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Meanwhile in Georgia, enrollment on the health exchange hit a record level during the special signup period. Other news is on lead pipes in Chicago, the death of an elderly Colorado woman who was left outside in the heat and Florida's new surgeon general.
Calling air pollution one of the "biggest environmental threats to human health," the World Health Organization lowered recommended exposure levels to pollutants including ozone and carbon monoxide. In other news, U.S. Olympians must be vaccinated for the Beijing Winter Olympics.
In other pharmaceutical industry news, the Theranos trial heated up Wednesday as former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis testified that he and other board members were blindsided when they discovered the company wasn't conducting all of its blood tests using its proprietary technology.
A Wednesday report from the HHS's Office of Inspector General said the 20 accounted for more than half of the $9.2 billion the federal government paid for care that beneficiaries may not have needed or received in 2016, Modern Healthcare reports.
The new Texas abortion restriction that bans the procedure after 6 weeks — before most women even know they are pregnant — is driving some patients to travel to Louisiana, Oklahoma and other states. Other fallout from the restrictive law include a new crop of bounty hunters, threats against lawmakers and private-sector objections.
House members are slated to vote Friday on the Women's Health Protection Act, through which Democrats aim to codify Roe v. Wade. Even if it passes, the bill is considered "dead on arrival" in the Senate — especially after Sen. Susan Collins said she would vote "no." Elsewhere, a Florida lawmaker introduced a bill similar to the restrictive Texas law. And abortion news is also reported from California and Arizona.
The latest example comes from a video message, obtained by Politico, in which Pfizer's CEO urges employees to speak out against efforts to allow Medicare to more broadly negotiate prescription prices. Meanwhile, that measure continues to tangle up Democrats and the $350-trillion spending bill, prompting a series of meetings with President Joe Biden to try to smooth a path forward.
In Florida, asymptomatic children exposed to covid in classrooms can now be sent back to school by their parents. Meanwhile in Kansas, a middle school student has died of covid, becoming the first victim in the state between the ages of 10 and 17.
The need to implement "crisis standards of care" has been a covid pandemic dread -- and is now a tragic reality for many hospitals in hard-hit areas. So how are such hard decisions made? And another consequence of an overwhelmed health care system: canceled elective surgeries delay necessary care for non-covid patients.
Vice President Kamala Harris announced that the U.S. will kick off a new global health security fund with a $250 million donation. The effort aims to raise $10 million to prepare for emerging health emergencies. Other administration news reports on covid testing and a suggested use for the U.S. Postal Service.
The study was one of the first to measure antibody levels in umbilical cord blood to distinguish it from immunity from an infection, Bloomberg reports.
Vaccine mandates and burnout are causing major worker shortages at hospitals and long-term care facilities. In other news, the Mormon Church will require masks in temple; TD Garden in Boston will require jabs to enter; Idaho lawmakers seek ways to nullify the vaccine mandate; and more.
"We're not going to solve this crisis with half-measures or middle-of-the-road ambitions," President Joe Biden said at a virtual vaccine summit he convened Wednesday, where he announced the U.S. purchase of an additional 500 doses of Pfizer's covid shot to share with poorer nations. Other strategies for ending the pandemic were discussed.
The Food and Drug Administration granted on Wednesday its emergency authorization to administer third doses of the Pfizer covid vaccine to Americans who are 65 or older or at high risk, like health care workers and teachers. Next steps before rollout starts include day two of a meeting of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisers.
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The country will become the second in Africa to offer boosters. Thailand, meanwhile, said its studies of combination inoculations showed best results for a second-shot dose of Pfizer's vaccine after a Sinovac or AstraZeneca first shot. China, Japan, Germany and Russia are also in the news.
Through the end of last week, Arizona had reported 123 cases of West Nile Virus, which is spread by mosquitos, and four deaths. Meanwhile, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports on alerts about mosquito-, fly- and vermin-borne illness risks as the local trash pickup crisis continues.
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