making another run at gutting Medicaid expansion. In action Monday, a key budget panel forwarded a proposed constitutional amendment to the full House that would ask voters to allow the government-subsidized health care program to be subject to annual appropriations by the General Assembly. The proposal advanced on a 22-9 vote. If approved, the proposed constitutional change regarding Medicaid would put the power to make the program available to as many as 275,000 low-income Missourians in the hands of the Legislature, meaning it could, again, choose not to fund the expansion. (Erickson, 2/7)

In other Medicaid news from Georgia, North Carolina, Connecticut and Massachusetts —

Georgia Health News: Senate Backs Longer Medicaid Benefits For Post-Partum Women 
The state Senate unanimously approved a bill Monday extending Medicaid coverage from six months to a year for low-income post-partum women. The legislation aims to address Georgia’s high rate of maternal mortality — women’s deaths related to pregnancy. Medicaid, the federal/state program for low-income and disabled residents, covers more than half of the births in Georgia. The added Medicaid coverage at the end of pregnancy was backed by Gov. Brian Kemp, whose budget contains $28 million for the coming fiscal year to implement the change. (Miller, 2/7)

North Carolina Health News: Months In, Medicaid Transition Still Confusing Patients 
About 1.7 million people in the state have experienced a change to their insurance in the seven months since North Carolina began its switch from a Medicaid system administered by the state to one managed by five for-profit organizations (and one by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians for tribal members). Despite a marketing push and outreach efforts, a quarter of people with Medicaid didn’t know about the transition back in July according to a study from an advocacy group. And now, more than half a year in, data from the Medicaid Ombudsman’s office — which fields and investigates questions from people with Medicaid — show that thousands are still confused about the technically public insurance, which now looks and acts a lot like private insurance. (Donnelly-DeRoven, 2/8)

The CT Mirror: CT Lawmakers Eye Lofty Health Care Reforms In Short Legislative Session
Last year, the coronavirus pandemic was a catalyst for a raft of health care reform proposals before the General Assembly, with lawmakers addressing everything from health equity measures to staffing and safety protocols in nursing homes. When this year’s legislative session begins on Wednesday, some of that work will continue but on a pared-down schedule. The 2021 session was 22 weeks long; this year’s is just 12... The ambitious health care agenda for this year includes a revival of bills tackling the high cost of prescription drugs, a plan to expand the state’s Medicaid program to older undocumented children, a controversial measure that would allow doctors to prescribe a lethal dose of medication to terminal patients and a ban on flavored vaping products. (Carlesso, 2/8)

The Boston Globe: Missing Personal Care Attendant Payments Strain An Already Taxed Workforce
On Jan. 1, the state streamlined the way it pays workers who assist people with disabilities, consolidating payroll operations from three providers to one. But the transition hit a major snag, resulting in payment delays for thousands of personal care attendants who count on each paycheck landing in their bank account on time. Deposits resumed within a few weeks, but industry observers say the fiasco has caused some members of an already short-staffed workforce to quit, and may inflict long-term damage on a vital but vulnerable workforce. “We’ve gotten tons of calls from PCAs who are worried about losing their car insurance, being evicted. It’s a real-life crisis for these people,” said Rebecca Gutman, vice president of homecare at 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, which represents the workers. (Johnston, 2/7)

In Medicare news —

Stat: Unexpected Groups Pressure Medicare Over Its Alzheimer’s Drug Decision
Medicare has already received more than 4,300 comments on its recent proposal to limit coverage for Biogen’s controversial Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm, and other similar drugs. But most aren’t from drug makers, Alzheimer’s advocacy groups, or even neurologists. They’re from two unexpected letter writing campaigns. The largest campaign is being organized by an “advocacy news” operation, More Perfect Union, which was founded by a former campaign manager for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and which is part of a cadre of overtly political organizations that produce viral explainer videos, like this one on Aduhelm, that often include calls for viewers to take an action like emailing Medicare. (Florko, 2/8)

Modern Healthcare: Black, Hispanic And Low-Income Patients Face A Little-Known Care Gap
Black, Hispanic and low-income patients on Medicare have less access to high-quality home health agencies, according to new research. The same is true for those who live in neighborhoods with a greater share of Black, Hispanic and low-income residents. A new Health Affairs study found that there is 5.5 percentage points between Black and white patients' use of high-quality home health agencies, 11.9 percentage points between Hispanic and white patients' use and a 3.9 percentage-point difference between higher-income and low-income patients' use, making high-quality care "out of reach" for some. More than 3 million Medicare beneficiaries receive home health services. (Christ, 2/7)

KHN: Health Care Paradox: Medicare Penalizes Dozens Of Hospitals It Also Gives Five Stars
The federal government has penalized 764 hospitals — including more than three dozen it simultaneously rates as among the best in the country — for having the highest numbers of patient infections and potentially avoidable complications. The penalties — a 1% reduction in Medicare payments over 12 months — are based on the experiences of Medicare patients discharged from the hospital between July 2018 and the end of 2019, before the pandemic began in earnest. The punishments, which the Affordable Care Act requires be assessed on the worst-performing 25% of general hospitals each year, are intended to make hospitals focus on reducing bedsores, hip fractures, blood clots, and the cohort of infections that before covid-19 were the biggest scourges in hospitals. Those include surgical infections, urinary tract infections from catheters, and antibiotic-resistant germs like MRSA. (Rau, 2/8)

Look Up Your Hospital: Is It Being Penalized By Medicare?

Politico: Biden Officials Trying To Recalculate U.S. Covid-19 Hospitalizations 
The Biden administration is working on recalculating the number of Covid-19 hospitalizations in the U.S., according to two senior officials familiar with the matter. A task force comprised of scientists and data specialists at the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are working with hospitals nationwide to improve Covid-19 reporting. The group is asking hospitals to report numbers of patients who go to the facility because they have Covid-19 and separate those from individuals who go in for other reasons and test positive after being admitted, the two officials said. (Banco, 2/7)

Cases are declining in many regions, but not all —

Anchorage Daily News: Alaska’s Hospitals Report Declining Numbers Of COVID-19 Patients And Fewer Staff Call-Outs
Alaska’s waning COVID-19 surge associated with the omicron variant appeared to be loosening its grip on the state’s hospitals this week. Hospital capacity has been limited by staff sick calls linked to the virus as well as supply chain disruptions and a high number of ill patients, including those with COVID-19, health and hospital officials say. At times, hospitals in Anchorage reported hundreds of workers out sick or quarantined. Now, the number of COVID-positive patients is dropping, but more importantly, the state’s larger hospitals say worker call-outs are declining too, according to Jared Kosin, president and CEO of the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association. (Hollander, 2/7)

AP: Pressure On Nebraska Hospitals Eases As COVID-19 Cases Fall 
The pressure is easing on Nebraska hospitals as the surge in COVID-19 cases driven by the highly contagious omicron variant continues to subside, but hospitals remain quite busy. Nebraska hospital officials said Monday that they are cautiously optimistic that virus hospitalizations will continue to decline, but they worry about the possibility of another surge. Hospitalizations have been increasing almost continuously since the delta variant arrived in the state last summer. (2/7)

Houston Chronicle: Houston COVID-19 Cases Continue To Plummet After Record-Breaking Omicron Peak, But ICUs Still Full
New data from Houston hospitals Monday showed COVID-19 cases continue to plummet from January’s omicron-fueled peak, evidence the omicron wave is receding almost as quickly as it arrived. But the encouraging figures come after a brutal few weeks, in which Texas approached 80,000 fatalities from COVID and Houston area hospitals scrambled to treat an influx of patients, many unvaccinated. And federal health forecasts predict the state could log up to 4,000 more deaths by the end of February as omicron infections continue to churn through vulnerable populations. (Mishanec, 2/7)

Billings Gazette: COVID Cases Rise In Youth, RiverStone Health Offers Incentive For Vaccination
Over the last week, 37 more Montanans died from COVID-19 related illness. Active COVID cases came to 10,256. Though cases are still high, the active case count is down from 18,607 last Monday. Over the last two weeks, hospitalizations have increased 16% with 310 active hospitalizations on Monday. Missoula County currently leads the state in active cases with 1,966, according to the state dashboard. Over the weekend, the county had 3,647 active cases. Though Missoula County is following the statewide decrease in cases, the county’s public health officer D’Shane Barnett says it’s not safe yet to relax mitigation efforts. (Schabacker, 2/7)

And the death rate may be starting to ease —

USA Today: Signs Point To U.S. Death Rate From COVID Dropping
Daily U.S. deaths from the most recent coronavirus surge may finally be ready to decline. Most states are now reporting fewer deaths than they had been a week ago, a USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. Twenty states still had more deaths than the previous week, but that's a decrease of 14 states. The U.S. continues to average about 2,400 to 2,500 deaths per day, a daily human cost about equal to the losses at Pearl Harbor. The number of fatalities from COVID surpassed 900,000 on Friday. If the pace of American deaths falls at the same rate it increased during the current omicron surge, the nation will reach 1 million in about 55 days, or the beginning of April. (Ortiz, Bacon and Tebor, 2/7)

CIDRAP: US Records 60,000 COVID-19 Deaths In January 
Late last week America's pandemic death toll reached 900,000—with 60,000 deaths recorded in January alone—and 100,000 deaths logged since Dec 13.January's death toll doubled November's, the month before Omicron became the dominant variant in the country. According to NBC News, Tennessee, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania have the most deaths when adjusted for population. (Soucheray, 2/7)

San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area COVID Deaths Rise Sharply, Even As Cases Fall
The number of daily COVID deaths reported in the Bay Area has doubled from two weeks ago but appears to be leveling off in recent days. At the same time, cases and hospitalizations of patients with COVID continue to plunge from the height of the omicron surge. Coronavirus fatalities in the region have ticked up since Jan. 24, from 11 per day to 22 per day as of Monday, according to state data on seven-day averages of new daily deaths. Statewide, the number of people dying from COVID-19 has climbed from 120 per day to 184 per day over the same period. With the rapid transmission rate of the now-dominant omicron variant of the coronavirus, and continued high case numbers, people are now dying at a much higher rate than they were during the delta summer surge. (Vaziri, 2/7)

Also —

Los Angeles Times: Nursing Home Infamous For High Number Of COVID Deaths To Close
Kingston Healthcare Center in Bakersfield — a long-troubled nursing home that saw 19 residents die during an early COVID outbreak — announced it would close after the Department of Health and Health Services said the facility could no longer receive Medicare or Medicaid payments. The department cited a long history of health code and other violations. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services office in San Francisco notified Kingston that its contract would be terminated Feb. 6 because it “failed to attain substantial compliance with multiple Medicare and Medicaid requirements,” including infection control, resident rights, quality of life, quality of care, food and nutrition, and dental and physician services. (Mozingo, 2/7)

Stat: For Health Workers, Exhaustion Mixes With A Sense Of Betrayal
Beneath the bone-deep exhaustion, burned-out health care workers say they are grappling with another feeling: betrayal. Many clinicians have felt that with the waves of Covid have come waves of abandonment — by employers unable or unwilling to protect workers, by lawmakers undercutting public health measures, and by a public resigned to the ongoing crisis. And ultimately, health workers can feel betrayed by themselves, as circumstances outside their control make it painfully difficult to care for their patients or colleagues. (Cueto, 2/8)

The New York Times: New York Deer Infected With Omicron, Study Finds 
White-tailed deer on Staten Island have been found carrying the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus, marking the first time the variant has been reported in wild animals. The findings add to a growing body of evidence that white-tailed deer are easily infected by the virus. The results are likely to intensify concerns that deer, which are widely distributed across the United States and live near humans, could become a reservoir for the virus and a potential source of new variants. (Anthes and Imbler, 2/7)

The New York Times: Is The Coronavirus In Your Backyard?
In late 2020, the coronavirus silently stalked Iowa’s white-tailed deer. The virus infected large bucks and leggy yearlings. It infiltrated a game preserve in the southeastern corner of the state and popped up in free-ranging deer from Sioux City to Dubuque. When scientists sifted through bits of frozen lymph node tissue — harvested from unlucky deer killed by hunters or cars — they found that more than 60 percent of the deer sampled in December 2020 were infected. (Anthes and Imbler, 2/7)

In other covid research —

CIDRAP: Omicron Strain Much Less Likely To Cause Severe Outcomes, Study Finds
The first peer-reviewed US study of COVID-19 outcomes in patients infected with the Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant shows that, relative to patients infected with previous variants Delta (B1617.2) and Alpha (B117), Omicron patients were younger, had significantly higher vaccine breakthrough rates, and were significantly less likely to be hospitalized. The study, published late last week in the American Journal of Pathology, also found that, when hospitalized, Omicron patients needed less intense respiratory support and had shorter stays, consistent with early reports of the generally milder nature of cases caused by the highly transmissible strain. (2/7)

Stat: Some Long Covid Patients See Improvement, But Full Recovery Is Elusive
How long does long Covid last? And what does it mean to achieve full recovery? If you ask Joni White, she’ll tell you she just wants to feel like herself again — or something close to it. And she’s almost there. Retired from federal law enforcement, White now describes herself as a glass artist but she’s been out of her studio for more than a year. On New Year’s Eve 2020, Covid-19 hit her so hard she thought she might die. Her infected but asymptomatic sister cared for her for three weeks in a house on the Outer Banks in North Carolina until her crushing headaches, chest tightness, and brain fog eased. But back home in Hillsborough, N.C., White’s headaches and brain fog were still there in April, along with frustration and depression at not being able to carry out what had been ordinary tasks, much less fusing glass into art. (Cooney, 2/8)

And more pandemic news —

Oklahoman: Joe Exotic Tests Positive For COVID. Tiger King Star Still In Oklahoma
Joe Exotic has tested positive for COVID-19. His lead attorney, John M. Phillips, posted on Facebook Sunday that the former Oklahoma zookeeper is recovering. "I just spoke to Joseph A. Maldonado," the Jacksonville, Florida, attorney wrote. "Sounded better than he's sounded in days. He's still in Oklahoma. Should be transferred to North Carolina once he's out of COVID protocol." Joe Exotic was back in Oklahoma for his resentencing in his murder-for-hire case. His attorney last week described him in a social media post as "sick as hell." (Clay, 2/7)

Miami Herald: Closed Miami-Dade Jail Became COVID Ward As Omicron Surged 
In early 2020, as COVID-19 ran rampant within South Florida jails, Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation wanted to evaluate how to curb the virus’ spread. One option — reopening the Miami-Dade Training and Treatment Center, a jail shuttered since 2016 — was quickly shot down by officials monitoring the county’s jail system for the federal government due to the facility’s inability to “meet the minimal constitutional standards for inmate confinement,” according to a memo from then-Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez. But in January, as the omicron variant ripped through Miami, the county turned the jail into a COVID ward, sending at least 70 people into the facility to try and isolate contagious detainees. (Smalls II, 2/7)

Miami Herald: Recall: This COVID-19 Home Test Was Illegally Imported And Not Authorized By The FDA 
South Korean diagnostics company SD Biosensor recalled its Standard Q COVID-19 Ag Home Test from the United States after “confirmed reports that the test kits were illegally imported into the United States.” That’s in the company-written, FDA-posted recall notice that says because the test hasn’t been “authorized, cleared or cleared or approved by the FDA” for U.S. use, consumers who have used it are “strongly encouraged to consider retesting with an FDA authorized or cleared test.” (Neal, 2/6)

Modern Healthcare: 5 Takeaways From New At-Home COVID-19 Test Coverage Guidelines
The federal government last month required private insurers to begin covering at-home COVID-19 tests for their enrollees. Officials on Friday released additional information on what insurers need to cover in response to stakeholder questions that came up since the initial policy was released. Here are five things to know about the updated guidelines: 1. Plans won't be penalized for temporarily failing to provide at-home tests at network pharmacies free of charge because of supply shortages. However, if an enrollee is able to buy eligible tests despite supply shortages, insurers need to reimburse them, according to federal policy. (Goldman, 2/7)

Axios: Axios-Ipsos Poll: America Learns To Live With COVID, But Is Split On How To Do It
One in three Americans expects to catch COVID within the next month — and only one in 10 thinks it will be eradicated by this time next year — according to the latest installment of the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index. The new data shows Americans are coming to terms with living with COVID. But it also reveals an utter lack of consensus on how to live with it. People are divided about evenly into four camps on how to proceed: drop all mandates and requirements, keep some, keep most, or add even more. (Talev, 2/8)

NPR: The Future Of The Pandemic Is Looking Clearer As We Learn More About Infection
"Immunity to Covid-19 could be lost in months, UK study suggests," a headline from The Guardian alerted back in July 2020. "King's College London team found steep drops in patients' antibody levels three months after infection," the story warned. But that idea was based on preliminary data from the laboratory — and on a faulty understanding of how the immune system works. Now about a year and a half later, better data is painting a more optimistic picture about immunity after a bout of COVID-19. In fact, a symptomatic infection triggers a remarkable immune response in the general population, likely offering protection against severe disease and death for a few years. And if you're vaccinated on top of it, your protection is likely even better, studies are consistently showing. (Doucleff, 2/7)

USA Today: Researchers Consider How To Stop The Next Pandemic
Finding the next deadly virus and preventing a rat, bat or monkey from spreading it to people should be the primary focus of the world’s efforts to stop the next pandemic, a group of international researchers said in a study published Friday. Preventing diseases from skipping from wildlife to people would save lives and billions in costs, the researchers said, and should be prioritized ahead of detecting and treating viruses after people get sick. Disease experts and wildlife biologists had warned of the deadly risks of pathogens spreading from animals to people before COVID-19 arrived. The long list of such viruses includes HIV, ebola and chikungunya. (Schnell and Fernando, 2/5)

The Washington Post: The 1918 Flu Pandemic Had A Devastating Third Year. Here’s What We Can Learn
In New York City in 1920 — nearly two years into a deadly influenza pandemic that would claim at least 50 million lives worldwide — the new year began on a bright note. “Best Health Report for City in 53 Years,” boasted a headline in the New York Times on Jan. 4, 1920, after New York had survived three devastating waves of the flu virus. The nation as a whole, which would ultimately lose 675,000 people to the disease, believed that the end might finally be in sight. (McHugh, 2/6)

Also —

The New Republic: The Future Of Epidemic Tracking Is In Your Toilet 
Not everyone will get a Covid test, but everyone poops. That’s why cities across the United States are using municipal wastewater to track the still-raging pandemic. The amount of the SARS CoV-2 RNA in the sewershed can indicate the level of the virus in a community as a whole, whether or not individuals above ground are experiencing symptoms. In fact, the tool is a leading indicator of Covid-19’s spread, predicting spikes three to seven days before the number of reported cases rises. It’s also drawn public attention to the sewer system’s vast public health potential—and just how much managing wastewater will matter in the face of accelerating climate change. (After this piece was published, the CDC launched a new dashboard to display data from the National Wastewater Surveillance System. White House Covid-19 Data Director Cyrus Shahpar tweeted that “plans are to expand this to cover all 50 states.”) (Cummins, 2/3)

Los Angeles Times: California To Lift Mask Mandate In Indoor Public Places
With the Omicron coronavirus surge rapidly receding, California will lift its universal mask mandate for indoor public places next week, state officials announced Monday. The lifting of the mandate will apply to counties without local mask orders of their own, such as San Diego, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, as well as swaths of the San Joaquin Valley. Counties can still opt to retain local mask orders, as Los Angeles County will do. (Lin II, Money and Willon, 2/7)

AP: Oregon To Lift Indoor Mask Requirement By End Of March
Oregon’s statewide mask requirement for indoor public places will be lifted no later than the end of March, health officials announced Monday. In addition, mask requirements for schools will be lifted on March 31. Education and health officials will meet in coming weeks to revise guidance to “ensure schools can continue operating safely and keep students in class” after mask rule is lifted, said Dr. Dean Sidelinger, the state medical officer and epidemiologist. (Cline, 2/7)

Axios: Blue States Move To Drop Mask Mandates 
America's blue states are increasingly chasing normalcy, especially when it comes to face mask rules meant to slow the spread of COVID-19. "We are not going to manage COVID to zero," tweeted Gov. Phil Murphy. The New Jersey Democrat announced today that his state is unwinding school mask mandates that have been in place for the entire pandemic. "We have to learn how to live with COVID as we move from a pandemic to an endemic phase of this virus." (Allen, Knutson and Saric, 2/7)

In updates on masks in schools —

NPR: 4 States Plan To End School Mask Mandates
Oregon is the latest state to set plans to lift its statewide mask mandate for schools, following earlier announcements Monday from New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware. The loosening guidelines are signs that the four states are changing how they manage the COVID-19 pandemic as cases from the omicron surge continue to subside.Oregon health officials announced Monday its end date for indoor mask requirements for public places and inside schools is March 31. "The evidence from Oregon and around the country is clear: masks save lives by slowing the spread of COVID-19," Oregon state health officer Dr. Dean Sidelinger said in a news release. (Hernandez and Franklin, 2/7)

Chicago Tribune: Illinois School Mask Mandate Ruling Throws Districts Into Chaos 
A judge’s recent ruling that Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s COVID-19 mask mandate was authorized illegally prompted chaos and confusion Monday morning at school districts across Illinois, as increasingly volatile battles over virus mitigation strategies further divided communities and forced some schools to cancel classes. Meanwhile, the Illinois attorney general’s office filed an appeal Monday, demanding a stay to Sangamon County Circuit Judge Raylene Grischow’s Friday decision to grant a request from downstate attorney Tom DeVore to temporarily roll back the governor’s executive orders on masking and quarantining for schools. (Cullotta and Petrella, 2/7)

AP: Virginia Supreme Court Dismisses Mask Mandate Petition
The Supreme Court of Virginia on Monday rejected on procedural grounds a petition from parents seeking to invalidate Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s executive order prohibiting school systems from enforcing mask mandates in the classroom. Youngkin and Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares are battling in court on multiple fronts to defend the executive order. But the ruling is far from definitive. In a footnote, the justices say they offer “no opinion on the legality of EO 2,” the executive order that seeks to undo mask mandates, which are aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus. (Barakat, 2/7)

In other mask news —

The Washington Post: American University Unknowingly Distributed Counterfeit KN95 Masks, Officials Confirm
American University began distributing new KN95 masks on campus Monday after learning an initial batch of face coverings handed out by the school recently were counterfeit, officials said. The university began its new semester virtually to help mitigate the spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus, and it resumed in-person classes on Jan. 31. It also set a new masking policy, requiring people to wear N95, KN95 or KF94 masks while indoors, saying those versions “provide the best protection.” The campus set up sites where people could pick up a mask if they have a university ID. (Asbury, 2/7)

Dallas Morning News: Lawsuit Accuses Dallas Firm Of Selling Fake PPE To Washington Hospitals, University
A Dallas medical device distributor is being sued for selling what the Washington State Hospital Association and the University of Washington say is $4 million worth of counterfeit personal protective equipment. The hospital association and university sued CJFS Corp. over face masks purchased early in the coronavirus pandemic that later were determined to be counterfeit 3M-branded masks. The hospital association purchased more than 634 cases of 3M 1860-model N95 masks for $1.4 million. The university bought 4,708 cases of 1860-model and 1860S-model N95 masks for $2.6 million in the fall of 2020, according to the lawsuit in King County Superior Court. (Skores, 2/7)

Fox News: Children Aren't As Good At Recognizing Masked Faces As Adults, Study Finds
Children have a more difficult time recognizing faces that are masked than adults, which could harm their ability to "navigate through social interactions with their peers and teachers," according to a newly released study. Erez Freud, a researcher at York University, who published his findings on Monday in the journal Cognitive Research: Principles & Implications. Freud, along with two professors from Israel’s Ben-Gurion University, gave 72 children between the ages of 6 and 14 the Cambridge Face Memory Test, which measures facial perception abilities by presenting people with and without masks while upright and inverted. (Best, 2/7)

Los Angeles Times: New COVID-19 Sick Pay Approved By California Lawmakers
California lawmakers passed legislation on Monday to provide most workers with up to two weeks of COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave, a move policymakers hope will slow the spread of the coronavirus across the state. “We all are quite aware of the surge of COVID-19 cases, and this act will help ensure that those employees that are sick can take the paid sick leave that they need so all of us are protected,” said Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley). (Luna, 2/7)

In other news about the pandemic's economic toll —

NPR: Paying Bills Or Buying A Mask — The Mounting Costs Of COVID Hit Some Homes Hard
As the human toll of the coronavirus continues to mount, so does the cost that comes with living during a pandemic. Cloth and disposable surgical masks have become staples of pandemic life as many stores, restaurants and businesses require staff and customers to wear them. And many school districts around the country still have mask mandates in place. At-home rapid tests have also become familiar as the surge of coronavirus cases over the new year caused a frenzy as millions of Americans rushed to get their hands on one. Some school districts also require negative tests before students return to campus. For the most part, people have had to cover these expenses up front. (Yu and Isackson, 2/8)

The Washington Post: Inflation Hits Guacamole, Range Of Fresh Fruits And Veggies 
In the past year, inflation swerved around grocery stores like a wobbly shopping cart, slamming into the meat department, milk, eggs and even toothpaste. Fresh fruits and vegetables were largely spared. Until recently. The percentage increase in produce prices from November to December, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, was twice that of other food categories. (Prices for meats, poultry, fish and eggs actually declined a bit in December after rising for seven months straight). (Reiley, 2/7)

The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Relief Funds Drive Up Nurse Pay, Hospitals Say
Hospitals and lawmakers are pressing the Biden administration to review federal pandemic-relief programs that they say have distorted pay rates for travel nurses. Many nurses are making twice what they did before the pandemic or more on assignments at hospitals paying top dollar to fill big holes in their workforces. (Armour and Whelan, 2/8)

NBC News: Schools Are Starting To Spend Covid Relief Dollars. Here's What They're Prioritizing.
School districts and education officials nationwide have been figuring out how to best spend the latest round of federal Covid relief funds, an unprecedented influx of aid for K-12 education meant to help schools rebound and stay open during the pandemic. ... An NBC News analysis of the spending plans of four of the five largest school districts, and interviews with education experts, found that priorities for the federal aid included increasing instructional time through tutoring; summer school and after-school and enrichment programs. Literacy support, and hiring and increasing pay for staff, including teachers and mental health counselors, has also been given precedence, along with improving ventilation systems. (Silva, 2/6)

USA Today: Vaccination A Major Benefit For Expectant Mothers, New Studies Show
Pregnant women have long been advised to avoid alcohol and tobacco and to take folic acid. In the age of the coronavirus, getting the COVID-19 vaccine is also strongly recommended. Vaccination helps protect not only expectant mothers but also their babies, both in utero and after birth, according to two separate studies whose conclusions run counter to common misinformation about the vaccine and pregnancy. A study funded by the National Institutes of Health suggests pregnant women with at least moderate COVID-19 symptoms are at greater risk for pregnancy complications -- besides the health impacts of the disease -- than those not infected or with mild or no symptoms. (Ortiz, Bacon and Tebor, 2/7)

Salt Lake Tribune: COVID-19 Can Cause Serious Pregnancy Complications, New Study Led By Utah Doctor Shows
Pregnant people sick with COVID-19 are roughly 40% more likely to develop serious complications or die than pregnant people who don’t have the virus, according to a new nationwide study led by a Utah doctor. The more severe one’s COVID-19 symptoms are, the more likely they are to suffer serious pregnancy complications — even from common risks, such as high blood pressure, postpartum hemorrhage and other infections, said Dr. Torri D. Metz, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist and associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at University of Utah Health. Metz discussed the findings in a news conference Monday. Here’s what you need to know. (Jacobs, 2/7)

In other vaccine news —

Dallas Morning News: ‘They’re Not Forcefields’: Why Some Experts Say Term ‘Breakthrough COVID-19′ Can Be Misleading
People who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can still test positive for the virus. Health officials have come to refer to that as a “breakthrough case” of the disease. But some health experts say the term can be misleading and misconstrued, especially as new variants have emerged and vaccination rates across the country have slowed. “I think it was setting the vaccine up for an impossible standard that vaccines can’t possibly meet,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and the lead epidemiologist for the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 Testing Insights Initiative. (Marfin, 2/7)

Noticias Telemundo: A Latina Scientist Co-Created A New Covid Vaccine. She's Nominated For The Nobel Peace Prize
María Elena Bottazzi doesn't forget where she comes from. Her face softens as she, in the midst of complex scientific terms, speaks of Honduras as if she had left Tegucigalpa, its capital, yesterday. “It never crossed my mind to look for a job at a multinational" company, she said with a broad smile in a video interview with Noticias Telemundo. "I am Central American and doing nonprofit projects is my way of giving back a little of what Honduras has given me.” (Linares, 2/7)

In updates on other covid treatments —

CIDRAP: High-Risk COVID Outpatients Least Likely To Receive Monoclonal Antibodies
Nonhospitalized COVID-19 patients at highest risk for severe outcomes are often the least likely to receive monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), finds a study of more than 1.9 million Medicare beneficiaries published late last week in JAMA. (2/7)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: What You Need To Know About Antiviral COVID Pills Still In Short Supply
Two new antiviral pills considered powerful tools to fight COVID-19 are trickling into Georgia, and doctors are eagerly reaching for them to lessen the odds of hospitalization at a time when the number of new infections remains high. But how quickly patients can get the required prescription and then locate a pharmacy with the pills has proven to be a hurdle. Initial supplies in Georgia and elsewhere have been low as manufacturers have raced to ramp up production. And, from a medical point of view, the scarcity of the new antivirals is only one of the challenges for doctors. Both drugs, Paxlovid, manufactured by Pfizer, and molnupiravir, made by Merck, come with a list of interactions and possible side effects that limit who can take them. (Oliviero and Hart, 2/8)

Axios: Pharmacies Feel Stiffed On Payments For Pfizer And Merck COVID Pills 
Some pharmacies are getting paid as little as $1 to dispense the COVID antiviral pills made by Pfizer and Merck. Most pharmacies want to offer the drugs, especially the one from Pfizer that drastically cuts the odds of hospitalization and death. But low payments could hurt Americans' ability to access the pills in some areas if pharmacies decide they can't afford to stock them. (Herman, 2/7)

MarketWatch: Four Drug Makers Raked In $14 Billion In Sales Of COVID-19 Treatments In 2021. How Will They Do This Year? 
Four drug makers brought in more than $14 billion in sales of COVID-19 treatments in 2021, but the lucrative, new market will be tempered if the virus is kept under control this year.  The tally includes full-year sales of Eli Lilly & Co.’s monoclonal antibodies ($2.2 billion), Gilead Sciences Inc.’s COVID-19 antiviral Veklury ($5.5 billion), Merck & Co. Inc.’s molnupiravir (nearly $1 billion), and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s monoclonals ($5.8 billion), according to year-end earnings from those companies. (Lee, 2/7)

Axios: Mayo Clinic Bills Patient For Learning More About A Clinical Study 
Interested in participating in a clinical study? Make sure your medical providers don’t bill you for simply learning what’s involved. Clinical trials aren't free for patients, but experts interviewed for this story agreed that a hospital shouldn't charge people just for getting information about them. (Herman, 2/8)

In other health care industry news —

Modern Healthcare: Physician Partners Of America To Pay $3.3 Million To Settle Alleged Non-Compete Violations
Physician Partners of America and its top executives agreed to pay $3.3 million to settle allegations that they violated non-compete contract provisions when the surgery center operators hired physicians from area competitors. Surgery Partners, which operates Tampa Pain Relief Center and Armenia Ambulatory Surgery Center, sued Physician Partners of America after it hired four of its doctors in late 2018 and early 2019. Physician Partners of America and two of its top executives will have to pay its competitors for hiring their former employees while under non-compete contract provisions, a Florida appellate court ruled Friday. (Kacik, 2/7)

Modern Healthcare: Acadia CEO Gets $900,000 To Delay Retirement
Behavioral health provider Acadia Healthcare will pay outgoing CEO Debbie Osteen $900,000 to delay her retirement for two months. Osteen announced her retirement from the 225-location network in October and was set to transition to an advisory role on Jan. 31. She will now stay on as CEO through March 31 "to assist with and ensure a smooth transition of leadership," the company wrote in a submission to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Jan. 31. The Nashville Business Journal first reported that she would extend her tenure. (Hartnett, 2/7)

KHN: Federal Investigation Into Spine Surgeries Uses Mob Laws To Target Health Care Fraud 
A Texas consulting company that arranges spine surgery and other medical care for people injured in car crashes has come under scrutiny in a widening federal bribery investigation. Meg Health Care, run by Dallas personal injury attorney Manuel Green and his wife, Melissa Green, is the focus of a search warrant recently unsealed by a Massachusetts federal court in an alleged health care fraud prosecution there. The probe is unusual because it uses a little-known law meant to crack down on organized crime racketeering across state lines. (Schulte, 2/8)

Stat: Payers, Turning To Tech To Pinpoint Needy Patients, Risk Leaving Some Behind
Health insurers are leaning more heavily on machine learning to predict which patients will miss out on care because they can’t get a ride to an appointment or reliable internet to sign onto a video visit. But with those new technologies come concerns that lack of standards or checks on their use could propagate biases in health care, leaving some of the neediest patients behind. Technology, payers say, helps them flag at-risk members faster and rapidly connect those in need with community services, staving off costlier long-term complications. Taken in aggregate, these predictions could give payers a window into community-level needs. Predictive models, which vary widely by payer, often draw on claims, public records, census data, and other data sources to flag the members most likely to lack transportation, nutritious food, stable internet, and other factors known as the “social determinants of health.”  (Ravindranath, 2/8)

Also —

Cincinnati Enquirer: Mercy Health Event Seeks To Fill 350 Positions
Bon Secours Mercy Health will look to fill 350 positions within its Cincinnati area hospitals at a hiring event later this month. The event comes as hospitals and health systems continue to grapple with labor shortages amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The event will be hosted on a single day, Feb. 19, at seven different locations. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will consist of interviews to fill a wide range of open positions in the area including cooks, imaging, lab, licensed practical nurses, medical assistants, patient access, pharmacy techs, respiratory therapists, registered nurses, care companions, and surgical technologists. (Sutherland, 2/8)

Modern Healthcare: CVS Adds Eliquis, Other Vital Drugs To Formulary Exclusions
The formulary exclusion comes as PBMs increasingly drop medications from their coverage lists, attracting attention from federal and state lawmakers aiming to reign in non-medical switching, said Ryan Gough, executive director of the Partnership to Advance Cardiovascular Health, a patient advocacy group. "I've never seen an issue galvanize the cardiovascular community like this," Gough said. The decision sparked outcry from 14 patient advocacy groups, which wrote to CVS Health's chief medical officer in December calling for him to reverse the "dangerously disruptive" decision. Experts from the American College of Cardiology and American Society of Hematology also continue to meet with CVS Caremark about the move. (Tepper, 2/7)

In other pharmaceutical and biotech news —

Stat: Some Patients Say They've Lost Out In Unusual Battle Over Rare Disease Drug
An unusual, decade-long fight over an orphan drug market appears to be at an end after a small, family-run company was defeated in a bruising battle with a rival and has now lost regulatory approval of its medicine. Late last month, a federal appeals court refused to revisit a ruling that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration improperly approved a drug used to treat a rare neuromuscular disorder called Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome, or LEMS, which is sold by Jacobus Pharmaceuticals. As a result, the FDA last week withdrew final approval of the medicine. Shipments to patients are already winding down. (Silverman, 2/7)

Stat: Biosplice’s Massive Valuation Turned Heads. Now, Layoffs Raise Questions
Biosplice, once the world’s most valuable biotech startup, is laying off nearly a quarter of its workforce and has stopped internal development of one of its late-stage medicines, a treatment for hair loss in men, with hopes of licensing that program to another drug company. The layoffs, which took effect Tuesday, could be seen as yet another reality check for the outsized bets made by some investors on privately held biotechnology firms. In 2016, Biosplice, then known as Samumed, made headlines by raising $220 million at a $6 billion valuation; two years later, it raised another $438 million at a $12.8 billion valuation. (Wosen and Herper, 2/8)

Stat: In A Victory For Medical Journals, Pacira Loses A Libel Lawsuit
A federal judge has dismissed an unusual libel lawsuit brought by Pacira BioSciences (PCRX) that claimed a medical journal, its editor, and the authors of several papers published articles that were based on “faulty scientific research” that portrayed its only medicine as ineffective. Pacira alleged the papers, which were published early last year in the journal Anesthesiology, reflected a “bias” against its Exparel painkiller and “disparaged” the drug, as we noted at the time. Exparel is used after surgeries, although is not an opioid. As a result, the company contended customers canceled contracts or declined to purchase the drug, or considered removing it from hospital formularies. (Silverman, 2/7)

In case you missed it —

Miami Herald: Wound Gel Recalled For Contamination That Can Cause ‘Life-Threatening Infections’
A gel applied to wounds to prevent microbial infections has been recalled after a bacterial contamination was found in the gel itself. And that contamination, according to the FDA-posted recall notice by Blaine Labs Company, can make RevitaDerm Wound Care Gel deadly. (Neal, 1/31)

AP: Tennessee House Advances Anti-Abortion Resolution 
Tennessee House Republicans on Monday advanced an anti-abortion resolution commemorating the day the medical procedure became legal nearly 50 years ago. The resolution states that Jan. 22 will be known as the “Day of Tears,” and suggested that Tennesseans should mourn aborted embryos and fetuses. It was adopted on a 72-20 vote after no debate. (2/8)

The Washington Post: Fla. Republicans Ditch Texas-Style Abortion Law For 15-Week Ban 
It took just one day after Texas enacted its controversial “heartbeat bill,” banning abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, for a top Florida Republican to endorse passing the same law in his state — with the leader of the state Senate declaring that a similar measure was “something we’re already working on.” But by the time the measure was introduced in September, drawing national headlines as the first Texas copycat ban to emerge nationwide, Florida GOP leaders effectively shrugged it off. (Kitchener, 2/7)

In other news from across the U.S. —

AP: UCLA Settles Gynecologist Abuse Suit For More Than $100M
The University of California has agreed to pay more than $100 million to settle allegations that several hundred women were sexually abused by a former UCLA gynecologist, lawyers announced. The settlement was announced Monday by some of the attorneys representing 203 women who said they were groped or otherwise abused by Dr. James Heaps over a 35-year career. Details weren’t released. (Jablon, 2/8)

The Washington Post: D.C. Had Mixed Results In Fight Against HIV In 2020 
The number of new HIV cases in D.C. sharply declined in 2020, but the city made no progress toward other key goals in the decades-long fight to end the epidemic, according to a report released Monday, which said the coronavirus crisis has greatly hampered the District’s effort to combat the virus that causes AIDS. While the city recorded 217 new HIV cases in 2020, down from 282 the year before, the percentage of D.C. residents with HIV who were in treatment dropped to 76 percent, from 80 percent in 2019, according to the Health Department’s annual Epidemiology & Surveillance Report. (Duggan, 2/7)

Indianapolis Star: Therapy Dog To Help Noblesville Police, Community Conquer Stress
Noblesville Police have a new tool to help officers and paramedics cope with trauma and stress: her name is Luna. The black Labrador Retriever will be joining the department as a therapy dog at the end of February, a growing trend in law enforcement. Unlike her K-9 partners on the force, Luna isn’t trained in sniffing for bombs or drugs — she seeks only pats and hugs. “The men and women in uniform are tough, but they are also human and we think this can be a help,” Noblesville Mayor Chris Jensen said. The dog can provide comfort to police, firefighters and paramedics after stressful shifts or traumatic events, he said. (Tuohy, 2/8)

Louisville Courier Journal: Why Kentucky Is Facing Issues Putting COVID-19 Housing Vouchers To Use
Last spring, as the COVID-19 pandemic entered its second year, federal lawmakers approved a program meant to get homeless people out of shelters and into permanent housing. Local advocates praised the move as unprecedented. Not only did the program make 567 emergency housing vouchers available to some of Kentucky's most vulnerable residents, but it also included resources to help them find housing quicker. Eight months later, however, just 37% of the state's vouchers are in use, with 355 yet to be attached to a lease, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. (Loosemore, 2/8)

AP: Lung Expert: Officers Could Have Saved George Floyd's Life 
George Floyd could have been saved if Minneapolis police officers had moved him into a position to breathe more easily, and his chances of survival “doubled or tripled” if they had performed CPR as soon as his heart stopped, a lung specialist testified Monday at the trial of three former officers charged with violating Floyd’s civil rights. Floyd died because his upper airway was compressed by Officer Derek Chauvin’s knee, while his position on hard asphalt with his hands cuffed behind his back — as two other officers helped hold him down — did not allow his lungs to expand, Dr. David Systrom said. (Karnowski and Webber, 2/7)

In environmental health news —

Bloomberg: U.S. Fertilizer Plant Fire Leaks Harmful Chemicals Into Nearby Creeks
A North Carolina fertilizer plant that was engulfed in flames last week and put Winston-Salem at risk of a devastating explosion is now putting local waterways at risk. Winston-Salem is warning residents to stay out of creeks around Winston Weaver Co.’s fertilizer plant because runoff from the plant fire has caused elevated levels of nitrates, nitrites, ammonia nitrogen and other potentially harmful chemicals in the waterways, the city said on its Facebook page. (Elkin, 2/7)

The New York Times: ‘Errors’ At Treatment Plant Force 1 Million In Austin To Boil Their Water 
Roughly one million people in Austin have had to boil their water since Saturday after officials said “errors” at a treatment plant resulted in potentially unsafe water flowing into homes and businesses in one of the largest and fastest-growing American cities. It was the second time in a year that residents of the Texas capital have been told to boil water before drinking. Last February, the problems were caused by the collapse of the state’s electricity grid, which resulted in power failures at Austin’s largest water treatment plant. (Sandoval and Goodman, 2/7)

AP: Spending Bill Has $403M For Leaky Hawaii Fuel Tank Facility 
Hawaii members of Congress said Monday a spending bill that must pass to avoid a government shutdown includes $403 million to address the crisis caused by the leaking of petroleum from a Navy fuel storage tank facility into Pearl Harbor drinking water. The money incorporates $100 million to drain fuel from the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility. It also directs the Defense Department to comply with an emergency order from the state of Hawaii to defuel the tanks. The military last week appealed Hawaii’s order in both state and federal court. (McAvoy, 2/8)

In other public health news —

CNN: Over 40% Of People Using Alcohol Or Cannabis Drove Under The Influence, Study Says 
More than 40% of drivers reporting alcohol and cannabis use in a national survey also reported driving under the influence of one or both of the substances, a new study found. "Alcohol and cannabis are two of the most common substances involved in impaired driving and motor vehicle crashes" in the United States, said Priscila Dib Gonçalves, the study's first author, in a news release. Gonçalves is a postdoctoral research fellow in the epidemiology department at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. (Rogers, 2/8)

CNN: Cut Nearly 300 Calories A Day By Doing Something You Already Do 
Want to lose weight from sleeping? Try extending your sleep time so you are not sleep deprived. That's the startling outcome of a randomized trial that asked young, overweight adults who typically slept less than six and a half hours to try to sleep about eight and a half hours a night for two weeks. At the end of that short amount of time, many of those who did extend their sleep to a healthier length decreased their calorie intake by an average of 270 calories a day, according to the study published Monday in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. Some of the study participants cut their intake by 500 calories each day, the study found. (LaMotte, 2/7)

Modern Healthcare: Black Women Overwhelmingly Work In Low-Wage, High-Risk Healthcare Jobs
Healthcare entities employ more Black women than any other industry and have a crucial part to play in undoing racial and gender inequities, according to research from the University of Minnesota and the University of Massachusetts. Historical gender norms and the legacy of slavery contribute to women, especially Black women, working a disproportionate share of caretaking jobs, the researchers wrote. White women are more likely to fill public-facing positions such as nursing, teaching or social work, while women of color are more likely to work behind the scenes in jobs such as aides, cleaners or cooks according to the study. (Hartnett, 2/7)

The Washington Post: IRS Abandons Facial Recognition Plan After Firestorm Of Criticism
The Internal Revenue Service has abandoned its plan to require millions of Americans to submit to a facial recognition check through a private company to access their online tax accounts following a firestorm of criticism from privacy advocates and members of Congress. The IRS said Monday it would “transition away” from using a face-scanning service offered by the company ID.me in the coming weeks and would develop an additional authentication process that does not involve facial recognition. (Harwell, 2/7)

Bloomberg: Can The FDA Get It Right On Covid Vaccines For Young Kids? 
An advisory committee will meet next week to discuss whether the Food and Drug Administration should authorize Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine for children younger than 5. To be more specific, they will meet to discuss data — data that no one but Pfizer and the FDA has yet seen — on the first two doses of what will probably be a three-shot series for those kids. (Lisa Jarvis, 2/7)

The Washington Post: What The Omicron Covid Wave Taught Us 
Thankfully, the omicron wave is easing, and much of the United States is now on the downward slope. This was the fifth wave of the pandemic, and if we have learned anything, it is that relaxing restrictions should be calibrated to local conditions. Tempers are frayed, face masks annoying and patience short, but the trick of downhill is to avoid reckless abandon. While deaths are terribly high, omicron infections are tumbling. New daily cases in the United States are the lowest since Dec. 12, and the seven-day average, while still high at about 300,000, has dropped 23 days in a row. Covid hospitalizations are falling, too. These indicators do not mean the pandemic is over, but it is headed in the right direction. (2/7)

Newsweek: When It Comes To Masks, The CDC Is Its Own Worst Enemy
Critics, pundits and social media accounts jump to accuse Joe Rogan of spreading COVID misinformation when he interviews experts who utter even a syllable with which they disagree. Yet they seem reluctant to call out the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for doing much worse. The CDC spread what amounts to misinformation in its promotion of cloth masks, which countless medical experts have said are useless against Omicron, the dominant COVID-19 variant in the United States. (Jason Rantz, 2/8)

The Boston Globe: The White Nationalist Threat To Antiracist Medicine In Boston 
There’s no time in recent memory when social disparities haven’t been reflected in disparities of risk for disease, delayed diagnosis, poor-quality care, and premature death or disability. In the United States, racism remains a ranking driver of such disparities; those disparities widen as new tools to prevent and treat disease are made available to some and not to others. COVID-19 serves as the latest object lesson in this regard, within this nation and across the globe. (Paul Farmer, Sheila Davis and Ophelia Dahl, 2/7)

Stat: Medicare Can Help Fix The Nurse Shortage In Hospitals 
There’s no polite way to say this: The U.S. health care system failed the American people during the Covid-19 pandemic. Unless we admit to the failures — like not having enough nurses in hospitals — we are bound to repeat them. The U.S. spends considerably more on health care per capita than any other country in the world, with a total bill exceeding $4 trillion in 2020. U.S hospitals alone spent close to $1.3 trillion in 2020 and still failed to employ enough nurses — even before the pandemic — to provide safe and effective care. (Linda H. Aiken and Claire M. Fagin, 2/8)

The Tennessean: The Decrease Of Independent Medical Practice Impacts Americans
Upon facing declining revenue prospects, physicians are shuttering their private, independent practices to partner up with larger hospitals that have near-monopolies on care in the regions they serve. This trend is depressing news for most Americans. Further concentration of market power in these health systems ultimately results in less personalized care and higher overall costs for patients. (Sally C. Pipes, 2/7)

Stat: Cancer Moonshot 2.0: A Missed Opportunity For Prevention 
President Biden’s new initiative to “reignite the cancer moonshot” proposes the laudable goal of cutting the cancer death rate in the United States in half in the next 25 years, but misses the opportunity to advance the strategies that could achieve that target. Noting that the Covid-19 pandemic has claimed nearly 900,000 lives in the last two years while cancer has killed more than 1.2 million Americans in the same period, Biden called for a new sense of urgency in making progress in reducing the burden of cancer. (Nicholas Freudenberg, 2/5)

The New York Times: Getting Rid Of Joe Rogan Won’t Solve The Health Misinformation Problem 
Another week, another platform in trouble for allowing its talent to give voice to misinformation. This time, Joe Rogan suggested that the mRNA Covid-19 vaccines are a type of “gene therapy” and that young people are at a greater risk from the shots than the disease, among other false and dubious health claims featured on his popular, Spotify-hosted podcast. The calls to remove his podcast have only intensified after revelations that he’s also repeatedly used a racist slur on the show, leading Spotify’s chief to apologize to the company’s employees. (Julia Belluz and John Lavis, 2/8)

Stat: Biopharma Manufacturing At The Edge With Localized, Agile Factories 
Pharmaceutical manufacturing has had to navigate transformational changes during the pandemic, just like many other industrial sectors. Demand for manufacturing capacity reached levels that would have been unthinkable a few short years ago. Yet although the situation was unprecedented, and the measures taken extraordinary, the pandemic did not actually change the direction of travel for how biopharma companies manufacture drugs. (Jose-Carlos Gutierrez-Ramos, 2/7)

Stat: Development Of Clinical Practice Guidelines 'Is A Mess' 
The world of clinical practice guidelines is a mess. Regardless of what medical field you look at — oncology, cardiology, urology — looking at guidelines recommending treatment developed for different countries might give you vertigo, wondering which way is up. Even something that should be as simple as recommendations for treating uncomplicated high blood pressure can differ greatly, depending on who funded the organization producing the guideline, whether the guideline makers used the best available evidence, and the involvement of financially conflicted authors. (Alan Cassels, Mohamed Ben-Eltriki and James M. Wright, 2/8)