Cancer Drug Recall; Long COVID and Reinfection; WHO Staffer Killed in Gaza

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Bayer issued a voluntarily recall of one lot of its cancer drug larotrectinib (Vitrakvi) due to possible microbial contamination, the FDA announced.

Want to protect your pets from harm during the holidays? The FDA has some tips for you.

Data from China suggest that people with long COVID may be at higher risk for reinfection. (Lancet Respiratory Medicine)

Only 17% of U.S. nursing home residents are up to date on COVID vaccination, new CDC figures show. (Axios)

The Omicron variant of COVID-19 is an evolutionary wonder, experts say. (New York Times)

Live in Maryland and need emergency care? Be prepared to wait almost a whole day. (Maryland Matters)

A federal appeals court struck down a Maryland law requiring fingerprinting, firearms training, and a waiting period in order to obtain a firearm license, saying it was unconstitutional under the Second Amendment. (Washington Post)

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has asked the CEOs of Johnson & Johnson, Merck, and Bristol Myers Squibb to testify before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions Committee on why the U.S. pays the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. (Endpoints News)

House republicans, meanwhile, have called on CDC Directory Mandy Cohen, MD, MPH, to testify before the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Reesha Ahmed was thrilled to be pregnant — until she got a $2,400 bill for lab tests. (KFF Health News via NPR)

Texas has sued Pfizer, alleging that the company covered up manufacturing problems with its drug methylphenidate (Quillivant XR) for attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder. (Fierce Pharma)

And a New Zealand microbiologist sued her employer, the University of Auckland, alleging that it didn’t take steps to protect her from harassment when she was giving information to the public about the COVID-19 pandemic. (Nature)

The corporate shakeup at OpenAI brings to mind the need for AI standards in healthcare, experts say. (STAT)

The average fertility rate was higher in the first half of 2023 in states with abortion bans compared with states that did not have bans, a study found. (CNN)

Indoor air is still dirty, but inertia on the part of scientists and the government have slowed the response to the problem, experts say. (New York Times)

WHO announced that Gaza staff member Dima Abdullatif Mohammed Alhaj, 29, was killed Tuesday along with her husband, 6-month-old son, and her two brothers when her parents’ house in southern Gaza was bombed.

The Arizona nursing board suspended the license of nurse practitioner Phillip Schafer for allegedly acting outside the scope of his practice by giving ketamine to patients he diagnosed with treatment-resistant depression, and doing so without collaboration with a mental health provider. (ABC15.com)

Unstable housing among dialysis patients was linked with higher all-cause mortality, a VA study found. (JAMA Network Open)

SoClean announced a voluntary recall of its SoClean2 and SoClean3 cleaning devices for continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines in order to notify users of a new user manual and the availability of a hose and mask adapter to reduce risk of ozone exposure.

Joyce Frieden oversees MedPage Today’s Washington coverage, including stories about Congress, the White House, the Supreme Court, healthcare trade associations, and federal agencies. She has 35 years of experience covering health policy. Follow

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