- KFF Health News Original Stories 2
- Aiding Her Dying Husband, a Geriatrician Learns the Emotional and Physical Toll of Caregiving
- Doctors Now Must Provide Patients Their Health Data, Online and On Demand
- Political Cartoon: 'A Gut Feeling?'
- Administration News 3
- Biden Ups Vaccine Donations To Other Nations, Will Include All Types
- ACA Could See Boost From Biden Administration Shift On Immigrant Insurance
- Deputy Director Anne Schuchat Stepping Down From CDC
- Covid-19 3
- US Covid Infections Fall To Levels Not Seen Since Mid-September
- Unmasking Begins To Happen Across New York And New Jersey, With Caveats
- 'Honor System' Already Shows Cracks As More Businesses Drop Mask Rules
- Pharmaceuticals 2
- Six Drugmakers Warned To Reinstate 340B Discounts Or Face Steep Fines
- FDA Pushes Back On Claims Made For Unapproved Covid Antibody Drug
From KFF Health News - Latest Stories:
KFF Health News Original Stories
Aiding Her Dying Husband, a Geriatrician Learns the Emotional and Physical Toll of Caregiving
When the covid pandemic hit, Dr. Rebecca Elon was thrust into a new role, primary caregiver for her severely ill husband and her elderly mother. “Reading about caregiving of this kind was one thing. Experiencing it was entirely different,” she says. (Judith Graham, 5/18)
Doctors Now Must Provide Patients Their Health Data, Online and On Demand
A new federal regulation makes it easy to get test results and see what your doctor is recording about your health. One downside: You might not understand what you read. (Sarah Kwon, 5/18)
Political Cartoon: 'A Gut Feeling?'
KFF Health News provides a fresh take on health policy developments with "Political Cartoon: 'A Gut Feeling?'" by Dave Coverly.
Here's today's health policy haiku:
SPRING VACCINATION OPTIMISM
Vaccines now for kids
Crush pandemic to its knees
Summer freedom soon!
- Paul Hughes-Cromwick
If you have a health policy haiku to share, please Contact Us and let us know if we can include your name. Haikus follow the format of 5-7-5 syllables. We give extra brownie points if you link back to an original story.
Opinions expressed in haikus and cartoons are solely the author's and do not reflect the opinions of KFF Health News or KFF.
Summaries Of The News:
Supreme Court To Hear Mississippi Abortion Case That Challenges Roe V. Wade
The conservative-majority court will hear the case next term. Mississippi's law banning most abortions after 15 weeks was blocked by lower courts, finding it in conflict with Roe v. Wade and subsequent abortion decisions.
NPR:
In Challenge To Roe, Supreme Court To Review Mississippi Abortion Law
With Roe v. Wade hanging by a thread, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to consider a major rollback of abortion rights. ... The court said Monday it would review next term whether all state laws that ban pre-viability abortions are unconstitutional. The court's 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade declared that a woman has a constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy in the first six months of her pregnancy when the fetus is incapable of surviving outside the womb. (Totenberg, 5/17)
CNBC:
Supreme Court To Hear Mississippi Abortion Case Challenging Roe V. Wade
The case will be the first major abortion dispute to test all three of former President Donald Trump’s appointees to the top court, including its newest member, Justice Amy Coney Barrett. The top court announced in an order that it will hear the dispute, Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, 19-1392. The court will hear the case in its term beginning in October and a decision is likely to come by June 2022. (Higgins, 5/17)
AP:
Supreme Court Throws Abortion Fight Into Center Of Midterms
In agreeing to hear a potentially groundbreaking abortion case, the Supreme Court has energized activists on both sides of the long-running debate who are now girding to make abortion access a major issue in next year’s midterm elections. For many evangelicals, the case could serve as a validation of more than four decades of persistent work and a sometimes awkward relationship with former President Donald Trump, whose three Supreme Court appointments sealed a 6-3 conservative majority. If those justices unite to uphold a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, it would mark a first step toward the possible demise of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which established a nationwide right to abortion at any point before a fetus can survive outside the womb, roughly 24 weeks. (Crary and Colvin, 5/18)
The New York Times:
Supreme Court To Hear Abortion Case Challenging Roe V. Wade
The justices will hear the case in their next term, starting in October, and are likely to deliver a decision in the spring or early summer next year, as the 2022 midterm elections are gearing up. The stakes of the case ensure that the abortion debate will remain a political flash point, rallying conservative and liberals alike. Last summer, the Supreme Court struck down a restrictive Louisiana abortion law by a 5-to-4 margin, with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. providing the decisive vote. His concurring opinion, which expressed respect for precedent but proposed a relatively relaxed standard for evaluating restrictions, signaled an incremental approach to cutting back on abortion rights. (Liptak, 5/17)
AP:
EXPLAINER: The Supreme Court Takes A Major Abortion Case
The case is an appeal from Mississippi in which the state is asking to be allowed to ban most abortions at the 15th week of pregnancy. The state is not asking the court to overrule Roe v. Wade, or later cases that reaffirmed it. But many supporters of abortion rights are alarmed and many opponents of abortion are elated that the justices could undermine their earlier abortion rulings. If the court upholds Mississippi’s law, it would be its first ratification of an abortion ban before the point of viability, when a fetus can survive outside the womb. Such a ruling could lay the groundwork for allowing even more restrictions on abortion. That includes state bans on abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, as early as six weeks. (Gresko and Sherman, 5/18)
Also —
Politico:
Supreme Court Pulls Biden Into An Abortion Fight He Didn't Want
The Supreme Court’s Monday decision to reconsider the right to an abortion drags President Joe Biden into an incendiary political fight that will loom large heading into the mid-term election. As a presidential candidate, Biden largely stayed quiet on the issue while Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and other Democratic contenders took the lead in putting forward sweeping abortion rights policy platforms. He conceded when pressed, however, that the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide should be written into federal law and the longtime ban on federal funding for abortion should be abolished. (Ollstein, 5/17)
CNN:
Most Americans Want To See The Supreme Court Uphold Roe V. Wade, Polling Shows
Most of the public wants to see the Roe v. Wade decision remain in place, polling on the issue finds, as the partisan divide on the issue of legalized abortion has widened in the past decade and a half. The Supreme Court announced Monday that it would take up a case that revolves around a Mississippi abortion law and that could potentially serve as a challenge to Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion nationwide prior to viability, which can occur at around 24 weeks. (Edwards-Levy, 5/17)
Biden Ups Vaccine Donations To Other Nations, Will Include All Types
The White House is pledging an additional 20 million doses and will include Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson shots in the mix. Previously only AstraZeneca's vaccine was announced, which is not yet approved in the U.S.
ABC News:
Biden Says US Will Send 20M More Vaccine Doses To Other Countries
President Joe Biden announced on Monday that the U.S. will share more doses of vaccines with the rest of the world, starting by sending at least 20 million additional doses to help countries battling the pandemic by the end of June. "These are vaccinations and vaccines that are authorized to be put in arms of Americans and, by the end of June, when we'll have taken delivery of enough of such vaccines to protect everyone in the United States, the United States will share at least 20 million of those doses, that extra supply, with other countries," Biden said. "This means over the next six weeks, the United States of America will send 80 million doses overseas." (Nagle, Kolinovsky and Stoddart, 5/17)
NPR:
U.S. To Send Moderna, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson Vaccines Overseas
President Biden on Monday announced his intention to ship surplus doses of the coronavirus vaccine to needy nations abroad, including millions of doses of the U.S.-authorized Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. The majority of the planned shipments will be of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which does not yet have authorization for use in the United States. "We need to help fight the disease around the world," Biden told reporters at a briefing on the nation's progress against the virus. "It's the right thing to do, it's the smart thing to do, it's the strong thing to do." (Wise, 5/17)
Roll Call:
US To Export Another 20 Million Doses Of COVID-19 Vaccines Globally
“We know that America will never be fully safe until the pandemic raging globally is under control,” Biden said from the White House, pointing to the spread of virus variants overseas. He noted that the donation would be five times more vaccine than any other country has contributed. (Cohen, 5/17)
Bloomberg:
Biden Eyes More U.S. Jobs In Expansion Of Vaccine Sharing Abroad
[Biden] also signaled that he intends for U.S. manufacturers to hold or grow their share of the global market for vaccines, casting his decision to begin supplying other countries as an engine for American jobs. He cautioned that American contributions alone won’t resolve the crisis. (Wingrove, 5/18)
ACA Could See Boost From Biden Administration Shift On Immigrant Insurance
On Friday, President Joe Biden reversed a Trump administration rule that would have rejected visas for applicants who couldn't prove they can afford health insurance.
Modern Healthcare:
Biden Lifting Green Card Insurance Requirements Could Boost ACA, Analysts Say
President Joe Biden on Friday rescinded a Trump-era rule that required green card applicants to provide proof of health insurance, or evidence they could pay for it, before entering the country, saying the move does not advance the interests of the U.S. "My administration is committed to expanding access to quality, affordable healthcare," Biden said in a statement. "We can achieve that objective, however, without barring the entry of noncitizens who seek to immigrate lawfully to this country but who lack significant financial means or have not purchased health insurance coverage." (Tepper, 5/17)
Forbes:
Biden Strikes Down Trump Rule Requiring Immigrants To Buy Health Insurance
The health insurance requirement was part of a wave of Trump-era policies seeking to tighten standards for legal immigration. Most notably, Trump aimed to reject green card applicants if they’ve used a wide array of government programs like Medicaid or public housing in the past, or if their incomes put them at risk of needing public assistance in the future. This “public charge rule,” proposed in 2019, was cast as a way of ensuring immigrants are self-sufficient, but critics blasted it for excluding productive low-income immigrants. Federal courts struck down the rule last year, and Biden chose not to appeal their decision. (Walsh, 5/14)
KHN:
The Great Undoing: Which Of Trump’s Policies Will Biden Reverse?
KHN has put together an interactive tool of significant health policies implemented by the Trump administration using its own authority — executive orders, agency guidance or formal regulations — and is tracking Biden administration and court actions. (Rovner)
In other news from the Biden administration —
CNN:
'Havana Syndrome': US Investigates Second Suspected Case Of Mystery 'Syndrome' Near White House
Two White House officials were struck by a mysterious illness late last year -- including one who was passing through a gate onto the property -- newly revealed details that come as investigators are still struggling to determine who or what is behind these strange incidents. Multiple sources tell CNN that the episodes affected two officials on the National Security Council in November 2020, one the day after the presidential election and one several weeks later. The cases are consistent with an inexplicable constellation of sensory experiences and physical symptoms that have sickened more than 100 US diplomats, spies and troops around the globe and have come to be known as "Havana Syndrome." (Williams, Herb and Bertrand, 5/17)
CNBC:
Covid-19: Patent Waivers And Impact On Global Vaccine Supply Shortages
Waiving intellectual property protections for Covid-19 vaccines will not help to address the global supply shortage, the co-founder of a Massachusetts-based biopharmaceutical company told CNBC. The push for patent waivers is “political theater” and does not inherently allow others to create safe and effective vaccines, which are already very difficult to make, said Jake Becraft, CEO and co-founder of Strand Therapeutics. (Choudhury, 5/17)
Deputy Director Anne Schuchat Stepping Down From CDC
Anne Schuchat's retirement comes on the heels of another high-level departure at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nancy Messonnier, who led the agency's response to the covid pandemic, is also leaving.
Politico:
CDC's Second-In-Command Anne Schuchat To Step Down
Top Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official Anne Schuchat is planning to step down from her role as the agency's principal deputy director this summer, the agency confirmed to POLITICO. Schuchat's retirement would be the CDC's second high-profile departure in the past month, after longtime senior scientist Nancy Messonnier said in early May she also planned to leave. (Cancryn and Banco, 5/17)
Stat:
CDC's Anne Schuchat To Resign In Second High-Level Agency Departure
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky announced the news Monday, saying Schuchat would be leaving the agency over the summer. The news was first reported by Politico. “I have enormous gratitude for Dr. Schuchat’s leadership and contributions over three decades, and during this very challenging period for our country. I am especially thankful for her invaluable counsel, assistance and support in my transition into this role,” Walensky said in a statement. “I will remain forever grateful that our paths crossed, even for just a short while.” (Branswell, 5/17)
The Washington Post:
Anne Schuchat, CDC’s No. 2 Official, Announces Plans To Retire This Summer
Schuchat categorically denied reports of tensions with CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, saying in an exchange of text messages: “Whoever told you that has no idea of the close relationship we have. She is a wonderful leader, colleague and now friend. I cannot even imagine having tensions with her!” (Sun, Abutaleb and Diamond, 5/17)
In related news about the CDC —
Politico:
Mask Controversy Spurs CDC To Rethink Its Pandemic Response
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky is shaking up the agency’s Covid-19 response to consolidate oversight amid mounting criticism over its guidance for vaccinated people, according to three senior health officials with the knowledge of the situation. The changes in recent weeks include creating a clear reporting chain from the new director of the agency’s vaccine task force — which helped rewrite rules for mask-wearing — up to Walensky. The head of that task force had originally reported to both CDC and the White House. Walensky has also reshuffled the CDC’s pandemic modeling and data, analytics and visualization task forces. (Banco and Cancryn, 5/17)
CNN:
The CDC Was Too Cautious About What Vaccinated People Can Do, Doctors Say. Now Pendulum Has Swung In The Opposite Direction
At first, the news sounded great: Fully vaccinated Americans don't need to wear masks indoors, with just some exceptions, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. But most of the country is not fully vaccinated. And as more businesses drop their mask mandates, it's impossible to tell who really is. (Maxouris, Yan and Vera, 5/18)
Fox News:
Dr. Makary: 'Most Political CDC In History,' Guidance Based On 'Discretion' Not 'Science'
Johns Hopkins surgeon Dr. Marty Makary called out the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under Biden appointee Rochelle Walensky as "the most political CDC in history," after recent guidance has led critics to question whether the agency was following science or political pressure in their recommendations. Makary, a Fox News contributor, told "The Story" on Monday that many people in the U.S. have taken the latest order suggesting vaccinated people can go out and about without a mask as "back to normal." (Creitz, 5/17)
US Covid Infections Fall To Levels Not Seen Since Mid-September
While U.S. infections are down 50% from last month and Texas recorded zero daily deaths on Sunday, the news is not all good: Texas reported a spike in deaths a day later, and worries continue about the more infectious Indian variant which has now reached the U.S.
USA Today:
Infections Down 50% From Last Month
The United States' pace of new coronavirus infections fell last weekend below the low of Sept. 12, the day before the fall surge got underway and turned into a disastrous winter. The country reported 241,099 cases in the week ending Sept. 12, a few thousand above the reported 232,489 in the week ending Sunday. Daily infections now total less than half what they were a month ago and a small fraction of January's raging numbers. The U.S. continues to report about 600 deaths a day, roughly one-fifth the pace seen in January. (Aspegren, 5/18)
Houston Chronicle:
Texas Records Zero COVID-19 Deaths For First Day In Over A Year
What was statistically Texas’ best day of the pandemic was followed by a sobering number one day later. On Sunday, the state’s Department of State Health Services reported its first day without recording a COVID-19 death since March 21, 2020. The good news was dampened less than 20 hours later, when DSHS reported 23 new COVID deaths Monday — the highest Monday count in nearly two months. (Downen, 5/17)
USA Today:
Coronavirus Variant That First Appeared In India Arrives In The US. Here's What To Know.
The B.1.617 coronavirus variant devastating India right now has arrived in the United States. Experts say it's not likely to cause much harm here because of high vaccination rates and because the health care system is not under stress. But with a virus that has defied expectations and the variant infecting hundreds of thousands of Indians every day, researchers are keeping an eye on it. Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus variant that originated in India. (Weise and Weintraub, 5/17)
The New York Times:
How The United States Beat The Coronavirus Variants, For Now
On Dec. 29, a National Guardsman in Colorado became the first known case in the United States of a contagious new variant of the coronavirus. The news was unsettling. The variant, called B.1.1.7, had roiled Britain, was beginning to surge in Europe and threatened to do the same in the United States. And although scientists didn’t know it yet, other mutants were also cropping up around the country. They included variants that had devastated South Africa and Brazil and that seemed to be able to sidestep the immune system, as well as others homegrown in California, Oregon and New York. (Zimmer and Mandavilli, 5/14)
In other news about the spread of the coronavirus —
Axios:
Johns Hopkins Launches Effort To Tackle COVID Data Discrepancies
Johns Hopkins University is launching a "pandemic data initiative" to highlight COVID-19 data-collecting and reporting inconsistencies that led to confusion for policymakers and the public, the institution announced Monday. Lack of granular data on cases, deaths — and now vaccination rates — has been a nationwide hindrance in targeting communities who needed more outreach or resources this past year. (Fernandez, 5/17)
The New York Times:
The Future Of Virus Tracking Can Be Found On This College Campus
“Colorado Mesa has the most sophisticated system in the country to track outbreaks,” said Dr. Pardis Sabeti, a geneticist at the Broad Institute of M.I.T. and Harvard who has helped health officials around the world respond to Ebola, Lassa fever and other infectious diseases. “It’s definitely the kind of analytics that people talk about having but nobody actually has access to in this way.” (Anthes, 5/17)
CIDRAP:
COVID-19 Reinfection Found In 2% Of University Students
In the spring 2021 semester, 2.2% of Clemson University, South Carolina, students previously infected with COVID-19 were diagnosed as having been reinfected, according to a study published yesterday in Clinical Infectious Diseases. The researchers looked at 16,101 students 17 to 24 years old from Aug 19 to Oct 5, 2020, as those after may have lingering viral RNA during weekly spring semester testing. Going into the spring semester, 12.6% of the cohort were considered to have a previous COVID-19 infection. (5/17)
CIDRAP:
Plasma From Recovered Patients Found Not Helpful For COVID Hospital Patients
Convalescent plasma given to hospitalized COVID-19 patients did not improve survival or rates of release from the hospital within 28 days, need for invasive mechanical ventilation, or death, according to the most recent findings of the Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy (RECOVERY) trial in the United Kingdom. (Van Beusekom, 5/17)
Unmasking Begins To Happen Across New York And New Jersey, With Caveats
New York officials say masks will be required for unvaccinated people and will be required on public transport and in schools, despite broader moves to unlock the state. Meanwhile, New Jersey's Gov. Phil Murphy is refusing to lift the state's indoor mask mandate.
The New York Times:
New York And New Jersey Make Big Moves To Reopen
The governors of New York and New Jersey, both Democrats, took major steps on Monday toward fully reopening their states. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said that New York will lift several mask requirements beginning Wednesday, and Gov. Philip D. Murphy said that New Jersey’s public school students will no longer have the option to learn remotely starting in September. (5/18)
CBS News:
New York To Implement New Guidelines For Vaccinated People; NYC Marathon Set To Return
Vaccinated New Yorkers can ditch their masks, even indoors, the New York City marathon is coming back and Radio City Music Hall will reopen to vaccinated audiences, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Monday in a flurry of announcements intended to accelerate the state's reopening. (5/17)
CNN:
New York Won't Require Masks Or Social Distancing For Fully Vaccinated People Starting Wednesday
Unvaccinated people should still wear masks, and masks will still be required of all people on public transit, in schools and some communal settings, [Gov.] Cuomo said at a news conference. The outdoor dining curfew ended Monday, most capacity guidelines will end Wednesday and the indoor food and beverage curfew will be lifted May 31, but private venues may continue to implement stricter Covid-19 restrictions. (del Valle and Caroline Kelly, 5/17)
Politico:
On Masks, New Jersey’s Murphy Goes It Alone
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is refusing to lift his indoor mask mandate for vaccinated residents, putting the Democrat at odds with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and creating a fresh opening for Republicans looking to knock him off his perch as he campaigns for reelection. With the state’s infection rate plummeting and Covid-19 hospitalizations a small fraction of where they stood last spring, New Jersey will soon be one of the only states — and alone among its neighbors in the Northeast — to require face coverings at restaurants, retailers and indoor venues. (Sutton, 5/17)
In updates from Massachusetts, Maryland and Washington, D.C. —
The Boston Globe:
Mass. To Lift Remaining COVID-19 Restrictions, Relax Mask Guidance On May 29
In a major move heralding the end of pandemic-era regulations, Governor Charlie Baker on Monday said Massachusetts will lift all restrictions on businesses Memorial Day weekend, moving up the full reopening date by two months. It was a telling sign that the state is returning to something akin to normal after more than a year of death, sickness, and punishing lockdowns. Baker announced the change at a press briefing, which followed the CDC’s easing last week of indoor mask guidance for fully vaccinated people. His office also confirmed the news in a statement that declared, “The Commonwealth is on track to meet the goal of vaccinating 4.1 million residents by the first week of June and all remaining COVID-19 restrictions will be lifted effective May 29.” (Andersen, Kovatch, Kaufman, Hilliard, Stout and Gardizy, 5/17)
The Baltimore Sun:
Baltimore City Plans To Lift Mask Mandate When 65% Of Adult Residents Have Received A Dose Of COVID-19 Vaccine
Baltimore City residents and visitors will be wearing masks indoors and at outdoor events for a bit longer as Mayor Brandon Scott announced Monday that the requirements will remain in place until at least 65% of adults are partially vaccinated. So far, 52% of city residents 18 and over meet that description, a spokesman for the city health department said. And 42% are fully vaccinated. (Condon, 5/17)
The Washington Post:
D.C. Lifts Mask Mandate Monday For Fully Vaccinated People
D.C.’s broad mask order, which has required residents for months to wear masks almost every time they leave their houses, will no longer apply to fully vaccinated people, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) announced Monday. Vaccinated or not, all residents still must wear masks on public transit, in schools (even outdoors on the playground), in medical offices and hospitals, and inside any business that chooses to require masks. (Zauzmer, Brice-Saddler and Davies, 5/17)
In updates from California —
Politico:
California Won't Lift Its Mask Mandate Until June 15
California will not lift its Covid-19 mask mandate to align with new federal recommendations until after June 15, the target date for the state to fully reopen businesses, state health officials said Monday ."This four-week week period will give Californians time to prepare for this change while we continue the relentless focus on delivering vaccines," Health and Human Service Secretary Mark Ghaly said. (Colliver, 5/17)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. County Orders Trader Joe's, Other Chains Not To Relax Mask Rules
L.A. County’s director of public health Monday said officials have been contacting a number of retail chains to emphasize that existing rules that require everyone to wear masks indoors in a store remain in effect in California. The education effort came after the Trader Joe’s in South Pasadena posted a sign in front of its store on Friday that gave permission for vaccinated shoppers to enter its market without a mask — a policy that violates California orders. (Lin II, 5/17)
'Honor System' Already Shows Cracks As More Businesses Drop Mask Rules
The mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, told CNN, "I say this respectfully to the CDC but we really need to get back to a point where it's encouraging (people) to get vaccinated and more of that focus rather than celebrating our newfound freedoms, because the honor system just ain't working here."
CNN:
More Places In The US Lift Mask Mandates. One Local Leader Says The Honor System Is Already Not Working
Several days since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said fully vaccinated Americans can -- for the most part -- ditch their masks, more places are announcing changes to their mask policies, or doing away with the requirement altogether. CVS pharmacy and Target both said on Monday they will no longer require fully vaccinated guests to wear masks inside their stores unless mandated by local leaders, joining other businesses who have dropped mask mandates for those who have gotten their shots. (Maxouris, 5/18)
Axios:
Target, CVS And Other Stores Ease Mask Requirements After CDC Guidance
A growing list of large retailers has begun to ease mask requirements for fully vaccinated customers, after the CDC issued guidance last week saying vaccinated people can do most activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing. Target and CVS Pharmacy on Monday were among the latest to update policies to allow fully vaccinated guests in their stores without face coverings, unless it is required by local law. (Arias, 5/17)
Detroit Free Press:
Here Are The Grocery Stores Dropping And Keeping Face Mask Policies
In a move that other grocers and retailers have made, Grand Rapids-based Meijer announced on Monday that fully vaccinated customers now can enter its stores without a face covering. But the Grand Rapids-based retailer will still require its store team members to wear a face covering. (Selasky, 5/17)
In related news about mask-wearing —
Fox News:
New CDC Mask Guidance ‘Should Not Send Message Pandemic Is Over,’ Expert Group Says
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated mask guidance "should not send the message that the pandemic is over," a group of infectious disease experts said Monday. While applauding the guidance as "an important step, signifying our capability to eventually end the pandemic," the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) emphasized that the recommendations "make no change to mask-wearing guidance in health care settings, schools and public high-traffic areas including airports, as well as on airplanes, buses and other forms of public transportation." (Hein, 5/17)
CBS News:
Many Small Businesses Say They'll Leave Decision To De-Mask Up To Customers
Americans who are vaccinated against COVID-19 now have a green light from federal health authorities to take off their masks, signaling a more hopeful phase in the nation's 14-month battle against the pandemic. Yet many small businesses, nearly battered into submission by the virus, are choosing to proceed more cautiously. Kay Lee, the owner of Otte, a women's boutique in Manhattan's West Village neighborhood in New York City, said her customers typically mask up without her having to ask. Her staff, who are are fully vaccinated, also wear masks. "When customers walk in, they wear their masks. No one takes them off," Lee told CBS MoneyWatch. (Cerullo, 5/17)
The New York Times:
They’re Vaccinated And Keeping Their Masks On, Maybe Forever
Whenever Joe Glickman heads out for groceries, he places an N95 mask over his face and tugs a cloth mask on top of it. He then pulls on a pair of goggles. He has used this safety protocol for the past 14 months. It did not change after he contracted the coronavirus last November. It didn’t budge when, earlier this month, he became fully vaccinated. And even though President Biden said on Thursday that fully vaccinated people do not have to wear a mask, Mr. Glickman said he planned to stay the course. In fact, he said, he plans to do his grocery run double-masked and goggled for at least the next five years. (Nir, 5/17)
CBS News:
We Asked A Former CDC Director About The New Mask Guidelines. Here's What He Said
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced last Thursday that fully vaccinated Americans no longer need to wear masks or social distance in most indoor and outdoor settings, regardless of gathering size. This followed the CDC's approval for children between the ages of 12 and 15 to receive the Pfizer vaccine. These announcements signal a return to normalcy in the U.S., but how "normal" will this summer and the rest of the year look? Here's what Dr. Richard Besser, former acting CDC director and president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, told "Face the Nation." (5/17)
The Hill:
Senators Shed Masks After CDC Lifts Mandate
Senators largely shed their masks as they returned to the Capitol on Monday, marking a step back toward pre-pandemic normalcy after more than one year. Monday's session comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued guidance late last week that vaccinated individuals no longer have to wear masks in most settings indoors or outdoors. (Carney, 5/17)
Ohio's $1 Million Covid Vaccine Lottery Pays Off: A Boost In Uptake
Meanwhile, Vermont declares an "EMS Week" in appreciation of emergency responders and to promote vaccine uptake; rural North Florida is reported to have low vaccination rates; and reports say the reason many Americans are vaccine-hesitant is because they've heard inaccurate side-effect stories.
NBC News:
Ohio Sees Boost In Shots After It Announces $1 Million Vaccination Lottery
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine's $5 million lottery to encourage vaccinations appears to be an early win. State health officials said Monday that more than 25,400 Covid-19 vaccine shots were administered Friday, two days after the program was announced, making it the highest vaccination day in three weeks. Maybe more telling were the people who got vaccinated. Vaccinations for residents ages 30 to 74 spiked by 6 percent after weeks of steady decline. (Hampton, 5/17)
AP:
How Ohio's Vax-A-Million Lottery Will Work
With the first drawing for Ohio’s Vax-a-Million lottery system scheduled for May 26, state officials announced a change to the process Monday that will require participants to opt-in. The lottery system unveiled by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine last week will begin next Wednesday and continue for five weeks, offering residents a $1 million prize or a full-ride scholarship to a four-year university in the state. Ohio had initially planned to use state voter registration in addition to an opt-in program to automatically enroll every resident into the drawing but changed it Monday to opt-in only, state Health Director Stephanie McCloud said during a briefing. (Amiri, 5/18)
In other updates on the vaccine rollout —
AP:
Scott Declares EMS Week, Asks Vermonters To Get Vaccinated
Gov. Phil Scott is asking all Vermonters to show their appreciation for emergency medical service workers by getting vaccinated against COVID-19.Scott has declared this week as EMS week. More than 100,000 requests for EMS response are answered yearly across Vermont, the Republican governor said Monday. (5/18)
The Baltimore Sun:
Maryland Health Secretary Says Next Phase Of COVID Vaccination Will Be Harder
Maryland’s health secretary warned Monday that the next phase of the state’s coronavirus vaccination campaign will be costly and time-consuming, as officials work to reach people who have not yet agreed to get the shot. “We’re nowhere near done and we’re going to remain focused on our ground game the next several months,” Secretary Dennis Schrader told state senators during a video briefing. (Wood, 5/17)
WFSU:
COVID Vaccination Rates Low For Rural North Florida Counties
COVID-19 vaccination rates for rural areas in North Florida are low. That's according to U.S. Census Bureau numbers, which shows about 45% of the state population has received at least one dose. For Baker and Holmes counties, nearly 22% of the population has received at least one shot. The nearby counties of Washington, Calhoun and Gilchrist are only slightly higher. (Gaffney, 5/17)
WMFE:
Orange County Convention Center Vaccination Site Closing
This is the last week to receive a COVID-19 vaccination at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. The appointment portal is available through Friday, when the center will stop giving vaccinations to make room for conferences and other events at the facility. (Prieur, 5/17)
Axios:
Franklin Graham Would Help Biden Persuade Evangelicals On COVID Vaccines
The Rev. Franklin Graham would be happy to work with the Biden administration on encouraging evangelicals to get COVID vaccines, he told "Axios on HBO." Evangelicals have expressed high levels of vaccine hesitancy. Graham also told "Axios on HBO" that he doesn't know whether a PSA by former President Trump would reduce vaccine hesitancy, but said he might suggest it to him. (5/16)
Axios:
Vaccine-Hesitant Americans Cite Inaccurate Side Effects
An alarming amount of vaccine-hesitant people who list side effects as a top concern falsely believe the vaccines cause death, DNA alteration, infertility or birth defects, according to recent Harris polling. Respondents also listed blood clots, which are a real side effect of some coronavirus vaccines, but extremely rare. This survey suggests that misinformation or a skewed understanding of risk may be behind a sizable portion of vaccine hesitancy. (Owens, 5/17)
In other vaccine news —
NPR:
COVID-19 Vaccine Trials Underway For Kids 5 And Younger
Eloise LaCour clutches her dolly as a nurse takes her blood pressure, then swabs the 3-year-old's delicate arm with alcohol. "Tickle tickle," says Eloise's mom, Angelica LaCour. She's trying to get a smile. "Mommy's going to hug you, OK?" A Stanford University nurse carefully gives the little girl her shot. Eloise is one of 144 children in the country who are part of a Phase 1 clinical trial to test Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines in the most adorable of study cohorts — those 5 and younger. "That's it!" exclaims nurse manager Richard Brotherton, pulling the needle out of Eloise's arm. (McClurg, 5/17)
Fox News:
Pfizer Produces Much Stronger Protection If Doses Months Apart: Study
A study in the United Kingdom led by the University of Birmingham in collaboration with Public Health England reported that waiting months between doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine produces much stronger protection against COVID-19. Dr. Helen Parry, a senior author on the study at Birmingham, said: "We’ve shown that peak antibody responses after the second Pfizer vaccination are really strongly boosted in older people when this is delayed to 11 to 12 weeks. There is a marked difference between these two schedules in terms of antibody responses we see." (Miles, 5/17)
Louisville Courier-Journal:
COVID Watch: Study Makes Case For Nursing Home Worker Vaccinations
A new study confirms what health officials have been widely reporting: COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective at preventing illness and death from the coronavirus in nursing homes. The study of 2,501 facilities in states that were the first to hold vaccine clinics in nursing homes found reduced spread of COVID-19 among residents and staff and a decline in resident deaths. "This data is extremely encouraging and shows that vaccines are working," said Marsida Domi, the lead author of the study, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. (Yetter and Ladd, 5/17)
Michigan's Medicaid Premiums Propel Healthier People To Drop Out
Researchers find that new monthly premiums charged by Michigan to some of its Medicaid enrollees prompted healthier people to leave the program, which could result in problems for managed care programs or result in state spending at hospitals who treat the uninsured patients.
Stateline:
New Premiums Prompt Some Michigan Medicaid Recipients To Drop Out
Imposing premiums on healthy Medicaid enrollees in Michigan caused an uptick in dropouts in the first six months of enrollment, according to a recent study. Charging premiums increased the percentage of healthier Medicaid enrollees leaving the program from 25% to 28% in the six months after enrollment, the study found. Michigan charges premiums ranging from $12 to $29 a month for Medicaid enrollees with incomes at or above the federal poverty line. (Ollove, 5/17)
Also —
Fierce Healthcare:
Texas Sues Biden Admin Over Decision To Pull Medicaid Waiver
Texas has sued the Biden administration over its decision to revoke a waiver that extends the state’s Medicaid program. The federal lawsuit, filed Friday, calls for the waiver surrounding the state’s Medicaid program to be reinstated. It said the original decision by the Biden administration last month was without warning or proper authority. (King, 5/17)
KMOV:
Missouri Legislators Point Fingers As Medicaid Expansion Efforts Abandoned In Jefferson City
Less than one year after Missouri voters approved a constitutional amendment expanding Medicaid, lawmakers have refused to fund it. The 53-47 vote in the Senate before the end of the legislative session solidified the decision, likely leaving the courts to decide. (Hecker, 5/17)
Vox:
Missouri’s Medicaid Expansion Blocking Is A Warning To Biden And Democrats
n November, Missourians voted to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, granting access to health insurance to roughly 230,000 people living in poverty. Now the state’s Republican legislators are defying the will of their voters by refusing to implement the expansion. In late April, the Missouri Senate blocked funding for Medicaid expansion. Last week, Gov. Mike Parsons cited the lack of funding to justify withdrawing the expansion plan entirely. (Scott, 5/17)
Gillette News Record:
Medicaid Expansion Revived Despite Flood Of Misinformation
The Legislature’s Joint Revenue Committee voted to revive Medicaid expansion Tuesday afternoon, setting it up for yet another hearing in Cheyenne. The 9-5 vote came after a full day of hearings and testimony punctuated with emotional appeals from Wyoming residents urging lawmakers to revive last session’s House Bill 162 – Medical treatment opportunity act, in a future session. (Reynolds, 5/17)
Despite Pandemic, Hospital Group Still Aggressively Billing Patients: Report
A CNN investigation found that Community Health Systems has filed at least 19,000 lawsuits over allegedly unpaid medical bills since March 2020. One expert told CNN that although CHS is hardly the only hospital group to sue patients during the pandemic, its aggressive strategy stands out.
CNN:
Community Health Systems: One Of America's Largest Hospital Chains Has Been Suing Patients During The Pandemic
As the coronavirus spiked in Missouri last fall, a wave of cases hit a nursing home in the state's rural heartland. Robin Bull, a part-time nurse, remembered an ambulance "coming and going constantly" on one especially scary morning, rushing residents to Moberly Regional Medical Center, the local hospital. But even as Bull was helping send patients to Moberly Regional, the hospital was in the process of suing her and at least one other former employee at the nursing home. They were two of more than 600 former patients that the hospital has sued over medical bills during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a CNN analysis of court records. (Tolan, 5/18)
Axios:
Employers To Add New Benefits As Workers Crave Security
The pandemic is driving more employers to offer benefits such as extra protection against major hospital bills and even pet insurance, according to the Emerging Trends in Health Care Survey from Willis Towers Watson. In the wake of a year that brought plenty of worst-case scenarios, this analysis shows employers responding to employees' desire for security. (Reed, 5/18)
In news about how your health data is used —
Stat:
How A Startup Is Turning Unwieldy Health Data Into A Patient-Friendly Platform
Once seen as the place technological innovation went to die, health records are seeing a resurgence of interest as companies roll out creative new ways to let people interact with their health information. One of those startups, PicnicHealth, has a clear mission: Make it possible for users to access all of their medical encounters, no matter how unwieldy the format. The company has built a system to field everything from PDFs to unstructured doctor’s notes to let its users focus on self-care rather than data management. (Brodwin, 5/18)
KHN:
Doctors Now Must Provide Patients Their Health Data, Online And On Demand
Last summer, Anna Ramsey suffered a flare-up of juvenile dermatomyositis, a rare autoimmune condition, posing a terrifying prospect for the Los Angeles resident: She might have to undergo chemotherapy, further compromising her immune system during a pandemic. After an agonizing three-day wait, the results of a blood test came back in her online patient portal — but she didn’t understand them. As hours passed, Ramsey bit her nails and paced. The next day, she gave in and emailed her doctor, who responded with an explanation and a plan. (Kwon, 5/18)
In other health care industry news —
Modern Healthcare:
Clover Health's Losses Climb 71% In Q1 Following SEC Review
New Medicare Advantage members pushed Clover Health's revenue up 21% during the first quarter of 2021. The Nashville-based insurtech company reported $200.3 million in revenue during the first quarter ended March 31, up from $165.3 million the year prior. Much of the revenue growth came from new Medicare Advantage membership, which grew 18% year-over-year to 66,300 enrollees. The company counted 130,000 total members. (Tepper, 5/17)
Houston Chronicle:
As Vaccines Roll Out, Health Care Industry Is On The Road To Recovery
While the pandemic was a financial disaster for some sectors, health care still saw healthy revenue and some profit, even if it wasn’t at the level predicted going into the last year. Though the pandemic left hospitals in the region and around the globe preternaturally busy, it also closed down some of their more profitable business segments. Now, as vaccines become readily available and COVID caseloads decline, things are looking up. In Houston, where the industry employs hundreds of thousands of workers, unemployment has bounced back to pre-pandemic levels as patients return for medical procedures they’ve put off for months. (Wu, 5/17)
Modern Healthcare:
HIMSS To Require COVID-19 Vaccination For Annual Conference
Attendees at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society annual conference in August will be required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination, the trade association announced Monday. The move comes after HIMSS canceled the 2020 conference because of the pandemic. This year conference goers will have to provide proof of vaccination, and the group said it will specify what proof will be accepted, with a focus on, "accessible, privacy-preserving technologies." (Gillespie, 5/17)
KHN:
Aiding Her Dying Husband, A Geriatrician Learns The Emotional And Physical Toll Of Caregiving
The loss of a husband. The death of a sister. Taking in an elderly mother with dementia. This has been a year like none other for Dr. Rebecca Elon, who has dedicated her professional life to helping older adults. It’s taught her what families go through when caring for someone with serious illness as nothing has before. “Reading about caregiving of this kind was one thing. Experiencing it was entirely different,” she told me. (Graham, 5/18)
Six Drugmakers Warned To Reinstate 340B Discounts Or Face Steep Fines
The Health Resources and Services Administration sent letters to AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi and United Therapeutics. They could face a $5,000 penalty for every violation.
Stat:
Drug Makers Must Offer Discounts To Safety-Net Hospitals Or Face Penalties
After a year of controversy, the Health Resources and Services Administration notified six large drug makers that they violated the law by ending discounts to a federal program providing discounted medicines to hospitals and clinics serving mostly low-income populations. At issue is the 340B drug discount program, which requires drug makers to offer discounts that are typically estimated to be 25% to 50% — but could be much higher — on all outpatient drugs to hospitals and clinics that serve low-income populations. There are approximately 12,400 so-called covered entities, including 2,500 hospitals, participating in the program. (Silverman, 5/17)
Modern Healthcare:
HHS Warns Drugmakers That Won't Give 340B Discounts To Contract Pharmacies
HHS' Health Resources and Services Administration on Monday sent letters to six drugmakers, warning them that they could face steep fines if they don't discount drug prices for pharmacies that contract with 340B providers. Pharmaceutical companies started aggressively cracking down on 340B drug discounts through contract pharmacies and demanding more data from healthcare providers last summer. They have been seemingly testing how far they could challenge HRSA guidance that allows 340B providers to receive discounts while working with multiple contract pharmacies. That led to several lawsuits from community health centers and hospital groups. (Brady, 5/17)
Fierce Healthcare:
HRSA Demands 6 Drugmakers Stop Cutting Off Sales Of 340B Drugs To Contract Pharmacies
The letters appear to bring an end to an escalating feud between drugmakers and hospitals that started back in July 2020. Overall, HRSA sent letters to AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi and United Therapeutics. If the drug companies do not halt the moves, they could face a $5,000 penalty for every violation. HRSA wants the drug companies to provide an update on the situation by June 1. The letters earned major plaudits from hospital groups. “We continue to urge HRSA to ensure that the drug companies that denied appropriate discounts since these illegal practices began last year make impacted hospitals whole for the benefit of the vulnerable communities they serve,” the American Hospital Association (AHA) said in a statement Monday. (King, 5/17)
FDA Pushes Back On Claims Made For Unapproved Covid Antibody Drug
The covid antibody drug leronlimab had been publicly promoted for saving lives by maker CytoDyn, but the FDA's statement says it's not so. Meanwhile, a more powerful naloxone version is on the way. And Congress prepares to question the CEO of AbbVie over drug pricing.
Stat:
FDA Issues Major Rebuke To CytoDyn Over Claims On Covid-19 Drug
The Food and Drug Administration on Monday took the extraordinary step of issuing a lengthy statement on an unapproved drug, rejecting claims made by the troubled drug maker CytoDyn about its failed antibody treatment for Covid-19. CytoDyn’s CEO, Nader Pourhassan, has repeatedly touted the potential of the drug, leronlimab, on conference calls, YouTube videos, and in press releases, saying the treatment was shown to have saved lives in clinical trials. The FDA said it had determined otherwise. (Feuerstein, 5/17)
In other pharmaceutical industry news —
Stat:
Congress Is Ready To Grill AbbVie’s CEO Over Drug Pricing
AbbVie CEO Richard Gonzalez is in for a congressional tongue-lashing of outsized proportion. And it couldn’t come at a worse time. Just two years ago, AbbVie seemed on the verge of serious financial trouble. Now, investors are openly proclaiming the pharma giant as one of their favorite stock picks. AbbVie exceeded its projected earnings last month, even while other pharma giants like Merck fell short. Its stock is trading near a 52-week high. (Florko, 5/18)
Stat:
Cel-Sci CEO's Remarks To Investors Raise Doubts On Cancer Drug
Cel-Sci CEO Geert Kersten spoke privately with investors last week as part of a “non-deal roadshow” organized by Kingswood Capital Markets, an investment bank that has helped the drug maker raise money in the past. The timing of the meetings is curious, given that more than one year has passed since Cel-Sci completed a Phase 3 clinical trial of its cancer immunotherapy Multikine. As I wrote recently, the only logical explanation for burying results this long is to put off admitting the study’s failure. Multikine does not work. (Feuerstein, 5/17)
In updates on the opioid crisis —
Charleston Gazette-Mail:
Drug Company Exec Says System Of Checks And Balances Goes Beyond What Law Requires
An executive for AmerisourceBergen Drug Co. said its system of checks and balances to prevent diversion of opioids into the illicit market goes beyond what regulation calls for, but the public was unable to fully view the system during trial Monday. The trial, taking place before Senior U.S. District Court Judge David Faber at the Robert C. Byrd U.S. Courthouse in Charleston, is based on allegations made by Cabell County and Huntington against the “Big Three” drug wholesalers of sparking the opioid crisis by sending 127.9 million opiate doses into Cabell County from 2006-2014. A reduction in the amount of pills shipped led opioid users to turn to illicit drugs, they said. (Hessler, 5/17)
The Washington Post:
A More Powerful Naloxone Is On The Way. The Question Is Whether It’s Needed.
With deaths from opioids soaring again, the Food and Drug Administration last month approved a more powerful version of the fast-acting antidote naloxone, an emergency medicine that restores breathing halted by overdoses of fentanyl, heroin or oxycodone. ... But there is widespread disagreement about the value of more potent naloxone.
Some research shows that more than 4 milligrams is seldom needed. Some experts and harm reduction advocates, who work to reduce death on the streets, said the decision was driven by false beliefs that the increasing potency of illegal fentanyl requires a stronger antidote and by the marketing strategy of the drug company, Hikma Pharmaceuticals. Some are concerned stronger naloxone could cause harm by precipitating intense, rapid withdrawal from opioids. (Bernstein, 5/17)
Working Too Hard Can Kill You, Global WHO Analysis Says
The World Health Organization estimates that in 2016 nearly 750,000 people died globally because they worked at least 55 hours a week. In other news, the FDA recalls some pacemakers due to an electrical issue, and aspirin is linked to protecting the brain from pollution exposure.
CNN:
Long Working Hours Killing Hundreds Of Thousands Of People A Year, WHO Says
Working long hours is killing hundreds of thousands of people a year through stroke and heart disease, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In a global analysis of the link between loss of life and health and working long hours, WHO and the International Labour Organization estimated that in 2016, some 745,000 people died as a result of having worked at least 55 hours a week. Most of the deaths were recorded among people aged 60 to 79, who had worked at least 55 hours between the ages of 45 and 74. (Woodyatt, 5/17)
In other public health news —
Fox News:
Pacemakers Recalled Over Risk Of Electrical Short
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a recall of nearly 62,000 pacemakers that were distributed between April 2015 and February 2019 after it was discovered that moisture could get inside the device causing an electrical short. The agency said there have been 135 complaints, 135 injuries but no deaths related to the recall of Assurity and Endurity implantable pacemakers. The devices, made by Abbott, work to detect when the heart is beating too slowly, and then send signals to the brain to make it beat at the correct pace. If there is an electrical short in the device, it could spur wrong information, impact battery life, lose pacing function or require replacement. (Hein, 5/16)
CIDRAP:
Irrigation Water Spotlighted As Likely Red Onion Salmonella Outbreak Source
A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigation into a large Salmonella Newport outbreak linked to red onions from California's Southern San Joaquin and Imperial Valley growing regions found several contributing factors, with the main hypothesis that contaminated irrigation water may have been the source. The outbreak was unusual, because it was the nation's largest in more than a decade, with hundreds of related cases reported in Canada, and it involved red onions, which hadn't been linked to earlier foodborne illness outbreaks. The event that unfolded in 2020 sickened 1,127 people in the United States and 515 in Canada. (5/17)
The New York Times:
Aspirin May Help Protect The Brain From Pollution's Toll, Study Suggests
Long-term exposure to air pollution has many health consequences, including accelerating brain aging and increasing the risk for dementia. Now new research suggests that short-term exposure to polluted air, even at levels generally considered “acceptable,” may impair mental ability in the elderly. (Bakalar, 5/17)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Study: Going To Dentist No Riskier Than A Drink Of Water
Many people have put off nonemergency procedures during the coronavirus pandemic, either because they feared contracting COVID-19 or because they heard the American Dental Association recommended dental offices refrain from performing them. A new study out of Ohio State University, however, has found that contamination while sitting in the dentist’s chair is very low. “Getting your teeth cleaned does not increase your risk for COVID-19 infection any more than drinking a glass of water from the dentist’s office does,” said lead author Purnima Kumar, professor of periodontology at Ohio State. (Clanton, 5/17)
NBC News:
Carnival Cruise Line In 'Active Discussions' With CDC To Return To Sailing In July
Carnival Cruise Line is in talks with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is "working towards" restarting sailing in July, Carnival President Christine Duffy said Monday. With their close confines and larger share of passengers who are older and more vulnerable, cruise ships were the sites of some of the first coronavirus outbreaks outside China. (Popken, 5/17)
North Carolina Health News:
Searching For Answers While Living With Long-Haul COVID
One day in late April, Perdensal Springs took longer than usual getting ready for her job transporting seniors for the nonprofit PACE of the Southern Piedmont. Lately, it’s been little things that get her tangled up: where she put her keys, had she made her lunch, what was her first stop. Prior to this job, Springs had worked in transportation for the Charlotte Housing Authority because she enjoyed helping seniors. But after being out with COVID for two months, working with the residents, some of whom have dementia, is a reminder of her own struggles with confusion and forgetting. (Newsome, 5/17)
Stat:
How Ashish Jha Became Network TV's Everyman Expert On Covid
Chances are you’ve seen Ashish Jha during the pandemic, though you had never heard of him before. He seemed to come out of nowhere — bespectacled, professorial, his tie sometimes askew — and then he was everywhere, a fixture in living rooms across America. (Garde, 5/18)
Iowa Shifts Mental Health Care Funding To State In Tax Rearrangement
Iowa Democrats argue that the move, part of a large tax cut, doesn't guarantee the state will properly fund mental health care services in the future. Meanwhile, North Carolina lawmakers pursue non-police responses to mental health crises, and San Francisco's homeless mental health team gets to work.
Des Moines Register:
Iowa Senate Passes Bill Cutting Taxes, Shifting Mental Health Care Funding To The State
Iowa lawmakers have reached a deal on a sweeping plan to move funding for mental health services from county property taxes to the state while cutting income taxes, ending Iowa's inheritance tax and boosting a range of tax credits for affordable housing and child care. The Iowa Senate passed the bill Monday on a vote of 29-15 with every Republican and Sens. Kevin Kinney, D-Oxford, and Tony Bisignano, D-Des Moines, voting yes and every other Democrat voting no. The measure now goes to the House, which is expected to pass it and send it to Gov. Kim Reynolds' desk. (Gruber-Miller, 5/17)
North Carolina Health News:
Lawmakers Seek Non-Police Mental Health Interventions
When it comes to dealing with people who have mental illness, most people think hospitalization is good and jail is bad, but according to Cherene Allen-Caraco “both of them are indicators of system failures.” Allen-Caraco has served people with mental illness through Promise Resource Network, a provider of mental health services in Charlotte for 16 years. Of the thousands of people she and her team have served, they’ve only involuntarily committed one person to a psychiatric hospital. (Knopf, 5/18)
AP:
West Virginia To Get $2.4M For Cancer Prevention Programs
West Virginia is set to receive $2.4 million in federal funds for cancer prevention programs. The state’s U.S. senators announced the funding from the Department of Health and Human Services on Monday. The money will flow to cancer control programs in the state health department. (5/18)
Crain's New York Business:
N.Y. Bill Limiting Mandatory Mail-Order Pharmacy Services For Specialty Drugs Advances Assembly
A New York Assembly bill that would potentially prevent patients from being forced to use mail-order services for specialty drug prescriptions—legislation that has been introduced before—made headway last week. Although independent pharmacists lauded the development, pharmacy benefit managers said the bill not only would increase costs for employers and patients but also compromise patient safety. The bill seeks to amend a 2011 law that pharmacy benefit managers cannot make it mandatory for patients with prescriptions for "specialty drugs" to obtain them only through mail-order from "specialty pharmacies." The bill also removes a requirement for independent pharmacies to meet certain terms and conditions before they can dispense such drugs. Additionally, it further defined what a mail-order pharmacy is and included exemptions for collective-bargaining agreements. (Sim, 5/17)
Capitol Beat News Service:
Worker Advocates Call For Broader Paid Family Leave
Worker advocates in Georgia are pushing for further expansion of paid family leave after state lawmakers passed legislation to give state employees up to three weeks of time off following the birth of a child. Representatives from several Georgia nonprofits met Friday to call for a broader paid family and medical leave program that offers up to 12 weeks of leave for new parents, sick leave for surgery or serious medical treatment and extending eligibility to care for a family member beyond one’s child. (Evans, 5/16)
Bangor Daily News:
Safety Concerns Headline Debate Over Expanding Maine's Food Sovereignty Laws
Supporters of legislation to amend Maine’s food sovereignty act say the new language will make the state’s local food economy stronger by increasing opportunities for unlicensed home-based food businesses, but not everyone is on board with the change. Opponents, who include Maine food industry and farming groups, feel the amendment will unnecessarily weaken regulations aimed at keeping unsafe food from finding its way into consumers hands. (Bayly, 5/18)
AP:
Dozens More Men Sue Ohio State Over Doc's Sexual Misconduct
Dozens more men are suing Ohio State over the university’s failure to stop sexual abuse and misconduct decades ago by team doctor Richard Strauss. They echo claims filed previously by over 400 men, many of whom allege they were groped during required medical exams or while seeking treatment for unrelated ailments. New claims from at least 41 plaintiffs were filed in two federal lawsuits on Friday and one on Monday, which marked two years since a report from a law firm investigation concluded university employees were aware of concerns about Strauss as early as 1979 but didn’t stop him. (Franko, 5/18)
USA Today:
Texas Senate Tries Again To Ban Gender-Affirming Care For Transgender Youths
The Texas Senate, thwarted in two previous efforts directed at young transgender Texans, took a third bite of the apple Monday by giving initial passage, on a party-line vote, to a Republican bill that would ban gender-affirming medical care for those under age 18. Senate Bill 1311 would prohibit doctors from offering a range of treatments to youths, including puberty blockers — reversible medications commonly prescribed to delay the onset of physical changes — providing teenagers time to decide if more permanent changes are desired. (Lindell, 5/17)
NBC News:
States Are Turning Away Unemployment Aid. Workers Fear Choice Between Health And A Paycheck.
For Kelvin Wade, 34, the pandemic is far from over. He recently marked the anniversary of his mother's death from Covid-19, a loss that still feels fresh. He and his wife, D'Anna, 23, who live in Ridgeland, Mississippi, fear for the safety of their 15-month-old daughter, so Wade goes out on errands alone, hoping to reduce the family's exposure. The couple is hesitant to get vaccinated, worried that the shots could bring additional risks. And more than a year after the coronavirus first began shuttering businesses and displacing people from their jobs, both are still out of work. (Harris and Silva, 5/18)
In news about homelessness —
San Francisco Chronicle:
One Of San Francisco's Last Big Homeless Camps Has Been Taken Down
By 9 a.m. Monday, the front-end loaders and dump trucks were lined up outside the abandoned state-owned parking lot under Highway 101 in SoMa. A few weary residents who lived there in tents, trucks and a half-built tiny home dragged their belongings onto a nearby sidewalk as social workers and California Highway Patrol officers made their final rounds. Overhead, traffic thundered as San Francisco continued to reawaken from a year in pandemic-induced limbo. Slowly, the tents and tarps and other makeshift structures started to come down. (Hepler, 5/17)
San Francisco Chronicle:
S.F. Finally Has A New Mental Health Team To Respond To Homeless People In Distress. Is It Helping?
The teams, which will be fully initiated this summer, have been hailed as a compassionate way to coax the city’s most vulnerable into care. Mayor London Breed has also touted them as a key element in her road map for police reform, which she introduced last year amid the national protests over police brutality. The goal is to reduce what supporters say is the city’s over-reliance on police, particularly during sensitive situations that require a trained mental health professional. (Thadani and Cassidy, 5/17)
CIDRAP:
Comorbidities, Racial Disparity Found In Homeless Hospital COVID Patients
Almost two thirds of homeless patients hospitalized for COVID-19 were of non-White descent and more than 80% had at least one comorbidity, according to a descriptive study in The Journal of Infectious Diseases yesterday. (5/17)
Salt Lake Tribune:
Utah Audit Finds Drugs Still Present In New Homeless Resource Centers
The lawlessness that once pervaded The Road Home’s now-shuttered downtown emergency shelter isn’t as rampant in the Salt Lake City area’s three new homeless resource centers. But drug use and crime persist as a problem within the facilities, state auditors have concluded. When auditors visited the men’s resource center in South Salt Lake, accompanying police officers noticed the smell of spice, a synthetic drug, before they’d even walked through its doors. Inside, auditors watched as a man slumped over in a stupor after smoking spice and noticed another resident furtively discard drug paraphernalia after he spotted the incoming officers, according to the legislative report released Monday. (Rodgers and Stevens, 5/17)
UK Has Over 2,300 People With Indian Covid Variant As It Starts Unlocking
Hugging, drinking beer with dinner indoors and other normal habits were all okayed in the U.K. starting this week, but officials reported over 2,300 people were carrying the more infectious Indian variant. CNBC reports on worries this variant could soon become dominant there.
CBS News:
U.K. Eases COVID Restrictions Despite Concern Over Indian Variant
The people of Great Britain were given the go-ahead on Monday to share a hug, drink a pint with dinner indoors, and return to movie theaters and playhouses. But as the U.K. emerges from the worst of the coronavirus pandemic, the spread of the so-called Indian variant of COVID-19 in England is causing concern, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned people to embrace the easing of restrictions "with a heavy dose of caution." (Saberi, 5/17)
Bloomberg:
More Than 2,300 People In U.K. Infected With India Variant
The highly transmissible India variant of coronavirus has now been found in 86 districts across the U.K., Health Secretary Matt Hancock said, as he urged the public to stay cautious when meeting friends indoors. Authorities have identified 2,323 cases of the variant as of Monday, with cases doubling in the past week in Bolton and Blackburn in northwestern England, Hancock told the House of Commons on Monday. With 86 local authorities confirmed to have five or more cases of the India variant, Hancock said it was vital that people get vaccinated. Most people with the strain known as B.1.617.2 in areas around Bolton had not received a shot, he said, and early evidence suggests vaccines still work against this variant. (Ashton and Ross, 5/17)
CNBC:
Covid Variant From India Could Become Dominant In The UK ‘In A Matter Of Days,’ Posing Unknown Dangers
The coronavirus variant that first emerged in India could become the dominant strain of the virus in the U.K. in a matter of days, scientists have warned.The U.K. is detecting a rapid spread of the Covid variant “B.1.617” that first emerged in India last October and is seen as responsible for a wave of infections that has engulfed the south Asian nation in recent months. (Ellyatt, 5/18)
In other global developments —
AP:
Germany Quarantines All In 2 High-Rise Buildings
Health officials say they have quarantined the residents of two high-rise buildings in the western German town of Velbert after several people tested positive with the coronavirus variant first detected to India. Officials from the county of Mettmann said “there are currently several infections with the Indian virus variant in Velbert.” (5/18)
AP:
Ransomware Hits AXA Units In Asia, Irish Healthcare
The Thai affiliate of Paris-based insurance company AXA said Tuesday it is investigating a ransomware attack by Russian-speaking cybercriminals that has affected operations in Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong and the Philippines. Meanwhile, a cyberattack on a public health provider in New Zealand took down information systems across five hospitals, forcing staff to cancel some elective surgeries and creating all sorts of other problems. (Ekvitthayavechnukul and Perry, 5/18)
The Washington Post:
Japan Doctors Group Calls For Olympics Cancellation Amid Mounting Concern
The Tokyo 2020 Games start in 66 days but a major Japanese doctors’ group is calling for the already-delayed event to be canceled over fears that the country’s health-care system cannot accommodate the potential medical needs of thousands of international athletes, coaches and media amid a surge of coronavirus cases in the country. “We strongly request that the authorities convince the [International Olympic Committee] that holding the Olympics is difficult and obtain its decision to cancel the Games,” said the Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association. (Ang, 5/18)
India Passes 25 Million Cases Of Covid As Surge Hits Rural Areas
Bloomberg reports on how "entire families" are wiped out by covid in India, as CNBC covers how decades of neglect in the public health system have had an impact. Elsewhere, the U.N. asks for vaccine supplies, and Canadians get some surplus U.S. shots.
Bloomberg:
‘Entire Families’ Wiped Out By Covid-19’s Carnage In Rural India
After devastating India’s biggest cities, the latest Covid-19 wave is now ravaging rural areas across the world’s second-most populous country. And most villages have no way to fight the virus. In Basi, about 1.5 hours from the capital New Delhi, about three-quarters of the village’s 5,400 people are sick and more than 30 have died in the past three weeks. It has no health-care facilities, no doctors and no oxygen canisters. And unlike India’s social-media literate urban population, residents can’t appeal on Twitter to an army of strangers willing to help. (Sen, Pradhan, Srivastava and Pollard, 5/17)
Reuters:
India's COVID Tally Passes 25 Mln; Cyclone Complicates Efforts In Modi's State
India total COVID-19 caseload surged past 25 million on Tuesday as a powerful cyclone complicated the health crisis in one of the states where the disease is spreading most quickly. COVID-19 tests were administered to 200,000 people evacuated from coastal districts of the western state of Gujarat before the cyclone struck late on Monday and efforts were being made to try to limit any spread of infections. (5/18)
CNBC:
India Covid Crisis Shows Public Health Neglect, Problems, Underinvestment
The world’s attention is now on India, the epicenter of the global pandemic as the country battles a deadly second wave of Covid-19. The unfolding human tragedy has laid bare the deep-rooted problems plaguing India’s public health system after decades of neglect and underinvestment. (Bala, 5/17)
In vaccine news in India and elsewhere overseas —
Reuters:
India Unlikely To Resume Sizable COVID-19 Vaccine Exports Until October -Sources
India is unlikely to resume major exports of COVID-19 vaccines until at least October as it diverts shots for domestic use, three government sources said, a longer-than-expected delay set to worsen supply shortages from the global COVAX initiative. Battling the world's biggest jump in coronavirus infections, India halted vaccine exports a month ago after donating or selling more than 66 million doses. The move has left countries including Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and many in Africa scrambling for alternate supplies. (Jain, Arora and Das, 5/18)
CIDRAP:
UN Agencies Make Urgent Appeal For COVAX Vaccine Doses
Ahead of the G7 summit next month in the United Kingdom, UNICEF today put out an urgent call for leaders to pool their excess COVID-19 vaccine capacity to make up for a 125-million-dose gap in the COVAX program. The plea, which comes as the B1617 and other variants are sparking fresh surges in several countries, was followed by an announcement from US President Joe Biden that the United States will donate 20 million doses of approved vaccine abroad. (Schnirring, 5/17)
NPR:
Doses From U.S. Vaccine Surplus Offered To Canadians
In the U.S., more than 36% of the population are fully vaccinated, although the pace of daily doses administered has been slowing. The cross-border vaccine offers have come after frustrations grew in Canada over the pace of arrival of the large numbers of doses the Canadian government has ordered. Even as provinces ramp up vaccinations this month, several remain under severe public health restrictions enacted to overcome a variant-driven wave of COVID-19 infections that has strained hospitals. As vaccine demand slips in the U.S., some Canadians have jumped at the chance to put America's surplus doses to use. (Jacobs, 5/17)
AP:
South Africa's Tutu Gets Jab To Help Start Inoculation Drive
South Africa’s anti-apartheid icon Archbishop Desmond Tutu, 89, came out of retirement Monday to help the country launch its drive to inoculate older citizens against the coronavirus. “All my life I have tried to do the right thing and, today, getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is definitely the right thing to do,” said Tutu, the former Anglican archbishop of Cape Town who won the Nobel Prize Prize in 1984 for his peaceful work to end apartheid, South Africa’s previous regime of racist rule by the country’s white minority. (Magome, 5/17)
Perspectives: Ways To Persuade The Vaccine Holdouts; Adults Unmasking Is Risky For Unvaxxed Kids
Opinion writers discuss vaccines and masking issues.
The New York Times:
Meet The Four Kinds Of People Holding Us Back From Full Vaccination
Getting everyone vaccinated in the United States has become much harder now that demand for the Covid-19 vaccine is flagging. America’s vaccination strategy needs to change to address this, and it starts with understanding the specific reasons people have not been vaccinated yet. The conventional approach to understanding whether someone will get vaccinated is asking people how likely they are to get the vaccine and then building a demographic profile based on their answers: Black, white, Latinx, Republican, Democrat. But this process isn’t enough: Just knowing that Republicans are less likely to get vaccinated doesn’t tell us how to get them vaccinated. It’s more important to understand why people are still holding out, where those people live and how to reach them. (Sema Sgaier, 5/18)
NBC News:
The CDC's New Mask Rules Are Freeing — Unless You've Got A Small Child Who Can't Take Theirs Off
When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced last Thursday that it was revising its guidance and eliminating the indoor mask requirements for vaccinated people in most places, my group text of mothers — which has gotten me through the last 15 months — responded immediately. “Tell me you don’t have young children without telling me," wrote one of my friends, in reference to the ongoing Twitter and TikTok meme challenge. "The CDC will go first.” (Joy Engel, 5/17)
The Washington Post:
Vaccines Probably Don’t Work On Me. So I Must Rely On Others To Beat Covid-19.
In March 2006, a distant friend — now a dear one — gave me one of her kidneys. Unfortunately, that kidney had a short run, lasting only about 10 years when it should have worked for about twice that long. And so another earthbound saint, a friend who watched me struggle to find the first donor, offered me one of hers. Two times in the space of a decade, then, I became the beneficiary of one of the greatest acts of human altruism: living organ donation. Now, I find myself dependent on others yet again. This time, my health relies on people to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. (Sally Satel, 5/17)
Chicago Tribune:
We’ve Entered The Blind-Faith, Hope-For-The-Best Phase Of COVID-19. Can We Trust That Person Next To Us In Line Is Vaccinated?
Let me make sure I’ve got this right. The government is telling Americans who have been vaccinated that we no longer have to wear masks but those who haven’t been vaccinated do. And the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says, “Fully vaccinated people can resume activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing.” (Dahleen Glanton, 5/17)
Modesto Bee:
CDC COVID Mask Guidance Risky. More In CA Need Vaccine First
Mask on or mask off? Right now it depends on who you ask, and that’s a problem. Prior to vaccines, face coverings were our best defense against COVID-19 and a routine part of our lives for the past year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidance on mask-wearing for fully vaccinated people last week, and the nation has been stuck in a state of profound confusion ever since. (5/17)
The Philadelphia Inquirer:
Does It Violate HIPAA To Ask About Someone's Vaccine Status? Here's How To Break Down The Conversation
Although I haven’t seen my friends in over a year, we’ve been in touch nearly every day of the pandemic. Yes, we were all wearing masks. No, we weren’t going out to eat. Yes, we planned to take the shot. No, we weren’t gonna skip the line. Yes, we’ve finally been vaxxed. Whenever we do get together — and quite honestly we don’t know when that will be — we know that we’ve done all we can not to put ourselves or our loved ones at risk. (Elizabeth Wellington, 5/17)
Viewpoints: Steps To A Safer ER For Nurses; How Do We Plan For The Next Pandemic?
Editorial pages examine these public health issues.
The Baltimore Sun:
When Patients Turn Violent, Front-Line Workers Become Targets
He had my ponytail tightly curled around his hands and my neck yanked back as he yelled and spit profanities inches from my face. What started as an argument over a urine sample turned into the scariest shift of my career. A medical technician hit the silent panic button at the end of the hall, but before the security guards arrived, the emergency department (ED) charge nurse ran from the nurses’ station to diffuse the situation and put the 6-foot, 280-pound patient in a headlock. I was able to slip from his grip and, eventually, security ran in and restrained the drunken, opioid-seeking patient. (Seychelles Zack, 5/17)
Stat:
The World Needs To Start Preparing Now For The Next Pandemic
As countries grapple with the worst global pandemic in a century, it’s hard to think about preparing for the next one. But if we don’t, it could be worse than Covid-19. Over the last 30 years, infectious disease outbreaks have emerged with alarming regularity. The World Health Organization lists an influenza pandemic and other high-threat viral diseases such as Ebola and dengue among the top 10 biggest threats to public health. The rate of animal-to-human transmission of viruses has been increasing, with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimating that 75% of new infectious diseases in humans come from animals. (Andy Plump, 5/18)
Dallas Morning News:
Making Technology Accessible For People With Disabilities Will End Up Making Life Easier For Everyone
Have you ever noticed the ramps at a street corner? These are called curb cuts. The initial purpose was to allow wheelchairs to cross the street. The curb cut ended up helping a lot more people: parents pushing strollers, travelers pulling luggage, skateboarders flying, bikers riding and workers carrying heavy loads. Making websites, digital products and content accessible to those with disabilities has a curb cut effect. (Meryl Evans, 5/18)
Stat:
All States Should Harness Nurses' Full Potential
The U.S. health care system should learn many lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic. A key one is that it’s time to unleash the power of the country’s nursing workforce. Nurses have been essential in combating Covid-19, from their work caring for patients hospitalized with severe Covid-19 to treating people in their homes and administering vaccines. But even without a pandemic, it’s clear that when nurses are free to fully deploy their expertise and training, they not only improve health care quality and access but can also help dismantle systemic inequities tied to geography, racism, and poverty that affect people’s health. (Regina Cunningham and David R. Williams, 5/18)
Modern Healthcare:
Joe Biden's Cancer Pledge Brings Opportunities To Get It Right
President Joe Biden’s pledge to “end cancer as we know it” starting with a $6.5 billion investment in cancer and other medical research is welcome news to anyone affected by this disease—and that’s all of us. With cancer impacting 1 in 3 Americans in their lifetime, cancer is one of the most pressing health challenges of our time. Cancer did not stop during the COVID-19 crisis and, even as we begin to get the pandemic under control, cancer remains an urgent cause for the medical community and, more importantly, for our patients and their families. Although cancer deaths are decreasing, the disease still claims the lives of about 600,000 people each year. We need bold measures and bold leadership. (Dr. Edward S. Kim, 5/18)
CNN:
Roe V. Wade: Dobbs Could Be The Case That Takes Down The Abortion Law
Just a week ago, it seemed hard to imagine that the Supreme Court, with its conservative supermajority, was ready for a direct attack on Roe v. Wade. After all, the justices had been considering a Mississippi abortion case since September without saying a word. And yet Monday, the court agreed to hear Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, a challenge to a 2018 law banning abortion at 15 weeks. And more shocking still, the court chose not to take the less controversial off-ramp offered by Mississippi. (Mary Ziegler, 5/18)
Los Angeles Times:
The Supreme Court Should Not Destroy Roe Vs. Wade
For the nearly five decades since the U.S. Supreme Court decided that a woman has a constitutional right to an abortion, that right has been under attack by state legislators. But the high court has stood by its landmark decision in Roe vs. Wade over and over again in the rulings that followed. Now the justices have taken a case that could result in that bedrock precedent — a pillar of a woman’s ability to control her body and her life — being overturned. On Monday, the high court agreed to weigh in on a Mississippi state law that bans abortions at 15 weeks of pregnancy. A federal district court and the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals both found the law unconstitutional because Roe guarantees a right to an abortion up to the point when a fetus would be viable outside the woman’s body, which is around 24 weeks of gestation. (5/17)