First Edition: Sept. 8, 2021
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
KHN:
Florida Spine Surgeon And Device Company Owner Charged In Kickback Scheme
A Florida orthopedic surgeon and designer of costly spinal surgery implants was arrested Tuesday and charged with paying millions of dollars in kickbacks and bribes to surgeons who agreed to use his company’s devices. Dr. Kingsley R. Chin, 57, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is the founder, chief executive officer and owner of SpineFrontier, a device company based in Malden, Massachusetts. He and the company’s chief financial officer, Aditya Humad, 36, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, were each indicted on one count of conspiring to violate federal anti-kickback laws, six counts of violating the kickback statute and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, officials said. (Schulte, 9/8)
KHN:
California Set To Spend Billions On Curing Homelessness And Caring For ‘Whole Body’ Politic
Living unmedicated with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, Eugenia Hunter has a hard time recalling how long she’s been staying in the tent she calls home at the bustling intersection of San Pablo Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Oakland’s hip Uptown neighborhood. Craft coffee shops and weed dispensaries are plentiful here and one-bedroom apartments push $3,000 per month. “At least the rats aren’t all over me in here,” the 59-year-old Oakland native said on a bright August afternoon, stretching her arm to grab the zipper to her front door. It was hot inside and the stench of wildfire smoke hung in the air. Still, after sleeping on a nearby bench for the better part of a year, she felt safer here, Hunter explained as she rolled a joint she’d use to ease the pain from also living with what she said is untreated pancreatic cancer. (Hart, 9/8)
KHN:
Colorado Clinic’s Prescription For Healthier Patients? Lawyers
In her 19 years of living with cerebral palsy, scoliosis and other ailments, Cynthia Enriquez De Santiago has endured about 60 surgeries and her heart has flatlined at least four times. But the most unusual doctor’s referral of her life came last year: Go see an attorney. Enriquez De Santiago sought help at a Colorado health clinic that takes a novel approach to improving the health of its patients: It incorporates legal assistance into its medical practice for patients facing eviction or deportation proceedings, among other legal woes. And the state’s Medicaid program helps fund the initiative. (Rodgers, 9/8)
KHN:
Listen: Many Schools Are Buying High-Tech Air Purifiers. What Should Parents Know?
As students return to school, parents are getting a lot of mail about what schools are doing to better protect kids in the classroom — including details on mask policies and how kids will sit at lunch. One item on many administrators’ lists of protective measures is improving ventilation in the classroom. Many studies have shown that better ventilation and air circulation can greatly reduce covid-19 transmission. But rather than stocking up on HEPA filters, some school districts are turning to high-tech air purification strategies, including the use of untested electronic methods and airborne chemicals. (9/8)
KHN:
Minister For Seniors At Famed Church Confronts Ageism And The Shame It Brings
Later life is a time of reassessment and reflection. What sense do we make of the lives we have lived? How do we come to terms with illness and death? What do we want to give to others as we grow older? Lynn Casteel Harper, 41, has thought deeply about these and other spiritual questions. She’s the author of an acclaimed book on dementia and serves as the minister of older adults at Riverside Church in New York City, an interdenominational faith community known for its commitment to social justice. Most of the church’s 1,600 members are 65 and older. (Graham, 9/2)
KHN:
To Quarantine Or Not: The Hard Choices Schools Are Leaving To Parents And Staff
On the second day of high school in Texas, Natosha Daniels’ 14-year-old daughter went all day without eating because she did not want to remove her mask. The teen’s school has a couple of thousand students, and the cafeteria was crowded. Plus Round Rock Independent School District outside Austin didn’t require masks, so some students weren’t wearing them. Even her honors biology teacher was maskless. Daniels said her daughter, who like her is fully vaccinated, is terrified of bringing home the virus because it could infect her 7-year-old sibling, who is too young for a shot. (Gomez and Pradhan, 9/1)
KHN:
Telehealth’s Limits: Battle Over State Lines And Licensing Threatens Patients’ Options
If you live in one state, does it matter that the doctor treating you online is in another? Surprisingly, the answer is yes, and the ability to conduct certain virtual appointments may be nearing an end. Televisits for medical care took off during the worst days of the pandemic, quickly becoming commonplace. Most states and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services temporarily waived rules requiring licensed clinicians to hold a valid license in the state where their patient is located. Those restrictions don’t keep patients from visiting doctors’ offices in other states, but problems could arise if those same patients used telemedicine. Now states are rolling back many of those pandemic workarounds. (Appleby, 8/31)
KHN:
Delta Cutting ‘Like A Buzzsaw’ Through Oregon-California Border Counties
If you live in one of the rural communities tucked into the forested hillsides along the Oregon-California border and need serious medical care, you’ll probably wind up at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center. It serves about nine counties on either side of the border. It is one of three hospitals Asante owns in the region. All three ICUs are 100% full of covid patients, according to staff members. “We’ve had two deaths today. So, it’s a very grim, difficult time,” Dr. Michael Blumhardt, medical director of the hospital’s intensive care unit, said on a recent Tuesday in August. “The delta virus is passing through the region like a buzzsaw.” Unlike earlier covid waves, he said, patients are in their 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s. (Neumann, 8/31)
The New York Times:
Democrats Press Biden To Take On Texas Abortion Law
Democrats and reproductive rights activists pressed the Biden administration on Tuesday to take more aggressive action to stop a Texas law that prohibits abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, even as administration officials and legal experts acknowledged it would be difficult to curtail the law in the coming months. House Democrats, following similar calls over the weekend from a leading liberal legal scholar, pushed Attorney General Merrick B. Garland to use the Justice Department’s powers to prosecute Texas residents now empowered under the law to sue women seeking abortions. (Schmidt, 9/7)
CBS News:
Texas Governor Says New Law Won't Force Rape Victims To Give Birth Because They'll Have 6 Weeks To Get An Abortion
Texas Governor Greg Abbott defended his state's strict new abortion law, saying that it doesn't force victims of rape and incest to carry babies to term because it "provides at least 6 weeks for a person to be able to get an abortion." At the signing for a GOP-supported voting bill on Tuesday, a reporter asked Abbott why he would "force" a rape or incest victim to carry a pregnancy stemming from sexual assault to term. The new abortion bill, which went into effect last week, outlaws abortion when a fetal heartbeat is detected — as early as 6 weeks into pregnancy and well before many women even know they are pregnant. The governor responded that the bill "doesn't require that at all because, obviously, it provides at least 6 weeks for a person to be able to get an abortion." (9/7)
AP:
Texas Governor Defends Abortion Law With No Rape Exceptions
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday defended a new state law banning most abortions that also does not provide exceptions for cases of rape or incest, saying it does not force victims to give birth even though it prohibits abortions before some women know they’re pregnant. Abbott, a Republican, added that Texas would strive to “eliminate all rapists from the streets” while taking questions during his first press conference since the law took effect last week. (Weber and Stengle, 9/8)
Axios:
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem Signs Order Curbing Abortion Access
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) signed an executive order on Tuesday requiring abortion medications to be picked up from a doctor's office. The move comes on the heels of Texas' near-total ban on abortion and other Republican lawmakers pledging to follow suit. The order mandates that abortion medications can only be dispensed in a doctor's office and require a medical exam. (Sciafani, 9/7)
Modern Healthcare:
Congress Faces Breakneck Pace To Address Medicare Pay, Telehealth This Year
Congress faces a lengthy to-do list when it returns from recess later this month, with action needed on major issues affecting healthcare providers. From dealing with the threat of Medicare payment cuts to trying to pass a $3.5 trillion "human infrastructure" bill that seeks to extend healthcare coverage to millions of Americans, there will be a mad scramble to get it all done by the year-end. (Hellmann, 9/7)
Oklahoman:
Gov. Kevin Stitt Criticized For Removing 2 Doctors From Health Board
Gov. Kevin Stitt is coming under fire for removing two members of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority board shortly after a majority of its members voted against his interests on Medicaid managed care. A former president of the Oklahoma State Medical Association criticized Stitt for removing the only physicians from the nine-member board for the Health Care Authority, the state agency that oversees Medicaid. Dr. George Monks, the immediate past president of the medical group, accused Stitt of playing politics and attempting to stifle dissent within his administration. (Forman, 9/7)
Axios:
CMS Funnels $452 Million For State Reinsurance Programs
The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will announce Tuesday it plans to send $452 million to more than a dozen states' reinsurance programs. The Biden administration has previously signaled support for these programs, which directly compensate insurance companies for some of their most expensive claims, preventing an increase in premiums. (Fernandez, 9/7)
Axios:
Biden Administration Announces Aid For Farm And Food Workers
The Department of Agriculture announced Tuesday that it will invest $700 million in grant funding to help farmworkers, meatpacking workers and front-line grocery workers cover health and safety costs incurred due to COVID-19. The program expands pandemic agriculture aid, which has until now largely benefited farm owners, to include the primarily immigrant, low-income workforce, Bloomberg reports. (Saric, 9/7)
The Washington Post:
Afghan Crisis Wreaked Havoc On Northern Virginia Hospitals Due To Lack Of Federal Planning, Local Officials Say
The mass arrival of Afghan evacuees last month, many in need of medical care, wreaked havoc on Northern Virginia’s hospital system — prompting a regional emergency response group to assume oversight after one hospital became overwhelmed with patients and federal officials lost track of where some Afghans were hospitalized, officials said. Area leaders have been asking the Biden administration to pay for the mounting cost of keeping track of the hospitalized evacuees and for giving them rides back to the Dulles Expo Center — where they have been temporarily housed — after a federal contractor took hours to retrieve some of the evacuees who were ready to be discharged. (Olivo, 9/7)
USA Today:
U.S. Surpasses Infection Total From 2020
On the same day the U.S. reached 650,000 COVID-19 deaths -- the world's highest reported total -- the country also registered more cases in 2021 than the previous year. The U.S. had logged nearly 20,146,000 coronavirus cases this year by 7:30 p.m. ET Tuesday, surpassing the 2020 total of 20,100,249, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The latter figure comes with a couple of caveats: No major outbreaks were detected in the U.S. until March 2020, and testing for the virus was quite limited at that time and for the first several weeks of the pandemic. Therefore, the true number of infections in 2020 will never be known. (Ortiz, Bacon and Hayes, 9/7)
CIDRAP:
US COVID-19 Cases Top 40 Million; Biden To Deliver New Plan
In 2 days President Joe Biden will announce a new six-point plan to battle the current surge of COVID-19 cases caused by the highly transmissible Delta (B1617.2) variant and an uneven vaccination campaign that has left only half of the nation fully protected from the novel coronavirus. The speech will come as America faces two milestones: Over the holiday weekend, the country topped 40 million cases of the virus, the largest tally in the world, and the number of hospitalized Americans is now double what it was last Labor Day. Yesterday, almost 100,000 (99,823) Americans were in hospitals because of COVID-19 infections. (Soucheray, 9/7)
Fox News:
COVID-19 Variant Mu Detected In 49 States
The mu coronavirus variant has been detected in 49 states and 42 countries, according to estimates, as health officials keep an eye on the strain to see if it becomes dominant. The strain, also known as B.1.621, was first identified in Colombia in January and was added to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) "variants of interest" list, however 49 U.S. states and the District of Columbia have since detected the mu variant, with the exception of Nebraska, according to estimates compiled by Outbreak.info. States with a higher estimated prevalence of the variant include Alaska and Hawaii, though nationwide the variant has been detected in less than 1% of samples. (Rivas, 9/7)
Bloomberg:
75% Of US Adults Have Now Gotten Least 1 Covid Vaccine Dose, WH Says
Three-quarters of U.S. adults have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine as of Tuesday, according to the White House, setting a new milestone in the country’s fight against the pandemic. But with a continued surge of cases, hospitalizations and deaths due to the delta variant of the coronavirus, President Joe Biden plans a speech Thursday to outline a “six-pronged strategy” to “get the pandemic under control,” Press Secretary Jen Psaki said. (Wingrove, 9/7)
USA Today:
Idaho Allows Hospitals To Ration Care Amid COVID Case Surge
Idaho is allowing healthcare facilities to ration care due to the surge of COVID-19 cases that has more people needing care than institutions can handle. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare quietly enacted the move Monday and publicly announced it in a statement Tuesday — warning residents that they may not get the care they would normally expect if they need to be hospitalized. The move came as the state’s confirmed coronavirus cases skyrocketed in recent weeks. Idaho has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the U.S. with 744,460 of its 1.78 million residents — or about 42% of its total population — fully vaccinated. (Hayes, 9/8)
NPR:
Fauci Says DeSantis Is 'Completely Incorrect' To Call Vaccine A Mere Personal Choice
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is "completely incorrect" to suggest vaccines are a personal choice with no broad implications, says Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country's top infectious disease authority. "If [DeSantis] feels that vaccines are not important for people, that they're just important for some people, that's completely incorrect," Fauci said after being asked about DeSantis' views during an interview Tuesday with CNN. Vaccines have been the solution to public health crises such as smallpox, polio and measles, Fauci said — but they rely on wide adoption to work, he added. (Chappell, 9/7)
The Washington Post:
Jim Jordan Says Vaccine Mandates Are Un-American. George Washington Thought Otherwise, Critics Say.
At a time when the delta variant’s summer surge has renewed the nation’s divisions over coronavirus vaccines, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on Monday said mandates enforcing vaccination do not reflect what it means to be American. “Vaccine mandates are un-American,” Jordan tweeted. But critics panned Jordan’s Labor Day message as being off — way off — by nearly 2½ centuries. George Washington, the commander in chief of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, made the bold decision in 1777 to require that his troops be immunized after a smallpox outbreak devastated the nation. (Bella, 9/7)
CNN:
13 Miami-Dade School Employees Have Died Of Covid-19 Since Mid-August
Thirteen school employees from Miami-Dade County Public Schools have died from Covid-19 since August 16, the school district and local teacher union told CNN on Tuesday. Among the 13 were four teachers, one security monitor, one cafeteria worker and seven school bus drivers, United Teachers of Dade President Karla Hernandez-Mats said. All were unvaccinated. "These were extraordinary educators and people, and their loss is being felt throughout the community," Hernandez-Mats said. (Stuart, 9/7)
AP:
Virus: School District Goes Virtual After 3 Bus Workers Die
Another Georgia school district is switching to virtual learning, after two school bus drivers and a bus monitor died from COVID-19 in recent weeks. The 9,700-student Griffin-Spalding County school system made the announcement late Monday, citing a disruption in student transportation. Districts across Georgia are struggling to line up enough drivers and monitors to keep buses running. In Savannah, some bus drivers staged a sickout for the second day on Tuesday after a similar protest on Friday. (Amy, 9/7)
Reuters:
Florida Teachers On Edge As Mask War, COVID Surge Mark First Weeks Of School
American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten crouched to sit at a first-graders’ table in a Florida school, chatting with masked 6-year-olds about books and their former kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Smith. Lillian Smith, a local union steward who taught at William A. Chapman Elementary in Miami-Dade County for more than 30 years, died last month of COVID-19. At least four Miami-Dade County teachers or staff have died from COVID so far this school year, as cases and hospitalizations in Florida have soared. (Borter, 9/7)
AP:
Statewide Mask Mandate For Pennsylvania Schools Takes Effect
A statewide mask mandate for Pennsylvania schools went into effect Tuesday with some school districts in open defiance of the Wolf administration, while GOP leaders in the state House planned to come back to Harrisburg early to mount a legislative response. The state health secretary’s order that students, staff and visitors at K-12 schools and child care facilities are required to wear masks while indoors, regardless of vaccination status, has provoked outrage from some parents, students and school board members who say the decision should remain local. (Rubinkam, 9/8)
Louisville Courier Journal:
Kentucky Special Session: Ban On Kentucky Mask Mandates Advances
A House committee adopted a ban on statewide mask orders in a 15-5 vote Tuesday, the first day of a special legislative session dealing with emergency measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. The measure was added to a lengthy draft of a bill dealing with COVID-19 testing, treatment, vaccines and other measures Republican lawmakers who control the legislature are proposing during an ongoing surge in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. Rep. Kimberly Poore Moser, a Taylor Mill Republican, said the bill, if adopted, would bar Gov. Andy Beshear from issuing any "blanket mask mandate" as he had previously done during the pandemic. (Yetter, 9/7)
AP:
Police May Be Exempt From Employee Vaccine Mandate
Portland city officials because of new guidance may need to exempt the police bureau from an order that all employees be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or risk losing their jobs. The city attorney’s office said Tuesday the order requiring police to be vaccinated is now legally dubious because of new guidance from the Oregon Health Authority, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported. (9/8)
Reuters:
Bristol-Myers To Require U.S., Puerto Rico Staff To Be Vaccinated
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. will require all its employees working in the United States and Puerto Rico to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus effective Nov. 1, the drugmaker said on Tuesday. In the face of a resurgence in COVID-19 cases, spurred by the highly contagious Delta coronavirus variant, many U.S. companies have come out with mask mandates and changed their vaccination policies. (9/7)
Axios:
Detroit Hospital System Sued Over COVID Vaccine Mandate
About 50 Detroit health care workers have filed a lawsuit against a hospital system, claiming its upcoming COVID-19 vaccine mandate violates the Fourteenth Amendment's protection of "personal autonomy and bodily integrity." This is the second major legal test concerning vaccine mandates in the health care sector, after an unsuccessful lawsuit claiming a Texas hospital's policy requiring all staff be vaccinated against the virus was unlawful. (Falconer, 9/8)
Axios:
Humana Says Pandemic Is Slowing Routine Care Again
Humana has recorded more COVID-19 hospitalizations among its Medicare Advantage members in the past few weeks due to rising coronavirus cases. But non-COVID inpatient and outpatient care also appears to be declining as a result, the health insurance company said late Tuesday. Health insurers profited heavily last year when hospitals and doctors delayed routine medical care, and that dynamic appears to be happening again. (Herman, 9/8)
Houston Chronicle:
COVID Patient Dies At Memorial Hermann During Family's Legal Push For Ivermectin Treatment
A 74-year-old COVID-19 patient died Monday at Memorial Hermann Sugar Land, relatives said, after his family took legal action to force doctors to administer his prescribed dose of the controversial anti-parasite drug ivermectin, which is not proven to treat the virus. Pete Lopez, a Vietnam War combat veteran, was the “backbone” of his family, said his granddaughter Gabrielle Snider. He raised four children as a successful business owner and was energetic in his old age, she said. (Gill, 9/7)
Bangor Daily News:
This Herb Used To Make Absinthe Will Not Cure Your COVID-19
Last month the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a warning not to use the common livestock antiparasitic ivermectin to treat COVID-19.
Now it appears people may be turning to a botanical alternative. Wormwood, which grows in Maine and is used to make absinthe, is classified as an unsafe herb by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration because it contains the chemical thujone. The chemical has the potential to harm brain, kidney and liver cells or cause convulsions if taken in too high a dose. (Bayly, 9/8)
The Washington Post:
Former NBA Star Cedric Ceballos Battling Covid-19, Asks For Prayers From ICU
Former NBA player Cedric Ceballos asked for prayers on his behalf Tuesday as he endures a case of covid-19 that he said has led to a lengthy stay in an intensive care unit. “My fight is not done,” Ceballos, 52, wrote on Twitter. He shared a photo that showed an oxygen mask strapped to his head, and he said he was spending a 10th day in the ICU as covid was “officially kicking” his rear. A 1995 NBA all-star, Ceballos spent most of his 11-year career with the Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks. (Bieler, 9/7)
NPR:
New Studies Find Evidence Of 'Superhuman' Immunity To COVID-19 In Some People
Over the past several months, a series of studies has found that some people mount an extraordinarily powerful immune response against SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes the disease COVID-19. Their bodies produce very high levels of antibodies, but they also make antibodies with great flexibility — likely capable of fighting off the coronavirus variants circulating in the world but also likely effective against variants that may emerge in the future. "One could reasonably predict that these people will be quite well protected against most — and perhaps all of — the SARS-CoV-2 variants that we are likely to see in the foreseeable future," says Paul Bieniasz, a virologist at Rockefeller University who helped lead several of the studies. (Doucleff, 9/7)
Reuters:
AstraZeneca Boss Soriot Says Do Not Rush Needlessly Into COVID Booster Vaccines
AstraZeneca Plc Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said booster COVID vaccine doses may not be needed for everyone in Britain and rushing into a nationwide rollout of third doses risks piling extra pressure on the National Health Service (NHS), the Telegraph reported on Tuesday. "We need the weight of the clinical evidence gathered from real world use before we can make an informed decision on a third dose," Soriot wrote in the newspaper. (9/7)
San Francisco Chronicle:
California's Extra Sick Leave Pay For COVID-19 On The Way To Expiration This Month
California’s special COVID-19 sick-leave policy, which has sustained many low-income workers during the pandemic, is set to expire Sept. 30, a change that is raising fears of new disruptions for communities of color and others disproportionately affected by the coronavirus. The looming cutoff — which would erase the requirement for an extra two weeks of paid sick days — comes just as the highly transmissible and potent delta variant is sending more people to hospitals, even amid higher rates of vaccination. Low-income workers, many in jobs requiring them to interact with the public, face financial loss if they don’t get paid while staying home when infected with the coronavirus. But they risk the public health as well as their own well-being if they do report to work out of financial necessity, proponents of the policy say. (Narayan, 9/7)
NPR:
Medical Journals Say Climate, Not COVID-19, Is Top Public Health Threat
The rapidly warming climate is the "greatest threat" to global public health, more than 200 medical journals are warning in an unprecedented joint statement that urges world leaders to cut heat-trapping emissions to avoid "catastrophic harm to health that will be impossible to reverse." The editorial, which was published in leading journals such as The Lancet, The New England Journal of Medicine and the British Medical Journal, says the world can't wait for the COVID-19 pandemic to pass before addressing climate change. (Sommer, 9/7)
NBC News:
Theranos' Blockbuster Trial Starts Wednesday. Whose Story Will The Jury Believe?
The blockbuster trial of Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos’ founder and former CEO, begins Wednesday in a tale that has spawned a book, a documentary, a miniseries and a coming movie — and put Silicon Valley itself on trial. The elements of captivation for, of all things, a high-tech blood-testing startup are clear. It is rare for a CEO — let alone a former billionaire female CEO — to face trial and 20 years in jail. The case has already been marked by head-turning, last-minute revelations and allegations. And Holmes’ meteoric rise to black-turtlenecked cover girl and media darling is matched only by her catastrophic fall from grace. (Popken, 9/7)
The Wall Street Journal:
The Trial Of Elizabeth Holmes: Who’s Who In The Theranos Case
Theranos Inc. founder Elizabeth Holmes is facing a criminal trial in federal court in San Jose, Calif., on charges that she defrauded investors and patients by lying about the accuracy of her company’s finger-prick blood-testing technology. She has pleaded not guilty to charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Here are some of the major players in the trial and the events leading up to it. Most of the people declined to comment or couldn’t be reached. (9/7)
New Orleans Times-Picayune:
State Revokes Nursing Home Licenses For Owner Who Sent 800 Residents To Warehouse For Ida
Louisiana health officials announced Tuesday that they are revoking Bob Dean's seven nursing-home licenses after he evacuated more than 800 nursing residents to a Tangipahoa Parish warehouse for Hurricane Ida, where four people died as conditions grew increasingly hellish over a period of days after the storm's passage. The action by the Louisiana Department of Health comes just three days after the department had ordered the immediate but temporary closure of Dean's nursing homes, which are currently empty of residents. The LDH also announced Tuesday that it will be terminating Medicaid provider agreements with Dean's nursing homes. (Gallo and Russell, 9/7)
The Boston Globe:
Malden Spinal Device Company, Executives Charged With Bribing Surgeons
A Malden spinal device manufacturer and two of its top executives were charged Tuesday with bribery and money laundering for their roles in an alleged kickback scheme where surgeons were paid sham consulting fees to use the company’s products, generating millions in revenues, the US Attorney’s office for Massachusetts said in a statement. SpineFrontier Inc. chief executive Kingsley R. Chin, 57, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla, and chief financial officer Aditya Humad, 36, of Cambridge were each charged with one count of conspiracy to violate an anti-kickback statute, six violations of that statute, and one count of conspiracy to violate the statute, prosecutors said. (McKenna, 9/7)
CNN:
Clinton Portis And Two Other Former NFL Players Plead Guilty In Multimillion-Dollar Health Care Fraud Scheme
Two-time Pro Bowl running back Clinton Portis and two other former NFL players have pleaded guilty for their roles in a nationwide health care benefit fraud scheme to submit false claims for payouts totaling about $3 million, the Justice Department said Tuesday. Portis, Tamarick Vanover and Robert McCune admitted to participating in a scheme to scam the league's retiree health care benefits plan, which provides tax-free reimbursement to former players and their families for out-of-pocket medical expenses that are not covered by insurance, the department said. (Almasy and Carrega, 9/8)
Fox News:
Lab-Grown Mini Brains Mimic Parkinson’s Disease, Researchers Say
Researchers have grown miniature brains in laboratory dishes to mirror Parkinson’s disease, learn how it progresses and study new treatments, Duke-NUS Medical School announced Tuesday, in what was reported as a first-time feat. Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder without a cure, and which gradually causes movement-related issues, like tremors and rigidity, per the Parkinson’s Foundation. (Rivas, 9/7)
AP:
California Moves To Outlaw 'Stealthing,' Or Removing Condom
California lawmakers moved to make the state the first to outlaw “stealthing,” which is removing a condom without permission during intercourse. Legislators sent Gov. Gavin Newsom a bill on Tuesday adding the act to the state’s civil definition of sexual battery. It makes it illegal to remove the condom without obtaining verbal consent. But it doesn’t change the criminal code. Instead, it would amend the civil code so that a victim could sue the perpetrator for damages, including punitive damages. (Thompson, 9/8)
NPR:
Research Finds Wildfire Smoke Makes Indoor Air Unhealthy Too
When wildfire smoke descends over a city or town, as it does increasingly often for tens of millions of people in the American West, public health officials have a simple message: Go inside, shut doors and windows. Limit outdoor activities. New research shows that may not be enough to protect a person's health. A series of studies looking at crowdsourced indoor air quality during wildfire smoke events has found that the most insidious part of wildfire smoke — microscopic particles so small they can infiltrate a person's bloodstream, exacerbating respiratory and cardiac problems — can seep through closed doors and shuttered windows, making air hazardous in homes and businesses. (Rott, 9/7)
The New York Times:
Utah's Air Quality Is Worsening During Drought
Kevin Perry had just begun his morning routine, stepping outside to get the newspaper, when he noticed something was wrong with the sky. “Within 30 seconds, I was coughing and my throat hurt,” Dr. Perry, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Utah, said of that morning in August. “It was the absolute worst air quality I’ve ever experienced in my life.” Shrouded in smoke drifting from California’s colossal wildfires 500 miles away, Salt Lake City had on that morning edged past smog-choked megacities like New Delhi and Jakarta to register the most polluted air of any major city in the world. (Romero, 9/7)
Bloomberg:
Americans Say They’re Now Less Likely To Work Far Into Their 60s
Americans say it’s increasingly unlikely that they’ll work deep into their 60s, according to new data from the New York Federal Reserve. The share of respondents expecting to work past the age of 62 dropped to 50.1% in the New York Fed’s July labor-market survey, from 51.9% a year earlier -- the lowest on record in a study that’s been conducted since 2014. The numbers saying they’re likely to be employed when they’re older than 67 also dropped, to 32.4% from 34.1%. (Tanzi, 9/7)
The New York Times:
800,000 New Yorkers Just Lost Federal Unemployment Benefits
From the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, New York City has been pummeled economically unlike any other large American city, as a sustained recovery has failed to take root and hundreds of thousands of workers have yet to find full-time jobs.On Sunday, the city, like other communities nationwide, was hit with another blow: The package of pandemic-related federal unemployment benefits, which has kept families afloat for 17 months, expired. ... About 10 percent of the city’s population, or about 800,000 people, will have federal aid eliminated, though many will continue receiving state benefits. (Haag and Hong, 9/7)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Disabled Workers Sue Wisconsin Over Denial Of Unemployment Benefits
A class action lawsuit is aiming to overturn a state law prohibiting disabled Wisconsinites from accessing unemployment benefits after losing their job. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday by a group of nine residents who have been denied unemployment benefits since 2015 because they receive Social Security Disability Insurance payments as well. Some of the residents have also been forced to repay benefits given to them by the Department of Workforce Development, which contended the payments were made in error. (Schulte, 9/7)
The Washington Post:
Amtrak Faces Delays In Making Stations ADA-Compliant
As Amtrak embarks on a six-year push to ensure more than 300 stations meet requirements of the Americans With Disabilities Act, it must have adequate staffing and a system in place that ensures projects aren’t delayed by disputes, according to a report Tuesday by the rail service’s inspector general. Amtrak is well beyond a July 2010 deadline for ensuring that intercity rail stations meet requirements under the ADA — a timetable that also has proved costly. In December, Amtrak agreed to pay $2.25 million to settle civil claims that it discriminated against disabled passengers by failing to accommodate people in wheelchairs or those with limited mobility at its stations. (Aratani, 9/7)
AP:
Report: Pandemic Driving Alcohol Sales
A new report suggests people are buying dramatically more alcohol as the COVID-19 pandemic drags on. Revenue from state excise taxes on alcohol during the fiscal year that ended June 30 totaled $73.8 million, up almost 17% from $63.3 million the previous year, according to preliminary data from the state Department of Revenue cited in the report from the nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum. (9/8)
AP:
Mississippi Has 120 Days To Come Up With Mental Health Plan
Mississippi has 120 days to come up with proposed long-term plan for how it will work to prevent unnecessary institutionalizations of people with mental illness in state hospitals, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves ordered that the state’s initial plan be submitted to the U.S. Justice Department and an independent monitor, Michael Hogan, for feedback. The final plan must be completed in 180 days. (Willingham, 9/8)
The Washington Post:
Mexico Decriminalizes Abortion, A Dramatic Step In World’s Second-Biggest Catholic Country
Mexico’s supreme court voted Tuesday to decriminalize abortion, a striking step in a country with one of the world’s largest Catholic populations and a decision that contrasts with tighter restrictions introduced across the border in Texas. Ten supreme court judges ruled unconstitutional a law in northern Coahuila state that imposed up to three years of prison for women who underwent illegal abortions, or people who aided them. The 11th judge was absent during the vote. The ruling is binding on other states. “Today is a watershed in the history of the rights of women and pregnant people, above all the most vulnerable,” Chief Justice Arturo Zaldívar said. (Sheridan and Chaoul, 9/7)
The New York Times:
The Pandemic Has Set Back The Fight Against H.I.V., TB And Malaria
The Covid-19 pandemic has severely set back the fight against other global scourges like H.I.V., tuberculosis and malaria, according to a sobering new report released on Tuesday. Before the pandemic, the world had been making strides against these illnesses. Overall, deaths from those diseases have dropped by about half since 2004. (Mandavilli, 9/7)
Reuters:
U.S. CDC Warns Against Travel To Sri Lanka, Jamaica, And Brunei
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday warned against travel to Sri Lanka, Jamaica and Brunei because of the rising number of COVID-19 cases. The CDC raised its travel advisory to "Level 4: Very High" for those countries, telling Americans they should avoid travel there. (Shephardson, 9/7)
AP:
French Doctors Demand Protection From Death Threats At Work
French doctors and scientists on Tuesday called on authorities to take action against the insults and threats— including death threats — that they have frequently received during the coronavirus pandemic. The doctors said they fear that someone from the world of conspiracy theories will take action, not just against them but against other medical professionals, and condemned the silence of authorities. “It’s months that some of us are receiving, regularly, death threats. Be it via social networks … Twitter, email, by telephone, or by the post. We are targets,” said Jerome Marty, a physician who heads a union for doctors in private practice, UFMLS. (Ganley, 9/7)
AP:
Spanish Hospital Baby Switch Discovered Two Decades Later
Health authorities in Spain are blaming human error for the switching of two baby girls in a maternity ward almost 20 years ago, after one of them discovered by chance through a DNA test as a teenager that she wasn’t the daughter of her presumed parents. “It was a human error and we haven’t been able to find out who was to blame,” Sara Alba, health chief of Spain’s northern La Rioja region, told a news conference Tuesday. “The systems back then were different and weren’t as computerized as they are now,” Alba said, offering assurances it couldn’t happen again. The newborns were mixed up in 2002 after being born five hours apart at a hospital in La Rioja. They were both in incubators because they were born underweight. (9/7)