Health and Science
National Institutes of Health Launches Clinic Trial To Test Antibody Treatment in Hospitalized Covid-19 Patients
Patients admitted with COVID-19 at select hospitals may now volunteer to enroll in a clinical trial to test the safety and efficacy of a potential new treatment for the disease. The Phase 3 randomized, controlled trial is known as ACTIV-3, and as a “master protocol,” it is designed to expand to test multiple different kinds of monoclonal antibody treatments. It also can enroll additional volunteers in the middle of the trial, if a specific investigational treatment shows promise. The new study is one of four ongoing or planned trials in the National Institutes of Health’s. more »
The "Mother" of All Pandemics: Almost All Cases of Influenza A Worldwide Have Been Caused by Descendants of the 1918 Virus
Were the 3 Waves in 1918–1919 Caused by the Same Virus? If So, How and Why? Historical records since the 16th century suggest that new influenza pandemics may appear at any time of year, not necessarily in the familiar annual winter patterns of interpandemic years, presumably because newly shifted influenza viruses behave differently when they find a universal or highly susceptible human population. Thereafter, confronted by the selection pressures of population immunity, these pandemic viruses begin to drift genetically and eventually settle into a pattern of annual epidemic recurrences caused by the drifted virus variants. In the 1918–1919 pandemic, a first or spring wave began in March 1918 and spread unevenly through the United States, Europe, and possibly Asia over the next 6 months. Illness rates were high, but death rates in most locales were not appreciably above normal. A second or fall wave spread globally from September to November 1918 and was highly fatal. In many nations, a third wave occurred in early 1919. more »
OVER-THE-COUNTER DRUGS: GAO's Information on FDA's Regulation of Most OTC Drugs
For years, most over-the-counter drugs followed requirements called "monographs" for each category of drugs (e.g., sunscreen or cough and cold medicine). To update a monograph, FDA followed the federal rulemaking process, which could take years. FDA said this process and insufficient resources limited its ability to quickly respond to safety issues. In March 2020, the CARES Act gave FDA new tools to regulate these over-the-counter drugs, such as a new process for updating and finalizing requirements, authority for FDA to collect user fees to support its activities, an expedited process for addressing serious safety issues. more »
Some of Representative John Lewis' Most Recent Statements: "The Conscience of Congress"; Former President Barack Obama on Lewis' Death
Words from Rep. John L. Lewis: Over the last several decades, Congress has addressed some of our most pressing civil rights concerns by passing bipartisan legislation that protects American workers from discrimination on the basis of color, race, religion, age, disability and sex. Our civil rights laws have strengthened our country, and brought us closer to the Beloved Community where all people are able to succeed based on their abilities, not on the labels used to limit them. We have taken some stumbles backward in recent years. The Supreme Court has weakened some of these basic protections in ways that Congress never intended. They have undermined the protections for workers, for older Americans, for the disabled, for racial and ethnic minorities, for women and for those in the military. We must work together to restore those rights. more »