Week in Review: December 16

By Samantha Rossi • December 16, 2022

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The Week in Review provides an overview of the past week’s top health care content, including industry news and trends, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Clinic Laboratories news, and upcoming events.

Industry News

CVS, Walgreens finalize $10B in settlements over opioids

CVS and Walgreens have agreed to pay state and local governments a combined total of more than $10 billion to settle lawsuits over the toll of opioids and now want to know by Dec. 31 whether states are accepting the deals. States announced final details Monday of settlements that the two largest pharmacy chains in the U.S. offered last month. Source: AP

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‘The situation in the hospitals is grim’: states face brutal virus fallout

State health officials are warning people that time is running out to get vaccinated before gathering with family over the holidays as Covid-19 cases surge nationwide alongside unseasonably severe waves of flu and respiratory syncytial virus. Source: Politico

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Bivalent COVID shot for young kids gets federal approval, will be available within days

Children ages 6 months to 6 years will soon be getting a slightly different COVID-19 vaccine for their third dose. As with adults and older kids, their third shot will be a so-called bivalent vaccine, targeting both the original virus and a variant that was widely circulating for much of this year.  Source: USA Today

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Mayo Clinic News

'Untapped opportunity' as Mayo Clinic expands at-home care with paramedic program

After doctors took about a half-basketball's worth of cancerous tissue from the back of her leg, Barb Virnig knew her options were limited. The 75-year-old retired nurse couldn't dress the wounds from her October surgery by herself. The nearest short-term recovery facility with room was 40 miles away from her home — and from her doctors. That was before she heard about Mayo Clinic's community paramedic program. Trained paramedics have visited her home at least once a week since the beginning of November to treat her wound and check her blood pressure and heart rate. Source: Star Tribune

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Wisconsin healthcare systems ask for your help to reduce wait times at urgent care clinics

Right now, an increase in cases of seasonal illnesses are sending more people to urgent care clinics and making wait times much longer. Health systems across Wisconsin are now asking for your help to reduce those wait times. Source: WKOW

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RSV, flu and COVID-19: what you need to know about the viruses menacing Jacksonville area

They have been around for a while, causing varying degrees of medical havoc in people's lives: respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, flu and COVID-19. They were expected to cause more trouble in Northeast Florida during respiratory virus season primarily in November and December. But the good news is they are not following the same schedule, which has lessened their collective impact. Source: Jacksonville Times Union

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Samantha Rossi

Samantha Rossi is a Digital Marketing Manager at Mayo Clinic Laboratories. She supports marketing strategies for product management and specialty testing. Samantha has worked at Mayo Clinic since 2019.