Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
House GOP Members Allege Health Officials Dodged Public Records Laws
House Republicans on Tuesday accused officials at the National Institutes of Health of orchestrating 鈥渁 conspiracy at the highest levels鈥 of the agency to hide public records related to the origins of the Covid pandemic. And the lawmakers promised to expand an investigation that has turned up emails in which senior health officials talked openly about trying to evade federal records laws. The latest accusations 鈥 coming days before a House panel publicly questions Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, a former top N.I.H. official 鈥 represent one front of an intensifying push by lawmakers to link American research groups and the country鈥檚 premier medical research agency with the beginnings of the Covid pandemic. (Mueller, 5/28)
Western countries led by the United States, France and Germany pushed for a deal to bolster pandemic response rules at a major World Health Organization meeting on Tuesday after states failed to finalize a pandemic treaty. (Farge, 5/28)
The Vermont Supreme Court on Tuesday heard arguments in a case brought by the parents of a student who received a Covid-19 vaccine against their wishes. The lawsuit, filed two years ago against the state of Vermont and the Windham Southeast Supervisory Union, claimed that Dario and Shujen Politella鈥檚 child, who was 6 years old at the time, was mistakenly given a Covid-19 shot. The incident, which reportedly stemmed from a name tag mix-up, occurred in November 2021 at a vaccination clinic held at the Academy School in Brattleboro. (McDonald, 5/28)
There鈥檚 a new monument in Thompson Park meant to provide a place to reflect on the people who died from Covid-19.It was spearheaded by Allison Gorham. 鈥淚t was an easy thing to want to forget after thinking it was over. 鈥楥ovid鈥檚 over, Covid鈥檚 done.鈥 It鈥檚 not. It just isn鈥檛 as virulent as it was before. So this lets everyone know that we haven鈥檛 forgotten them,鈥 she said. (Domblewski, 5/28)
In other health threats 鈥
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reaffirmed the importance of properly cooking wild game after six people became sick from a parasite traced to undercooked bear meat that was served at a family reunion in South Dakota. The six 鈥 one in South Dakota, four in Minnesota and one in Arizona 鈥 became infected when bear meat that was served rare turned out to be contaminated with roundworms that cause trichinellosis, also known as trichinosis. Two of the people ate only the vegetables that were grilled with the meat. While the meat had been frozen for 45 days, the trichinella worms were from a freeze-resistant species. (5/28)
Meg Norris was traveling in Argentina in April when the first signs of dengue fever hit her. The weather in Salta, just south of the Bolivian border, was warm, but Norris, a 33-year-old from Boulder, Colorado, zipped a fleece sweatshirt around her body to stop herself from shivering. 鈥淚 thought it was sun poisoning,鈥 she said. (Sullivan, Thompson, and Martin, 5/28)