Federal health officials on Friday advised clinicians to watch out for a telltale rash that could be a symptom of monkeypox, a rare viral infection found in the U.S. earlier this week. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an advisory Friday, saying it is working with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to investigate a…
Author: Nathaniel Weixel
Senate passes bill to expand infant formula access
Legislation that aims to protect low-income families from infant formula shortages passed the Senate by unanimous consent on Thursday. The Access to Baby Formula Act passed the House late Wednesday on a rare bipartisan vote of 414-9, and now heads to President Biden’s desk for his signature. “It’s rare that we have unanimity in the…
House passes bills to address baby formula shortage
The House on Wednesday passed two bills aimed at addressing a nationwide shortage of infant formula. The main piece of legislation, sponsored by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), would provide $28 million in emergency funding to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to beef up inspections of formula made at foreign plants and to guard against…
Health Care — Biden takes action on formula shortage
The circus is back in town — “Pharma bro” Martin Shkreli was released early from federal prison on Wednesday after serving time for securities fraud. Health officials on Wednesday warned about rising COVID infections and said if Congress continues to stall on passing new funding, the U.S. risks not being able to buy enough…
Pelosi floats indictments for baby formula deaths as Democrats unveil emergency funding
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) Tuesday suggested there could be indictments for the people found to be responsible for the deaths of two infants who consumed baby formula that may have been contaminated. Speaking at a press conference to unveil Democrats’ $28 million aid bill to help put formula back on store shelves, Pelosi said the…
Booster shot slowdown leaves older Americans at risk
The delivery of coronavirus booster shots in the U.S. has stagnated, particularly among older populations, leaving millions of vulnerable people at risk of serious infection and death. After bottoming out in late March and early April, COVID-19 infections are steadily rising across the country. More worrisome, hospitalizations have also increased 20 percent over the past…
FDA authorizes second booster shot for people age 50 and up
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Tuesday gave the green light to a second coronavirus vaccine booster shot for people aged 50 and older in an effort to ward off another potential spike in infections due t…
Officials wary of new COVID-19 surge as country relaxes
A new surge in COVID-19 infections in Europe has public health experts concerned the U.S. is not prepared to respond to a similar wave.Much of the country has lifted the few remaining precauti…
Pfizer, BioNTech delay FDA request for vaccines for children under 5
Pfizer and BioNTech on Friday said they are delaying their request for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to authorize their coronavirus vaccine for children under five years old, because there’s not enough data…
CDC: More vaccinated adults hospitalized with omicron, but fewer admitted to ICU
A higher proportion of adults hospitalized with COVID-19 during the period of omicron dominance were fully vaccinated compared to the period of delta dominance, according to a new analysis, but those people were als…