NPR: Pfizer And BioNTech Ask FDA To Authorize COVID Vaccine Booster For People 18+
Pfizer and BioNTech have asked the Food and Drug Administration to authorize their COVID-19 booster shot to all people 18 and older. The companies say the request is based on results from a study of more than 10,000 volunteers that show vaccine efficacy of 95% or greater for people receiving the booster. (Palca, 11/9)

The New York Times: Pfizer Asks F.D.A. To Authorize Covid Booster Shots For All Adults
The Food and Drug Administration is expected to grant the request, perhaps before Thanksgiving and well ahead of Christmas travel and gatherings. The prospect of all 181 million fully vaccinated adults in the nation having access to extra shots is a turnaround from two months ago, when an expert advisory committee to the F.DA. overwhelmingly recommended against Pfizer-BioNTech’s request to authorize boosters for all adult recipients of that vaccine. (LaFraniere, 11/9)

CNBC: Pfizer Asks FDA To Authorize Covid Booster Shots For All Adults
A third dose of the vaccine, which was developed with German partner BioNTech, has already been authorized by the FDA for elderly people and at-risk adults six months after they complete their primary series of shots. Booster shots of Moderna’s vaccine have also been cleared for the same groups as Pfizer’s while a second shot of Johnson & Johnson’s has already been cleared for all adults. More than 25 million Americans have received an additional dose of one of the three vaccines as of Monday, according to data compiled the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Lovelace Jr., 11/9)

Canada, meanwhile, approved Pfizer's third covid jab for all adults —

The New York Times: Canada Approves Pfizer-BioNTech Boosters For All Adults
Canada’s health agency authorized booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine nationwide on Tuesday, broadening eligibility to anyone over the age of 18, regardless of what vaccine they received initially. Health Canada, the federal department responsible for approving drugs, and the National Advisory Committee on Immunization had previously updated vaccine guidelines in September to recommend booster shots for seniors living in congregate settings and for people with compromised immune systems. (Isai, 11/9)

The Washington Post: Moderna Disputes NIH Invention Of Covid Vaccine
Moderna is disputing some claims by the National Institutes of Health that it was behind the invention of the company’s mRNA coronavirus vaccine, raising the stakes in the debate over the government’s ability to exert influence over the availability and price of the vaccine in the future. At the core of the dispute is the contribution of NIH-funded scientists who worked closely with Moderna at the dawn of the pandemic to develop the groundbreaking vaccine. The dispute was revealed in patent applications filed by Moderna that were reviewed by researchers for the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. (Rowland, 11/9)

The New York Times: Moderna And U.S. At Odds Over Vaccine Patent Rights
A spokeswoman for Moderna, Colleen Hussey, said the company had “all along recognized the substantial role that the N.I.H. has played in developing Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine.” But she said the company was legally bound to exclude the agency from the core application, because “only Moderna’s scientists designed” the vaccine. Scientists familiar with the situation said they saw it as a betrayal by Moderna, which has received $1.4 billion to develop and test its vaccine and another $8.1 billion to provide the country with half a billion doses. John P. Moore, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Cornell University, called it a matter of “fairness and morality at the scientific level,” adding, “These two institutions have been working together for four or five years.” (Gay Stolberg and Robbins, 11/9)

Meanwhile, Merck's anti-covid pill is generating sales —

Reuters: U.S. Government To Buy $1 Billion More Worth Of Merck's COVID-19 Pill
The U.S. government will buy another $1 billion worth of the COVID-19 pill made by Merck & Co Inc (MRK.N) and partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, the companies said on Tuesday. The government in June agreed to buy 1.7 million courses of molnupiravir for $1.2 billion and is now exercising options to buy 1.4 million more. That brings the total secured courses to 3.1 million and worth $2.2 billion. Merck said the government has the right to buy 2 million more courses as part of the contract. (Mishra, 11/9)

Axios: U.S. To Buy $1 Billion Worth Of Merck's Antiviral COVID Pill 
The Biden administration will buy 1.4 million additional courses of a pill developed by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics to prevent or treat COVID-19, a purchase worth around $1 billion, the companies announced Tuesday. The U.S. has now committed to acquiring about 3.1 million courses of molnupiravir for $2.2 billion after the drug receives an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration. (Knutson, 11/9)

And AstraZeneca is putting plans in place for future vaccines —

Reuters: AstraZeneca To Set Up Division For Vaccines And Antibody Therapies
AstraZeneca (AZN.L) is creating a separate division for vaccines and antibody therapies, the drugmaker said on Tuesday, to focus on its COVID-19 shot and coronavirus treatments after a series of setbacks during the pandemic. Reuters reported in July that the Anglo-Swedish company was exploring options for its vaccine business and expected to have greater clarity on the matter by the end of 2021. The new division, which will be led by executive vice-president of Europe and Canada, Iskra Reic, will combine research and development, manufacturing, as well as commercial and medical teams, a company spokesperson said. (Aripaka, 11/9)

AP: Oklahoma Court Overturns $465M Opioid Ruling Against J&J
The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned a $465 million opioid ruling against drugmaker Johnson & Johnson, finding that a lower court wrongly interpreted the state’s public nuisance law in the first case of its kind in the U.S. to go to trial. The ruling was the second blow this month to a government case that used a similar approach to try to hold drugmakers responsible for the national epidemic of opioid abuse. Public nuisance claims are at the heart of some 3,000 lawsuits brought by state and local governments against drugmakers, distribution companies and pharmacies, but it’s not clear that the legal theory is in trouble with so many more cases queued up to test it. (Miller, 11/9)

The Washington Post: Oklahoma Supreme Court Overturns Historic Opioid Ruling Against J&J 
“In reaching this decision, we do not minimize the severity of the harm that thousands of Oklahoma citizens have suffered because of opioids,” the Oklahoma Supreme Court judges wrote in their ruling. “However grave the problem of opioid addiction is in Oklahoma, public nuisance law does not provide a remedy for this harm.” The one dissenting judge, James E. Edmondson, said he disagreed with the ruling against J&J but thought the decision should be remanded to the lower court. Johnson & Johnson praised the ruling Tuesday. (Kornfield and Bernstein, 11/9)

The Wall Street Journal: Johnson & Johnson Opioid Verdict Overturned By Oklahoma Supreme Court
The lawsuit featured the first trial in the nation that sought to hold the pharmaceutical industry accountable for widespread opioid addiction and overdoses. A state court judge found Johnson & Johnson created misleading and dangerous marketing campaigns for drugs and opioids that lacked context and exaggerated opioids’ safety and efficacy as pain treatments. The drugmaker was ordered in 2019 to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to help address the damage caused. The dollar amount—initially $572 million but later reduced to $465 million—represented an estimated year’s worth of treatment and programs. (Calfas, 11/9)

Meanwhile, the opioid crisis has not gone away —

AP: State Study Finds Fatal Opioid Overdoses Rose Among Workers
Fatal opioid overdoses nearly doubled in recent years among Massachusetts workers, with the construction, farming and fishing industries among the hardest hit sectors, according to an updated study from the state Department of Public Health released Monday. The new state report, which builds on a prior study covering 2011-2015, shows the rate of opioid-related overdose deaths among workers across all industries increased from 25 deaths per 100,000 workers from 2011-2015 to 46 in 2016-2017. (11/8)

Chicago Tribune: Fake Prescription Pills Loaded With Fentanyl A Growing Menace 
It’s hard to be sure what Alissa Saunders thought she was taking the night she died of a drug overdose — a ground-up Percocet, maybe, or a pulverized bar of Xanax. One thing seems clear enough, though: She didn’t know it was fentanyl. Saunders, a 22-year-old certified nursing assistant who loved to camp, fish and hang out with her family, was found unresponsive last March in the New Lenox townhouse she shared with a roommate, a straw flecked with powdered residue on the nightstand beside her. (Keilman, 11/9)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Pandemic Evolving, Task Force Chief Says, As Missouri Logs An Uptick In COVID-19 Cases 
The head of the region’s pandemic task force said on Tuesday that COVID-19 infection patterns, with case numbers again rising some, suggest the pandemic is shifting into a new phase. “It’s all conjecture at this point,” Dr. Clay Dunagan, acting head of the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force, said during a briefing Tuesday. “But I think there’s a strong suggestion from … the pattern we’re seeing, that this upturn represents the continued evolution of COVID into an endemic virus that’s probably going to have periodic surges.” (Merrilees, 11/9)

Georgia Health News: Decline In Georgia’s Covid Numbers May Be Just A Lull 
The recent news on Covid in Georgia appears quite good – cases, hospitalizations and deaths have all dropped to a low plateau, state health officials said Tuesday. But the number of vaccinations has also shown a recent decline, with the rate of Georgia residents fully vaccinated now hovering at about 50 percent. During October, vaccinations dropped 30 percent to 40 percent. That could change since recent approval of the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 5 to 11. Yet Cherie Drenzek, the state epidemiologist, told the Georgia Department of Public Health’s board that she remains cautious about what lies ahead. “This virus does nothing but surprise us,’’ she said. (Miller, 11/9)

Bloomberg: Idaho Confirms State’s First Covid-19 Child Death, An Infant
Health officials in Idaho confirmed the state’s first pediatric Covid-19 death -- an infant who succumbed in October, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare announced Tuesday. “To protect the privacy of the child’s grieving family, no further details will be released to the public,” according to the statement, noting about 900 children nationwide have died of Covid-19 since the pandemic erupted. (Del Giudice, 11/9)

The Boston Globe: Jamaica Plain School Shut Down After COVID Outbreak Swells To 46 Cases
A rapidly spreading outbreak of COVID-19 at a Boston school prompted city officials on Tuesday to close the Curley K-8 School for 10 days, marking the first time this school year they have taken such action. On the recommendation of the Boston Public Health Commission, Superintendent Brenda Cassellius said she decided to close the 900-student school in Jamaica Plain, as the outbreak swelled over the past week to a total of 46 cases, spreading across multiple classrooms and grade levels. Both staff members and students have tested positive, including some who were vaccinated. (Vaznis, 11/9)

In news from California —

Los Angeles Times: 'Winter Is Coming,' Newsom Warns, As COVID Threat Persists
Gov. Gavin Newsom turned to a familiar phrase Tuesday to issue a warning about the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic in California. “Winter is coming,” he said during remarks at the California Economic Summit in Monterey. “COVID is not taking the winter off.” Newsom is far from the first official to cast a wary eye on winter’s approach and express concern about what it might mean for the state. California has yet to shake off the last vestiges of the months-long surge of the Delta variant, and there are indications that conditions are heading in the wrong direction in some parts of the state. (Money and Lin II, 11/9)

The New York Times: Saturday’s Cal-U.S.C. Game Has Been Delayed By Covid
The University of California, Berkeley postponed its Saturday football game because of positive coronavirus cases among players, the school announced Tuesday evening. The matchup against the University of Southern California became the first game of the 2021 season at the sport’s top level to be rescheduled because of the virus.Cal will instead host U.S.C. on Dec. 4, the school announced on Twitter. (Easterling, 11/9)

And from Texas —

Dallas Morning News: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Scolds Austin For Overly ‘Stringent’ COVID-19 Rules That Nix Veterans’ Parade
Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday blasted Austin officials for imposing what he called overly restrictive COVID-19 testing and social distancing requirements on sponsors of Thursday’s Veterans Day parade in the capital city, and offered as a substitute to host a rally for them. The privately sponsored event was canceled after organizers said they couldn’t verify that an expected 30,000 participants and attendees each would meet the standards. (Garrett, 11/9)

As Thanksgiving, and the holiday season approaches —

Stat: What Would Health Experts Do? 28 Share Their Holiday Plans Amid Covid-19
It has been nearly two years since Covid-19 reared its ugly head, as best we know. We’re fast approaching the first anniversary of the deployment of highly effective vaccines that arm us against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. And you are asking yourself: When is it going to end? We at STAT have an unfortunate but truthful answer. We don’t know. But we do wonder: Surely, surely, things are getting a little bit better? With so many people having acquired some immune defenses, either through vaccination or infection, can’t we contemplate easing our way back, at least a little, toward pre-Covid normalcy? (Branswell, 11/10)

AP: Whistleblowers To Play Key Role In Enforcing Vaccine Mandate
To enforce President Joe Biden’s forthcoming COVID-19 mandate, the U.S. Labor Department is going to need a lot of help. Its Occupational Safety and Health Administration doesn’t have nearly enough workplace safety inspectors to do the job. So the government will rely upon a corps of informers to identify violations of the order: Employees who will presumably be concerned enough to turn in their own employers if their co-workers go unvaccinated or fail to undergo weekly tests to show they’re virus-free. (Wiseman, 11/9)

ABC News: COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates Moving The Needle, Experts Say
Vaccine mandates have been yet another controversial move in the deeply divisive COVID-19 pandemic, sparking lawsuits, protests and warnings of reductions in service. But data and experts suggest that they are working. (Pereira, 11/9)

In news on schools and vaccines —

KHN: How One Health Center Is Leading Chicago On Kid Covid Shots
As the medical assistant put on rubber gloves and readied the syringe, 5-year-old Victoria Macias, wearing a pink Minnie Mouse mask and white blouse, turned her head away and closed her eyes. “It’s not going to hurt, OK? I’ll hold your hand, I’ll hold your hand,” said her older sister, Alondra, 8. “Deep breath, deep breath.” The medical assistant, Rachel Blancas, poked Victoria’s left arm for about a second. Victoria opened her eyes. And with that, the Macias sisters were among the first 5- to 11-year-olds to get the covid-19 vaccine in the Midwest’s largest city. (Bruce, 11/10)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Henry County Schools Says More Than 90% Of Its Staff Is Vaccinated
Henry County Schools says that about 92% of its workforce is now vaccinated against COVID-19. The south metro Atlanta district, which announced the figure on Monday, said it reached the rate through a number of efforts. Those included using school nurses to vaccinate employees and offering a $1,000 incentive for all staffers who were vaccinated by the end of this past September. (Stafford, 11/9)

Chicago Tribune: Parents Navigate Play Dates As Some Children Are Vaccinated, And Others Aren't 
It’s been a year and a half of play dates canceled because of pandemic realities. But now that children age 5 and older can be vaccinated, some parents are sorting through new factors. Not all children will be vaccinated; some might have conditions that raise caution, just like adults; others may have parents who wish to wait or do not trust the vaccine. And, of course, depending on the ages of children involved, many people may have children or family and friends of varying ages and vaccine eligibility. (Bowen, 11/9)

CBS News: Education Secretary Cardona Says There Should Be "No Need" For Hybrid Or Remote Learning After Kids Are Vaccinated
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said Tuesday that it "wasn't a mistake" to keep schools closed for as long as they were throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, an issue that has become one of the biggest flashpoints in the U.S. In an interview with "Face the Nation" moderator Margaret Brennan, Cardona said that communities have all the tools they need going forward to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and there should be "no need" for remote or hybrid learning. (Peller and Hayes, 11/9)

On vaccine incentives and hesitancy —

The Boston Globe: Landmark Places 21 Unvaccinated Employees On Leave, Each Of Them With Religious Exemptions
Landmark Medical Center has placed 21 unvaccinated employees on leave, one week after receiving a violation notice from the state health department. Spokeswoman Carolyn Kyle told the Globe the Woonsocket-based hospital had placed the unvaccinated workers who each had “religious accommodations” on administrative leave, which brought the hospital into “full compliance” with the state’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. (Gagosz, 11/9)

The Hill: Kansas State Lawmakers Move To Protect Employees Who Refuse COVID-19 Vaccine
Kansas state lawmakers are pushing to enact legislation that will protect workers who refuse to get the COVID-19 vaccine. The state's Senate president, Ty Masterson (R), urged lawmakers Tuesday to reconvene for a special session before Thanksgiving to consider proposals that will make it easier for workers to use religious exemptions from vaccine mandates, The Associated Press reported. The proposals also push for workers to get unemployment benefits if they're fired for not getting the shot. (Prieb, 11/9)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: DeKalb Considers Offering Employees $500 To Get COVID-19, Flu Vaccines
DeKalb County may offer $500 to government employees who get — or have already gotten — the COVID-19 and flu vaccines. County CEO Michael Thurmond unveiled the proposal during a Tuesday morning meeting of the Board of Commissioners. If approved by commissioners in the coming weeks, it would provide $300 to county employees who provide proof they’ve been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and another $200 if they receive a flu shot. (Estep, 11/9)

Meanwhile, though it's not a covid vaccine or approved treatment, ivermectin is again in the news —

Chicago Tribune: DuPage Judge Rules Unvaccinated Doctor Can Administer Ivermectin 
The latest lawsuit seeking to let a COVID-19 patient receive ivermectin against a hospital’s directives took an odd turn after the physician chosen to administer the medication allegedly acknowledged he is not vaccinated against the coronavirus. Sun Ng, 71, who came to the U.S. from Hong Kong to celebrate his granddaughter’s first birthday, contracted a case of COVID-19 so severe that in mid-October he ended up on a ventilator at Edward Hospital in Naperville, according to a complaint filed by his daughter, Man Kwan Ng. She said in an interview that she has a doctorate in mechanical engineering, and that after her father fell ill, she did intense research into ivermectin, reading scientific papers and consulting other sources. “I made the conclusion that ivermectin can help my dad,” she said. (Keilman, 11/9)

The Washington Post: Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla Says People Who Spread Vaccine Disinformation Are ‘Criminals’
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said Tuesday that people who spread disinformation about coronavirus vaccines are “criminals.” Bourla, in an interview with the Atlantic Council think tank, said a “very small” group has been responsible for spreading vaccine disinformation to the millions who remain hesitant about getting vaccinated. “Those people are criminals,” he said to Atlantic Council CEO Frederick Kempe about 40 minutes into a nearly hour-long interview. “They’re not bad people. They’re criminals because they have literally cost millions of lives.” (Bella, 11/9)

CNN: Surgeon General On Matthew McConaughey's Opposition To Vaccine Mandates For Kids: 'Covid Is Not Harmless In Our Children' 
US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy stressed Tuesday that parents need to recognize that "Covid is not harmless in our children" after actor Matthew McConaughey said his kids aren't vaccinated and that he's against mandating vaccines for children. "Many kids have died. Sadly, hundreds of children -- thousands -- have been hospitalized, and as a dad of a child who has been hospitalized several years ago for another illness, I would never wish upon any parent they have a child that ends up in the hospital," Murthy told CNN's Erin Burnett on "OutFront." (LeBlanc, 11/9)

Senator Warren is sued over criticizing vaccine misinformation —

The Hill: Publishing Company Sues Warren For Criticizing COVID-19 Book
A publishing company is suing Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), accusing her of violating the First Amendment after she criticized Amazon's algorithm for allegedly promoting a book that contains COVID-19 misinformation. Chelsea Green Publishing, Inc., which is behind the book “The Truth About COVID-19: Exposing the Great Reset, Lockdowns, Vaccine Passports, and the New Normal,” filed the lawsuit against Warren in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington on Tuesday, according to a statement from the group. (Schnell, 11/9)

AP: Senator Warren’s Concerns Over COVID-19 Book Draw Lawsuit
A small publishing company in Vermont is suing Sen. Elizabeth Warren, saying her chastising Amazon over the sale of a book that promotes misinformation about COVID-19 amounted to censorship. The company, Chelsea Green, published a book called “The Truth About COVID-19,” which accuses the “global elite” of using the pandemic to grab “unprecedented power.” (11/9)

On vaccine misinformation in the media, sports —

AP: Study: Fox Viewers More Likely To Believe COVID Falsehoods
People who trust Fox News Channel and other media outlets that appeal to conservatives are more likely to believe falsehoods about COVID-19 and vaccines than those who primarily go elsewhere for news, a study has found. While the Kaiser Family Foundation study released this week found the clear ties between news outlets that people trusted and the amount of misinformation they believe, it took no stand on whether those attitudes specifically came from what they saw there. “It may be because the people who are self-selecting these organizations believe (the misinformation) going in,” said Liz Hamel, vice president and director of public opinion and survey research at Kaiser. (Bauder, 11/10)

The Hill: Newsmax Reporter Permanently Suspended From Twitter After COVID-19 Claims
Newsmax White House correspondent Emerald Robinson has been permanently suspended from Twitter for repeatedly violating the platform's COVID-19 misinformation policy, a Twitter spokesperson confirmed to The Hill on Tuesday night. The permanent suspension follows a temporary 7-day Twitter suspension Robinson received last week in the wake of false claims she made about the COVID-19 vaccine. Social media users began noticing on Tuesday evening that Robinson's Twitter account had been shut down, just hours after she had been regranted access to the platform. (Polus, 11/9)

CBS News: Green Bay Packers, Aaron Rodgers And Receiver Allen Lazard Fined For COVID Violations
The NFL has fined the Green Bay Packers organization, quarterback Aaron Rodgers and wide receiver Allen Lazard for violating COVID-19 protocols, the league said in a statement to CBS News on Tuesday. The fines come nearly a week after Rodgers tested positive for the coronavirus and subsequently revealed he was not vaccinated after earlier stating he had been "immunized." "The Club was fully cooperative in the investigation into violations of the collectively bargained NFL-NFLPA protocols," the NFL said Tuesday. (Reardon, 11/9)

Prescription Drug Watch: For more news on rising drug costs, check out our weekly roundup of news coverage and perspectives of the issue.

Roll Call: Lobbyists, Advocates Seek To Revise Budget Bill’s Drug Price Changes
Lobbyists and advocates are pressing for a number of changes to a drug pricing overhaul as the focus on a $1.75 trillion budget bill shifts from the House to the Senate. The lobbyists are angling for tweaks on everything from the time period of drug exclusivity to the tax treatment of rare disease drugs and provisions affecting the pharmacy benefit managers that manage prescription drugs for insurance companies. (Clason and McIntire, 11/10)

The Washington Post: Pharmaceutical Industry Likely To Shatter Its Lobbying Record As It Works To Shape Democrats’ Spending Bill
The ads targeting Kim and others were one strand of a massive, months-long advertising, lobbying and political donation blitz undertaken by the pharmaceutical industry and its allies, perhaps the strongest of all corporate voices in Washington, to kill a Democratic proposal to lower the cost of prescription drugs by empowering the federal government to negotiate their prices. That provision to control drug prices became a focal point of the $1.75 trillion spending package Democrats are trying to move through Washington. The measure was in, then out, then watered down, going through a fierce ping-pong of backroom negotiations that is likely to continue once the Senate considers the bill in coming weeks. (Torbati and O'Connell, 11/5)

CBS News: Big Pharma Spending $263M To Keep Drug Prices High: "They Have Really Endless Resources"
The pharmaceutical industry has spent nearly $263 million on lobbying so far this year, employing three lobbyists for every member of Congress, according to OpenSecrets, which tracks money in politics. Millions of those dollars are in the form of campaign donations. "They have really endless resources to throw at shaping the outcomes of legislation," said Sheila Krumholz, the executive director of OpenSecrets. (Van Cleave, 11/3)

And in Biden administration news on covid —

AP: Biden To Continue FEMA Virus Aid For States Until April 1
President Joe Biden is extending the federal government’s 100% reimbursement of COVID-19 emergency response costs to states, tribes and territories through April 1, 2022, the White House is announcing Tuesday. On a conference call Tuesday morning, White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients informed governors that Biden is approving the extension of Federal Emergency Management Agency support to help continue FEMA-backed efforts like vaccination clinics and public education campaigns surrounding the shots. (Miller, 11/9)

Axios: Exclusive: U.S. Will Speed COVID Vaccines To Conflict Zones 
The Biden administration is set to announce today that it has brokered a deal to get more doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine into conflict zones around the world, a senior White House official tells Axios. Getting the rest of the world vaccinated will save lives — and reduce the chances of more new variants. (Reed, 11/10)

Also —

Politico: Schumer Scores Billions For New York's Decaying Public Housing
The stakes are high for the 2 million people who reside in 1.2 million public housing units receiving federal funding, with many living in substandard or even dangerous conditions. The cost of the nationwide need for repairs is $81 billion, according to the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials. The $65 billion allocation is 63 percent more money than Biden proposed for public housing in the spring. After Biden released a plan with $40 billion for improvements, Schumer vowed in April that it would be among his “No. 1 priorities” to double that figure and direct money to the New York City Housing Authority. (O'Donnell, 11/10)

The Washington Post: Thomas Farley, Former Philadelphia Health Commissioner, Joins D.C. Health Department
Former Philadelphia health commissioner Thomas Farley made national headlines in May when he admitted to ordering the cremation and disposal of human remains that belonged to victims of a 1985 police bombing in West Philadelphia years ago, without notifying their surviving family members. Farley was asked to resign. And even though the Philadelphia Inquirer reported afterward that one of Farley’s subordinates had apparently disobeyed his orders in 2017 and preserved the victims’ remains instead, Farley’s admission still outraged members of the Black radical liberation group MOVE, whose headquarters were targeted in the attack some 36 years ago. (Brice-Sadler and Portnoy, 11/10)

The Washington Post: Exposure To Extreme Urban Heat Has Tripled Worldwide Since The 1980s, Study Finds
Over the past 40 years, as climate change leaped into global awareness, exposure to extreme heat jumped by close to 200 percent in more than 10,000 of the world’s biggest urban areas, according to a study published in October in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Increases in dangerously high temperature and humidity were responsible for roughly a third of the global boost in exposure, while increased population accounted for the rest. The study adds vivid context to the threats posed by a human-warmed planet, and to the challenges facing delegates at the United Nations climate summit taking place in Glasgow, Scotland. (Henson, 11/9)

KHN: Western Boom Cities See Spike In Harmful Ozone
The reduction of harmful ground-level ozone across most of the U.S. over the past several decades has been an air pollution success story. But in some parts of the country, especially in the heavily populated mountain valleys of the West, the odorless, colorless gas has remained stubbornly difficult to reduce to safe levels. Meanwhile, a growing body of research shows that the levels considered safe may still be too high and should be substantially lowered. (Robbins, 11/10)

CBS News: More Than 57 Million Pounds Of PPE And Other COVID-Related Plastic Waste Have Polluted The Oceans Since Pandemic Began, Study Finds
The world has been fighting the COVID-19 pandemic for more than a year and a half, and a new study shows that in the process, Earth's oceans have become far more polluted with waste from discarded masks, gloves and other protective items. "The recent COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increased demand for single-use plastic, intensifying pressure on this already out-of-control problem," the study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, says. (Cohen, 11/9)

On the flu —

CIDRAP: World Flu Activity Remains Low, But Plenty Of Sporadic Detections
Flu activity across the world remained at lower than expected levels, though sporadic detections and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) activity continue in many regions, according to an update from the World Health Organization (WHO) that covers the middle 2 weeks of October. Levels are still classified as interseasonal in temperate regions of both hemispheres. In Southern Asia, the pace of flu activity is similar to past seasons, with both influenza A and B circulating. Flu levels in China are still low, with influenza B detections rising in the country's north while declining in the south. (11/9)

Also —

AP: US Food Banks Struggle To Feed Hungry Amid Surging Prices
U.S. food banks already dealing with increased demand from families sidelined by the pandemic now face a new challenge — surging food prices and supply chain issues walloping the nation. The higher costs and limited availability mean some families may get smaller servings or substitutions for staples such as peanut butter, which costs nearly double what it did a year ago. As holidays approach, some food banks worry they won’t have enough stuffing and cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving and Christmas. (Har, 11/10)

Axios: Veterans Died At Lower Rates In 2020 Compared To The General Population 
More U.S. veterans died in 2020 than in previous years, but the increase was less than among the general population during the pandemic, according to a new study published in The Lancet Regional Health. Veterans tend to have higher risks of severe health outcomes from COVID-19 due to their age, and other conditions like hypertension, diabetes and obesity. (Fernandez, 11/10)

Politico: Facebook Places New Restrictions On Ad Targeting
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, announced on Tuesday that it would place further limits on ad targeting on its platform, eliminating the ability to target based on users' interactions with content related to health, race and ethnicity, political affiliation, religion and sexual orientation. The changes will go into effect on Jan. 19, 2022, when it will no longer allow new ads to use those additional targeting tools. The change will be fully implemented by March 17, 2022, at which point ads that were already running using those targets will no longer be allowed. (Schneider, 11/9)

GMA: Our Son Died By Suicide. This Is Why We Want Mental Health Resources In Schools.
Chad Harrell was 17 and preparing for his senior year of high school when he took his own life. His parents, Nathan and Sylvia Harrell, said they were "completely blindsided" by their son's suicide on June 12, 2017. (Kindelan, 11/10)

From Alabama —

AP: DOJ Announces Environmental Justice Probe In Alabama County
The U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday that it has embarked on a historic environmental justice investigation into an impoverished Alabama county’s longstanding wastewater problems, which have left some residents with sewage in their yards. Federal prosecutors in the department’s civil rights division will examine whether state and local health departments have discriminated against Black residents of Lowndes County and have caused them to unjustifiably bear the risk of hookworm infections and other adverse health effects associated with inadequate wastewater treatment, officials said. (Chandler, 11/9)

The Hill: DOJ Investigating Alabama Over Wastewater In Majority-Black County
The Justice Department (DOJ) will investigate allegations that the state of Alabama’s wastewater management program discriminates against Black residents of a rural county. In a press call Tuesday morning, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the department’s Civil Rights Division said the department has received allegations that state and county officials have “failed to carry out their responsibilities to abate raw sewage conditions, thereby placing black residents of Lowndes County at higher risk for disease.” Lowndes County, located in the so-called Black Belt, is largely low-income and home to many residents who do not have access to municipal sewer systems. (Budryk, 11/9)

And —

KHN: Hormone Blocker Sticker Shock — Again — As Patients Lose Cheaper Drug Option
Sudeep Taksali thought he’d won his battle to avoid a steep price tag on a medicine for his daughter. He was wrong. In 2020, he’d fought to get insurance to cover a lower-priced version of a drug his then-8-year-old needed. She’d been diagnosed with central precocious puberty, a rare condition marked by early onset of sexual development — often years earlier than one’s peers. KHN and NPR wrote about Taksali and his family as part of the Bill of the Month series. (Lupkin, 11/10)

CIDRAP: SARS-CoV-2–Like Coronavirus May Be Widespread In Bats In Southeast Asia
A coronavirus sharing 92.6% of nucleotide identity with SARS-CoV-2 was detected in bats in Cambodia in 2010, according to a new study in Nature Communications, adding to the understanding of natural reservoirs for the virus causing the COVID-19 pandemic. Before this study, the closest genomic relatives to SARS-CoV-2 were identified from horseshoe bats sampled in southern China's Yunnan province. This is the first study to suggest probable reservoirs outside of China, and the authors said the samples suggest that this viral lineage circulates in a much wider geographic area than previously reported. (11/9)

CIDRAP: Long COVID Symptoms May Have Causes Other Than SARS-CoV-2
A French study finds that, of 20 persistent physical symptoms reported by adults who said they had recovered from COVID-19, only 1 was linked to SARS-CoV-2 infection, as indicated by the presence of antibodies to the virus. The researchers, however, said that the results don't discount the presence of symptoms but rather underscore the importance of considering all possible causes in addition to COVID-19, such as other diseases, anxiety, or deconditioning related to the pandemic but not the virus itself. (Van Beusekom, 11/9)

Texas and covid research —

Dallas Morning News: Houston Researchers Are Developing A Nasal Vaccine To Combat COVID-19
Researchers at the University of Houston are developing an experimental COVID-19 nasal vaccine that could be sprayed through the nostrils to fight the coronavirus. Respiratory viruses, like the coronavirus, invade the body through the nose. And some researchers, like the team in Houston, are interested in stimulating the production of the antibodies present in the mucosal secretions in the nose. (Canales, 11/9)

Reuters: Biogen Probes Death Of Aduhelm User After Brain Swelling
Biogen Inc (BIIB.O) said on Tuesday it was investigating the death of a 75-year-old patient who had taken the company's newly approved Alzheimer's drug, Aduhelm, adding that it was not yet known whether it was related to the treatment. The drugmaker's shares were down about 1.2% in afternoon trading. The patient was hospitalized after taking Aduhelm and was diagnosed with swelling in the brain before dying, the company said. (11/9)

Stat: Psilocybin Trial Finds Psychedelic Is Effective In Treating Depression 
Eagerly awaited results of the largest-ever study of psilocybin were announced Tuesday, with Compass Pathways revealing the psychedelic drug was highly efficacious as a therapy for treatment-resistant depression. Still, the company’s stock price dropped 16.4% by the close of trading, perhaps because of safety concerns among investors. The Phase 2b study is the largest randomized, controlled, double-blind trial of psilocybin, the psychedelic compound in magic mushrooms. The company said it found that patients who were given the highest dose, 25 milligrams, had a significant decrease in depressive symptoms compared to those given 1 milligram, which is such a low dose it functions as a placebo. (Goldhill, 11/9)

CBS News: Anonymous App Offers Support To Veterans Suffering With Mental Health
Bill Mulder was one of the nation's most decorated Navy SEALs. His wife, Sydney Mulder, said he was a great father and dedicated to his SEAL team. "Bill was incredibly proud," she said. "He loved his job." But after a grueling mission to Afghanistan in 2009, Mulder said her husband changed. He was angry, he started drinking excessively and didn't want any help. (Herridge, 11/9)

Bloomberg: Clogged Ports Are Pushing Up Costs, Cardinal Health CEO Says
Cardinal Health Inc. is seeing congested ports and pricier commodities drive up the cost of manufacturing and distributing medical supplies such as gloves and syringes.  Container costs spiked ten times and commodity prices doubled from prepandemic levels during the drug distributor’s fiscal-first quarter, which ended Sept. 30, Chief Executive Officer Mike Kaufmann said in an interview Tuesday. International freight posed a major headache, Kaufman said, with the company’s shipping partners reporting packed ports and too few people to work through backlogs. (LaVito, 11/9)

Axios: Private Health Insurers Pay Steep Markups For Hospital Drugs 
Hospitals are charging private health insurers "considerable markups" on highly used outpatient drugs like Remicade, Neulasta and Keytruda, according to a new study in JAMA Internal Medicine. Depending on the drug, insurers are paying hospitals several times what Medicare pays, and that ultimately flows through to workers' insurance premiums. The largest variation came from Remicade, an IV drug that treats a range of autoimmune conditions, according to the study's sample of 20 major hospitals. (Herman, 11/9)

Modern Healthcare: Vizient Alliance Will Push For Drug Supply Chain Solutions
Vizient is launching a new effort to make sure healthcare providers have adequate access to drug supplies, the company announced Tuesday. The company's End Drug Shortages Alliance seeks to bring together organizations from all points on the supply chain, from manufacturers to distributors to group purchasing organizations to providers, to resolve longstanding problems with pharmaceutical supplies by sharing information. (Gillespie, 11/9)

Modern Healthcare: Oak Street Health Under Federal Investigation
The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Chicago-based Oak Street Health for possible violations of the False Claims Act, according to a regulatory filing Monday. The Justice Department requested information from Oak Street on Nov. 1 on its arrangements with third-party marketing agents over the free transportation services the primary care provider offers to its adult Medicare patients, Oak Street said in the filing. (Christ, 11/9)

Axios: DOJ Investigating Medicare Physician Group Oak Street Health 
The Department of Justice is investigating Oak Street Health, the newly public chain of physician clinics that focuses on Medicare patients, over possible violations of the False Claims Act, the company disclosed in a quarterly filing. Oak Street Health is one of the fastest-growing primary care groups, especially for people over 65. The DOJ requested documents tied to Oak Street Health's "relationships with third-party marketing agents" and "free transportation" provided to its patients, according to the filing. (Herman, 11/9)

Modern Healthcare: MedPAC Wades Back Into Outpatient Site-neutral Payments
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission wants to keep exploring aligned payment for care provided at hospital outpatient departments, ambulatory surgical centers and physician offices in an effort to reduce incentives for healthcare consolidation and make sure beneficiaries aren't paying more than needed, commissioners said Tuesday. (Goldman, 11/9)

On tech industry moves that may play into the health industry —

Bloomberg: Apple Adds Johnson & Johnson CEO to Board in Health Push
Apple Inc. named outgoing Johnson & Johnson Chief Executive Officer Alex Gorsky to its board, underscoring a push to become a bigger force in health services. Gorsky, 61, will become the ninth member of Apple’s board and the second new director named this year. In January, Apple appointed Monica Lozano, the president of the College Futures Foundation, to its board. Gorsky, who has worked at Johnson & Johnson since 1988, is stepping down from the CEO job in January. He has overseen efforts to innovate in pharmaceuticals, medical devices and consumer health services -- experience that could be useful to Cupertino, California-based Apple. (Gurman, 11/9)

AP: General Electric To Split Into 3 Public Companies
General Electric, one of the most storied names in U.S. business, will divide itself into three public companies focused on aviation, healthcare and energy. The company, founded in 1892, has refashioned itself in recent years from the sprawling conglomerate created by Jack Welch in the 1980s into a much smaller and more focused entity. It was heavily damaged by the financial crisis. With its announcement Tuesday that it would spin off its healthcare business in early 2023 and its energy segment — including renewable energy, power and digital operations — in early 2024, General Electric may have signaled the end of the conglomerate era. (Chapman, 11/9)

Also —

Stat: Foundation Stands By Ouster Of Aubrey De Grey After Probe Ends 
Aubrey de Grey, the anti-aging research pioneer who was removed in August as chief scientific officer of the SENS Research Foundation, will not be reinstated to a leadership position following the conclusion of a second independent investigation into additional allegations of sexual misconduct against him. A five-page executive summary of the investigation detailed a handful of incidents that fit a pattern of unprofessional, boundary-crossing behavior previously reported by STAT. Beyond these incidents — and ones described in an initial report made public in September — investigators from the law firm Van Dermyden Makus wrote they did not find evidence that de Grey had engaged in non-consensual sexual contact or communications toward anyone associated with the foundation, including current or former employees. (Molteni, 11/9)

Stat: Journal Editor's Company Ties Raise Concerns About Conflicts Of Interest
Over the past seven years, a top editor at a medical journal devoted to obesity research received $1.2 million from companies that sold or were developing prescription weight-loss treatments, raising concerns about how potential conflicts of interest among those with especially influential roles in academic publishing are treated. During that time, Obesity associate editor-in-chief Donna Ryan co-authored a paper describing the added benefits of a diabetes treatment sold by a company that paid her the bulk of those fees. The same company paid a communications firm to provide writing assistance. She also co-authored an editorial praising the pricing approach taken by a manufacturer with which she had a financial relationship, although the effectiveness of the diet drug was modest. Unlike the paper, the editorial did not disclose her ties. (Silverman, 11/10)

The Texas Tribune: A State District Court Judge Will Hear Over A Dozen Challenges To Texas’ Abortion Law Wednesday
A state district judge on Wednesday morning will hear arguments from abortion providers challenging Texas’ restrictive abortion law in what could be the first court hearing over the statute’s constitutionality. David Peeples, a retired state magistrate judge, will preside over the hearing, which starts at 9 a.m. and is expected to last all day. Peeples will hear over a dozen cases filed in state court challenging Texas’ law, which effectively bans abortions after about six weeks. (Oxner, 11/10)

Reuters: Twenty Democratic AGs Back Challenge To Indiana Abortion Law
A group of 20 Democratic state attorneys general have urged a federal appeals court to uphold a lower court ruling striking down several restrictions on abortion in Indiana, including a ban on prescribing medication via telemedicine to induce abortion. The states, including Illinois, California, New York and Massachusetts, said in an amicus brief filed Monday with the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker in Indianapolis properly considered the burdens placed on women, especially low-income ones, by the restrictions. (Pierson, 11/9)

The Boston Globe: Mass. Abortion Rights Group Going It Alone
With abortion rights on the line nationally and in more than half of states, Massachusetts’ leading reproductive rights advocacy organization will announce Wednesday it’s reconstituting and expanding its reach in New England. NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, one of the organizations that successfully pushed for the state law that expanded abortion rights last year, is being renamed Reproductive Equity Now after a break with its national organization. (Ebbert, 11/10)

Miami Herald: Aborted Fetal Cells And COVID-19 Vaccine: What Science Says
One company in Alabama, however, hinges its objection on different grounds — religion. FabArc, a steel fabricator based in Oxford, Alabama, with more than 100 workers, filed a petition in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Nov. 8 that argues the mandate violates the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act by requiring employers to comply with a standard they find objectional on religious grounds. ... FabArc’s president and majority shareholder, Tony Pugh, is opposed to vaccines “produced in connection with aborted fetal cell lines,” attorneys representing FabArc said in a news release. Scientists, however, have said none of the coronavirus vaccines contain aborted fetal cells. (Fowler, 11/9)

CNN: In Her 'SNL' Skit, Cecily Strong Opened A Dialogue On Abortion. Here Is What Experts Say
"Saturday Night Live"'s Cecily Strong dressed as a clown this weekend to talk about abortion.In the show's Weekend Update segment, the actress explained the clown costume was to make the topic a little more palatable for the audience. She was introduced in light of a controversial Texas law currently being argued in the US Supreme Court.

AP: Pennsylvania's Home Care Program Has Big Problems, Advocates Say
Advocates for people with disabilities gathered at the state Capitol on Tuesday to protest what they say is the eroding quality of home care services under Pennsylvania's new managed care system, problems being accelerated by the pandemic. Part of the problem, they say, is the increased difficulty in getting direct care workers and the need to pay them more through the state's Medicaid reimbursement system. (11/9)

11alive.com: ATL Airport EMS Response Times Drop After 11Alive Investigation 
There’s a reason a 76-year-old woman with a broken femur had to wait 95 minutes for an ambulance at the main TSA checkpoint in the middle of the nation’s busiest airport over the summer. Half of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport's fleet of fully-staffed EMS ambulances were 500 miles away. 11Alive’s investigative team tracked the airport’s Medic 1 and Medic 2 ambulances to the back lot of a factory in Ohio, where Atlanta Fire & Rescue had sent them for extended rebuilds with no replacements ready. (Keefe, 11/10)

On covid news around the country —

AP: Colorado Addresses Hospital Staffing Crisis, COVID Boosters
Colorado has reactivated crisis guidelines for staffing at healthcare systems across the state as COVID-19 hospitalizations and infections continue to rise, and state health officials said Tuesday that anyone 18 and older qualifies for a booster shot. “Crisis standards of care” allow hospitals to maximize the care they can provide in their communities with the staff they have available. More than a third of hospitals reporting to the state said they expected a shortage of intensive care beds in the next week, and nearly two in five said they would be short-staffed, The Denver Post reported. On Tuesday afternoon, 1,426 people were hospitalized statewide with COVID-19. (11/10)

Los Angeles Times: 78% Of LAPD At Least Partially Vaccinated; Few Refuse To Sign Mandate Notice
About 78% of Los Angeles police personnel have now received at least one COVID-19 vaccination dose, with 172 LAPD employees receiving their first dose just in the last week, officials said Tuesday. The increase came as police supervisors began hand-delivering notices to unvaccinated LAPD employees informing them that they must start paying for regular COVID-19 testing and be vaccinated by Dec. 18 unless they receive a medical or religious exemption. (Rector, 11/9)

AP: Phoenix Children's Sued After Revealing Unvaccinated Workers
Two Phoenix Children's Hospital workers are suing after employees with a vaccine-mandate exemption were able to see each other's email addresses. Hospital administrators sent an email last month with safety protocols to unvaccinated workers but did not put the 368 recipients in the blind carbon copy field. The workers allege the hospital was negligent with their private health information. Their lawyer, Alexander Kolodin, is seeking-class action status. (11/9)

The New York Times: Frontline Health Workers In England Must Be Vaccinated By April
All frontline health workers in England must be vaccinated against Covid-19 by next spring to keep their jobs, Britain’s health secretary said on Tuesday, a move that employers and trade unions warned could aggravate staff shortages. “We must avoid preventable harm and protect patients in the N.H.S., protect colleagues in the N.H.S. and, of course, protect the N.H.S. itself,” Sajid Javid, the health secretary, told Parliament, referring to the National Health Service. He added that about 90 percent of the service’s workers had received at least two vaccine doses. (Castle, 11/9)

AP: Germany Reports Daily High Number Of New Coronavirus Cases
Germany’s national disease control center reported a record-high number of new coronavirus cases Wednesday as one of the country’s top virologists warned that another lockdown would be needed if vaccinations do not quickly accelerate. The 39,676 cases registered by the Robert Koch Institute surpassed the previous daily record of 37,120 new cases reported Friday. The institute said Germany’s infection rate rose to 232.1 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days. (Grieshaber, 11/10)

ABC News: Virus Deaths In Russia Hit Daily Record Despite Work Halt
Coronavirus deaths in Russia hit a new record Tuesday and new confirmed cases remained high two days after a nine-day work stoppage ended in most of the country's regions. The state coronavirus task force reported 1,211 COVID-19 deaths, the highest daily death toll in the pandemic, and 39,160 new cases. The task force has reported around 40,000 cases and over 1,100 deaths every day since late October. (Litvinova, 11/9)

The New York Times: As India Administers A Billion Vaccine Doses, Experts Warn About Complacency
India’s coronavirus crisis was killing thousands of people a day seven months ago. Now, as the nation celebrates the delivery of its one billionth vaccine dose, public health experts are sounding a new warning: The turnaround is losing steam. Vaccinations are slowing down. As the temperature dips amid India’s most important festival season, people are crowding markets and hosting unmasked friends and family indoors. And the government is telling vaccination campaign volunteers like Namanjaya Khobragade that they are no longer needed. (Schmall and Kumar, 11/9)

Reuters: Germany Recommends Only Biontech/Pfizer Vaccine For People Under 30
Germany's vaccine advisory committee recommends people under 30 be vaccinated only with the Biontech/Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine as it showed a lower number of heart inflammations in younger people than the Moderna vaccination, it said on Wednesday. The committee, known as STIKO, said it also recommends pregnant women, independent of their age, be inoculated only with the Biontech/Pfizer vaccine as well. (11/10)

Reuters: S.Korea Urges COVID-19 Booster Shots, As Severe Cases Hit Record
South Korea encouraged its citizens to take COVID-19 booster shots on Wednesday, as more of the elderly fell ill and reported vaccine breakthrough infections, driving serious and critical cases to a record. Severe coronavirus cases jumped from the mid-300s in October to 460 on Wednesday, official data showed. Of the severely ill patients, more than 82% were aged 60 and older. (Cha, 11/10)

AP: Denmark Wants To Reintroduce Phased-Out Coronavirus Pass
Denmark wants to again consider COVID-19 as “a socially critical disease,” paving the way for the reintroduction of a digital pass months after the label was removed and restrictions were phased out. The move, which still needs approval in parliament, will also allow Denmark to reintroduce other restrictions if deemed necessary. A majority seems to be backing the suggestion of the minority Social Democratic government. (Olsen, 11/9)

On news from China —

Bloomberg: Chinese Virus Expert Launches Scathing Attack On Covid Zero Push
A top Chinese virologist warned the country risks economic collapse if local officials continue to try to wipe out all traces of Covid-19, marking the most vocal criticism of China’s so-called Covid Zero approach by one of its own experts. Guan Yi, a virologist at the University of Hong Kong, disparaged China’s effort to eliminate sporadic flareups of the virus through mass testing and lengthy quarantines. In the wide-ranging interview with Hong Kong-based Phoenix Satellite TV, he urged a reality-check on how well an extensive vaccination drive helped the world’s most populous country build immunity to Covid. (11/10)

Bloomberg: China Suspects Kids’ Clothing Deliveries Are Spreading Covid
China is taking its extreme Covid-19 containment measures a step further, warning that the virus could be transmitted on parcels just as the country’s biggest annual online shopping festival looms. After three workers at a children’s clothing maker in the northeastern Hebei province were found to have Covid, authorities more than 1,200 miles away ordered people who had received -- or even just handled -- parcels from the company to get tested. The health commission in Guangxi, in China’s southeast, described the situation as a “Covid-related mail chain.” (11/10)

In news about bird flu —

Reuters: Japan Reports First Bird Flu Outbreak Of Season, Culling 143,000 Chickens
Japan has detected its first outbreak of bird flu for the 2021 winter season, with confirmation of a case of "highly pathogenic avian influenza" at a poultry farm in the northeast of the country, the agriculture ministry said on Wednesday. About 143,000 egg-laying chickens are being exterminated at the farm in Yokote city in Akita Prefecture, the ministry said in a statement on its website, adding that restricted zones up to 10 kms (6.2 miles) from the site have been established. (11/10)

Reuters: How Drugmakers Pushed Diabetes Patients Into A Danger Zone
Pharmaceutical giants launched years-long marketing campaigns for a treatment target they helped create, and as their sales of diabetes drugs soared, so did incidents of low blood sugar, a potentially deadly medication risk. (Respaut, Terhune and Nelson, 11/4)

Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting: Life-Saving Insulin ‘Belongs To The World,’ Scientists Said. Pricing Challenges That Concept.
In 1921, scientists in Canada discovered insulin. After winning the Nobel Prize, they sold the patent for $1 each, saying the hormone for battling diabetes “belongs to the world.” Now, a century later, many Americans are crossing the border to buy the life-saving medicine for themselves and their families, or ordering it online, because insulin can be up to 10 times cheaper there. That’s no surprise given that the list price for a vial of insulin has skyrocketed in the U.S. from 75 cents to $250 in a little more than a half-century. (Mitchell, 11/9)

Stat: How Nancy Pelosi Almost Killed Drug Pricing Reform — A Gamble That Expanded Democrats' Final Deal
The White House stunned health care experts last month when it declared it was abandoning its efforts to reform drug pricing in the major domestic spending package moving through Congress, a seeming death knell for what had long been a major priority for Democrats. But unlike earlier in the negotiations, moderate Democrats weren’t the holdouts. This time, it was Speaker Nancy Pelosi who dealt the blow, late the night before, to the latest deal on offer, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. It was her behind-the-scenes opposition, which has not been previously reported, that prompted the White House to declare the issue dead — a surprising role for Pelosi, given her decades of long support for sweeping efforts to lower drug prices. (Cohrs, 11/9)

FiercePharma: Judge Overturns $2.4M Whistleblower Retaliation Verdict Against AstraZeneca
After AstraZeneca and a former manager-turned-whistleblower each scored partial wins in a retaliation and age discrimination lawsuit, AstraZeneca has nabbed a victory in appeals. In the case of Suzanne Ivie, who sued AstraZeneca alleging the company fired her after she raised concerns about off-label marketing, an appeals court has vacated a jury's $2.4 million verdict against the drugmaker. (Sagonowsky, 11/9)

Reuters: U.S. To Pay $1 Billion For 1.4 Mln More Courses Of Merck's COVID-19 Pill
Merck & Co Inc and partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics said on Tuesday the U.S. government would pay about $1 billion to buy an additional 1.4 million courses of their COVID-19 pill. Merck's Molnupiravir has been closely watched since data last month showed that when given early in the illness it could halve the chances of dying or being hospitalized for those most at risk of developing severe COVID-19. (11/8)

Stat: Hospitals Charge Insurers More Than What Medicare Pays For Infused Drugs
Nearly a dozen of the highest-rated hospitals in the U.S. charged commercial health insurers and cash-paying patients significantly more than what Medicare has recently paid for 10 infused medicines on which the government spends the most money, according to a new analysis. Median prices exceeded the Medicare Part B payment limit by a low of 169% at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, while the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix exceeded the payment limit by 344%. Among cash-paying customers, the prices ranged from 149% of the Medicare payment limit at Rush to 306% at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, both based in Boston. (Silverman, 11/8)

Becker's Hospital Review: Private Insurers, Cash-Paying Patients Pay Much More Than Medicare For Hospital Drugs
Private insurers and cash-paying patients face prices several times higher than the Medicare rate for clinician-administered drugs, according to a study published Nov. 8 in JAMA Internal Medicine. Researchers searched the websites of the 20 top-rated hospitals by U.S. News & World Report for drug pricing files between Jan. 1 and Sept. 15, extracting private insurer-negotiated prices and self-pay cash prices for the 10 drugs with the highest 2019 Medicare Part B expenditures. (Adams, 11/9)

Ohio Capital Journal: Are Companies Still Inflating The Cost Of Medicaid Drugs? 
Last week, Ohio Medicaid Director Maureen Corcoran revealed something with potentially far-reaching implications: When her department calculates how much to pay managed-care companies she’s not sure if it it knows the true cost of the prescription drugs for which it is shelling out billions. If the drug middlemen hired by Ohio’s Medicaid managed-care contractors are reporting inflated drug costs, that would appear to violate both state and federal law. It also could violate a federal rule that is a fundamental brake on for-profit corporations that have access to many billions of taxpayer dollars meant to help the poor. The issue might be getting attention from members of the U.S. Senate. (Schladen, 11/4)

Stat: New Court Rulings Add To The Dispute Over A U.S. Drug Discount Program
In the latest twist in a closely watched legal battle, two different federal court judges late last week reached largely conflicting views about the approach taken by the U.S. government to enforce a controversial prescription drug discount program. One judge decided the federal government overstepped its bounds when it threatened earlier this year to penalize Novartis and United Therapeutics for curtailing discounts in what is known as the 340B drug discount program. However, the judge in the other case, which was brought by Sanofi and Novo Nordisk, took the opposite view, yet at the same time also told the government to reassess a key issue concerning the use of contract pharmacies, which are at the heart of the dispute. (Silverman, 11/6)

Ohio Capital Journal: CVS Sometimes Forces People To Use Its Pharmacies. Now The Supreme Court Will Weigh In
It’s a practice long complained of in Ohio. CVS Health and other massive corporations often use their pharmacy middleman subsidiaries to force people to get the most expensive class of drugs from the businesses’ own mail-order pharmacies. Some call the practice “patient steering. ”CVS and companies such as UnitedHealth and ExpressScripts/Cigna say the arrangements save patients money. But some patients, oncologists and other health providers say it threatens lives. Now the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to weigh in. In a little more than a month, it will hear arguments in a California case in which AIDS patients are claiming the practice discriminates against them. (Schladen, 11/5)

NPR: New Alzheimer's Drug Aduhelm Flops With Doctors And Patients
The new Alzheimer's drug Aduhelm isn't reaching many patients. And doctors say reasons include its high cost, insurers' reluctance to cover it, and lingering questions about whether it actually slows memory loss. "The pendulum of public opinion has swayed strongly against this drug," says Dr. Marwan Sabbagh, an Alzheimer's specialist at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Ariz., who has worked as an advisor to Biogen, which makes the drug. (Hamilton, 11/8)

Bloomberg: A Video Game Only A Pharmacist Could Love Ferrets Out Drug Fraud
Robert Lodder, a professor at the University of Kentucky’s School of Pharmacy and a biopharmaceutical entrepreneur, has long enjoyed a good video game. Now he’s turning his passion for gaming into a powerful tool to identify defective and dangerous drugs. Together with Heather Campbell, an engineer in the pharmaceutical industry who has a penchant for software coding, Lodder has created a video game to help hospitals and pharmacies ferret out shoddy drugs. The pair have already deployed their game to lead them to a disturbing insight: Some pharmaceutical firms may be skimping on active ingredients to save money at the expense of drug quality. For someone with a headache, that could mean a bit of added discomfort. For a patient recovering from heart surgery, a weakened drug could cause serious harm.  (Edney, 11/7)

Stat: Democrats' Drug Pricing Bill Will Distort Drug Development
After months of wrangling, Democratic lawmakers have agreed on a drug pricing bill. The House could vote on it within days.If it becomes law, we’re going to see some unfortunate consequences that legislators can’t possibly have intended. By ignoring what they may have thought were minor details, they’re about to distort the entire drug-development ecosystem to society’s detriment. (Peter Kolchinsky, 11/9)

The Wall Street Journal: A Toxic Drug-Price Deal
So much for self-reflection after a political drubbing. Democrats are responding to last week’s defeat by rushing President Biden’s spending framework through the House while rewriting it on the fly—and they’ll worry about the consequences later. Consider the latest compromise to reduce drug prices, which will do the opposite. Progressives hope that passing legislation in the name of lower prices will increase senior support for their spending bill. But some House Democrats balked at earlier legislation that imposed draconian price controls that would have killed the incentive for drug innovation. Enter Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, who pieced together an agreement between their party’s warring factions. It should come with a black-box warning. (11/8)

Stat: The Hurried Push By Congress To Address Drug Costs Shouldn’t Undermine The Vast Savings From Generics And Biosimilars
Americans rightfully expect Congress to address the ever-increasing prices of brand-name prescription drugs. But the wholesale policy changes now under rushed consideration in Congress will undermine the only proven solution to this long-standing problem: competition from Food and Drug Administration-approved generic and biosimilar medicines. Generic and biosimilar medicines generated $2 trillion in savings to the U.S. health care system over the last decade. Yet proposals in the reconciliation package will jeopardize the development of these less-expensive drugs, harming Americans rather than helping them. (Dan Leonard, 11/6)

Politico: Vaccine Manufacturers Are Profiteering. History Shows How To Stop Them
For Pfizer and Moderna, business is booming. Their latest financial reports confirm that each company will collect billions of dollars in profits this year from sales of their Covid-19 vaccines. Demand will likely remain high in the coming weeks, thanks to recent FDA authorizations of vaccines for younger children, booster shots for adults and additional global sales. As we approach the end of the first year of mass inoculations, we have enough evidence to know that the new vaccines are remarkably safe and effective, and they were developed with astonishing speed. For this, Pfizer and Moderna deserve credit for a job well done. However, those same companies also need to be understood as profiteers. History shows why they deserve this designation; it also suggests how Congress might act, to limit their excessive gains. (Mark R. Wilson, 11/4)

Stat: Molnupiravir For Covid-19: Another Opportunity To Recognize Inequity
The Covid-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected communities of color and those with lower socioeconomic means, two groups that overlap to a significant extent in the U.S. Merck’s submission of molnupiravir, its oral antiviral drug, to the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization will only heighten inequities wrought by the pandemic. Merck and others have touted this drug as a game-changer. Although the data from randomized controlled trials have not been made available for review, the press release claims that a five day course of molnupiravir is associated with a 6.8% absolute reduction in hospitalization or death in patients with moderate Covid-19 not requiring hospitalization when the drug is taken within five days of the onset of symptoms. Assuming this information is accurate, early use of molnupiravir may lead to significant reductions in hospitalizations and deaths. (Anand Swaminathan, Utibe R. Essien and Esther Choo, 11/3)

Bloomberg: Covid In Europe: France, Spain, Bulgaria, Romania See Different Pandemics 
A year ago, the course of the pandemic changed, thanks to the first safe and effective vaccines against Covid-19. Today, after administering 7.3 billion doses and preventing countless severe deaths, we have more data than ever to justify that early enthusiasm — and the need to keep jabbing. On top of waning immunity and the lifting of restrictions, countries with persistently low vaccination rates are being hit hard by new waves of the virus. As the delta variant rears its ugly head across Europe once more, the continent is experiencing two very different pandemics. Both will need action. (Lionel Laurent, 11/10)

Bloomberg: Vaccine Mandates Are Essential To Stopping Covid-19 
Covid-19 case numbers, which had been steadily falling in the U.S. since the delta variant crested in September, have again plateaued. The decline from more than 200,000 daily cases has been welcome, but why have the numbers now stalled in the 70,000s? Perhaps it’s the colder weather driving people indoors, in closer contact with others, sometimes unmasked. But here’s another crucial factor: Less than 60% of the U.S. population has been fully vaccinated. More people need to get their shots as soon as possible. (11/9)

Mercury News and East Bay Times: California Needs Biden Vaccine Mandate On Employers
California and the nation need President Biden’s vaccination mandate on companies with more than 100 employees. The new policy, announced Thursday, is necessary to quell COVID-19 and protect workers from getting the virus and spreading it to their communities. Red states, as expected, are challenging the law’s constitutionality. The U.S. Supreme Court will likely make the final call. When it does, the court should recognize the law entitles workers to a safe workplace. Biden’s rule does just that. (11/9)

Los Angeles Times: Is The U.S. Prepared For The Next Hospital Crisis? 
The COVID-19 pandemic revealed devastating cracks in the foundation of U.S. healthcare. Hospitals were unprepared for enormous challenges to staffing, resulting from burnout and absences caused by the medical and psychological costs of the coronavirus. There is another emerging crisis that could catch us again unprepared and last for decades: hospital emergencies stemming from dementia. (Carmen Black, 11/10)

The Washington Post: U.S. Overdose Deaths Are Soaring. Biden’s New Plan Could Help Ease The Crisis. 
Nearly 100,000. “Every time I say or read that number, it shocks me again,” Stanford University addiction researcher Keith Humphreys said of the U.S. death toll from drug overdoses between March 2020 and March 2021. The number, 30 percent more than the previous 12-month period, is a record high — and yes, it should be shocking. Good then that the Biden administration is taking steps to ease a crisis that is shattering families and communities. (11/9)

The Wall Street Journal: A Case Of Opioid Tort Abuse
The plaintiffs bar has assaulted too many industries to count, but the landmark opioid trial now underway in Ohio may be the worst. The combination of avaricious lawyers, a consolidated case system and a rogue judge is highlighting again the need for Congress and courts to crack down on legal abuse. Cleveland-based federal Judge Dan Aaron Polster opened proceedings in October in a trial in which two Ohio counties are seeking to hold pharmacy chains CVS, Walgreens and Walmart liable for the opioid epidemic. The counties say pharmacies ignored red flags when they filled opioid prescriptions and caused a “public nuisance.” (11/10)

Stat: Democrats' Drug Pricing Bill Will Distort Drug Development 
After months of wrangling, Democratic lawmakers have agreed on a drug pricing bill. The House could vote on it within days. If it becomes law, we’re going to see some unfortunate consequences that legislators can’t possibly have intended. By ignoring what they may have thought were minor details, they’re about to distort the entire drug-development ecosystem to society’s detriment. (Peter Kolchinsky, 11/9)

The New York Times: How To Alleviate The Crisis At Rikers 
Fourteen people incarcerated in the New York City jail system have died since December 2020, at least six apparently by suicide. Overflowing toilets and mold plague the jails. A federal court-appointed monitor has issued increasingly scathing reports outlining profound mismanagement and rampant violence. Staffing shortages compound these problems. As of early October, around 30 percent of New York City correction officers were unavailable to work with incarcerated people. The officers who did show up were sometimes pressed into double or triple shifts. (Jonathan Lippman. 11/10)

Chicago Tribune: Why Talking About The Diversity Of White Americans Promotes Health 
Nationwide, there has been — and rightfully so — heightened attention to the disproportionate burden of health issues among communities of color and a renewed interest in advancing diversity, equity and inclusion. However, many white patients and medical professionals feel misrepresented in the current debates on how best to promote care and representation. ( Dhrubajyoti Battacharya, 11/9)