Unapproved stem-cell therapies marketed to people with long COVID Evgeniia Medvedeva/iStock CIDRAP

New research has identified 38 direct-to-consumer businesses marketing stem-cell treatments and exosome therapies for COVID-19 infections and, especially, long COVID, despite lacking approval by US Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory body in the United States. Descriptions of the businesses and an analysis of their marketing strategies are published in Stem Cell Reports.

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Street Medicine Practitioners Are Getting Paid. Now They Want Higher Rates. - KFF Health News Street medicine, the practice of caring for homeless people outdoors, is a burgeoning field — an unfortunate reality as America confronts a growing homelessness epidemic. But it’s at least become a little more rewarding after the Biden administration made an under-the-radar yet revolutionary change to Medicaid. Starting this month, doctors, nurses and other providers can bill […] Kathleen Hayden KFF Health News

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Biden administration looks to avoid vaccine hiccups as COVID-19 treatment coverage goes commercial The Biden administration is looking to avoid hiccups in the rollout of new COVID-19 vaccines as it begins shifting coverage of coronavirus treatments to the private market. Private insurance compan… nweixel The Hill

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Extreme heat could lead to 233% increase in U.S. excess cardiovascular deaths, study says A large increase in greenhouse gas emissions would lead to a 233% increase in excess cardiovascular deaths in the U.S., or 5,491 excess deaths annually, according to a new study. Theresa Gaffney STAT

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US, global COVID-19 markers show declines Ezra Acayan/World Bank/Flickr cc CIDRAP

COVID-19 activity in the United States last week showed more signs of declines, though deaths were up, and the World Health Organization's (WHO's) monthly snapshot of global activity suggests decreased activity, though the group cautioned that few countries are reporting data.

A new Covid variant has become dominant amid slow uptake of the updated shots The HV.1 variant took over this week as the dominant variant in the U.S., but just around 3.5 % of the population has received an updated Covid shot thus far. NBC News

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Senate panel advances NIH nominee Bertagnolli - Roll Call President Biden’s choice to run the National Institutes of Health won approval from a key Senate committee. Ariel Cohen Roll Call

After months of back and forth, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Wednesday advanced the nomination of Monica Bertagnolli to lead the National Institutes of Health by a vote of 15-6, with ranking member Bill Cassidy, R-La., voting for President Joe Biden’s nominee and Chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., opposing it.

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A New Era of Vaccines Leaves Old Questions About Prices Unanswered - KFF Health News The CDC’s RSV vaccination recommendations beg the question: How much should an immunization that will possibly be given to millions of Americans cost to be truly valuable? khnkit KFF Health News

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Why is COVID-19 more severe in some people? Researchers use genetics, data science to find out Why do some people have a more severe course of COVID-19 disease than others? A genome sequence database created by an international collaboration of researchers, including many from the University of ... Tyler Irving Medical Xpress

Why do some people have a more severe course of COVID-19 disease than others? A genome sequence database created by an international collaboration of researchers, including many from the University of Toronto and partner hospitals, may hold the answers to this question—and many more.

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Severe mental illness linked to 50% increase in COVID-related death The study was based on outcomes seen among 660,000 UK patients from February 2020 to April 2021. CIDRAP

People with severe mental illness (SMI) are at a 50% increased risk of death from all causes following COVID-19 infections, according to a study yesterday  in The British Journal of Psychiatry.

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