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Two men charged with targeting public employee health plans for unneeded medicine

By Shelton Muro 1 month ago

Debt collectors representing the IRS may be calling. Here’s how to know that it’s not a scam. Video by David P. Willis

TRENTON – A federal grand jury has indicted two men on charges connected to a scheme to defraud state health benefits by targeting insurance plans that paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for certain prescription compound medications, receiving benefits and commission for the prescriptions they obtained, authorities said.

Keith Ritson, 40, of the Bayville section of Berkeley, and Frank Alario, 63, of Delray Beach, Florida, are both charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, as well as conspiracy to wrongfully obtain and disclose patient’s individually identifiable health information, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito’s Office.

Alario was additionally charged with making false statements in a health care matter. Ritson was also charged with conspiring to commit money laundering and

Health

Coronavirus Lab Accidents; Super-Spreader Vegas Casinos; Slow Cash Flow to Public Health

By Shelton Muro 2 months ago

Welcome to the latest edition of Investigative Roundup, highlighting some of the best investigative reporting on healthcare each week.

Coronavirus Lab Accidents

Lab accidents involving coronaviruses at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have raised questions about the potential risks that an infected lab worker could pose to the public, ProPublica reports.

Records show at least six UNC researchers in the past 5 years had to be checked following potential exposures to lab-created SARS coronaviruses. Two other UNC researchers required monitoring after accidents involving a lab-created MERS coronavirus.

That monitoring mostly involved merely reporting their temperature or symptoms twice a day to the university. They mainly went on with their normal lives without isolation or distancing. Now, of course, the possibility of asymptomatic spread with such viruses is well known.

In one case in 2016, for instance, a researcher in the university’s biosafety level 3 lab was bitten

Health

If Public Schools Are Closed, Should Private Schools Have to Follow?

By Shelton Muro 3 months ago

St. Andrews Episcopal School, attended by Baron Trump, President Donald Trump's son, in Potomac, Md., on April 29, 2020. (Samuel Corum/The New York Times) — St. Andrews Episcopal School, attended by Baron Trump, President Donald Trump’s son, in Potomac, Md., on April 29, 2020. (Samuel Corum/The New York Times)

Facing a resurgence of the coronavirus, public schools in the suburbs of the nation’s capital decided in recent weeks that more than 1 million children would start the school year from home. On Friday, officials in Maryland’s most populous county said that private schools, including some of the nation’s most elite, had to join them.

Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, abruptly overruled that directive this week, contending that Maryland’s private schools should be allowed to make their own reopening decisions. The governor staked out his position on the same day that a group of parents filed a federal lawsuit seeking to overturn the county’s order, saying it discriminated against private and religious schools.

The wrangling threw into sharp relief the challenges facing local health officials as

Health

Maryland’s governor continues his public health retreat

By Shelton Muro 3 months ago

One of the mistakes commonly made during the recent public debate over whether to open schools this fall or conduct classes online has been to consider the ramifications only in the context of students, educators and their families. This is understandable. No one is more directly affected. But during the worst pandemic to hit this nation in a century, schools — public and private — must also be looked upon as potential transmission sites in the same way that bars, restaurants, churches, businesses and every other place where the public might gather must be. This isn’t just about keeping young Tommy or Tamika safe, or their extended families or even their teachers, but about keeping the broader communities safe until COVID-19 is under reasonable control.

That’s why Gov. Larry Hogan’s abrupt decision this week to grant special status to schools by amending an emergency statewide order to prevent local health

Health

Ontario implements more public health measures in restaurants, Canada launches COVID Alert app

By Shelton Muro 3 months ago

Yahoo News Canada is committed to providing our readers with the most accurate and recent information on all things coronavirus. We know things change quickly, including some possible information in this story. For the latest on COVID-19, we encourage our readers to consult online resources like Canada’s public health website, World Health Organization, as well as our own Yahoo Canada homepage.

As cases of COVID-19 continue to spread around the world, Canadians seem to be increasingly concerned about their health and safety

Currently, there are more than 115,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in Canada and nearly 8,900 deaths.

Check back for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak in Canada.

For a full archive of the first month of the pandemic, please check our archive of events.

July 31

3:00 p.m.: COVID-19 ‘just waiting for an invitation to a party’

Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer,

Health

As Maryland public schools go online this fall, private and parochial schools ready to welcome students on campus

By Shelton Muro 3 months ago

As Maryland’s public schools announced their decisions to keep their doors closed at least for the beginning of the school year, private schools have done just the reverse — arguing they have the ability to give families the in-person classes they want while keeping students safe.

Because of their small size, some experts say private and Catholic schools, are better able to make quick adjustments to their curriculum and often have more physical space to spread students out. But financial forces and teachers unions are also shaping public and private school decisions.

“The driver has been meeting the needs of our students,” said Donna Hargens, the superintendent of Catholic Schools in the Baltimore Archdiocese. “The interpersonal interaction is essential to the learning process and we know that some of our students struggled with remote learning especially those with learning needs.”

Public schools, meanwhile, often have to cope with tightly-packed classrooms

Health

Christian Siriano Granted New York State Funding to Make PPE for Nonmedical Public Service Workers

By Shelton Muro 3 months ago

Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images Designer Christian Siriano.

Christian Siriano’s getting the government support he needs to continue producing PPE.

Early on at the start of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in March, Siriano, 34, became the first fashion designer to step up and announce he would be using his manufacturing resources to create protective masks for frontline workers. Now, as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a plan to award a total of $6.9 million in incentives to companies to continue making equipment, Siriano’s fashion firm was one of the 12 selected.

Per Cuomo’s announcement, one of Siriano’s companies, CJ Designs, is receiving $352,590, according to a report from Women’s Wear Daily. The money will be put towards manufacturing more face masks for nonmedical public service employees as the state prepares for a potential second wave of coronavirus in the fall.

“Siriano quickly changed the scope of his high fashion Manhattan

Health

Nearly 3,500 Public Health Experts Sign Letter Defending Fauci Amid White House Attacks

By Shelton Muro 3 months ago

Nearly 3,500 public health experts sent an open letter to President Donald Trump amid a spate of attacks launched over the last two weeks at Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, calling those seeking to undercut him a “dangerous distraction.”

In the letter, which was organized by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the group calls the coronavirus pandemic “one of the greatest challenges the United States has faced in its history.” But the signatories, which include two previous heads of the Food and Drug Administration, a former U.S. surgeon general and a former secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, said they were troubled by efforts to smear Fauci, who they said has provided a clear voice to Americans during the health crisis.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic, he has remained one of the world’s most trusted scientists on COVID-19, daily

Health

Littleton Public Schools August Delay: Back-To-School Plan

By Shelton Muro 3 months ago

LITTLETON, CO — Littleton Public Schools issued an update Friday on back-to-school plans after the district announced it is postponing the first day of school until Aug. 24. Classes were previously scheduled to begin Aug. 13.

Littleton Public Schools will offer in-person and remote learning for the fall term. In a letter to parents and community members, LPS Superintendent Brian Ewert said the “return to in-person learning is good for our children academically, socially, and emotionally.”

“The decision was not taken lightly and was based on research, recommendations of health officials, the findings and work of the LPS Restart Task Force, and the plans of other school districts locally and across the nation,” Ewert’s letter read.

Don’t miss the latest news updates in Littleton: Free Littleton Patch Newsletters and Email Alerts | Facebook | Twitter

Ewert offered the following reasons for the delayed start date:

Tri-County Health and the Colorado

Health

As debate rages, many public health experts say children should return to school

By Shelton Muro 3 months ago

BALTIMORE — In the raging national debate over whether to reopen schools, advocates on both sides are basing their arguments on a range of factors: political, economic and emotional.

But there is a growing consensus in the public health and scientific community that schools should resume in-person classes this fall — particularly in states such as Maryland, where cases have not spiked as they have elsewhere.

To be sure, these experts say safety precautions will be necessary to reopen schools. But they say an assessment of risks versus benefits points to the wisdom of reopening.

The latest available data suggests that children are less likely to become infected with the coronavirus and less likely than adults to develop severe cases. In addition, health experts say children appear not to spread the virus to family members and other adults as efficiently as flu and other common illnesses.

While public health experts

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