Mass Hospital Layoffs; Pfizer CEO Has COVID Again; ‘Blood on Your Hands’

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Rising labor costs, more expensive supplies, and the pandemic’s financial disruptions are prompting mass layoffs at hospitals and health systems. (Fierce Healthcare)

One of the largest nonprofit health systems in the country billed patients who qualified for charity care, and then sent their cases to collection agencies if they couldn’t pay. (New York Times)

An Arizona judge brought an 1864 law back to life, effectively banning all abortions in the state except to save the life of the pregnant person. (Politico)

Uganda’s Ebola outbreak has jumped to 16 cases, with another 18 expected to have had the disease as well. (Reuters)

The CDC ended its recommendation for universal masking in hospitals and nursing homes outside of areas of “high” community transmission.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, PhD, said on Twitter that he tested positive for COVID-19, less than 2 months after announcing an earlier infection.

Pfizer/BioNTech are seeking FDA authorization for their Omicron-specific booster vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 years. Meanwhile, Moderna asked for authorization for its booster in kids 6 to 17 years. (Reuters, CNBC)

As of Monday at 8:00 a.m. EDT, the unofficial COVID toll in the U.S. reached 96,071,001 cases and 1,056,416 deaths, increases of 412,724 and 2,996, respectively, since this time a week ago.

A World Health Organization official said rich nations will have “blood on your hands” if they ease up on COVID and another massive wave arrives. (Reuters)

Europe’s best known immunologist thinks his mRNA booster may have made his lymphoma worse, so he published a paper about it. (The Atlantic)

Women undergoing in vitro fertilization may be at greater risk for hypertension during pregnancy when frozen embryos are used. (Hypertension)

Telemedicine abortion providers are hitting snags in a rapidly changing landscape of state laws. (NPR)

Battleground gubernatorial races could determine access to abortion for millions across the U.S. (Politico)

Travel nurses say staffing agencies lured them in with high hourly pay, and then slashed their wages once they began work. (Newsweek)

An amended autopsy report for Elijah McClain now lists overdose by ketamine as the cause of death; the Black massage therapist was detained by police before paramedics injected him with the tranquilizer. (NBC News)

In Oregon, fatal overdoses are up and addiction rates still high despite legislation that decriminalized drug possession and aimed to get more people into treatment. (AP)

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) wants legislation to fight insurers who keep “ghost networks” — lists of providers that don’t actually provide care. (Fierce Healthcare)

Thoracic surgeons are debating just how much of a patients’ lung should be removed for early-stage lung cancers. (STAT)

Language in medical records can transmit bias and change the course of medical care. (Kaiser Health News)

A Pennsylvania man faces federal charges for assaulting a reproductive health clinic escort twice, the Department of Justice announced.

The FDA declared a Class I recall — the most serious kind — on certain Philips bi-level positive airway pressure (BiPAP) devices over a plastic issue that could expose patients to chemicals of concern.