Current and Resolved Drug Shortages and Discontinuations Reported to FDA

Some of the claims state health officials make in their guidance don't tell the full story about COVID vaccines, according to a doctor with the Florida chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He says all eligible kids should get shots.

Doctors with the Florida chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics are speaking out against recent COVID-19 vaccine guidance from the Florida Department of Health and state Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo. The recommendation says healthy children may be better off not getting the shots.

State health officials say kids ages 5 to 17 with underlying conditions are the "best candidates" for COVID vaccines but they argue other kids have little to no risk of developing severe illness.

Despite two years of COVID and a year’s worth of vaccinations, there remains some confusion over the privacy of an employee’s vaccination status. As a healthcare employer, are you permitted to ask your employees if they’re vaccinated? Do you breach the Health Information Protection and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in doing so? The quick answers to those questions are: it’s OK for an employer to ask; and as long as the inquiry is made to the employee (and not to a third party or sought from medical records), the employer probably hasn’t violated HIPAA.

A second round of free COVID test kits can be ordered from the federal government.

Beginning Monday, March 7, people can go online to usps.com/testkits to request up to eight additional kits.

The only information required to fill out the form is a name, working email and mailing address including ZIP code.

TUESDAY, March 8, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Among U.S. adults who were alive in 2015, more than 53 percent are estimated to have had blood lead levels (BLLs) greater than 5 μg/dL in early life, according to a study published online March 7 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Jason Barrett resigned as president and CEO of St. Augustine, Fla.-based Flagler Health+, a position he has held since May 2018.

The nonprofit system on March 8 said Mr. Barrett "made the decision to resign from the organization to pursue other opportunities." His tenure as president and CEO was but one chapter of his 19 years with Flagler Health+, which was known as Flagler Hospital before its 2019 rebrand. Mr. Barrett previously served as chief administrative officer, chief integration officer, COO, senior vice president and vice president of operations, according to his LinkedIn.

Melioidosis, caused by the bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei, is an uncommon infection that is typically associated with exposure to soil and water in tropical and subtropical environments. It is rarely diagnosed in the continental United States. Patients with melioidosis in the United States commonly report travel to regions where melioidosis is endemic. We report a cluster of four non–travel-associated cases of melioidosis in Georgia, Kansas, Minnesota, and Texas. These cases were caused by the same strain of B. pseudomallei that was linked to an aromatherapy spray product imported from a melioidosis-endemic area.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is also available today through online chats. 988 is not a nationwide texting code right now.

Service members, Veterans, and their families can reach the Veterans Crisis Line by texting 838255, and through online chats at veteranscrisisline.net.

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

CMS’s My Green Doctor practice management program is about practices becoming environmentally sustainable and creating healthier communities. The new website makes it even easier to learn how your office will save money by “going green”. Ask your practice manager to register as a Partner Society member and to use the new CMS member discount code MGDCMS to save $60 instantly and make the program free for your entire practice: https://www.MyGreenDoctor.org.

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.

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.

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].

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