Snapchat on Wednesday debuted a suite of safety tools and resources for educators trying to navigate students' wellbeing on their app and online in general.
Why it matters: Schools are wrestling with regulating cell phone use in classrooms, with some even threatening to ban phones altogether.
Pfizer yesterday became the latest major drugmaker to sell medicine directly to consumers, launching a digital platform that's initially directed at people with migraines and respiratory ailments, including COVID-19.
Why it matters: The move puts Pfizer in competition with Eli Lilly, which in January launched its own D2C platform to provide prescriptions for conditions like obesity, migraines, and diabetes.
The new portal could stir up more business for Pfizer drugs, though the company said patients won't be steered to its products and that decisions will remain with physicians.
Driving the news: The PfizerForAll platform leverages partnerships with telehealth provider UpScriptHealth, online pharmacy Alto Pharmacy, and the grocery delivery service Instacart.
🥼 The civil rights office at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services rarely holds doctors and hospitals accountable for discrimination and can take years to resolve complaints. (Bloomberg Law)
🦟 New Hampshire officials confirmed that a resident of the state died after contracting the mosquito-borne eastern equine encephalitis. (Axios)
💰 A severe shortage of donor kidneys has some policymakers eyeing tax credits for people willing to donate one of theirs. (NPR)
Pfizer on Tuesday became the latest major drugmaker to sell medicine directly to consumers, launching a digital platform that's initially directed at people with migraines and respiratory ailments, including COVID-19.
Why it matters: The move puts Pfizer in competition with Eli Lilly, which in January launched its own D2C platform to provide prescriptions for conditions like obesity, migraines, and diabetes.
Why it matters: It's a timely message from the Biden administration amid a presidential election showcasing working-class families' struggles with an emphasis on populist themes.
The detection of 21 cases of the insect-borne Oropouche virus disease, also known as "sloth fever," in U.S. travelers returning from Cuba has prompted health officials to issue a warning.
Why it matters: "Recent reports of outbreaks in areas without previous endemic transmission, fatal cases, and vertical transmission associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes have raised concerns about human health risks," per a CDC report issued Tuesday on the virus that's infected thousands in South America and the Caribbean.
New Hampshire health officials confirmed Tuesday that a resident of the state had died after contracting the mosquito-borne eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) virus.
The big picture: The rare but potentially deadly virus has put a number of communities in New England states on alert this summer.
The long-standing tension between censorship versus safety online is coming to a head as CEOs start to publicly push back.
Why it matters: Tech companies have corrected what they consider a content moderation overreach during the 2020 election and the pandemic. Ahead of the 2024 race, they are standing their ground.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Monday that the Biden administration was "wrong" to pressure the company to censor certain inaccurate content during the COVID-19 pandemic.
📍 The World Health Organization launched a six-month plan to stanch mpox outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighboring countries. (AP)
🧫 There's progress in replacing critical insulin-producing cells destroyed by diabetes using stem cell therapy. (WaPo)
🎧 A federal judge ordered "pharma bro" Martin Shkreli to surrender any copy he retains of a rare Wu-Tang Clan hip-hop album which he previously forfeited after being convicted of securities fraud. (CNBC)
Affordable Care Act plan enrollees had in-network access to, on average, 40% of doctors near their homes in 2021, according to a new KFF analysis.
Why it matters: Plans control costs by contracting only with certain providers. But these more limited networks can hamper enrollees' ability to actually access the care their plan covers.
A recent measles outbreak in Oregon is refocusing attention on declining childhood vaccination rates as kids head back to school.
Why it matters: Lingering vaccine hesitancy from the pandemic is evident in pediatricians' offices as more parents opt out of the shots for measles, chicken pox, and whooping cough, among others, using non-medical religious exemptions.
Former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli must turn over all digital copies of Wu-Tang Clan's unreleased album "Once Upon A Time in Shaolin" by Friday, a judge in Brooklyn ruled.
Why it matters: Shkreli, who was nicknamed "Pharma Bro" after gaining notoriety for having raised the price of an AIDS drug by 5,000%, previously owned the only copy of Wu-Tang Clan's rare album.
