Kaiser Health News Original Stories

The Advice to Vaccinate and Test Isn't Much Help to Parents With Kids Under 5

Many parents of children too young for vaccines are exhausted. Some feel isolated and even forgotten by those who just want to move on even as omicron continues to sweep through parts of the country. (Bram Sable-Smith, 8/20 )

At Nursing Homes, Long Waits for Results Render Covid Tests ‘Useless’

As omicron surges, more nursing homes are facing a double whammy: Lab tests are taking too long, and fast antigen tests are in short supply. (Rachana Pradhan, 8/20 )

‘An Arm and a Leg’: Know Your 'No Surprises' Rights

The No Surprises Act protects patients from surprise out-of-network bills. But there are caveats. For instance, these protections apply only to care in a hospital. This episode breaks it all down. (Dan Weissmann, 8/20 )

Political Cartoon: 'A 2022 Pep Talk'

Kaiser Health News provides a fresh take on health policy developments with "Political Cartoon: 'A 2022 Pep Talk'" by Mike Luckovich.

Here's today's health policy haiku:

A variant you can get simply by hearing of it on TV?

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FDA's High-Stakes Plan On Child Vaccines Raises Concerns

Asking Pfizer and BioNTech to submit an authorization request is an unusual move by the FDA and reflects the dangers covid poses to unvaccinated kids under 5. But experts worry that if the plan backfires that it could suppress adoption of the covid shot.

Stat: Experts Question Authorization Plan For Covid Vaccine For Kids Under 5 The Food and Drug Administration’s willingness to consider authorizing a Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech for children under the age of 5 — without evidence yet that it would be protective — is raising concerns among some vaccine experts who fear the plan could backfire and undermine vaccine uptake in this group. Pfizer and BioNTech confirmed Tuesday that they had been asked by the FDA to submit an application for the use of a two-dose vaccine in children 6 months to 4 years old. Data on a third shot would be submitted to regulators once they became available in the spring — ostensibly clearing the way for the agency to authorize a three-shot regimen for the youngest children who can get vaccinated. (Branswell, 2/2)

USA Today: 'Not Typical': FDA Takes Unusual Step In Urging Pfizer To Seek Approval For Child Vaccine In a move that highlights rising concerns about the risks of COVID-19 to young children, Pfizer-BioNTech on Tuesday asked for federal authorization for its vaccine for children 6 months to 4 years old. Companies usually make the decision to submit a request to Food and Drug Administration on their own, but in this instance it was made at the urging of the federal agency. "That’s not typically the way the federal government works. Usually, they wait and let the company decide when it wants to submit," said Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. (Weise, 2/2)

AP: Pfizer Asks FDA To Allow COVID-19 Vaccine For Kids Under 5  Pfizer on Tuesday asked the U.S. to authorize extra-low doses of its COVID-19 vaccine for children under 5, potentially opening the way for the very youngest Americans to start receiving shots as early as March. In an extraordinary move, the Food and Drug Administration had urged Pfizer and its partner BioNTech to apply earlier than the companies had planned — and before it’s settled if the youngsters will need two shots or three. (Neergaard and Perrone, 2/1)

In related news about young children —

KHN: The Advice To ‘Vaccinate And Test’ Isn’t Much Help To Parents With Kids Under 5 Just before my son’s 9-month checkup, my wife and I debated whether to postpone it. It was a “well baby visit,” but the potential threats to his health felt real. The last time he went to the pediatrician, in November, the air inside the office was stuffy, and the waiting room was crowded with children from schools in and around St. Louis, all waiting to get their covid shots. By showing up to get their children vaccinated, the families were all following the guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for children ages 5 to 11. But we were trying to follow the CDC guidance too, and for children too young for the vaccine. That means avoiding crowded or poorly ventilated places — like the pediatrician’s waiting room. (Sable-Smith, 2/2)

In other news about Pfizer —

NPR: Pfizer's Paxlovid Contract With The Government Has Some Surprises The United States is spending about $530 for each 5-day course of Pfizer's COVID-19 pill, Paxlovid. But the contract for the first 10 million doses would allow the government to get a lower price if one of a handful of other wealthy countries gets a better deal on the drug. It's part of a purchase agreement that seems to be more favorable to the federal government overall compared to the COVID-19 vaccine contracts, says Robin Feldman, a professor at the University of California Hastings College of the Law, who focuses on the pharmaceutical industry and drug policy. (Lupkin, 2/1)

Studies: Immune Cell Protection From Vaccines Holds Up Against Omicron

While antibody protection may wane against omicron in vaccinated people, two studies show that the T-cell response remains strong, matching the durability against the delta and beta variants.

CIDRAP: COVID Vaccine-Elicited T Cells Provide Robust Protection Against Omicron Two studies yesterday in Nature show that the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines provide robust cellular protection against serious illness caused by the highly transmissible Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant, despite evidence of waning neutralizing antibody protection against the virus. In one study, University of Cape Town researchers in South Africa evaluated the ability of vaccine-elicited T cells to react with Omicron's spike protein in vaccine recipients and in unvaccinated COVID-19 survivors. (2/1)

In other updates on the vaccine rollout —

CIDRAP: Study: COVID Vaccine Promotion Did Not Boost Uptake In Nursing Facilities A new study shows that a multicomponent vaccine campaign—which included staff recognition, targeted education, and small gifts—did not significantly increase COVID-19 vaccination rates among skilled nursing facility (SNF) staff and residents from December 2020 to March 2021. The study was published yesterday in JAMA Internal Medicine. (2/1)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Health Department Rolling Out A New Gift Card Incentive Program For Residents Receiving Their First COVID-19 Vaccine Dose With COVID-19 cases, positivity rate, and hospitalizations declining in Milwaukee County and across the state, and the surety that another variant is on the horizon, the Milwaukee Health Department is launching a new vaccine incentive program to help boost the area's vaccination rates. Starting Thursday, anyone age 5 and older, who receives their first vaccine dose will receive a $100 gift card. To be eligible you must receive your first vaccine at one of the three health department sites, or a mobile clinic hosted by the health department. (Bentley, 2/1)

Salt Lake Tribune: Almost 60% Of Utahns Are Fully Vaccinated Against COVID-19 Almost six out of 10 Utahns are now fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to the Utah Department of Health. The state reported Tuesday that 1,947,712 Utahns are fully vaccinated, 59.53% of the state’s total population. That includes children under the age of 5, who are not eligible for vaccines. (Pierce, 2/1)

Detroit Free Press: Detroit Monthly One-Stop Shops Will Offer Health Screenings, Other Resources A group of nonprofits launched a series of monthly "one-stop" shops Tuesday to provide   free health screenings, COVID-19 vaccines and boosters, rental and utility assistance and a food pantry for residents in Detroit and Hamtramck. Through next year, the Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency is collaborating with Wayne Health, which is affiliated with the Wayne State University School of Medicine, and ICNA Relief Michigan Muslim Family Services to offer the combination of services and to increase vaccinations. The work is supported by a roughly $99,000 grant Wayne Metro received from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Foundation. (Rahman, 2/1)

Severity Of Omicron Subvariant Cases Expected To Match Original, WHO Says

Based on data from Denmark — a country where the BA.2 subvariant overtook the original BA.1 virus version — the World Health Organization says that illnesses are not expected to be more serious and that vaccines seem to offer equal protection.

Reuters: Omicron Subvariant BA.2 Likely To Have Same Severity As 'Original' - WHO The emerging BA.2 form of the Omicron coronavirus variant does not seem to be any more severe than the original BA.1 form, an official of the World Health Organization said on Tuesday. Based on data from Denmark, the first country where BA.2 overtook BA.1, there appears to be no difference in disease severity, although BA.2 has the potential to replace BA.1 globally, said Dr. Boris Pavlin of the WHO's COVID-19 Response Team. (2/1)

In other news about the spread of the coronavirus —

Axios: CDC: COVID Hospitalization Rates Higher For Unvaccinated Than Boosted  Unvaccinated people, who contracted coronavirus during the Omicron wave, were 23 times more likely to be hospitalized, according to a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The study, which examined data from Los Angeles County, found that incidence and hospitalization rates during the Omicron wave were "consistently highest" for unvaccinated people. The study underlined that staying "up to date" with coronavirus vaccination can profoundly decrease the likelihood of infection and hospitalization. (Reyes, 2/1)

San Francisco Chronicle: ‘Epidemic Among The Unvaccinated’ In A California COVID ICU Ten men and women lie sedated in 10 dim, glass-enclosed rooms, most unable to breathe without help from a machine. On the third floor of Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital, these patients are among more than 2,500 people gravely ill with COVID-19 in California’s intensive-care beds. It’s Thursday morning, and 46 patients are fighting the coronavirus, some battling hard to stay off the third floor. In the era of vaccinations and antiviral treatments — and even the coronavirus’ famously less severe variant, omicron — people aren’t supposed to get so sick from COVID. (Asimov, 2/1)

Fox News: COVID-19 Hospitalizations In Midwest, South Begin To Fall Hospitalizations in several states across the U.S. are reportedly declining, as the omicron variant of the coronavirus continues to drive the daily American death toll up. In the South, the number of Alabamans hospitalized with COVID-19 has decreased about 5% in the last week. Statistics from the Alabama Department of Public Health showed 2,805 people were being treated for the illness on Monday; that number is down from 2,961 last Tuesday. While the hospitals are still struggling to manage patients amidst staff shortages, the percentage of people testing positive for COVID-19 dropped to a still-high 36% after exceeding 40% for nearly four weeks straight. (Musto, 2/1)

The New York Times: U.S. Has Far Higher Covid Death Rate Than Other Wealthy Countries Two years into the pandemic, the coronavirus is killing Americans at far higher rates than people in other wealthy nations, a sobering distinction to bear as the country charts a course through the next stages of the pandemic. (Mueller and Lutz, 2/1)

AP: Mississippi Reports 11th Pediatric COVID-19 Death  An 11th pediatric coronavirus death in Mississippi was confirmed Tuesday by state health officials. The Mississippi State Department of Health said none of the patients who died had been vaccinated. (2/1)

USA Today: Spike In Child COVID Cases Leads To Rising Frequency Of MIS-C Cases Although overall child COVID-19 case counts are on their way down in the United States, the January numbers were 3.5 times higher with the omicron variant than what was seen with the previous delta surge, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. The increase in cases has resulted in more pediatric hospitalizations and the rise of a dangerous inflammatory disorder called MIS-C, or Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children. MISC-C is a condition leading to inflammation in the body affecting organs like the heart and lungs, occurs about four weeks after infection and can cause high fever, rash, and in some children, other serious health outcomes. (Tebor, 2/2)

Detroit Free Press: Jim Frobe, A Popular Santa In Michigan, Dies From COVID-19 Complications Jim Frobe was a renaissance man. He worked hard as a truck driver by day. He was a clown for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and a Santa for the Festival of Trees organization during his off-hours. Whenever he could find a spare minute, he was a passionate and talented musician. Frobe died Dec. 8, one day after his 80th birthday, due to complications from COVID-19, his son, Patrick Frobe, told the Free Press. (Stein, 2/1)

Bloomberg: Pregnant Women With Covid Are Unlikely to Transmit to Babies Pregnant women who are positive with Covid-19 when they give birth rarely transmit the virus to their newborns, according to a spate of new research. The reason: Covid isn’t often found in a patient’s bloodstream. As researchers have raced to understand the effects of Covid on pregnancy and infants, these findings offer good news to expecting parents. “Analyses show that infection among infants born to women with Covid-19 was uncommon,” said Kate Woodworth, a medical epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease and Prevention. (Muller, 2/1)

Fox News: 'Long COVID' Patients Leave ‘Antibody Signature’ That May Help Predict Syndrome, Study Says COVID-19 patients may not need to wait long after being infected to know if they will develop post-acute COVID-19 syndrome (PACS), also known as long COVID, according to a paper published this week in Nature Communications. "We want to be able to recognize and identify, as early as possible, who is at risk of developing long COVID," said Dr. Onur Boyman, a co-author of the study and researcher in the department of immunology at University Hospital Zurich. "The most frequent symptoms of long COVID are reported to be fatigue, dyspnea [shortness of breath], and cognitive impairment (also termed 'brain fog,' which includes loss of concentration and memory), as well as pain and aches at different sites (including headache), cough, change in smell or taste, and diarrhea," the study said. (Sudhakar, 2/1)

USA Today: Why Do Americans Keep Taking Ivermectin For COVID Despite FDA Warnings? Hundreds Of Doctors Continue To Prescribe It. Contrary to scientific evidence and warnings from health agencies, hundreds of doctors nationwide continue to prescribe ivermectin – encouraged by a little-known national group of physicians – to prevent and treat COVID-19. During the omicron wave they've been busier than ever, writing tens of thousands of prescriptions. Many of the doctors follow treatment guidelines set by an organization called the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance, which promotes the controversial drug along with other unproven therapies. (Rodriguez, 2/2)

CNBC: Covid Will Never Become An Endemic Virus, Scientist Warns Covid-19 will never become an endemic illness and will always behave like an epidemic virus, an expert in biosecurity has warned. Raina MacIntyre, a professor of global biosecurity at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, told CNBC that although endemic disease can occur in very large numbers, the number of cases does not change rapidly as seen with the coronavirus. “If case numbers do change [with an endemic disease], it is slowly, typically over years,” she said via email. “Epidemic diseases, on the other hand, rise rapidly over periods of days to weeks.” (Taylor, 2/2)

Most Unvaxxed Americans Aren't Asking For The Free At-Home Tests

A Newsweek report says that around 70% of unvaccinated Americans (who aren't planning to get a shot) haven't taken the opportunity to get free tests from the government. News outlets cover other covid testing developments, including how shortages of tests are affecting nursing homes.

Newsweek: Most Unvaccinated Americans Have Not Requested At-Home COVID Test: Poll Despite at-home COVID-19 testing being available through the U.S. government, many unvaccinated Americans have not filed requests for them. According to a new poll from YouGov, around 70 percent of Americans who have no plans to get a COVID-19 vaccine have not attempted to request at-home testing kits. The poll comes as a new strain of the Omicron variant entitled Stealth has been detected in 30 states, prompting an increase in the need for testing. The Stealth strain has currently been found in over 200 cases across the United States. (Brady, 2/1)

CIDRAP: It's Easy To Misinterpret At-Home COVID Test Results, Data Show A randomized controlled trial yesterday in JAMA Internal Medicine finds that adult consumers struggle to interpret and act on negative at-home COVID-19 tests. ... Steven Woloshin, MD, of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, led the April 2021 trial, which involved asking 338 US adults how they would interpret the results of their self-test using instructions authorized by the FDA, instructions developed using decision science principles, or no instructions. The FDA-authorized test instructions were provided by the individual test makers. (Van Beusekom, 2/1)

Indianapolis Star: Indiana Winter Storm Will Close COVID-19 Testing, Vaccination Clinics With a projected snow and ice storm bearing down on Central Indiana, the Indiana Department of Health on Tuesday announced that many of its mobile COVID-19 testing and vaccination clinics will be closed Thursday. All of the state's mobile clinics will close at 5 p.m. Wednesday and many will remain closed on Thursday, including the largest clinic at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Rudavsky, 2/1)

Roll Call: Testing Shortages Reach Nursing Homes, Home Health Agencies  Nursing homes and other elder care providers are grappling with the current shortage of rapid COVID-19 tests, with reports emerging of low supplies as the administration mounts a massive effort to boost the country’s manufacturing capacity. The testing shortage is compounded by a worsening staffing crisis. The industry lost hundreds of thousands of workers since the beginning of the pandemic, and the surge in cases from the omicron variant is forcing more staffers to call out of work. (Clason, 2/2)

KHN: At Nursing Homes, Long Waits For Results Render Covid Tests ‘Useless’  More nursing homes are waiting longer for covid-19 test results for residents and staffers, according to federal data, making the fight against record numbers of omicron cases even harder. The double whammy of slower turnaround times for lab-based PCR tests and a shortage of rapid antigen tests has strained facilities where quickly identifying infections is crucial for keeping a highly vulnerable population safe. (Pradhan, 2/2)

Lockdowns Had 'Little To No' Benefit On Public Health, Analysis Finds

The Johns Hopkins researchers concluded that the lockdowns "had enormous economic and social costs," however. The report says lockdowns in Europe and the United States reduced covid mortality by only 0.2% on average.

Fox News: Lockdowns Only Reduced COVID-19 Mortality By .2%, Study Finds: 'Lockdowns Should Be Rejected Out Of Hand' The researchers – Johns Hopkins University economics professor Steve Hanke, Lund University economics professor Lars Jonung, and special advisor at Copenhagen's Center for Political Studies Jonas Herby – analyzed the effects of lockdown measures such as school shutdowns, business closures, and mask mandates on COVID-19 deaths. "We find little to no evidence that mandated lockdowns in Europe and the United States had a noticeable effect on COVID-19 mortality rates," the researchers wrote. The researchers also examined shelter-in-place orders, finding that they reduced COVID-19 mortality by 2.9%. (Best, 2/1)

Read the full Johns Hopkins analysis —

A Literature Review And Meta-Analysis Of The Effects Of Lockdowns On Covid-19 Mortality

In other news about covid mandates —

Billings Gazette: Judge Refuses To Block Montana Vaccine Ban A Richland County judge on Tuesday denied a request to block a Montana law barring businesses from requiring employees get vaccinated against COVID-19 or any other disease while a legal challenge plays out. The lawsuit, filed by a law office in Sidney, made several arguments that the new law violated the state Constitution's right to a “clean and healthful” environment and equal protection clause, among other claims. “While the best way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 may be vaccination, it is not the only way,” District Court Judge Olivia Rieger wrote in the Tuesday order. (Michels, 2/1)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Sheriff Lifts COVID Vaccine Mandate For New Employees Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo has rescinded a mandate requiring new Metropolitan Police Department hires to be vaccinated against COVID-19. In a Tuesday interview, Lombardo said he continues to encourage officers and other employees to get the vaccine. But with a recent dip in positive cases at the department, he lifted the vaccine mandate for new hires about a week ago. “I support the vaccines,” the sheriff said. “I think they keep you from a detrimental experience or hospitalization possibly resulting in death, but that is a personal decision.” (Puit and Wilson, 2/1)

AP: Virginia Governor's Mask Order Prompts Dueling Lawsuits  An executive order by Gov. Glenn Youngkin that allows parents to opt out of COVID-19 school mask mandates prompted dueling lawsuits Tuesday, one siding with Youngkin and the other challenging his order. Parents of children with disabilities filed a federal lawsuit, arguing that forcing schools to repeal their mask mandates effectively excludes those students from public schools, in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act. A separate suit was filed by three parents against the Loudoun County School Board for ignoring Younkin’s order and continuing the school district’s mask mandate. (Lavoie and Rankin, 2/2)

AP: Suits Target New Orleans Virus Rules, Some Affect Mardi Gras  More than 100 people have joined a lawsuit against New Orleans’ mayor and health director over COVID-19 restrictions that recently were extended to parade and other participants on Mardi Gras and during the season leading up to it. The lawsuit against Mayor LaToya Cantrell and health director Jennifer Avegno targets mask and vaccination mandates, news outlets reported. (2/2)

Dallas Morning News: Texans Are Split On Mask, COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates, According To New Poll After nearly two years in the coronavirus pandemic, Texans are split on their feelings about masks, COVID-19 vaccinations and related government and employer mandates, according to a new poll from The Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler. While nearly 75% of eligible Texans have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, opinions on whether an employer should require vaccination or weekly testing from their employees largely falls along party lines. (Wolf, 2/1)

Los Angeles Times: COVID Rules And Guidelines For Super Bowl Visitors Thousands of football fans are expected to descend on Los Angeles for the Super Bowl in less than two weeks, along with the hordes of workers required to put on one of sport’s biggest annual spectacles. Mask and vaccine mandates are in force throughout L.A. County — including Inglewood, where SoFi Stadium is located — along with specific measures in the city of Los Angeles. If you’re coming to Southern California for Super Bowl LVI, here’s what you need to know about COVID-19 regulations during your visit. (Amato, 2/1)

Charleston Gazette-Mail: Unemployment Bill Advances After Vaccine Exemption Withdrawn West Virginia senators advanced a bill Tuesday that would significantly cut state unemployment benefits. Judiciary Chairman Sen. Charles Trump, R-Morgan, pulled Senate Bill 2 from the committee’s agenda Monday afternoon, following the adoption of an amendment that would extend unemployment benefits to employees who are fired after refusing a COVID-19 vaccine requirement. Trump placed the bill back on the agenda Tuesday. Sen. Jack Woodrum, R-Summers, opened the meeting by moving to reconsider the action by which the vaccine amendment was adopted. Members approved the motion 9-8. (Severino, 2/1)

NBC News: The GOP’s Midterm Playbook: Flip The Script On Covid In Pennsylvania, a Republican Senate candidate bashes the federal government’s Covid response in TV ads. In Ohio, another promotes ending vaccination mandates. In Florida, the Republican governor criticizes the “flip flops” of the government’s top infectious disease specialist during the pandemic. Like never before, Republicans are campaigning on the coronavirus, looking to harness the anger of the conservative base and a growing sense of broader voter fatigue with masks and hybrid schooling. It’s a strategy backed up in polls and focus groups. (Caputo and Korecki, 2/1)

Covid 'Raging' Among Prisoners Across US

News outlets cover the effects of covid outbreaks in prisons across America, including a push to seek fewer jail bookings in King County, Washington. In other news on the penal system, reports show medical care at Rikers Island in New York has being delayed for thousands of prisoners.

Stat: Despite Biden’s Promises, Covid-19 Is Still Raging Through Prisons On his first full day in office, President Biden promised to order the federal Bureau of Prisons to reevaluate its Covid-19 protocols and release additional data on the spread of the virus in prisons, two in a slew of pledges aimed at ensuring the United States’ pandemic response was equitable. But that specific order never came. And now, as Covid-19 is spiking in multiple federal prisons around the country, spurred by the Omicron variant and still-substandard infection control, advocates say that the BOP’s Covid-19 protocols are as broken as ever. (Florko, 2/2)

In related news about covid behind bars —

AP: Officials Seek Fewer Jail Bookings Due To COVID, Short Staff  Public defenders and corrections officers describing inhumane conditions in King County jails are asking the county to stop booking people awaiting charges on nonviolent felony offenses amid staff shortages and a surge in coronavirus cases. The proposal, which is opposed by the county prosecutor’s office, is an effort to further reduce jail populations, which have fallen significantly since the pandemic started, The Seattle Times reported. (2/2)

In other health news about prisons and jails —

The New York Times: Medical Care At Rikers Is Delayed For Thousands, Records Show  It started with a toothache. A 25-year-old man taken into custody last winter asked New York City jail officials if he could see a dentist for cavities. But his consistent requests for care went unanswered, according to court records and lawyers for the man, even as it became difficult for him to eat and sleep because of the pain. His mouth became infected, leaking blood and pus. He was in agony by the time he finally saw a dentist last month, nearly a year since he first requested medical treatment. He was told he would need extensive surgery. (Bromwich, 2/1)

AP: Inmates Ask Court To Run Arizona Prison Health Care System Lawyers challenging the quality of health care in Arizona's prisons say corrections officials don’t have the capacity to improve staffing problems that have put incarcerated people with medical and mental health issues at risk of harm. The inmates are asking a judge to take over health care operations in state prisons. In briefs filed late last week, attorneys made what amounted to closing arguments in a trial over the quality of health care in Arizona’s state-run prisons. (1/31)

The Counter: Poor Food In Prison And Jails Can Cause Or Worsen Eating And Health Problems. And The Effects Can Linger Long After Release. For the four years Heile Gantan was behind bars in California, she experienced frequent hunger. To lessen its pangs, she filled up on packets of dry oatmeal she purchased in the commissary, with “no water, no milk, no anything. It was really just filler food. That was a constant theme throughout my incarceration: How can I fill up my stomach?” Deprivation turned into bingeing. She thought, “‘Okay, I’m going to consume all the [cereal] I can get my hands on, so I’m not hungry when I go to sleep.’” (Nargi, 2/1)

The Eagle Times: UVM Survey Shows High Rates Of Mental Health Issues Among Staff, Incarcerated At Springfield Prison  A survey conducted by University of Vermont researchers shows high rates of suicidal thoughts, anxiety, depression and other mental health issues among staff and the incarcerated at the state’s prison in Springfield. Department of Corrections Commissioner Nicholas Deml said the report was “concerning” and “disturbing,” but state officials now have a better understanding of what they are dealing with and what needs to be addressed. (Blaisdell, 2/1)

Biden To Relaunch More Modest Cancer Moonshot But No New Funding

The effort will create a “cancer Cabinet” of federal departments and agencies to better focus the government’s efforts on the disease and promote more cancer screenings. But at this point, it doesn't include any specific funding.

Stat: Biden Once Pledged To ‘Cure Cancer.’ His New Approach Is Far More Modest President Biden has been pledging to “cure” cancer for the past six years, beginning with his moonshot effort as vice president. He re-upped that pledge on the campaign trail, too, vowing again: “If I’m elected, we’re going to cure cancer.” This time, though, Biden’s no longer promising a “cure.” Instead, Biden will relaunch the White House Cancer Moonshot on Wednesday with an ambitious but noticeably more measured goal: Cutting the cancer death rate in half within 25 years. In substance and tone, the effort is comparatively modest when compared to 2016. Most notably, it doesn’t call for any new research funding — a key pillar of the Obama-era push. (Facher, 2/2)

Los Angeles Times: Biden To Announce Relaunch Of Federal Effort To Reduce Cancer Deaths Among the Biden administration’s first steps will be to create a “cancer Cabinet” of federal departments and agencies to better focus the government’s efforts on the disease and to host a gathering of public and private groups to discuss innovations in treatment, the official said. The president will also appoint a coordinator to work out of the White House to oversee the effort. Biden and First Lady Jill Biden are expected to promote cancer screening, a key diagnostic tool that can improve survival rates. Americans missed 9.5 million such screenings because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the White House. (Logan and Kaur, 2/2)

Roll Call: Biden Reignites 'Cancer Moonshot' Effort  Biden hopes some of the proposed research will be ... conducted via his previously proposed agency, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, senior administration officials said. ARPA-H would be housed within the National Institutes of Health and tackle medical breakthroughs for diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s disease, though it hasn't yet received congressional funding. (Cohen, 2/2)

Stat: Fight Over Pricey Cancer Drug Offers A Test On March-In Rights Next month, the National Institutes of Health is expected to decide whether to proceed with a request to widen access to a pricey prostate cancer treatment by using a controversial provision of a federal law, a decision that is being closely watched for signs that the Biden administration may seek additional ways to address the high cost of medicines. The development comes as Washington grapples with an increasingly vexing pocketbook issue for many Americans. But with legislation to tackle prescription drug pricing stalled in Congress, there is pressure on the White House to appease restive consumers. For this reason, the NIH deliberation on whether to hold a hearing about patents on Xtandi, a prostate cancer drug, is prompting speculation. (Silverman, 1/31)

In other news about the Biden administration —

American Homefront Project: Moving From 'Draconian' Health Measures, The Navy Is Hoping To Manage COVID For The Long Term The Navy is trying to figure out what the "new normal" will be after two years of battling COVID-19. In the opening months of the pandemic, the Navy was caught off guard. In April 2020, it was forced to sideline the USS Roosevelt in Guam for more than a month to try to stop a quickly spreading COVID-19 outbreak on board. Eventually, more than a third of the sailors were infected. One sailor on the carrier died. The Navy relieved the Roosevelt's commanding officer, Capt. Brett Crozier, after a letter leaked in which he complained the Navy wasn’t doing enough to get sailors off the ship. The situation became a case study on how not to handle COVID-19. (Walsh, 2/1)

AP: AP FACT CHECK: Biden Exaggerates $10 A Month 'Obamacare' The Affordable Care Act — “Obamacare” — has inspired many exaggerated claims through the years, both from fans and foes. Now President Joe Biden is adding his own. With a few loose words turned into a pithy formula, the president implies that his enhanced version of the ACA is much better than it really is. Biden suggests that considerably more people are getting health insurance for less than $10 a month than what’s actually been the case. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 2/1)

Plan To Target Mental Health Issues Garners Bipartisan Senate Support

Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee leaders say that the group plans a legislative package to tackle mental health and substance use challenges.

Roll Call: Senate Begins Work On Bipartisan Mental Health Package  Top senators on an influential health committee indicated at a hearing Tuesday that they plan to work on a bipartisan mental health and substance use package this year. The COVID-19 pandemic has seen record numbers of drug overdose deaths and rises in the number of individuals reporting symptoms of anxiety and depression. Experts have renewed calls for increased resources for children’s mental health, expanding access to mental telehealth and broadening the continuum of care for individuals in crisis situations. (Raman, 2/1)

Modern Healthcare: Senators Eye Workforce Fixes To Improve Mental Health Access More needs to be done to bolster the health workforce in response to a growing mental health and substance use crisis that the pandemic worsened, senators said during a hearing on Capitol Hill Tuesday. Lawmakers hope to pass legislation this year to address gaps in the behavioral healthcare system. A growing body of evidence shows the existing workforce is insufficient to meet the public's needs. The status quo especially underserves children and young adults at a time when the rate of deaths by suicide among those groups was rising even before COVID-19 surfaced. (Hellmann, 2/1)

In updates on the FDA nominee —

Politico: Top Republican Throws Cold Water On Struggling FDA Nominee  Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) — one of the handful of Republicans in the upper chamber who the Biden administration had been counting on to save the embattled nomination of Robert Califf to lead the FDA — told POLITICO on Tuesday that he’s skeptical the White House is fully behind the nominee. “I like him,” Blunt said of Califf. “But I haven’t made a final decision on that yet and don’t intend to until the administration appears to be truly ready to push his name forward.” (Ollstein and Lim, 2/1)

In covid news from Capitol Hill —

NBC News: House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer Has 'Mild Symptoms' After Testing Positive For Covid-19 House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Tuesday he was experiencing "mild symptoms" after testing positive for Covid-19, making him the latest of dozens of lawmakers to contract the virus during the pandemic. "Thankfully, I am fully vaccinated and already received my booster shot," the 82-year-old Maryland Democrat said in a statement. (Gregorian, 2/1)

The Hill: GOP Senator Tests Positive For COVID-19 Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) announced on Tuesday that he had tested positive for COVID-19 in a breakthrough case of the virus. “While asymptomatic, I tested positive for COVID-19 this afternoon. I’ve consulted with the Senate Physician and will continue to follow the recommendations of my health care provider,” he said in a statement. (Vakil, 2/1)

USA Today: Senators Try To Root Out Fake Masks Three Democratic senators are urging the Justice Department to address the proliferation of fake N95 and KN95 masks on the market, a growing problem as Americans seek improved protection from the highly infectious omicron variant. In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Senators Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut point out consumers are increasingly finding fraudulent masks for sale, and it can be difficult to tell if they're legitimate, especially when purchasing online. (Ortiz, Yancey-Bragg, Thornton and Tebor, 2/1)

Bloomberg: Democratic Senator Lujan Recovering After Surgery For Stroke Democratic Senator Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico is recovering from surgery for a stroke at a hospital in New Mexico but is expected to make a full recovery. The 49-year-old senator began experiencing dizziness and fatigue on Thursday and checked himself into Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center in Santa Fe. He was transferred to the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque, diagnosed with a stroke in his cerebellum, affecting his balance. An official statement on his health didn’t say how long Lujan would be hospitalized. (Dennis, 2/1)

A Million Years Of Life Were Lost To Drug Overdoses From 2015 To 2019

A new study says that about 1.2 million years of human life were lost due to unintentional drug doses, with more men than women dying. In other news, Native American tribes have reached a settlement with opioid makers and distributors worth $590 million.

Axios: Drug Overdose Deaths Claim Over 1 Million Years Of Life  Adolescents and young adults lost an estimated 1.2 million years of life due to unintentional drug overdoses over five years, according to a study published in JAMA. About 3,300 adolescents ages 10–19 years old died of an unintentional drug overdose in the U.S. between 2015 and 2019, representing about 187,078 years of life lost, researchers from Ohio State University said. That number rises to nearly 22,000 young people when expanding the age group to overdose deaths among those among 10–24 years old. Males collectively lost more years of life, the researchers said. (Reed, 2/1)

In more news about the opioid crisis —

Oklahoman: Tribes Reach $590 Million Settlement Over Opioid Claims Native American tribes will receive a collective $590 million to settle claims that three drug distributors and drug maker Johnson & Johnson fueled the opioid crisis in Indian Country. The settlement — open to all tribes, regardless of whether they sued —  will be paid over seven years, according to documents filed Tuesday in federal court. The deal marks the latest in a series of financial payouts to governments grappling with a surge of painkiller addictions and deaths. More than 400 tribes and tribal organizations had accused the prescription drug industry’s largest players of purposely flooding their communities with highly addictive opioids, causing overdose deaths and health care costs to skyrocket. (Young, 2/2)

ABC News: Sacklers 'Close' To Deal To Contribute Additional Cash In Opioid Settlement  The family that owns Purdue Pharma is “close” to an agreement that substantially increases its financial contribution to a nationwide opioids settlement, according to a new court filing. The filing from Judge Shelley Chapman, who is mediating a dispute between Purdue Pharma and states that objected to its bankruptcy reorganization plan, asked for an extra week to reach a deal. Tuesday had been the original deadline. (Katersky, 2/1)

Portland Press Herald: Maine To Receive $130 Million Over 18 Years In National Opioid Lawsuit Settlement  Maine will receive $130 million over 18 years as part of a national settlement agreement with manufacturers and distributors of addictive  prescription painkillers whose practices contributed to a long-running and deadly opioid epidemic. Attorney General Aaron Frey announced the deal on Friday, although the initial terms were agreed to in August. The money will be used primarily to expand treatment and prevention efforts at the state and local levels. Some of the money will be shared with municipalities, counties and school districts across the state. (Eric Russell, 1/28)

Report: People Close To Death Suffer Due To Over-Medicalization

A report from a new Lancet Commission says that increased suffering and loss of dignity are side effects of overreliance on medicine during the process of dying. In other news, Magellan Health will start using a drone to deliver some members' specialist prescription meds this year.

Axios: Over-Reliance On Medicine Increases Suffering In Death, Study Finds  The process of dying has become over-medicalized, resulting in increased suffering, loss of dignity and inefficient use of resources at the end of life, according to a report released Monday by a new Lancet Commission. Technological and medical advances fueled the idea that science can defeat death, increasing the over-reliance on medical interventions, the authors say. Deaths during the COVID pandemic, in which individuals have had to be isolated from family members in ICUs, even in their final moments, were an example of this trend. (Reed, 2/1)

In pharmaceutical and biotech industry news —

Modern Healthcare: Magellan Health To Kick Off Prescription Medicine Drone Delivery Magellan Health's pharmacy benefits management division plans to roll out drone delivery for some members' medications later this year, the managed-care company said Tuesday. Phoenix-based Magellan Health, which was acquired by Centene last month, has partnered with Zipline, a company that develops and operates drones to deliver medical products. Magellan Rx Management will deliver prescriptions to members at home using Zipline drones. The program will start this year with specialty drugs for members with chronic and complex conditions. (Kim Cohen, 2/1)

Boston Globe: In The Heart Of The Booming Biotech Industry, Workers Are In Short Supply It’s almost like Massachusetts has too many biotechs. The industry is hotter than ever, with companies routinely raising millions of dollars in venture capital, startups blooming on a weekly basis, and developers planning more lab space seemingly by the day. But the pipeline of qualified workers to fill all of the added jobs can’t keep up with the burgeoning demand. The market for biotech talent in Massachusetts has long been robust, but lately the crunch has turned critical. That’s causing some in the industry to worry that it will not only inhibit growth, but also affect the quality of work as key positions become harder to fill and lower-level workers jump from company to company in search of a better compensation package. (Gardizy, 1/31)

And updates from the health care industry —

Press Association: The NHS Is ‘Riddled With Racism’, Says British Medical Association Chair The chair of the council of the British Medical Association has said the NHS is “riddled with racism” following the findings of a survey into the experiences of doctors. The survey found at least 75% of ethnic minority doctors experienced racism more than once in the past two years and 17.4% experienced regular racism at work. Speaking to the BBC, BMA council chair Dr Chaand Nagpaul said: “This is about a moral right for anyone who works for the NHS to be treated fairly.” (2/2)

Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Companies Paid 90% Of False Claims Act Settlements In 2021 Healthcare companies paid almost 90% of the fraud settlement proceeds the U.S. Justice Department collected in fiscal 2021, the federal government said Tuesday. The DOJ's civil division secured $5.6 billion in False Claims Act settlements and judgments in the year ended September 30, 2021, the second largest annual total in the law's history. Of that, more than $5 billion related to fraud and false claims in the healthcare industry, including managed care providers, hospitals, drug and medical device manufacturers, hospice providers, labs and doctors. (Bannow, 2/1)

Modern Healthcare: 5 Things Moody's Is Watching In Healthcare This Year High labor costs, insurance coverage changes and the continued presence of the COVID-19 pandemic will hit healthcare industry finances hard in 2022, although some segments will be impacted more than others, according to a recent report. While patient changes in insurance eligibility pose a hardship for health plans and hospital systems, the aging population will continue to boost residency senior housing facilities, according to a quarterly report from Moody's Investors Service. The pandemic will also propel mergers among medtech operators in 2022, although the value of deals will fall from previous years, the credit rating agency said. (Tepper, 2/1)

Fox News: Pennsylvania Doctor Has Leg Amputated, Sues Fellow Doctor For Malpractice A Pennsylvania physician has filed a lawsuit against his foot doctor, alleging medical malpractice after he was forced to have his right leg amputated, a report says. Dr. Mario Adajar, 59, of Wyoming, Pennsylvania, filed legal documents Monday in Luzerne County Court accusing defendants, Dr. Michael Baloga Jr., the Foot and Ankle Center in West Pittston and the Wound Healing Center at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, of causing "catastrophic permanent injuries" due to their alleged "negligent acts and omissions," PennLive.com reported. (Richard, 2/2)

Suicide Attempts Rise 50% Among Teenage Girls

Although teenage boys remain more likely to die by suicide, teenage girls are more likely to attempt it, a report in the Texas Tribune notes. Meanwhile, in abortion news, AP reports that minority women will be most affected if abortion is banned in the U.S.

The Texas Tribune: Alarming Number Of Teenage Girls Attempting Suicide During The Pandemic  Growing up, Charley Tennen was rarely alone. The youngest of seven kids in a loud, busy house in El Paso, she was always out at a party, shopping with friends or organizing a road trip. Even after she was diagnosed with a chronic illness and had a feeding tube inserted, she kept her bubbly personality, her mother, Michelle, said. But when COVID-19 hit Texas in March 2020, all of that suddenly went away. Charley went from attending school with a few thousand students to sitting alone in her bedroom, doing virtual classes. She and other family members were immunocompromised, so they fully isolated themselves, terrified of getting sick. (Klibanoff, 2/1)

In other public health news —

AP: Minority Women Most Affected If Abortion Is Banned, Limited If you are Black or Hispanic in a conservative state that already limits access to abortions, you are far more likely than a white woman to have one. And if the U.S. Supreme Court allows states to further restrict or even ban abortions, minority women will bear the brunt of it, according to statistics analyzed by The Associated Press. (Pettus and Willingham, 2/1)

Stat: Could Pap Smears One Day Help Detect Breast And Ovarian Cancers? Routine screenings have become a powerful tool in catching cervical cancer as early as possible. Now, research suggests the cervical cells collected during these exams could hold the key to efficient screening for other gynecological cancers, too. A new study suggests that by analyzing cervical cells’ genomes, researchers might be able to find genetic signatures that predict the risk of ovarian, breast, and endometrial cancers and flag patients that should be screened more aggressively. If the test proves useful in larger studies, it could offer a simple way to piggyback off of regular Pap smears already used to screen for cancerous or precancerous lesions in the cervix. (Chen, 2/1)

CNN: Using Melatonin For Sleep Is On The Rise, Study Says, Despite Potential Health Harms  More and more adults are taking over-the-counter melatonin to get to sleep, and some of them may be using it at dangerously high levels, a new study has found. While overall use among the United States adult population is still "relatively low," the study does "document a significant many-fold increase in melatonin use in the past few years," said sleep specialist Rebecca Robbins, an instructor in the division of sleep medicine for Harvard Medical School, who was not involved in the study. The study, published Tuesday in the medical journal JAMA, found that by 2018 Americans were taking more than twice the amount of melatonin they took a decade earlier. Experts worry that the pandemic's negative impact on sleep may have further increased the widespread reliance on sleeping aids, Robbins said. (LaMotte, 2/1)

The Atlantic: What Happens In Your Brain When You Get Dumped  We all know that when love is good, it’s really good. Research shows that romantic attachments, when they’re healthy and supportive, can be immensely beneficial for our health. Married people tend to live longer than single people and seem to fare better when seriously sick. But as poets and pop singers have long told us, when love goes awry, it hurts like nothing else. After my marriage ended—not by my choice—I found some comfort in art, but what I really wanted was science. I wanted to know why we feel so operatically sad when a romantic attachment dissolves. What I discovered is that love changes us so deeply—at a physiological level—that when it’s lost, we hurt more than if we had never loved at all. (Williams, 2/1)

The New York Times: Questions Remain After Highway Crash Involving Monkeys  In the 11 days since a truck hauling 100 monkeys from Mauritius crashed in Pennsylvania, one woman who got close to the scattered crates of monkeys on the highway has been treated for possible symptoms of illness. ... No other reports of possible illness related to the crash have emerged, according to state and federal health officials, who said it was not known whether the Pennsylvania woman’s symptoms were related to the cynomolgus macaques, which were being quarantined and monitored for diseases. Experts said that direct exposure to monkey saliva or feces could be dangerous, but that the risk of a broader outbreak was low. (Levenson, 2/1)

KHN: ‘An Arm And A Leg’: Know Your ‘No Surprises’ Rights On Jan. 1, Americans woke up with some new protections from giant medical bills. Meet the No Surprises Act. It’s a new law that protects patients from one of the worst experiences the U.S. health care system has to offer — surprise out-of-network hospital bills. That’s when a person gets hit with a bill from an out-of-network provider at an in-network hospital. Under the new law, if a person visits an in-network hospital and is seen by an out-of-network provider, that provider and the insurer have to work it out for themselves. Patients are only on the hook for what they would’ve paid an in-network provider. That’s a big deal. (Weissmann, 2/2)

In news about covid's economic toll —

Stateline: Evictions Rise To Pre-Pandemic Levels Dionna Jackson, 40, sat on a long wooden bench nervously scrolling through old text messages on her phone while waiting for her eviction case to be called Monday. More than 87 people joined her in Harris County Judge Lincoln Goodwin’s packed courtroom. “I’ve found a place for me and my children to stay,” said Jackson, who has three school-aged children. “I just need a few weeks for my income tax [refund] to come in.” Jackson applied for the Texas Rent Relief Program in October when she first lost her job, but her application has not been processed. She found a new job that pays much less, but because she fell behind two months in rent, the late fees have increased her bill by more than $300 each month. (Hernández, 2/1)

Bloomberg: Health, Housing Hit Budgets Of Older Americans Even Before Covid Older Americans spent a growing share of their budgets on housing and health care in the decade through 2020, according to new data from the Social Security Administration. That squeeze could get worse in the coming years, with some economists warning that prices in those areas -- which haven’t so far risen as much as the overall inflation rate -- may climb. While overall spending by older Americans didn’t change that much from 2010 to 2020, there were shifts in its composition, the SSA found. (Tanzi, 2/1)

Axios: Health Care Inflation Trails Broader Inflation, But Not For Long  Economy-wide inflation has outpaced health care inflation by a wide margin since last April, but Americans should expect health care prices to rise more soon. Companies can raise the prices of food, furniture and other commodities immediately. That's not how it works in health care, where prices are set by government programs or negotiated with private insurers in advance and are reflected in economic data later. Consumer prices are increasing faster than at any other point in the past 40 years. (Herman, 2/2)

Bloomberg: Fewest Americans Ever Are Laid Off In Frenzy To Retain Workers The fewest number of U.S. workers were laid off in December, highlighting businesses’ desperation to retain talent. Just 1.2 million Americans were dismissed from their jobs, the least in data back to 2001, the Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, showed Tuesday. That translated into a layoffs and discharge rate of 0.8%, also a record low. (Wahid, 2/1)

More Children Died In Maine In 2021 Than Recorded Before

The Bangor Daily News report says 25 children died in "incidents tracked by the state that were associated with abuse or neglect," or after a family involvement with the child welfare system. The figure is more than double the total for 2020.

Bangor Daily News: 2021 Was The Worst Year On Record For Child Deaths In Maine Twenty-five children died last year in incidents tracked by the state that were associated with abuse or neglect or after a history of family involvement with the child welfare system, according to updated data released by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services last week. It is the highest number of deaths recorded in a single year dating back to 2007 and more than double the total from 2020. The data also are an undercount because homicides last year that are the subject of criminal proceedings — including four reported in June — are not included. (Andrews, 2/2)

In abortion news from Michigan and Florida —

The Washington Post: Mich. GOP Governor Candidate Said Rape Victims Shouldn’t Have Abortions: ‘Baby Inside Them May Be The Next President’ When Garrett Soldano was asked on a right-wing podcast how he would “ensure the sanctity of life” in Michigan, the Republican candidate for governor said he would stop at nothing to protect a fetus. Even in cases where victims of rape become pregnant, Soldano said, “we’re always going to fight for life.” “They don’t know that little baby inside them may be the next president, may be the next person who changes humanity,” Soldano said on the “Face the Facts” podcast. (Peiser, 2/1)

WMFE: For Some, Florida's Abortion Bill Is A 'Fight For Life'; For Others, It's A 'Fight For Freedom'  Florida senators this week will start considering a proposal that would prevent physicians from performing abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, one of the most-controversial issues of the 2022 legislative session. The proposal has companion legislation in the House. It was approved Thursday in a 10-5 vote in the House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee. It also earlier cleared the House Professions & Public Health Subcommittee. It needs approval from the House Health & Human Services Committee before it can go to the full House. (Montesano, 1/31)

In other state news from across the U.S. —

Health News Florida: Florida Leads Nation In ACA Signups With A Record 2.7 Million  More than 2.7 million people in Florida signed up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act for 2022. That’s the most of any state and a record for Florida – a 600,000 increase from last year. The White House has said that 14.5 million Americans got private health insurance for this year under the Obama-era health law, thanks to help from the Biden administration. It is a record number of people signing up for coverage. The previous marketplace enrollment record was 12.7 million in 2016, the final year of President Barack Obama’s administration. (Mayer, 2/1)

Rome News-Tribune: State Senate Passes Tax Incentives For Living Organ Donors  The Georgia Senate passed legislation Tuesday aimed at encouraging more Georgians to become living organ donors. Senate Bill 330 is sponsored by Sen. John Albers, R-Roswell, who donated one of his kidneys last July to his son, who suffered renal failure and was forced to go on dialysis at the age of 24. “This bill is going to save lives,” Albers told his Senate colleagues shortly before Tuesday’s unanimous vote. “My goal is to get the transplant (waiting) list down to zero.” (Williams, 2/1)

Georgia Health News: Report Urges Medicaid Expansion To Combat Georgia’s HIV Crisis  Expanding Medicaid would give coverage to thousands of uninsured HIV patients in Georgia and provide millions of dollars of additional services for people infected with the virus, a recently released study says. The expansion of Medicaid, as outlined in the Affordable Care Act, has been adopted in 38 states, but not in Georgia. Republican elected leaders who control the state government have consistently opposed the move as too costly. HIV, if unchecked, can lead to the disease known as AIDS, which was once almost invariably fatal. Treatment strategies now exist to block the development of the disease, allowing many infected people to live mostly normal lives. (Miller, 2/1)

AP: Missouri Health Director Out Following Conservative Blowback Missouri senators on Tuesday effectively ousted the new state health director following conservative blowback, despite the health czar’s stances against abortion and mask and vaccine mandates. Senators on Tuesday adjourned for the week without taking up Department of Health and Senior Services Director Don Kauerauf’s nomination. The deadline to confirm him is Friday, and because Republican Gov. Mike Parson didn’t retract his nomination, Kauerauf will be barred from serving after this week. (Ballentine and Lieb, 2/2)

NBC News: Pool Heater Blamed For 'Life Threatening' Carbon Monoxide Incident At Ohio Hotel A hotel pool heater was the likely source of carbon monoxide exposure in an incident Saturday that sent more than a dozen people to hospitals, authorities said. Fourteen people, including at least six children, were hospitalized in the incident at a Hampton Inn in Marysville, Ohio, city fire and police officials said in a statement Monday. (Romero, 2/1)

Salt Lake Tribune: Utah Lawmakers Mull Request For $2.5M To Build School-Based Centers For Homeless Teens Utah schools might soon get additional resources to create spaces where teens experiencing homelessness can meet some of their basic needs and prepare for their future. Rep. Steve Eliason is asking fellow lawmakers to set aside $2.5 million in state funding this year to establish teen centers in middle and high schools interested in operating them. (Rodgers, 2/1)

San Francisco Chronicle: California’s First Surgeon General Resigns Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, who was appointed as California’s first-ever surgeon general in 2019, has resigned, governor’s officials said on Tuesday. In a statement provided to The Chronicle, Gov. Gavin Newsom said that Harris’ “expertise and leadership in championing equity, mental health and early childhood development have been instrumental in advancing the health and well-being of Californians.” When Burke Harris was named as the surgeon general in January 2019, governor’s officials said she would “urge policymakers at every level of government and leaders across the state to consider the social determinants of health, especially for children.” (Hernández, 2/1)

In news about marijuana use in Montana and Mississippi —

Billings Gazette: Recreational Weed Sales In MT Top $12.8M In First Month Montana's recreational cannabis market topped $12.8 million in sales its first month, putting the Treasure State on pace to meet the state's projections of $130 million in sales in 2022. Add in January's $9.7 million in medical marijuana sales across the state, and Montana raked in $2.9 million in tax revenue from cannabis in 31 days, according to the Montana Department of Revenue's Cannabis Control Division. The recreational market's opening weekend accounted for $1.5 million of the month's sales. "It feels like the start of an industry," said Bobby Long, owner of Flower, which has dispensaries in Missoula and Kalispell. (Larson, 2/1)

AP: Mississippi Governor Noncommittal On Medical Marijuana Bill Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said Tuesday that he has not decided whether he will sign a bill to legalize marijuana for people with debilitating medical conditions such as cancer, AIDS and sickle cell disease. The bill is expected to become law regardless of what the Republican governor does because the GOP-led House and Senate passed it last week by veto-proof majorities. (Pettus, 2/1)

First Community Covid Transmission Drives Tonga Into Lockdown

Meanwhile, in Tokyo cases hit a record high — above 20,000 daily for the first time. In Europe, some nations are scaling back their restrictions, including Norway, even as the World Health Organization warns that many places have yet to reach the peak of the omicron surge.

The New York Times: Tonga Goes Into Lockdown Over Covid Cases  Two workers who were helping to distribute aid shipments at the Tongan wharf tested positive for the virus on Tuesday, prompting Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni to announce a lockdown that night. Three more positive cases were recorded on Wednesday among relatives of the workers, who are asymptomatic and in quarantine, local news media reported. (Zhuang, 2/1)

In other global covid news —

Reuters: Tokyo's Daily COVID-19 Infections Exceed 20,000 For First Time Tokyo's new COVID-19 cases exceeded 20,000 for the first time on Wednesday, dimming hopes that an Omicron-fuelled wave of infections in Japan is peaking out. (2/2)

Bloomberg: Covid-19: Norway Scales Back Most Of Its Restrictions Norway is easing most of the measures to curb infection and aims to remove the rest in a couple of weeks as it bets a high level of vaccination will be enough to shield the health system from overloading. Limits on guests at private gatherings, a curb on the service of alcohol in bars and restaurants, and testing after arriving at the border have all been removed, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store told reporters in Oslo on Tuesday. Face masks will still need to be worn in shops, shopping centers and on public transport where a distance of a meter can’t be maintained. (Treloar, 2/1)

The Washington Post: WHO Urges Caution As Countries Begin To Loosen Restrictions Countries should be cautious about lifting coronavirus restrictions, World Health Organization officials warned Tuesday, noting that many places haven’t yet reached the peak of the omicron surge. (Pannett and Suliman, 2/2)

CNBC: These Countries Have The Lowest Covid Vaccination Rates In The World Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Haiti are the least vaccinated countries in the world against Covid-19, data has shown. Just 0.05% of Burundi’s population has received at least one Covid vaccination dose, according to statistics compiled by Our World in Data. In DR Congo, 0.4% of people have been given at least one dose, while in Haiti that proportion of the population rises to around 1%. In low-income countries, just 5.5% of people have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to Our World in Data. In high-income countries, 72% of the population has been fully vaccinated with at least two doses. (Taylor, 2/2)

The Washington Post: Researchers Are Asking Why Some Countries Were Better Prepared For Covid. One Surprising Answer: Trust Before 2020, Vietnam looked particularly vulnerable to a pandemic. The Southeast Asian country, a single-party state with nearly 100 million people, scored low on international assessments of universal health coverage and had relatively few hospital beds for its population, as well as a closed-off political system. Instead, Vietnam emerged as an early pandemic success story. Long after the coronavirus began to spread in neighboring China, Vietnam maintained low levels of infections and fatalities even as wealthy countries with more robust health systems, including the United States and much of Europe, struggled. (Taylor, 2/1)

NPR: Cuba Has Come Up With 5 COVID Vaccine Candidates In the early days of the COVID pandemic, Cuba decided it was going to make its own vaccine – even though vaccine development historically takes years, even decades, to bear fruit. Why did the Communist island nation decide to go it alone? It didn't want to rely on the whims of foreign governments or international pharmaceutical companies to immunize its people. Cuba didn't even sign up for the COVAX program, backed by the World Health Organization, that was promising to purchase vaccines in bulk and distribute them equitably around the globe. (Beaubien, 2/1)

Roll Call: Unvaccinated Truckers Find Roadblocks At Canada-US Border  A requirement that foreign nationals entering the U.S. and Canada be vaccinated for COVID-19 is exacerbating the supply chain logjam, according to freight industry groups who say they can’t find enough vaccinated drivers to bring goods across the U.S.-Canada border. The U.S. government argues the new requirement has had little such impact and argues the public health benefits make the mandate worthwhile. The U.S. on Jan. 22 began imposing the vaccine requirement on all non-U.S. individuals traveling for both essential and nonessential reasons. The restrictions do not apply to U.S. citizens entering the U.S. Canada began requiring northbound truckers and other incoming visitors to be vaccinated beginning Jan. 15, which has triggered a number of protests by Canadian truckers. (Wehrman, 2/1)

More Good News About Remdesivir

Read about the biggest pharmaceutical developments and pricing stories from the past week in KHN's Prescription Drug Watch roundup.

New England Journal of Medicine: Early Remdesivir To Prevent Progression To Severe Covid-19 In Outpatients  Remdesivir improves clinical outcomes in patients hospitalized with moderate-to-severe coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19). Whether the use of remdesivir in symptomatic, nonhospitalized patients with Covid-19 who are at high risk for disease progression prevents hospitalization is uncertain. (Gottlieb, M.D., Ph.D., et al, 1/27)

ScienceDaily: Making RNA Vaccines Easier To Swallow  Researchers developed a way to deliver RNA in a capsule that can be swallowed, which could make RNA vaccines easier to tolerate. It could also make it easier to deliver other kinds of therapeutic RNA or DNA directly to the digestive tract, to help treat gastrointestinal disorders. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1/31)

CBS Miami: Florida Senate Signs Off On Telehealth Prescription Proposal  The Florida Senate has unanimously passed a measure that would expand doctors’ ability to prescribe certain controlled substances when treating patients through telehealth. Doctors are currently prohibited from prescribing controlled substances when using telehealth, except in the treatment of patients with psychiatric disorders, inpatients at hospitals and patients in hospice care or nursing home facilities. (1/28)

Miami Herald: Make Sure Prescription Drug Is Right Before Leaving Pharmacy  The increased demand for COVID tests and vaccinations has left many pharmacies understaffed. Because of this, your pharmacist may be working very quickly, and mistakes can happen. In our Miami dermatology practice, we are seeing an increase in the number of prescriptions that have been filled with the wrong medication. (Baumann, M.D., 1/28)

CIDRAP: New Coalition To Focus On Antibiotic Overuse In Agriculture US PIRG (Public Interest Research Group) Education Fund today announced the launch of a new coalition dedicated to reducing antibiotic use in agriculture. The Coalition to Preserve Antibiotics includes physicians, farmers, and animal and public health professionals. The group says in it mission statement that while overuse of antibiotics in any setting can promote the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, its focus is on reducing antibiotic use in agriculture because roughly two thirds of the medically important antibiotics sold in the United States are for use in food-producing animals. (1/27)

CIDRAP: AMR Action Fund Head Aims To Boost Innovation, Funds For New Antibiotics  The news about the antibiotic development in recent years has been, for lack of a better word, rather bleak. Many large pharmaceutical companies have abandoned antibiotic research and development (R&D) because of the poor return on investment. Smaller companies have gone bankrupt after getting a new antibiotic approved, for the very same reason. Multiple analyses have found that the pipeline to replace some of the antibiotics we've relied on for decades has some very good candidates for deadly, multidrug-resistant pathogens, but not enough. And too few of them are truly innovative. (Dall, 1/27)

Nature Medicine: Polypills For The Prevention Of Cardiovascular Disease: A Framework For Wider Use  Combinations of cardiovascular medications taken in a single pill — known as polypills — are effective but not widely used, requiring a global shift from physicians, regulators and drug developers. Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of premature death and disability globally, with disease burden continuing to rise in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)1. Safe and effective preventive treatments for CVDs, such as blood-pressure-lowering drugs, statins and aspirin, have been available for decades. However, most people in LMICs that are at sufficiently increased CVD risk to warrant use of these medications do not receive them2,3. (Patel, et al, 1/31)

Perspectives: Therapeutic Drugs Remain Important Part Of Covid Fight

Read recent commentaries about drug-cost issues.

New England Journal of Medicine: The Goldilocks Time For Remdesivir — Is Any Indication Just Right?  For 2 years, we have been under siege by a lingering global pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In an ideal world, widespread access to and acceptance of vaccines to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection could end the current pandemic; however, given imperfect vaccine uptake and ongoing emergence of variants, it is likely that SARS-CoV-2 will become endemic. (Emily L. Heil, Pharm.D., and Shyam Kottilil, M.D., Ph.D., 1/27)

The Washington Post: Gov. DeSantis Knows These Covid Treatments Don’t Work. He’s Pushing Them Anyway.  If a loved one were sick with the omicron variant and in a hospital, and someone offered a drug that the Food and Drug Administration had prohibited because it didn’t work against omicron, and the manufacturer agreed the treatment wasn’t effective, and the American Medical Association also agreed, and scientific studies showed it wasn’t working, would you urge them to take it anyway? What would you think of the person who offered it? (1/27)

The Wall Street Journal: Robert Califf For The FDA  President Biden hasn’t often stood up to the left with his regulatory nominees, but he did in selecting respected cardiologist Robert Califf to run the Food and Drug Administration. Yet now the Administration is leaving its nominee out on a political limb. A Senate committee this month backed Dr. Califf, 13-8. But five Democratic Senators, including West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, have signaled opposition partly because of his work with pharmaceutical companies, which means he will need GOP votes to be confirmed. Pro-life groups are mobilizing against him too. (1/30)

The Washington Post: The Shadow Pandemic: Antibiotic Resistance Is Growing  Another global health crisis is unfolding in the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic. Antimicrobial resistance, the tendency of bacteria and other pathogens to evolve so they fight or evade lifesaving drugs, is a long-term threat to modern medicine. A new study, drawing from a vast array of data, estimates that 1.27 million deaths were caused worldwide by bacterial antimicrobial resistance in 2019, exceeding the combined toll of HIV/AIDS and malaria. Only ischemic heart disease and stroke that year accounted for more deaths. (1/28)

CNBC: Amarin Has A Big Decision To Make. How Sarissa Capital Can Help It Move Forward Amarin engages in the development and commercialization of therapeutics for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases in the United States. Its lead product is Vascepa, a prescription-only omega-3 fatty acid product, used as an adjunct to diet for reducing triglyceride levels in adult patients with severe hypertriglyceridemia. The company sells its products principally to wholesalers and specialty pharmacy providers. It has a collaboration with Mochida Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. to develop and commercialize drug products and indications based on the active pharmaceutical ingredient in Vascepa, the omega-3 acid, and eicosapentaenoic acid. (Kenneth Squire, 1/29)

Viewpoints: Ivermectin Misinformation Amended; Environmental Sampling Can Identify New Variants

Opinion writers examine these covid related topics.

The Washington Post: Reuters Corrects Article That Oversold Ivermectin As Treatment For Omicron No, a Japanese company did not find that ivermectin was “effective” against the omicron variant in a clinical trial, as Reuters originally reported on Monday. The wire service was forced to correct the article. The actual news, as the current version of the article reads, is that ivermectin carries an “‘antiviral effect’ against Omicron and other coronavirus variants in joint nonclinical research.” (Erik Wemple, 2/1)

The New York Times: Clues To The Next Variant Are All Around Us When scientists in South Africa noticed an uptick in Covid-19 cases in the Gauteng Province last November, they began investigating the source. These researchers and others in Botswana quickly discovered the Omicron variant and heroically shared their discovery with the rest of the world. And yet it was still too late — Omicron was already rapidly infecting people across the globe. The question for a world enduring the variant’s astonishing surge is how can we discover the next one early enough to stop its spread. (Rick Bright, 2/2)

New England Journal of Medicine: Universal Coronavirus Vaccines — An Urgent Need We need a research approach that can characterize the global “coronaviral universe” in multiple species, characterize the natural history and pathogenesis of coronaviruses in laboratory animals and in humans, and apply this information in developing broadly protective “universal” vaccines (protecting against all betacoronaviruses, and ideally all coronaviruses). (David M. Morens, M.D., Jeffery K. Taubenberger, M.D., Ph.D., and Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., 1/27)

The Washington Post: Yes, More Variants May Emerge In The Future. That’s Why We Should Lift Restrictions Now Many areas are already seeing a steep decline in infections. New York City’s case numbers are about seven times lower than just three weeks ago, and hospitalizations are down. Others in the throes of the omicron wave are expected to emerge by the end of February. A new sub-variant — the so-called stealth omicron — could complicate recovery due its heightened contagiousness, but vaccinated and boosted people still appear to be protected. Between the vaccinated and those with at least temporary immunity due to recent infection, we should have enough population immunity to experience a lull in the coming months. (Leana S. Wen, 2/1)

CNN: Dr. Tom Frieden: Why I'm Cautiously Optimistic About Covid-19  Although it's possible that deadly new coronavirus variants could emerge, I'm more optimistic today than at any point since the Covid-19 pandemic began. Here's why. Despite growing pandemic fatigue and rough weeks ahead as the Omicron tsunami recedes, we're better defended against Covid than ever. Vaccines and prior infection have steadily strengthened our collective immune defenses. We have now built up a wall of immunity -- although we have lost far, far too many people along the way to get here. In 2020, failure to follow public health recommendations greatly increased the death toll in the United States and elsewhere. In 2021, failure to reach people with vaccination -- largely due to partisan opposition and entrenched resistance in the US, and lack of access in many countries -- had lethal consequences. (Dr. Tom Frieden, 2/1)

Stat: Race Alone Shouldn't Be Used To Allocate Scarce Covid-19 Treatments  In hospitals and health care systems, life and death decisions are being made about who should get scarce antiviral medications from Pfizer and Merck and monoclonal antibodies from AstraZeneca and Vir/GSK. These medicines can keep people out of the hospital and save lives. Given the limited supplies of these medicines, race — along with other variables — is being used to determine who gets them in many states battling the Omicron surge. Hospitals and health care workers are forced to make agonizing triage decisions tantamount to deciding who shall live or die. (Lawrence O. Gostin and David Beier, 2/2)

Seattle Times: Here Within This Very Column, We Have Two COVID Experts …  When officials announced that the Spanish flu pandemic was on the wane in Seattle back in 1918, people poured into the streets in celebration. It happened to coincide with the end of World War I, giving double cause for joy. But the demise of the disease was a major part of the revelry. "The Flu Ban is Lifted!" trumpeted a clothing store ad in the Seattle Daily Times, in November 1918, inviting everyone to come back downtown after weeks of lockdowns and quarantines. (Danny Westneat, 2/1)

Different Takes: Kansas May Eliminate All Vaccine Requirements; Hospitals Must Comply With Price Transparency

Editorial writers delve into these public health issues.

Kansas City Star: Kansas Could Quit Mandating All Vaccines, Not Just COVID-19  Like every other state, Kansas requires a variety of vaccinations for young children, all designed to prevent deadly diseases — polio, diphtheria, measles, mumps, rubella, chicken pox, and others. “Routine childhood immunizations against infectious diseases are an integral part of our public health infrastructure,” says the American Academy of Pediatrics. “STAND UP for your kids to keep them healthy,” says Nurture KC. “If you don’t, who will? Vaccines save lives.” So it’s beyond disturbing that some Kansas lawmakers may still try, this year, to loosen or eliminate all vaccine requirements in the state. Yes, all, not just those involving the COVID-19 vaccine. (2/2)

Los Angeles Daily News: Hospital Price Disclosures Reveal Prices Can Vary By Ten Times  Last month, the federal government revealed that the U.S. spent $4.1 trillion on healthcare in 2020, over 20% of GDP and twice as much as the developed-world average. While hundreds of billions of dollars were spent fighting Covid-19, the overwhelming majority went to propping up the country’s broken healthcare system. National healthcare spending has doubled, adjusted for inflation, since 2000. (Cynthia A. Fisher, 2/1)

Stat: What's Next For Digital Mental Health Companies?  Digital mental health start-ups may be looking like big tech companies — consider the $5.1 billion in venture capital investment in 2021 — but is their economic value matched by their impact and clinical value? It’s an inconvenient question with a short answer: It’s too early to tell. There’s no question that the most successful companies are disrupting the delivery of mental health care by offering access and convenience. And why not? Unlike medical or surgical specialties built around procedures, most mental health care involves assessment by an interview and treatment with medication and psychotherapy. Every part of this can be done remotely, with quicker response times and greater convenience than available in traditional office-based practices. (Thomas R. Insel, 2/2)

The Hill: Record Enrollment Numbers Send A Clear Message About Health Care Affordability, Access   As the Senate mulls action of Build Back Better, 14.5 million people across America have already voiced their support for more affordable health coverage through record-breaking enrollment in Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace plans during this year’s open enrollment. Announced last week, this figure shatters the previous enrollment record of 12.6 million in 2016. And though the economic fallout from COVID-19 pandemic created a greater need for accessible marketplace insurance, unemployment numbers are back near pre-pandemic totals. This points to a different driver of this record enrollment that should guide the president and Congress in Build Back Better negotiations: more affordable coverage and assistance make a huge difference in people’s lives. (Emily Stewart, 2/1)

San Diego Union-Tribune: California Can't Manage Universal Health Care. I'm Glad My Assembly Colleagues Killed It  Would you put the California Department of Motor Vehicles in charge of your health care? How about the state’s Employment Development Department, which during the worst months of the pandemic lost at least $20 billion to fraud, while denying benefits to millions suffering from losing their jobs? (Laurie Davies, 2/1)

CalMatters: Would State Health Care Work Better Than EDD?  The best argument against California’s taking over management of health care for every Californian may be the Employment Development Department’s abysmal record of mismanaging the delivery of unemployment insurance and disability insurance benefits to those unable to work. When you think about it, there’s a remarkable similarity between what EDD does — or more correctly, what it’s supposed to do — and the single-payer, centrally directed health care system that those on the political left so fervently desire. (Dan Walters, 2/1)

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