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*GAO SCIENCE & TECH SPOTLIGHT: Coronaviruses: "They can cause respiratory issues, such as pneumonia, and are believed to be one cause of the common cold"
What is it? While the outbreak of COVID-19 in China has brought the term coronavirus into daily usage, coronaviruses can vary in severity. They can cause respiratory issues, such as pneumonia, and are believed to be one cause of the common cold. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), most people will be infected by a coronavirus at some point in their lifetimes. As of March 2020, seven coronaviruses have been identified that can cause illness in humans. Most infections result in mild to moderate symptoms, such as runny nose, headache, cough, sore throat, fever, and a run-down feeling. Coronaviruses are most commonly transmitted by coughing, sneezing, person-to-person contact, and touching objects that have viral particles on them, according to CDC. The best prevention is washing hands with soap and avoiding contact with people who are sick or work in quarantine areas. Current treatment methods are limited, and research is being fast-tracked to develop a vaccine against existing and emerging coronaviruses. more »
Updated: COVID-19: CDC Press Briefing Transcript, Friday, February 28, 2020; How A 'Drive-through' Testing Facility in London Works
Dr. Nancy Messonnier: Good afternoon, thank you for joining us today. Since I last briefed you, there has been one new case of COVID-19 detected through the U.S. public health system. As has been widely reported, at this time we don’t know how or where this person became infected. This brings the number of confirmed cases of person-to-person spread in the United States to 3. We also have confirmed 2 more people who have tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19 among U.S. citizens repatriated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship. That brings the total number of people with COVID-19 to 44 among this group of people. more »
The GAO Reviews Memory Supplement Marketing and Oversight; Examples of Memory Supplement Marketing Practices and Potential Violations of Federal Requirements
Memory supplements — dietary supplements claiming to improve memory — are a growing market, with sales estimated at $643 million in 2015, almost double 2006 sales. FDA and FTC share oversight of memory supplement marketing — labeling and advertising claims — but generally do not approve claims before products are marketed. more »
New Ammunition For An Appeal: Judge Accepts Medicare’s Plan To Remedy Misunderstanding On Therapy Coverage
The government will have a new website devoted to the 2013 settlement that will include information on how claims should be handled, as well as a simple explanation that improvement is not a criterion for coverage. The statement the judge accepted was largely written by the plaintiffs' lawyers and says, in part, "that the Medicare program will pay for skilled nursing care and skilled rehabilitation services when a beneficiary needs skilled care in order to maintain function or to prevent or slow decline or deterioration (provided all other coverage criteria are met)." more »