Health, Fitness and Style
GAO: COVID-19 Complicates Already Challenged FDA Foreign Inspection Program; It Could Be 2 to 3 Years Before New Staff Are Experienced Enough To Conduct Foreign Inspection
In March 2020, FDA announced that, due to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), it was postponing almost all inspections of foreign manufacturing establishments. While FDA has indicated it has other tools to ensure the safety of the US drug supply, the lack of foreign inspections removes a critical source of information about the quality of drugs manufactured for the US market. more »
Update From Johns Hopkins Medicine: Coronavirus Face Masks & Protection FAQs Including Frequent Hands Washing!
Can I create my own filter? Some people buy or create masks with a pocket inside to hold a filter, such as a coffee filter. When using other materials to make your own filter, such as unused vacuum cleaner bags, HEPA furnace filters, HVAC anti-allergy filters or other air filters, make sure you sandwich the filter between at least two layers of fabric to cut down on the risk of inhaling potentially harmful fibers from these materials. There are not yet conclusive data on whether or not filters provide added protection, but studies are underway. Please make sure that you can breathe easily when wearing the mask, and do not use a filter if it makes you feel short of breath. more »
Julia Sneden Wrote: Remembering ... On a Day Once Known as 'Decoration Day'
Julia Sneden wrote: He had gone off to war with a head full of blonde hair, and he came back mostly bald. His mouth sometimes quivered (he chewed a toothpick, I think to hide it), and he never spoke about his wartime experiences. He lived with us for several years, and for the first few he had to travel up to the Letterman Army Hospital in San Francisco once a month. He had problems with his liver, which my mother said came from a short time spent in a prison camp in Germany, she thought, although he never spoke to us of it, and we were strictly forbidden to ask him about it. more »
Pew Trust's Stateline: Staffing Nursing Homes Was Hard Before the Pandemic. Now It’s Even Tougher.
There’s no standard federal ratio of staff to residents. A 1987 law requires nursing homes to have a registered nurse on duty eight hours a day, seven days a week; a licensed nurse on duty in the evenings and overnight; and staff “sufficient to meet nursing needs of its residents.” There’s no national data on nursing home staffing during the pandemic, because the federal government has suspended staff reporting requirements to give businesses a break from paperwork. Before the pandemic, the average nursing home could provide 3.9 hours a day of nursing care per patient, according to the most recent federal data. more »
