Joseph Choi
WHNT
United States
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Past articles by Joseph:
Novo Nordisk becomes second company to announce cuts to US insulin prices
Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk announced on Tuesday it would be lowering the prices of some of its insulin products in the U.S. by up to 75 percent, becoming the second company to take such action after Eli Lilly’s announcement earlier this month. Four of Novo Nordisk’s “legacy products” will see price drops ranging from […] → Read More
Lawmakers clash over COVID-19’s origins at House GOP’s initial hearing
House Republicans aggressively focused on the theory that COVID-19 likely originated from a research lab in China during Wednesday’s initial hearing of the e panel investigating the pandemic’s origins. Witnesses for the majority, including former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Robert Redfield, said they think the evidence strongly supports a […] → Read More
House Republicans open investigation into role of intermediaries in prescription drug prices
Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, announced Wednesday that he is launching an investigation into pharmacy benefit managers (PBM) and actions that increase health care costs for patients. “Pharmacy Benefit Managers’ anticompetitive tactics are driving up health care costs for Americans and harming patient care,” Comer said in […] → Read More
Progressives call on FDA to take further action on cold and flu medicines shortage
A group of progressive lawmakers have asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to further its efforts to address the shortage of over-the-counter flu and cold medicines, proposing a number of updated measures to improve accessibility. In a letter to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, six Democratic House members stated that despite improvements that have been […] → Read More
Pfizer anticipates billions less in revenue this year as vaccines commercialized
Pfizer executives said the company expects a significant drop in revenue in 2023 compared to 2022 as the U.S. government ends its purchase agreement for COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. During its… → Read More
Biden administration plans to end COVID public health emergency in May
The Biden administration on Monday announced that the COVID-19 public health emergency, which has been in place since January 2020, is set to end on May 11. “The COVID-19 national emergency and public health emergency (PHE) were declared by the Trump Administration in 2020. They are currently set to expire on March 1 and April […] → Read More
FDA drafts new ‘gender-inclusive’ guidance on blood donation eligibility, HIV risk reduction
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued draft guidance to change its policies on donating blood, moving away from time-based deferrals for men who have sex with men and instead proposing … → Read More
Watchdog knocks NIH oversight of alliance that oversaw funds to Wuhan lab
A federal watchdog agency for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) says in a report released this week that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) failed to carry out sufficient oversight into research conducted using millions in federal funds, including research carried out at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which has been aggressively […] → Read More
Senate Democrats dig in their heels on abortion access: ‘America is on our side’
Senate Democrats on Tuesday marked what would have been the 50th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling by declaring they will not back down against Republican efforts to restrict or limit access to abortions. A group of Democratic senators, including Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) and Sens. Patty Murray (Wash.), […] → Read More
Access to abortion pills is sliding out of reach in dozens of states
The Biden administration’s efforts to loosen access to medication abortion pills are running into a headwall of opposition in dozens of states, threatening to put the drugs out of reach for m… → Read More
More than 1,300 nursing homes had COVID infection rates of at least 75 percent in 2020: HHS
More than 1,300 nursing homes in the U.S., most of them for-profit facilities, experienced extremely high COVID-19 infection rates in 2020, according to a new report from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the Department of Health and Human Services. For the OIG’s study, the agency took Medicare claims data to find nursing […] → Read More
HHS policy for monitoring gain-of-function virus research unclear, GAO says
A congressional watchdog agency has determined that the oversight carried out by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for research involving highly transmissible viruses such as the coronavirus lacks clarity when it comes to the requirements for such studies and is recommending that the department develop new standards for assessing risk. The Government […] → Read More
Biden admin touts coverage gains ahead of ObamaCare deadline
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Friday reported significant gains in health insurance coverage across numerous demographics in 2021, two days before the enrollment deadline for ObamaCare. The report issued by the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation found that the national rate of uninsured people under the […] → Read More
AstraZeneca’s preventative COVID treatment likely not effective against XBB.1.5: FDA
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Friday that AstraZeneca’s preventative monoclonal antibody treatment for COVID-19 is likely ineffective against the XBB.1.5 omicron subvariant due to its similarity to other mutations of the virus that are also not neutralized by the treatment. In a statement, the FDA said it “does not anticipate that Evusheld […] → Read More
House COVID panel accuses Trump administration of exacerbating the pandemic in its final report
The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis released its final report on Friday before Republicans take control of the House in the upcoming Congress, providing new findings on how the Trump administration’s actions negatively impacted the U.S. response. The report from the Democratic-led subcommittee, chaired by Rep. James Clyburn (S.C.), highlighted the Trump White […] → Read More
White House launches data dashboard for non-fatal opioid overdoses
The White House launched a new national dashboard on Thursday to track non-fatal opioid overdoses in the U.S. to aid in combating the ongoing epidemic. The Nonfatal Opioid Overdose Dashboard tracks rates across states and territories using information from the National EMS Information System. Collected from electronic patient care records, the dashboard categorizes jurisdictions as […] → Read More
FDA authorizes bivalent COVID-19 boosters for children as young as 6 months
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday announced it has expanded the emergency use authorization for the bivalent COVID-19 booster to include children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years. With this announcement, children older than 6 months who have received the primary two-dose coronavirus vaccines from Moderna are now eligible to […] → Read More
Companies ask Supreme Court to stop flavored-tobacco ban in California
A group of tobacco companies have asked the Supreme Court to issue an injunction on California’s ban on flavored tobacco products, which was voted into law at the ballot box earlier this month. Companies including the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, the Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company and Modoral Brands Inc. submitted a request for an […] → Read More
Judge overturns Georgia ban on abortion starting around 6 weeks into a pregnancy
A Georgia judge on Tuesday found the state’s six-week abortion ban to be “plainly unconstitutional” and has barred it from being enforced. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney granted a motion filed by plaintiffs in a civil suit against Georgia to block the ban, which has been in place since July. The Living Infants […] → Read More
Juul to avoid bankruptcy, laying off hundreds of workers
Electronic cigarette company Juul Labs Inc. has found a way to avoid bankruptcy through a cash infusion from its early investors, with the new plan involving a round of layoffs. “Today, Juul Labs h… → Read More