Why aren’t we treating child sexual abuse like the crisis it is?

 This September will mark six years since the world first learned about the horrific abuse that occurred at Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics and exposed the institutional failures that allowed one man to abuse hundreds for decades. 

Six years later, although this now defamed doctor Larry Nassar is in prison, the painful reality is that we have done far too little as a country to prevent what happened to hundreds like me — and children across the United States — from happening again.

Every minute we fail to act is a minute that another child is in danger of joining the 1-in-4 girls and 1-in-13 boys who experience sexual violence and abuse. This stark reality makes one thing clear — sexual violence is nothing short of a public health crisis. So why aren’t we treating it like one? 

While lawmakers might be mired in gridlock and partisanship, this is one thing that the left, right and everyone in between can agree on — we must take steps to protect kids from sexual violence. It’s time for us to combat this issue head-on, and it’s up to Congress to lead the way. 

The good news is that our elected leaders don’t need to look too far for solutions because survivors, experts and advocates from across the country have already created a roadmap — the National Blueprint to End Sexual Violence Against Children and Adolescents. The blueprint is comprehensive as it is urgent, centering on three central goals: prevention, healing and justice. 

The patchwork of laws, programs and policies that are meant to protect children from sexual violence in the United States are inconsistent, underfunded and simply inadequate when it comes to addressing the extent of this pervasive issue. Without the strength and support of the federal government, the protections that a child might have in Hawaii, for example are different from the ones they might have in Colorado. 

This fractured and unequal dynamic is exactly why we need lawmakers in Congress to step in and develop comprehensive national legislation that provides the resources, tools and expertise necessary to combat abuse, help survivors heal and keep kids safe. 

That means expanding federal dollars for programs that we already know work such as those that help child-serving organizations implement abuse prevention training, and funding research that will help find new solutions to stop sexual abuse from occurring in the first place. Perhaps most impactfully, it means providing federal incentives for states to change and strengthen their own laws in order to increase the reach of trauma-informed care and evidence-based prevention. 

These steps are commonsense and long overdue. Congress must play a leading and unifying role, but it’s on all of us to address this devastating issue. The White House can set the tone by declaring sexual violence against kids a public health emergency. Local legislators can strengthen state laws to protect kids in their home state. Summer camps, sports teams and religious organizations can enact policies that are known to help prevent abuse. And parents, caregivers and guardians across the country can stay aware, learn the signs of abuse and demand change from elected leaders because at every level, we each have the power to keep our children safe. 

We’ve seen small glimmers of hope since the case involving Michigan State and USA Gymnastics was exposed, but we have much further to go. 

Since then, the former doctor has gone to prison, hundreds of survivors have come forward to demand justice — and with each day, more light has been shed on the systemic failures that allowed hundreds of survivors like me to be abused. But sexual violence didn’t start or end at Michigan State. Its devastating impacts are felt every single day by millions across the country — from children being abused by those they trust, to adult survivors who are still struggling and learning to live with the lifelong trauma that was caused years ago. 

Stories like these are far too common. But they shouldn’t be — and we all have the power to do something about it. Talking about this issue is just the first step. Now, it’s on all of us to turn this momentum into real, systemic change. 

As we look toward Congress to do their part, I urge lawmakers in my home state of Michigan — who know this issue all too well — to be the leaders this issue so desperately needs. It’s time for Congress to do their part to help survivors heal, bring those who harm children to justice, and put an end to sexual violence faced by millions of kids across the country.

Grace French is a Larry Nassar survivor and founder of The Army of Survivors, a nonprofit advocacy organization working to end sexual violence against athletes.

https://thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/3591631-why-arent-we-treating-child-sexual-abuse-like-the-crisis-it-is/

Scott: Inflation Reduction Act is ‘a war on Medicare’

 Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) voiced his opposition to the landmark climate, tax, and health legislation the Senate is in the process of voting on, characterizing the bill is “a war on Medicare.” 

During an appearance on CBS’s “Face The Nation,” moderator Margaret Brennan asked Scott if there was anything he considered good in the legislation, noting that it expands Medicare access which benefits his state and that it aims to reduct the deficit, which Republicans normally agree with.

“Here’s the way I look at it. Right now, this bill actually ought to be called the war on seniors act. I mean, this is a war on Medicare.” Scott said.

When Brennan noted that reducing the cost of Medicare is not the same as cutting benefits, Scott said: “Margaret, it’s $280 billion that would have been spent it was anticipated to be spent, it’s not going to be spent now and the drug companies that will be doing more research are not gonna be able to spend the money on research there will be life-saving drugs that seniors will not get,” Scott replied. 

Brennan then asked Scott to respond to the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) estimate that one percent of new drugs would be impacted by the bill and noted that the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget had called his claim “misleading.”

“[W]e shouldn’t be cutting Medicare like this. I don’t believe it and by the way, we shouldn’t be raising taxes ever but especially in a recession, Scott said.

Scott’s remarks came after Vice President Harris broke a 50-50 vote in the Senate on Saturday to advance the Inflation Reduction Act, in which no Republican is expected to vote in favor.

he proposed legislation aims to address climate change issues, lower the cost of prescription drugs and reform the tax code.

Scott’s colleague Sen. Lindsey Graham also voiced his disapproval of the proposed legislation, saying the bill will “make everything worse.”

“This is gonna make everything worse. I voted for the bipartisan infrastructure bill, voted for gun legislation,” Graham told CNN’s “State of the Union” moderator Dana Bash on Sunday.  “I’m not gonna vote for this.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/3591595-sen-rick-scott-says-inflation-reduction-act-is-a-war-on-medicare/

Gottlieb: White House ‘can still catch up’ after monkeypox emergency declaration

 Former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb on Sunday said that the Biden administration “can still catch up” and control the monkeypox outbreak in the U.S. with ramped-up testing.

“I think they can still catch up. I think there’s a potential to get this back in the box. But it’s going to be very difficult at this point,” Gottlieb told CBS “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports 7,510 monkeypox cases in the U.S. as of Friday — as well as 28,220 global cases.

Gottlieb on Sunday said officials are focusing on the community of men who have sex with men, the group within which most cases have been identified so far, but added that “there’s no question” monkeypox has spread outside that community.

“We’re looking for cases in that community, so we’re finding them there. But we need to start looking for cases in the broader community.” 

Gottlieb also said that doctors should be allowed to test people with what appear to be atypical cases of shingles or herpes for monkeypox. 

He noted that the CDC “has been reluctant” to expand testing, and has been administering just 8,000 of a possible 80,000 tests a week.

“If we’re going to contain this and make sure that it doesn’t spread more broadly in the population, we need to start testing more broadly.”

Cases in the broader community are likely still low, the former FDA administrator said, adding that “if we want to contain this, if we want to prevent this from becoming an endemic virus, we need to be looking more widely for it.”

World Health Organization (WHO) officials have also warned that outbreaks commonly start in one group before spreading to others, and that monkeypox should not be expected to stay confined to the community of men who have sex with men. Several U.S. monkeypox cases have already been reported among women and children.

WHO declared monkeypox a public health emergency last month, and the White House followed suit last week.

https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/3591711-gottlieb-white-house-can-still-catch-up-after-monkeypox-emergency-declaration/

NY Health Department says hundreds of people may be infected with polio virus

 New York state health officials have found indications of additional cases of polio virus in wastewater samples from two different counties, leading them to warn that hundreds of people may be infected with the potentially serious virus.

Just two weeks ago, the New York Health Department reported the nation's first case of polio in almost a decade, in Rockland County, north of New York City. Officials said that case occurred in a previously healthy young adult who was unvaccinated and developed paralysis in their legs. Since then, three positive wastewater samples from Rockland County and four from neighboring Orange County were discovered and genetically linked to the first case, the health department said in a press release on Thursday, suggesting that the polio virus is being spread within local communities. The newest samples were taken from two locations in Orange County in June and July and one location in Rockland County in July.

"Based on earlier polio outbreaks, New Yorkers should know that for every one case of paralytic polio observed, there may be hundreds of other people infected," State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett said. "Coupled with the latest wastewater findings, the Department is treating the single case of polio as just the tip of the iceberg of much greater potential spread. As we learn more, what we do know is clear: the danger of polio is present in New York today." 

The health department reiterated that it is still investigating the virus' origin, and said that it is not yet clear whether the infected person in Rockland County was linked to the other cases.

Polio is "a serious and life-threatening disease," the state health department said. It is highly contagious and can be spread by people who aren't yet symptomatic. Symptoms usually appear within 30 days of infection, and can be mild or flu-like. Some people who are infected may become paralyzed or die.

Before the polio vaccine was introduced in the 1950s, thousands of Americans died in polio outbreaks and tens of thousands, many of them children, were left with paralysis. After a successful vaccination campaign, polio was officially declared eradicated in the U.S. in 1979. 

Unvaccinated New Yorkers are encouraged to get immunized right away, the health department said. Unvaccinated people who live, work or spend time in Rockland County, Orange County and the greater New York metropolitan area are at the greatest risk.

Most school-aged children have received the polio vaccine, which is a four-dose course, started between 6 weeks and 2 months of age and followed by one shot at 4 months, one at 6 to 12 months, and one between the ages of 4 and 6. According to the health department, about 60% of children in Rockland County have received three polio shots before their second birthday, as have about 59% in Orange County — both below the 79% statewide figure. 

According to the CDC's most recent childhood vaccination data, about 93% of 2-year-olds in the U.S. had received at least three doses of polio vaccine.

Meanwhile, adults who are not vaccinated would receive a three-dose immunization, and those who are vaccinated but at high risk can receive a lifetime booster shot, according to the health department.

The vaccine is 99% effective in children who receive the full four-dose regime, health officials said.

"It is concerning that polio, a disease that has been largely eradicated through vaccination, is now circulating in our community, especially given the low rates of vaccination for this debilitating disease in certain areas of our County," Orange County Health Commissioner Dr. Irina Gelman said. "I urge all unvaccinated Orange County residents to get vaccinated as soon as medically feasible."

Rockland County Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Patricia Schnabel Ruppert issued a similar statement, calling on people who are not vaccinated to get the shots "immediately."

Polio has rarely appeared in the U.S. since it was declared eradicated over 40 years ago. The last reported case was brought by a traveler in 2013, according to The Associated Press.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/polio-virus-hundreds-of-infections-possible-new-york-health-department/

CVS Health Plans to Buy Signify Health

 CVS Health Corp is planning to buy Signify Health Inc as it looks to expand in home-health services, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing sources.

Initial bids are due this coming week and CVS is planning to accept one, the reportsaid.

WSJ reported last week that Signify Health is working with bankers to explore strategic alternatives including a sale.

Signify has a market cap of around $4.66 billion based on its stock closing price on Friday, according to Reuters calculations.

CVS and Signify did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside business hours.

https://money.usnews.com/investing/news/articles/2022-08-07/cvs-health-plans-to-buy-signify-health-wsj

Dems fail to overrule parliamentarian on insulin price cap

 Senate Democrats fell short of an effort Sunday to overrule a decision by the parliamentarian that effectively struck down a proposal sponsored by Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) to cap out-of-pocket insulin costs at $35 a month for people not covered by Medicare.  

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), the ranking member of the Budget Committee, sought to enforce the parliamentarian’s ruling that Warnock’s cap on insulin prices violated the Byrd Rule because it would set prices in the commercial market and therefore couldn’t pass with a simple majority vote.

Senate Democrats insisted on a vote to waive the procedural objection to put Republican senators on record, including Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), the most vulnerable member of the GOP conference, on the record as opposing a popular proposal to rein in insulin prices.  

The Senate voted 57-43 to waive the procedural objection against the insulin price cap but Democrats scored a symbolic victory when seven Republicans voted with the Democrats: Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska). 

“We’re going to force them to vote no and put them on the record,” said one Democratic senator before the vote, explaining the political strategy ahead of a vote lawmakers knew ahead of time was going to fail.  

All 43 “no” votes came from Republicans. 

The vote was unusual as the majority party rarely insists on a vote to overrule the parliamentarian’s decision on whether a legislative proposal is protected by the special budgetary rules that allow it to pass with a simple-majority vote.  

Senate Health Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said colleagues who voted to override the parliamentarian would allow “people to get insulin at $35 a month.” 

“Thirty-seven million people in our country have diabetes, and it’s absolutely wrong that many of them cannot afford the insulin they need to live,” she said. “I’ve heard from people in my state who risk their life and ration insulin to make ends meet, all the while drug companies are jacking up prices.”

“The cost of insulin has tripled over the last decade,” she said.  

Democrats won a partial victory, however, because the parliamentarian allowed Warnock’s $35 insulin cap to apply to Medicare beneficiaries, which could influence prices in the private market. 

A Democratic aide called the cap on insulin for people covered by Medicare “a big deal.”  

The aide noted that 1 in every 3 Medicare beneficiaries have diabetes and more than 3.3 million Medicare beneficiaries use common forms of insulin, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.  

Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D) told reporters on Sunday morning that Democrats knew well before the vote that the parliamentarian ruled a cap on insulin prices in the private market a violation of Senate rules.  

“She knocked it out.  They added it back in and basically, you know, wanted to tempt us to, I guess, vote against it,” Thune said, while taking aim at Democrats for “overruling the parliamentarian.” 

He said the effort to overturn the parliamentarian undermined the integrity of Senate procedure and Senate rules.  

“It undermines the whole reconciliation process if you if you start doing that,” he said. “So, I mean, I think there’s a right way and wrong way to do it. They want to get that vote, there’s a lot of ways they can get that vote, but doing it this way, was the wrong way to do it.” 

Warnock pushed back on Thune’s remarks, telling The Hill ahead of the vote that the blame would fall on Republicans if a major portion of the insulin cap fell out of the bill.  

“The parliamentarians’ rules are not self-enforced,” Warnock said. “So, only when we don’t do what 20 other states have already done, many of them red states, is if folks here decide to put politics in front of the people.” 

“We can get this done and if it doesn’t get done, it’s on them,” he said. 

The vote on Sunday comes a day after another provision was struck from the bill that sought to lower drug prices by targeting drug companies with price increases that outpaced the rate of inflation. 

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/3591586-democrats-fail-to-overrule-parliamentarian-on-insulin-price-cap-as-gop-votes-no/

Hospitals have low level of accountability for connected device breaches

 

• Hospitals are not taking basic security actions and have low levels of accountability regarding cyberattacks, ransomware and data theft stemming from breached medical devices, new research suggests.
• Over half of respondents in a survey of healthcare executives from cybersecurity firm Cynerio and research group Ponemon Institute reported that senior management did not require assurances that medical or internet-connected device risks were properly monitored or managed. 
• While 46% reported taking proper security steps to securing medical devices, 49% said they didn’t measure the effectiveness of device security procedures. Meanwhile, of the 43% of organizations that reported a data breach in the past two years, 88% said at least one connected device was a contributing factor to the breach.

Hospitals are becoming a primary target of cybercriminals looking to get their hands on lucrative patient data. Hacks have been increasing in recent years and reached record levels in 2021, according to multiple reports, though early data from 2022 suggests the rate of data breaches may be declining.

Medical devices connected to the internet are one potential area of attack for cybercriminals. Devices may be particularly vulnerable because many use outdated or insecure software, hardware and protocols, even as the number of connected medical devices being used by hospitals rapidly increases.

Cybersecurity incidents are the top safety concern for medical devices in 2022, according to one nonprofit.

Cynerio and the Ponemon Institute surveyed more than 500 U.S. hospital and health system executives for their new report.

Some 56% of respondents said internet-enabled device attacks resulted in longer patient length-of-stays, while 48% of respondents said they resulted in theft of patient data.

Yet only an average of 3.4% of hospitals’ IT budgets are being spent on device security, the survey found.

Hospitals may need to face a real-world threat to rationalize further investment. Among the top factors that would drive increased investment in medical device security is a serious hacking incident of a device, followed by concerns over relationships with clinicians and third parties and a potential loss of customers or revenue due to a security incident, the survey found.

Another problem is poor oversight over device ecosystems. According to the report, 67% of organizations don’t keep an inventory of their internet of things devices.

Respondents also noted a lack of clear ownership regarding device security, with no clearly agreed upon stakeholders for protecting the security of connected devices. Some respondents said security decisions lay to the CIO or CTO, while others called out biomedical engineers, the chief executive or “nearly everyone in between,” the report found.

https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/hospitals-medical-device-cyberattacks-cynerio-ponemon/628156/