First Edition: Sept. 15, 2021
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
KHN:
Over Half Of States Have Rolled Back Public Health Powers In Pandemic
Republican legislators in more than half of U.S. states, spurred on by voters angry about lockdowns and mask mandates, are taking away the powers state and local officials use to protect the public against infectious diseases. A KHN review of hundreds of pieces of legislation found that, in all 50 states, legislators have proposed bills to curb such public health powers since the covid-19 pandemic began. While some governors vetoed bills that passed, at least 26 states pushed through laws that permanently weaken government authority to protect public health. In three additional states, an executive order, ballot initiative or state Supreme Court ruling limited long-held public health powers. More bills are pending in a handful of states whose legislatures are still in session. (Weber and Barry-Jester, 9/15)
KHN:
Biden Releases A New Plan To Combat Covid, But Experts Say There’s Still A Ways To Go
On the campaign trail last year, Joe Biden promised that, if elected president, he would get covid-19 under control. Since assuming office in January, Biden has continued to pledge that his administration would do its best to get Americans vaccinated against covid and allow life to return to some semblance of normal. Both signs of progress and setbacks have cropped up along the way. (Knight and Appleby, 9/15)
KHN:
Census: Insured Population Holds Steady, With A Slight Shift From Private To Public Coverage
Despite a pandemic-fueled recession, the number of uninsured Americans has increased only slightly since 2018, according to Census Bureau health insurance data released Tuesday. Twenty-eight million people, or 8.6% of Americans, were uninsured for all of 2020. In 2019, 8% of people were uninsured during the full year; in 2018, it was 8.5%. (Knight and Appleby, 9/14)
KHN:
Justice Department Targets Data Mining In Medicare Advantage Fraud Case
The Justice Department has accused an upstate New York health insurance plan for seniors and its medical analytics company of cheating the government out of tens of millions of dollars. The civil complaint of fraud, filed late Monday, is the first by the federal government to target a data mining company for allegedly helping a Medicare Advantage program game federal billing regulations to overcharge for patient treatment. (Schulte, 9/14 )
NPR:
The Justice Department Wants A Judge To Temporarily Block Texas' Abortion Ban
The Justice Department asked a federal judge in Texas to temporarily block enforcement of the state's new law that bans abortions after about six weeks. This step, a major move by the Biden administration against the highly controversial law, follows a lawsuit filed by the Justice Department last week. The Biden administration asked the court late Tuesday to implement the preliminary injunction while the lawsuit plays out in federal court. Texas's abortion ban essentially stops the procedure in the country's second-largest state. Most people don't know they are pregnant before six weeks. (Diaz, 9/15)
The Wall Street Journal:
Justice Department Asks Federal Judge To Quickly Block Texas Abortion Law
The Justice Department asked a federal judge to block a restrictive Texas abortion law temporarily while its lawsuit challenging the state’s near-ban on the procedure moves forward. “This relief is necessary to protect the constitutional rights of women in Texas and the sovereign interest of the United States in ensuring that its states respect the terms of the national compact,” the department said in an emergency motion late Tuesday that seeks a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction against the Texas law. (Kendall and Bravin, 9/15)
ABC News:
SCOTUS Allowing Texas To Mostly Ban Abortions 'Very Bad' But Not Political: Justice Breyer
Justice Stephen Breyer said Tuesday the Supreme Court’s recent 5-4 decision allowing Texas to effectively ban abortion across the state was “very bad” but not politically motivated. “We don’t trade votes, and members of the court have different judicial philosophies,” Breyer, the court’s most senior liberal justice, told George Stephanopoulos on ABC's "Good Morning America." (Dwyer, 9/14)
The Hill:
Senators Denounce Protest Staged Outside Home Of Justice Kavanaugh
The top Democratic and Republican members of a powerful Senate panel condemned a protest held Monday night outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, stating that public officials’ residences and families should be off limits. The protest, organized by the liberal group ShutDownDC, came in response to the Supreme Court’s 5-4 vote earlier this month to leave intact Texas’s new six-week abortion ban, which many legal experts see as a possible precursor to the further erosion of abortion rights. (Kruzel, 9/14)
San Antonio Express-News:
PR Firm Offers Employees $10K To Leave Texas Over Abortion Ban
A California-based public relations firm is offering its Texas-based employees $10,000 to help them move out of the state in response to a new Texas law that cuts off abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected. Bospar, a tech public relations agency out of San Francisco, made the announcement last week. “Companies and businesses with employees in Texas have a choice right now: offer employees control of their own reproductive health or risk them leaving,” Sarah Freeman, a Bospar senior account executive based in Austin, said in a news release. (Pettaway, 9/14)
The Washington Post:
Poverty Fell In 2020 Amid Massive Stimulus Checks And Unemployment Aid, Census Bureau Says
U.S. poverty fell overall in 2020, a surprising decline largely due to the swift and substantial federal relief that Congress enacted at the start of the pandemic to try to prevent widespread financial hardship as the nation experienced the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. The U.S. Census Bureau reported poverty fell to 9.1 percent in 2020 after accounting for all the government aid — the lowest rate on record and a significant decline from 11.8 percent in 2019. (Long and Goldstein, 9/14)
Houston Chronicle:
Stimulus Checks Saved Many From Poverty, Despite Pandemic Unemployment, Data Shows
Data released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau shows that federal stimulus payments kept more than 11 million people from falling into poverty despite massive job losses amid the COVID-19 pandemic last year. The Supplemental Poverty Measure, which takes into account government assistance programs not included in the official poverty measure, fell from 11.8 percent in 2019 to 9.1 percent in 2020, despite an 11.5 percent drop in the number of full-time, year-round workers. (González Kelly, 9/14)
Stat:
House Moderates Rebel Against Pelosi Drug Pricing Plan
Three moderate House Democrats are making good on their threat to oppose Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s aggressive Medicare drug price negotiation, leaving its fate uncertain. Reps. Scott Peters (Calif.), Kurt Schrader (Ore.) and Kathleen Rice (N.Y.) have publicly stated their intentions to vote down Pelosi’s drug pricing plan as part of the House Energy & Commerce Committee’s markup on a sprawling safety-net package Democrats are advancing this week. (Cohrs, 9/14)
Stat:
Key Senator Opposes Democrats’ Target For Drug Pricing Savings
An influential Senate Democrat is pushing back against his party’s efforts to cut $600 billion out of the drug industry as part of a massive yet-to-be-unveiled spending package. Since July, it’s been widely reported that Democrats are seeking around $600 billion in savings from the pharmaceutical industry to help pay for a number of policy priorities. But Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) told STAT in an interview Tuesday that he believed the goal of cutting $600 billion out of the drug industry was too ambitious. (Florko and Cohrs, 9/14)
USA Today:
Social Security Could Get Biggest Cost-Of-Living Increase In 40 Years Amid COVID-19-Related Inflation Surge
After years of puny increases in their Social Security checks, older Americans will likely get the equivalent of a big raise next year. The 68 million people -- including retirees, disabled people and others – who rely on the benefits are likely to receive a 6% to 6.1% cost-of-living adjustment next year because of a COVID-19-related spike in inflation, according to the Senior Citizen League. Such a rise would far outpace 1.4% average bumps in Social Security payments since 2010 and amount to the largest increase since 1982, according to the Senior Citizen League. (Davidson, 9/14)
Politico:
Treasury To Release More Rental Aid To Avert Evictions
The Treasury Department said Tuesday it plans to award the remaining $13 billion in federal rental aid to states and localities that have been the most effective at delivering the assistance, in a new bid to speed up the housing rescue. Houston, Philadelphia and New Orleans are among the cities expected to receive additional aid. State and local programs that have “substantially expended” their first round of funding and obligated at least 75 percent of their second round will be eligible for more money, Treasury said. (O'Donnell, 9/14)
Modern Healthcare:
DOJ Intervenes In False Claims Act Suit Against Medicare Advantage Insurer
The federal government is suing a New York Medicare Advantage insurer under the False Claims Act, accusing it of bilking the government for millions of dollars by making its members appear sicker than they were. The Justice Department is intervening in a whistleblower lawsuit against Buffalo-based Independent Health, its now-defunct risk adjustment subsidiary, DxID, and DxID's former CEO. The government won a $6.4 million settlement against Seattle-based Group Health Cooperative, another defendant in the original case, last year. Kaiser Permanente acquired the company in 2017, five years after prosecutors began their case against Group Health Cooperative. (Bannow, 9/14)
Modern Healthcare:
Aetna Lied About Provider Network To Win Medicaid Contracts, Suit Alleges
Aetna illegally secured contracts with Pennsylvania's Medicaid program by misrepresenting the number of pediatric providers in its network, according to a federal whistleblower lawsuit unsealed Tuesday. The insurer benefited from this alleged fraud because the lack of providers limited access to care, saving Aetna money. Aetna Better Health of Pennsylvania CEO Jason Rottman and Alice Jefferson, director of the company's quality management division, are named as defendants along with the company in the lawsuit, which was filed in the Western District of Pennsylvania. (Tepper, 9/14)
NBC News:
Feds Announce New Limits On Chokeholds And 'No-Knock' Warrants, But Don't Ban Them
The Justice Department on Tuesday announced new limits on chokeholds and no-knock warrants, but stopped short of banning the controversial law enforcement tactics that critics say have led to unnecessary deaths. Under the new policy, the department's law enforcement components, including the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Marshals Service, are prohibited from using the tactics except when they believe doing so would save them from death or serious injury. (Dilanian, 9/14)
CNN:
Justice Department Limits Use Of Chokeholds And 'No-Knock' Warrants
While the memo is directed at federal law enforcement agencies and does not mention high-profile deaths of civilians who died by the hands of local police officers, the Justice Department acknowledged that "the use of certain physical restraint techniques -- namely chokeholds and carotid restraints -- by some law enforcement agencies to incapacitate a resisting suspect has too often led to tragedy." The policy change affects federal agents, and local and state officers serving on federal task forces. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco in a memo released Tuesday cited "the inherent dangerousness of chokeholds and carotid restraints," and said the DOJ relied on "feedback from our law enforcement components on these techniques." (Carrega and Nickeas, 9/14)
Los Angeles Times:
Newsom Soundly Defeats California Recall Attempt
California Gov. Gavin Newsom survived a historic recall election Tuesday, winning a major vote of confidence during a COVID-19 pandemic that has shattered families and livelihoods and tested his ability to lead the state through the largest worldwide health crisis in modern times. The recall offered Republicans their best chance in more than a decade to take the helm of the largest state in the union. But the effort was undercut when Newsom and the nation’s leading Democrats, aided by visits to California by President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, portrayed the campaign to oust the governor as a “life and death” battle against “Trumpism” and far-right anti-vaccine activists. (Willon, Luna and Wick, 9/14)
Sacramento Bee:
‘We Said Yes To Ending This Pandemic.’ Gavin Newsom Makes Victory Speech In Sacramento
Gov. Gavin Newsom made an appearance in Sacramento on Tuesday less than an hour after polls closed to declare victory over the Republican-led recall effort to oust him from office. ... “I want to focus on what we said yes to as a state,” he said. “We said yes to science. We said yes to vaccines. We said yes to ending this pandemic. We said yes to all those things that we hold dear as Californians and I would argue as Americans. Economic justice, social justice, racial justice, environmental justice are the values where California has made so much progress — all of those things were on the ballot this evening.” During his brief victory speech, Newsom also denounced Trumpism. (Bojorquez, 9/14)
CNN:
US Military Branches Set Deadline For Members To Be Vaccinated Against Covid-19
The US Army will require all active-duty military members to he vaccinated by December 15, 2021, and all National Guard soldiers will be required to be vaccinated by June 30, 2022, the Army said in a statement released Tuesday. ... The US Air Force has also set deadlines for when their personnel will need to be vaccinated. The Air Force will require active-duty military members to be fully vaccinated by November 2, 2021. Air Force National Guard and Air Force Reserve personnel will need to be vaccinated by December 2, 2021, a release from the Air Force said on September 3. ... The US Navy will require all active-duty service members to be fully vaccinated by November 28, 2021 and all Navy Reserve service members to be vaccinated by December 28, 2021, the Navy said in a release on August 21. The US Marine Corps active-duty members also must be vaccinated by November 28 and reservists must be vaccinated by December 28, a release from the US Marine Corps said. (Kaufman and Liebermann, 9/14)
Reuters:
U.S. Army Says Soldiers Who Refuse COVID-19 Vaccine Could Be Dismissed
American army officers who refuse to be vaccinated against the coronavirus could be suspended from their duties and possibly discharged, the U.S. Army said on Tuesday. ... However, commanders, command sergeants major, first sergeants and officers in Command Select List positions who refuse to be vaccinated and are not pending an exemption request would face suspension and relief if they refuse to comply, the Army said in a statement. (9/15)
The Hill:
Arizona Attorney General Sues Biden Over Vaccine Mandates
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration on Tuesday in response to its new policy that will require private employers with 100 or more employees to mandate vaccines or weekly testing. “The federal government cannot force people to get the COVID-19 vaccine. The Biden Administration is once again flouting our laws and precedents to push their radical agenda,” Brnovich, who is currently waging a bid for the U.S. Senate, said in a statement. (Schnell, 9/14)
Modern Healthcare:
Federal Judge Grants Temporary Restraining Order On N.Y. State Vaccine Mandate
A federal judge on Tuesday granted a temporary restraining order against the state enforcing its vaccine mandate on healthcare workers. The state Department of Health on Aug. 26 required all healthcare workers to have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by Sept. 27, with no religious exemptions or options for testing. David Hurd, a judge in the Northern District of New York, enjoined named defendants Gov. Kathy Hochul, state Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker and Attorney General Letitia James from preventing employers from providing religious exemptions.The state Health Department is also barred from interfering with entities granting such exemptions moving forward, Hurd said in the order. (Crain's New York Business, 9/14)
Bloomberg:
Religious Exemptions Must Be Allowed Under N.Y. Vaccine Rule, Judge Says
Two vaccine mandates imposed on health workers in New York state and New York City teachers were temporarily blocked by judges. State court judge Laurence L. Love issued a temporary restraining order Tuesday barring New York City’s health department from requiring education workers to be vaccinated. Love’s order was issued just hours after a federal judge temporarily blocked New York state officials from imposing a Covid-19 vaccine requirement on health care workers who claim the shot violates their religious beliefs. (Van Voris, Larson and Dolmetsch, 9/14)
Bloomberg:
Federal Vaccine Mandate May Overwhelm US Covid Testing Capacity
The U.S. may not have enough tests to keep pace with the Biden administration’s tightened workplace Covid-19 mitigation measures. Under regulation expected in the coming weeks, companies with 100 or more employees will need to require that workers get vaccinated or undergo weekly testing. That could represent nearly double the volume of tests currently being processed, and may make already hard-to-find rapid tests more scarce and lengthen wait times in lines and for results. “We’re going to get logjammed,” said Michael Mina, an epidemiologist with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “We’re going to have major problems. We’re not going to have the production capacity.” (Court, 9/14)
USA Today:
At Least 1 Out Of Every 500 Americans Has Died From COVID
The United States reached another grim pandemic milestone on Tuesday: One of every 500 Americans has died of COVID-19, Johns Hopkins University data shows. With the 662,899th death, America reported a toll equal to 0.2% of the population, based on the number of people who answered the 2020 Census that was conducted near the beginning of the pandemic. Half of those deaths have happened since just before Christmas 2020. (Santucci, 9/15)
AP:
COVID-19 Cases Climbing, Wiping Out Months Of Progress
COVID-19 deaths and cases in the U.S. have climbed back to levels not seen since last winter, erasing months of progress and potentially bolstering President Joe Biden’s argument for his sweeping new vaccination requirements. The cases — driven by the delta variant combined with resistance among some Americans to getting the vaccine — are concentrated mostly in the South. (Hollingsworth, Bussewitz and Long, 9/14)
The New York Times:
Covid Hospitalizations Hit Crisis Levels in Southern I.C.U.s
Hospitals in the southern United States are running dangerously low on space in intensive care units, as the Delta variant has led to spikes in coronavirus cases not seen since last year’s deadly winter wave. One in four hospitals now reports more than 95 percent of I.C.U. beds occupied — up from one in five last month. Experts say it can become difficult to maintain standards of care for the sickest patients in hospitals where all or nearly all I.C.U. beds are occupied. (Smart, 9/14)
The New York Times:
Alaska E.R. Patients Are Waiting Hours In Vehicles As A Major Hospital Rations Care.
Alaska’s largest hospital announced Tuesday that a relentless coronavirus outbreak driven by the highly contagious Delta virus variant has left emergency room patients waiting hours in their vehicles and forced medical teams to ration care. At Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage, the hospital said it was now operating under “crisis standards of care” — procedures put in place to prioritize resources in a way that may leave some patients with substandard care. (Baker, 9/15)
Fox News:
‘Long COVID’ Affects 1 In 10 Kids, Israel Survey Finds
Approximately 1 in 10 Israeli children experienced lasting COVID-19 symptoms after recovering from their illnesses, according to the country’s Health Ministry. Findings from a phone survey conducted from late May-June 2021 drew from 13,834 parents of kids aged 3-18 who recovered from COVID-19. Results indicated 11.2% of the kids experienced "some symptoms after recovery," however the figure dropped to 1.8% to 4.6% six months following acute illness, depending on the child’s age. (Rivas, 9/14)
USA Today:
Long COVID In Kids: Lasting Illnesses Are Puzzling, Can Be Crippling
Thirteen-year-old Rose Lehane Tureen’s debilitating headache has lasted a year and a half. At 5 months old, Madelynn Birchmeier stopped reaching developmental milestones. She couldn’t hold a bottle and didn’t have the strength to crawl or sit up on her own. Now a year old, she’s undergoing therapy with hopes she’ll catch up. For 7-year-old Waylon Wehrle, complications from COVID-19 stole his memory along with his ability to walk and talk. After months in hospitals and rehab, he has slowly improved but will have diabetes the rest of his life. The virus heightened 14-year-old Nicaja Taylor’s anxiety and asthma and also may have triggered diabetes. (Jordan Shamus and Weintraub, 9/14)
Politico:
Biden's Team Tightens Grip On State Use Of Covid Antibody Treatments
The Biden administration is imposing new limits on states’ ability to access to Covid-19 antibody treatments amid rising demand from GOP governors who have relied on the drug as a primary weapon against the virus. Federal health officials plan to allocate specific amounts to each state under the new approach, in an effort to more evenly distribute the 150,000 doses that the government makes available each week. (Cancryn, 9/14)
Bloomberg:
U.S. To Supply Covid Drugs Based On Cases Amid Delta Surge
The U.S. government plans to more directly control where Covid-19 antibody treatments are sent amid a surge in infections and hospitalizations in states with large pockets of unvaccinated people. Hospitals and other care providers will no longer be able to directly order monoclonal antibody therapies from distributors, according to a Sept. 13 update posted on the Department of Health and Human Services website. Instead, the U.S. government will determine what quantity of the drugs to ship to each state and territory based on Covid-19 case numbers and use of the treatments locally. State health departments will then determine how to distribute the antibody therapies to hospitals and other sites, according to the HHS update. (Griffin and Court, 9/14)
AP:
Florida Gov Defends The Right To Choose Whether To Vaccinate
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday that people who decide not to get a COVID-19 vaccine might be making the wrong choice, but defended their right to make that choice. Speaking a day after holding a news conference to condemn vaccine mandates, DeSantis agreed that vaccines save lives. “There are some of those folks who may make a decision that’s not ultimately the right decision for them,” DeSantis said at a news conference Tuesday in Miami-Dade county. “There’s obviously probably people that have been hospitalized who probably wouldn’t have been if they had done that.” (Farrington, 9/14)
The Washington Post:
Ron DeSantis Stands By As Florida City Officials Falsely Say Covid Vaccine ’Changes Your RNA’
After Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said Monday that cities and counties in the state could face millions of dollars in fines for requiring their employees to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, he stood silently next to a Gainesville city employee who spread misinformation about the vaccines. “The vaccine changes your RNA, so for me that’s a problem,” said Darris Friend, a 22-year city employee who is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against the Gainesville government over its vaccine requirements for all municipal employees. “We don’t want to have the vaccine. It’s about our freedom and liberty.” (Bella, 9/14)
AP:
Ohio Governor Would Issue Mask Mandate If Law Allowed
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Tuesday said he would have issued a statewide mask mandate to slow spiking cases of the coronavirus if the Legislature hadn’t tied his hands through a strict restriction on public health orders. DeWine, a Republican, said he fears a fight with fellow GOP lawmakers, including one that might end up in court, could cause confusion at the worst time. (Welsh-Huggins, 9/14)
The Hill:
McAuliffe Releases 'Virginia Is For Vaccine Lovers' Plan To Increase Vaccination Rates
Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe released a proposal on Tuesday to increase coronavirus vaccination rates in the commonwealth, dubbed "Virginia is for Vaccine Lovers." The campaign, which is a play on Virginia's travel and tourism slogan, marks the former governor's twentieth policy proposal of the campaign. (Manchester, 9/14)
CBS News:
Broadway Reopens At Full Capacity With Shows Including "Hamilton"
Four big shows are returning to Broadway, and at full capacity. Audience members are required to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19. ... After a year and a half in the dark, not only have Broadway's lights, performers and workers returned, but so have the audiences. One pair of friends came from Illinois and Colorado. Marie Jarrell told CBS News that seeing a Broadway show again was "gonna make me cry." (Wax, 9/14)
Palm Beach Post:
COVID Kills 6 Unvaccinated Members Of Palm Beach County Family In 3 Weeks
For months, Lisa Wilson went door to door in Belle Glade, Florida, trying to convince people to get the coronavirus vaccine. Wilson, a longtime aide to Palm Beach County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay, persuaded pastors to preach about the need to get shots. Her husband, Belle Glade Mayor Steve Wilson, was one of the first in the western farming community to roll up his sleeve, hoping others would follow his example. But despite Wilson’s insistence that the shots would save lives, some members of her own family ignored her. In the last three weeks, six of them died from complications of COVID-19. (Musgrave, 9/14)
The Washington Post:
Conservative Radio Host Bob Enyart Dies Of Covid After Boycotting Vaccine Over Abortion Claim
For years, Bob Enyart used his conservative media platform in Denver to mock those who died of AIDS by name or call for women who receive abortions to face the death penalty. Recently, the radio talk-show host — who had successfully sued the state over mask mandates and capacity limits in Colorado churches last year — joined a chorus of conservative voices who have bashed the coronavirus vaccine and vowed to stay unvaccinated. In Enyart’s case, he pushed for boycotting vaccination because of the debunked claim that the vaccines were developed using aborted fetal cells. (Bella, 9/14)
Modern Healthcare:
Bay Area Healthcare Workers Vote To Strike Alleging Widespread Understaffing
More than 500 healthcare workers at two facilities in the San Francisco Bay Area voted to strike, saying they've endured understaffing, challenging working conditions, and unfair labor practices. Set to take place in October, the strikes will include a variety of employees from Sutter Delta Medical Center in Antioch and John Muir Behavioral Health Center in Concord, including emergency room technicians, mental health counselors, respiratory therapists, transporters and licensed vocational nurses, among other positions. Workers at each location allege that the facilities' dire conditions stem from management ignoring concerns about severe understaffing. (Devereaux, 9/14)
CBS News:
Deprived Of Work By COVID, Prison Escapee Turns Himself In After 30 Years Of Beach Life On The Lam
A 64-year-old fugitive walked into a Sydney police station to give himself up almost 30 years after he used a hacksaw blade and bolt cutters to escape from prison, police said on Wednesday. Darko Desic decided to go back to prison because Sydney's COVID-19 lockdown made him jobless and homeless, media reported. Desic surrendered at Dee Why Police Station at Sydney's fashionable northern beaches on Sunday morning and was denied bail when he appeared in a downtown court on Tuesday charged with escaping from lawful custody in 1992, a police statement said. The charge carries a potential seven-year prison sentence. (9/15)
The Washington Post:
NBA Won’t Require Players To Be Vaccinated This Season
The NBA will not require its players to be vaccinated against the coronavirus this season, a person familiar with the situation confirmed Tuesday. As reported earlier in the day by ESPN, the players’ union is opposing a vaccine mandate, the person confirmed. Approximately 85 percent of NBA players are already vaccinated, a spokesman for the league reportedly stated Tuesday. (Bieler, 9/14)
AP:
AP Source: 6 Saints Coaches Have Positive COVID-19 Tests
Six unidentified members of the New Orleans Saints coaching staff, a player and a nutritionist have tested positive for COVID-19, two people familiar with the situation said. The people spoke with The Associated Press on Tuesday on condition of anonymity because the team and NFL had not made a public statement about the matter. The people said the entire Saints coaching staff had been vaccinated. (Martel, 9/15)
AP:
Buffalo Bills To Require Proof Of Vaccination From Fans
The Buffalo Bills joined the Las Vegas Raiders on Tuesday as the only NFL teams to require proof of vaccination against COVID-19 for all fans over the age of 12. The rules will be the same for Buffalo Sabres games at the KeyBank Center when the NHL season gets under way next month. The change comes after reports from fans about lax mask enforcement during the Bills’ opening game at Highmark Stadium Sept. 12. (9/14)
CIDRAP:
Severe COVID Linked To More Self-Attacking Antibodies, Study Says
Hospitalized COVID-19 patients were more likely to have autoantibodies, or self-attacking antibodies, than those without COVID-19, according to a study today in Nature Communications. The researchers looked at March and April 2020 blood samples from 147 COVID-19 patients at Stanford-affiliated hospitals, as well as 48 patients from Kaiser Permanente in California, although most of the study's assessments didn't involve the whole cohort. (9/14)
CIDRAP:
83% Of Stem Cell Recipients Produce Antibodies After 2 COVID-19 Vaccine Doses
Stem cell transplant recipients with cancers like leukemia had an antibody response rate of 83% to the second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, with almost two-thirds having very strong responses, an observational, single-center study today in JAMA Network Open finds. Researchers from Nantes University Hospital in France studied 117 coronavirus-naïve adults who received a donor stem cell transplant for the treatment of hematologic cancer and were given two doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine from Jan 20 to Apr 17. The median interval between the two doses was 22 days. (Van Beusekom, 9/14)
The Boston Globe:
Boston Children’s Gets $20 Million Donation To Research, Treat Pediatric Heart Disease
Boston Children’s Hospital on Tuesday said it has received a $20 million donation from the Benderson Family Foundation to research and treat pediatric heart disease. The donation will create two endowed chairs at the heart center and fund research programs, hospital officials said in a news release. “Ten years from now, we will look back and remember that a decade of progress began today with this generous gift,” said Dr. Pedro del Nido, chairman of the department of cardiovascular surgery. The hospital’s cardiovascular programs, renamed as the Benderson Family Heart Center, will move into a new clinical tower on the Boston Children’s Longwood campus, which is expected to open next summer. The heart center will span more than five floors at the new Hale Family Building. (9/14)
Bloomberg:
Elizabeth Holmes Trial Today: Theranos Whistle-Blower Says She Was ‘Star-Struck’
Erika Cheung told jurors she was “star-struck” when Elizabeth Holmes interviewed her for a job at Theranos Inc. but eventually quit the blood-testing startup because she was “uncomfortable” with how patient samples were processed. Cheung’s potential to deliver devastating testimony at Holmes’s fraud trial was clear before she took the stand Tuesday. She knows from the inside the deepest secrets at the company Holmes founded, and her decision to speak up about the wrongdoing she claims to have detected at the company is a central reason Holmes faces as long as 20 years in prison if she’s convicted. (Rosenblatt, 9/14)
The Wall Street Journal:
Facebook Knows Instagram Is Toxic For Teen Girls, Company Documents Show
About a year ago, teenager Anastasia Vlasova started seeing a therapist. She had developed an eating disorder, and had a clear idea of what led to it: her time on Instagram. She joined the platform at 13, and eventually was spending three hours a day entranced by the seemingly perfect lives and bodies of the fitness influencers who posted on the app. “When I went on Instagram, all I saw were images of chiseled bodies, perfect abs and women doing 100 burpees in 10 minutes,” said Ms. Vlasova, now 18, who lives in Reston, Va. (Wells, Horwitz and Seetharaman, 9/14)
The Wall Street Journal:
Senators Seek Answers From Facebook After WSJ Report On Instagram’s Impact On Young Users
Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Marsha Blackburn said they would launch a probe into Facebook Inc.’s internal research on the way its Instagram photo- and video-sharing service affects young users, prompted by a Wall Street Journal investigation that showed the company knew the app was harmful to some in that group. The Democratic chairman and ranking Republican on the Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security Subcommittee on Tuesday also said that they were in touch with someone they identified as “a Facebook whistleblower” and “will use every resource at our disposal to investigate what Facebook knew and when they knew it—including seeking further documents and pursuing witness testimony.” In the statement, the senators said, “The Wall Street Journal’s blockbuster reporting may only be the tip of the iceberg.” (Seetharaman, 9/14)
Fox News:
Vaping Linked To Increased Eating Disorder Risk Among US College Students
Recent vaping or e-cigarette use was associated with an increased risk of an eating disorder and a higher likelihood of a self-reported eating disorder diagnosis, according to a recent study. While vaping is common among young adults and eating disorder onset typically occurs before age 25, the association was unknown among a national sample of college students, researchers wrote. An estimated 22% of college kids reported recent nicotine vaping in 2019, authors noted, while up to "29% of female, 16% of male and 14% of transgender/gender non-conforming college students report symptoms of eating disorders," the study notes in part. (Rivas, 9/14)
Bloomberg:
TikTok Unveils Tools In App To Tackle Mental-Health Issues
TikTok, the video-sharing app owned by China’s ByteDance Ltd., said it’s stepping up tools to support users facing mental health issues, including redirecting potentially distressed users to suicide-prevention or eating-disorder resources. When users search the app for terms like “suicide,” TikTok will point them to local support organizations such as the Crisis Text Line to find treatment, the company said Tuesday in a blog post. TikTok also plans to promote videos of content creators talking about their mental health challenges and will offer advice on how to talk to loved ones about these issues. (Nix, 9/14)
The Washington Post:
How One Of The Largest Nursing Home Chains In Florida Could Avoid Nearly All Of $256 Million Fraud Judgment
The Justice Department and a medical whistleblower have tentatively agreed to settle a $256 million civil fraud judgment against a large nursing home chain for $4.5 million, according to court documents filed Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. Entities operating under Consulate Health Care, a chain based in Florida tied to private equity company Formation Capital, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March. The sixth-largest nursing home chain in the country with 140 facilities from the Mid-Atlantic to the Gulf Coast, it said it did not have the resources to pay the large False Claims Act judgment against it. (Rowland, 9/14)
The Boston Globe:
Two New Human Cases Of West Nile Virus Detected In Massachusetts
Two new human cases of West Nile virus have been detected in Essex and Middlesex counties bringing the state’s total this year to six human cases and one animal case, Massachusetts public health officials said Tuesday. The virus was found in a woman in her 70′s who was exposed in Essex County, and a man in his 60′s who was exposed in Middlesex County, according to a statement from the state Department of Public Health. The cases bring the state total for this year up to six, one more than last year, the state said. (Redefer, 9/14)
Bloomberg:
Thousands Of Covid-Like Cases Raise Risk Of Future Pandemics
Hundreds of thousands of people may be infected annually by animals carrying coronaviruses related to the one that causes Covid-19 in China and Southeast Asia, according to a study emphasizing the ongoing pandemic threat from spillover events. An average of 400,000 such infections occur each year, most going unrecognized because they cause mild or no symptoms and aren’t easily transmitted between people, researchers with the EcoHealth Alliance and Singapore’s Duke-NUS Medical School said in a study released Thursday before peer review and publication. Still, each spillover represents an opportunity for viral adaptation that could lead to a Covid-like outbreak. (Gale, 9/14)
AP:
Mexico Finishes 3-Month Push To Vaccinate Border Residents
The Mexican government said Tuesday it has successfully completed a three-month push to provide coronavirus vaccines to all adult residents of communities along its border with the United States. Mexico said that when it began the effort in June, it hoped the mass vaccinations would aid in lifting pandemic restrictions on non-essential travel across the border, something that has not yet occurred. (9/15)
The Hill:
Olympic Marijuana Ban To Be Re-Examined After Sha'Carri Richardson's Disqualification
The World Anti-Doping Agency announced Tuesday it would review the status of cannabis on its prohibited substances list, according to a press release from the agency. While cannabis will remain prohibited in 2022, any changes that stem from the agency's review would not take effect until the following year. This comes after the agency received "requests from a number of stakeholders," the release said. (Beals, 9/14)