Editor's Note Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra on March 15 amended the February 4, 2020, COVID-19 emergency use authorizations for: diagnostics for detection and/or diagnosis of COVID-19 personal respiratory protective equipment other medical devices including alternative products used as medical devices drug and biological products. These emergency…

Read More

Editor's Note The Biden administration announced on January 30 that it will end the COVID-19 national and public health emergencies on May 11, the January 31 APnews reports. The move gives healthcare providers and other stakeholders about 100 days to prepare for the termination. The national and public health emergencies…

Read More

Editor's Note On October 18, the White House released the “National Biodefense Strategy and Implementation Plan for Countering Biological Threats, Enhancing Pandemic Preparedness, and Achieving Global Health Security” (the strategy), Becker's Hospital Review October 19 reports. The strategy includes the objective to create enough vaccines for the US population within…

Read More

Editor's Note The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on October 3 amended the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act declaration for smallpox medical countermeasures to expand the categories of providers authorized to administer vaccines and therapeutics against smallpox, monkeypox, and other orthopoxviruses during the declared emergency, Healthcare…

Read More

Editor's Note  On August 3, as directed by President Joe Biden in a briefing room release in April 2022, when he tasked the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) “to coordinate the federal response to the long-term health effects of COVID-19,” as reported by OR Manager, HHS released a national…

Read More

Editor's Note On Wednesday August 10, the Department of Health and Human Services released the Environmental Justice Index (EJI), a tool used to identify health risks from pollution and other environmental hazards, the American Hospital Association July 10 reports. The EJI is the first national, geographic-driven tool utilized to measure…

Read More

Editor's Note The US Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center (HC3) released a new brief offering tips on how to protect healthcare organizations from basic web application attacks, the American Hospital Association (AHA) July 26 reports. These attacks target patient portals and expose patient…

Read More

Editor’s Note US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra has advanced the existing Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) from a staff division to an operating division, using the new name of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR). ASPR is…

Read More

Editor's Note On July 23, the World Health Organization (WHO) director-general declared monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern following the agency’s emergency committee inability to reach a consensus, Becker’s Hospital Review July 25 reports. After the no conclusion was drawn in the most recent meeting, WHO Director-General Dr…

Read More

Editor's Note The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on July 12 that it will hold an emergency meeting—the second emergency meeting convened—next week to determine the global health risk of monkeypox, CNBC July 12 reports. The organization decided not to declare monkeypox a global health emergency just last month, noted…

Read More