News and Issues

“Today’s authorization introduces the first treatment for COVID-19 that is in the form of a pill that is taken orally — a major step forward in the fight against this global pandemic,” said Patrizia Cavazzoni, M.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “This authorization provides a new tool to combat COVID-19 at a crucial time in the pandemic as new variants emerge and promises to make antiviral treatment more accessible to patients who are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19.” For a complete list of drugs that should not be taken in combination with Paxlovid, see the fact sheet for healthcare providers. more »

"Healthy behaviors can improve and maintain an individual’s oral health, but these behaviors are also shaped by social and economic conditions. Oral and medical conditions often share common risk factors, and just as medical conditions and their treatments can influence oral health, so can oral conditions and their treatments affect other health issues. Substance misuse and mental health conditions negatively affect the oral health of many. Group disparities around oral health, identified 20 years ago, have not been adequately addressed, and greater efforts are needed to tackle both the social and commercial determinants that create these inequities and the systemic biases that perpetuate them." more »

The years Saturday’s graduates spent at Berkeley were marked by turmoil: days-long campus power outages, devastating wildfires that choked the air with smoke, free-speech demonstrations and national reckonings with economic inequality, police shootings, racism and anti-democratic violence. “Some of (your) most important lessons came from a real-life curriculum no one ever anticipated,” Chancellor Carol Christ told the graduates in her keynote speech. “We are living in a historic moment when everything is shifting about us in ways that will have a profound impact upon the future,” she added. “This may be a perilous time, but so, too, is it a time of creative ferment and possibility, and that is prime time for this public university and for you, our newest alumni.”   (UC Berkeley photo by Keegan Houser)   (UC Berkeley photo by Keegan Houser) 1 / 17 X Xand… more »

Passive surveillance systems are replacing the “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” medical alert buttons. Using artificial intelligence, the new devices can automatically detect something is wrong and make an emergency call unasked. They also can monitor pill dispensers and kitchen appliances using motion sensors. Some systems include wearable watches for fall detectionor can track GPS location. Others are video cameras that record. People use surveillance systems like Ring inside the home. They also can monitor pill dispensers and kitchen appliances using motion sensors. Some systems include wearable watches for fall detection or can track GPS location. Others are video cameras that record. People use surveillance systems inside the home. more »