Musk Targets Fauci; Indoor Masking Makes a Comeback; Medicare Fraud System Broken

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Elon Musk targeted NIAID Director Anthony Fauci, MD, on Twitter Sunday, drawing immediate blowback. (The Hill)

COVID-19’s BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 subvariants are now responsible for 68% of U.S. cases. (CNBC)

Older Americans face risks as COVID-19 hospitalizations rise and less than half of nursing home residents are up to date with COVID vaccinations. (AP)

A report from a Democratic subcommittee criticized the government response to COVID-19.

In a growing number of states, public health officials are once again asking people to mask up indoors. (NPR)

Flu surged the week after Thanksgiving. (CDC)

As of Monday at 8:00 a.m. ET, the unofficial COVID toll in the U.S. reached 99,413,618 cases and 1,084,440 deaths, increases of 441,207 and 3,009 respectively, since this time a week ago.

After his parents tried to block the use of blood from vaccinated donors for their son, an infant finally underwent open-heart surgery with a New Zealand medical team that refused to comply with the parents’ wishes. (CNN)

Extreme heat or cold days put people with heart disease at greater risk of death. (Circulation)

A series of strategic mistakes and blunders by successive U.S. administrations contributed to the fentanyl crisis. (Washington Post)

Wholesalers have cut off some independent pharmacies from all controlled substances for filling prescriptions of stimulants and sedatives together, a combination the DEA may flag as suspicious. (Reuters)

It’s not hard to con Medicare and Medicaid out of taxpayer dollars repeatedly, a KHN investigation found, because fraudsters are trusted to self-report when they return to work or start new companies.

Juul agreed to pay $1.2 billion to resolve thousands of youth vaping lawsuits. (Bloomberg)

A district court judge sided with cigarette companies, which argued that an FDA rule requiring them to print graphic warning images on packages and ads was unconstitutional. (Reuters)

Doctors successfully treated a young patient with leukemia using base editing. (BBC)

An FDA investigation of Michigan-based Old Europe Cheese, Inc., following an outbreak of listeria from their Brie and Camembert products, is over.

Plus, starting in 2023: free condoms for anyone under 25 in France. (AP)

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