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William Foege, MD, the former CDC director under Presidents Carter and Reagan, suggested in a private letter to the agency’s current leader, Robert Redfield, MD, that he orchestrate his own firing by revealing the CDC’s failings and the meddling from the White House. “It’s a slaughter and not just a political dispute,” he wrote. (USA Today)
As of 8:00 a.m. ET Wednesday, the estimated U.S. COVID-19 toll reached 7,501,869 cases and 210,918 deaths — up 42,767 and 722, respectively, since the same time a day ago.
President Trump ordered his legislative team to halt negotiations with Congress on a coronavirus relief bill until after the election, but later tweeted that a total of $160 billion should be approved for airline relief and for paycheck protection. (The Hill)
Rick Bright, the administration’s vaccine-expert-turned-whistleblower, resigned from his job at NIH — a job he had been demoted to after being removed from his position as the head of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. (STAT)
The FDA released its revised guidance for emergency use authorization (EUA) of COVID-19 vaccines — guidance that would likely guarantee a vaccine wouldn’t be authorized until after Election Day. Stay tuned to MedPage Today for in-depth coverage of this issue.
Efficacy data from one or two COVID-19 vaccine candidates are expected in the next month or two, according to Moncef Slaoui, PhD, the chief advisor to Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s project to speed up vaccine development. (Reuters)
Eli Lilly said it requested an EUA for its SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody drug cocktail, after the therapy reduced viral load, symptoms, and hospitalizations versus placebo in a phase II study of recently diagnosed mild-to-moderate COVID-19.
In a small trial of patients with mild cases, the antidepressant fluvoxamine reduced the likelihood of clinical deterioration compared with placebo, the COVID-19 Early Treatment Fund announced.
Wondering how to ask a stranger to put on their mask? Be discreet, experts say. (AP)
And speaking of masks, going out to eat in a restaurant? Don’t forget to wear your mask between bites, say California officials. (CBS News)
Presidential adviser Stephen Miller and three other White House officials tested positive for COVID-19, while the top U.S. general and several senior Pentagon officials are quarantining after being exposed to a Coast Guard admiral who tested positive for the coronavirus. (New York Times, CNN)
Facebook removed a post from President Trump suggesting that influenza is more lethal than COVID-19, saying it broke the site’s rules regarding misinformation. For comparison, COVID-19 in the U.S. has now killed more people than the last five flu seasons combined. (CNN)
State officials are investigating Trump’s fundraiser last week at his Bedminster, N.J. country club to see whether it violated guidelines on large gatherings. (NBC News)
As if a bobblehead and donuts weren’t enough, now NIAID Director Anthony Fauci, MD, has his own action figure. (The Hill)
A Frontline/AP investigation published in The Washington Post details the breakdown in the U.S. supply chain for personal protective equipment to help fight the spread of COVID-19.
In other news:
- Some Supreme Court justices were skeptical of a law in Arkansas that attempts to regulate pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs. (FierceHealthcare)
- This year’s MacArthur “genius grant” award winners include an evolutionary geneticist, a neuroscientist, and a developmental biologist. (New York Times)
- And the Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to two women (the first time the award didn’t include a male winner) who pioneered CRISPR gene editing: Emmanuelle Charpentier of Germany’s Max Planck Institute and Jennifer Doudna of the University of California Berkeley.
- The Trump administration announced changes that will tighten the H-1B visa program, which is used to bring physicians and other skilled foreign workers to the U.S. (Fox News)
Last Updated October 07, 2020
Source: MedicalNewsToday.com
