Just as the omicron surge starts to recede in parts of the U.S., scientists have their eye on another coronavirus variant spreading rapidly in parts of Asia and Europe. It's officially called "omicron BA.2," and this week scientists detected cases of it in several U.S. states, including California, Texas and Washington.

Although BA.2 is currently rare in the U.S., scientists expect it to spread in the country over the next month. There's growing evidence that it's just as contagious as — or possibly a bit more contagious than — the first omicron variant, called "omicron BA.1."

"It could be that BA.2 does have some small advantage," says Emma Hodcroft, an epidemiologist at the University of Bern who has been tracking variants all around the world throughout the pandemic via the Nextstrain project. "BA.2 might well be, like, 1% to 3% more transmissible, or something like that."

So the big question now is, will that small difference be enough for this variant to lengthen the ongoing surge in the U.S., as it has in Denmark?

The Florida Department of Health said late Monday it was immediately shutting down all monoclonal antibody treatments for COVID-19 after the Food and Drug Administration revoked emergency use of two of the therapies.

Gov. Ron DeSantis says the action by the Biden administration will "cost some Americans their lives."

U.S. health officials have said antibody therapies from Regeneron and Eli Lilly should no longer be used because they don't work against the omicron variant. The FDA said it could reauthorize their use if evidence changes.

The bill in part would permit physicians to use telemedicine when issuing a renewal of certain drugs that are classified as controlled substances, including ketamine, anabolic steroids and codeine.

The Florida Senate on Thursday unanimously passed a measure that would expand doctors’ ability to prescribe certain controlled substances when treating patients through telehealth.

Doctors currently are prohibited from prescribing controlled substances when using telehealth, except in the treatment of patients with psychiatric disorders, inpatients at hospitals and patients in hospice care or nursing home facilities.

The state's 1st District Court of Appeal detailed reasons for upholding a circuit judge's decision to reject efforts by the family of a dying patient at Mayo Clinic Jacksonville.

A state appeals court on Thursday said a family did not have a “legal right” to force Mayo Clinic Jacksonville to administer the controversial drug ivermectin to try to keep alive a COVID-19 patient who was on a ventilator.

Winn-Dixie’s parent company will give out more than 2 million N95 masks to customers across its three grocery store chains starting as early as Friday.

The Winn-Dixie giveaway is just a fraction of the 400 million N95 masks being made available to pharmacies across the nation by the Biden administration. They are considered an important tool in the fight against COVID-19, especially against the highly contagious omicron variant, because they provide more protection than cloth and surgical masks, experts say.

A new report compiled by four Florida State University faculty members detailed black mold and other health hazards in a university building. And eight people who worked on one of the building’s floors were diagnosed with cancer in the past 10 years.

The report, which was obtained by Florida Politics from an anonymous university employee, was made by professors in FSU’s College of Health and Human Sciences and was sent to FSU President Richard McCullough on Friday. The report includes a list of 54 members of the college’s faculty and staff that acknowledged they read the report and fully support its contents. FSU spokesperson Amy Farnum-Patronis confirmed the document’s authenticity.

Search https://arcg.is/1LLfLi0 for a map of all available testing and vaccination sites in Leon County, along with hours and scheduling details.  

Source: Leon County COVID-19 Information Portal

The 2022 AMA National Advocacy Conference will be held in person, and registration is now open. Please join us!

Attending will give you the opportunity to connect with industry experts, members of Congress and others about current federal efforts to improve health care and advocate on crucial health care issues affecting your patients. You will hear from AMA leadership, the Administration, federal lawmakers, and other physician and patient advocates. Additional agenda details are coming soon.  

The conference will begin on Monday, February 14th at 3:00 p.m. and adjourn Wednesday, February 16th after lunch. 

Hotel reservations 

Accommodations are at the Grand Hyatt Washington in Washington, D.C. Please reserve your hotel room now.  

Safety measures 

REGISTER NOW! 

Do the environmental improvements we make in our clinics and offices really impact the big picture? This month, the Capital Medical Society’s My Green Doctor answers this question and shares ideas for your practice (Reading time: 5 minutes): https://mygreendoctor.org/the-environment-healthcare-do-our-choices-matter-2/

Register at My Green Doctor and save $60 by using discount code, MGDCMS, making My Green Doctor a free membership benefit from the CMS. My Green Doctor adds just five minutes of environmental sustainability business to each office staff meeting. Everything you need is in the “Meeting-by-Meeting Guide” so there’s nothing for the office manager or you to study. You will also be helping to prepare your patients for the health threats of climate change.Please register today and ask your manager to register as well: https://www.MyGreenDoctor.org/  or https://www.MyGreenDoctor.es (en espanol). That discount code is MGDCMS. You can do this!

My Green Doctor can now mail you free waiting room patient brochures about wise environmental & climate choices. Available in English & Spanish. Email [email protected] & please put “Brochures” in the title.

April 3, 2022

April 21, 2022

Electronic Prescribing Requirements (Florida Board of Medicine)

Florida ePrescribing Clearinghouse (Agency for Healthcare Administration)

The purpose of the Florida ePrescribing Clearinghouse is to provide information that contributes to the promotion and implementation of electronic prescribing by health care practitioners, health care facilities, and pharmacies in order to prevent prescription drug abuse, improve patient safety, and reduce unnecessary prescriptions. This Clearinghouse contains information on the advantages, processes, products, rules, and laws of ePrescribing as well as Florida ePrescribing reports.

To view Physician Wellness resources, click here.

The Elephant in the Doctors' Lounge - With roughly 156 million Americans fully vaccinated for COVID-19, physicians are seeing signs of relief on the horizon. That relief can't come soon enough. The initial energy and adrenaline that drove physicians to treat their acutely ill patients in the early months of the pandemic have been replaced by fatigue, burnout, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It's time to talk -- and to act -- so these feelings of struggle don't drive more of our colleagues into a mental health emergency.

Wolfson Children’s Hospital is proud to provide Continuing Medical Education opportunities to our partners and referring providers by offering monthly virtual CME sessions at no cost. If you have missed any of our previously offered live webinars and still wish to obtain CME credit for them, we have provided 4 recorded webinars for a total of 5.5 CME credits possible. Please follow the instructions below in order to take advantage of this opportunity!

1.      Open the flyer and choose which education session you would like to watch.

2.      Click the link in the attachment for the desired education session.

4.      Follow the instructions included in the video description to complete the required survey and input the associated activity code.

*Please note, if you are licensed outside of the state of Florida, you must contact the CME office at [email protected] to request an official transcript of your participation.

FreeCME.com 

Diagnostic error continues to be a top patient safety concern, a global burden, and cause patient harm from treatment delay, testing, or misdiagnosis. “Prevention of Diagnostic Error in Primary Care” is an on-demand CME activity that features patient safety expert Jeffrey A. Gold, MD, professor of medicine, vice chair for quality and safety, for the department of medicine at the Oregon Health and Science University. This program highlights major contributing factors of diagnostic error along with the diagnostic process of care framework with additional focus on strategies to mitigate risk of patient harm in the primary care setting.

TMH has a library of past CME courses for viewing on their MDnews page: https://www.tmh.org/mdnews/education. The recent CMEs cohosted by CMS and TMH may be found there or by opening: https://youtu.be/HJ50ZsIe2fc, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjgnCn77HSc&t=5s, and https://youtu.be/aD9Mn6NvXyk.

Board-certified physicians are getting another extension on the deadline to maintain their internal medicine credentials.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) once again extended the Maintenance of Certification (MOC) requirements through December 2022.

Maguire Medical Library - Florida State University College of Medicine: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Basic & Current Information

The State-Level COVID-19 profile for Florida. This data is collected from medical facilities in one of two system HHS protect or National Healthcare Safety Network  

The New England Journal of Medicine - A collection of articles and other resources on the Coronavirus outbreak, including clinical reports, management guidelines, and commentary

From the American Medical Association: COVID-19 (2019 Novel Coronavirus) Resource Center for Physicians

From the Florida Medical Association: Coronavirus Educational Resource Center

Selected Adverse Events Reported after COVID-19 Vaccination (CDC)

FMA's Step-by-Step Guide to COVID-19 vaccine enrollment for Florida physicians (FMA) 

See the latest state Department of Health data summarizing the number of people in Florida who have either received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine or completed the vaccine series (FMA) 

Florida Department of Health's COVID Vaccines in Florida 

COVID-19 Pandemic Planning FAQ (dated 11/19/2020) includes important information regarding procurement and handling of costs for vaccine administration. (FEMA) 

What Happens Once There is a COVID-19 Vaccine? Key Challenges to Vaccinating America (12/3/2020) - VIDEO or SLIDES (Kaiser Family Foundation) 

Mandatory Reporting of COVID-19 Laboratory Test Results: Reporting of Cycle Threshold Values (December 3, 2020)

Notable recent additions to CDC guidance include more detailed infection prevention and control recommendations for health care settings: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/hcp/infection-control.html.

Please continue to closely monitor the CDC novel coronavirus website for situation and guidance updates. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html.

Machine donations can be dropped off at Capital Medical Society Foundation's office at 1204 Miccosukee Road, Tallahassee, FL 32308. Donations to Capital Medical Society Foundation are tax-deductible within IRS guidelines Federal Tax I.D. #: 59-2104510. For additional information, please call 942-5215 or email [email protected].

Click here to access AmazonSmile and support the CMS Foundation today!