COVID vaccination

A year after infection with the coronavirus – when antibodies in the blood are barely detectable – the immune system continues to “remember” the virus and should respond to some extent upon re-encountering it, a study from China suggests. According to new research, women who were pregnant during the recent Omicron surge had more than eight times the rate of COVID-19 diagnoses, but lower odds of severe illness compared with pregnant women diagnosed earlier in the pandemic.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Michael Kaplan ruled that Johnson & Johnson be allowed to continue with the company’s controversial spinoff strategy to settle with people who filed lawsuits claiming that J&J’s talc-based baby powder causes cancer. 

Teva

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. reported solid results for full-year 2021, posting $15.9 billion in revenue including a gain of $4.1 billion from the fourth quarter. The company recently settled an opioid-related case in Texas and is preparing to pay as much as $3.6 billion in cash and medicine to settle the lawsuits filed against Teva.

Teva

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. reached a settlement worth $225 million to resolve claims the drugmaker fueled an opioid epidemic in Texas by improperly marketing addictive pain medications, the state’s attorney general said on Feb. 7.

Two cases of a subvariant of the Omicron variant were identified in Washington state. Two cases were also identified in Houston.

A judge in Texas ruled on January 21 that President Joe Biden could not require federal employees to be vaccinated against the coronavirus and blocked the U.S. government from disciplining employees who failed to comply.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Sept. 16 directed his ire at the governors of Florida and Texas, accusing the Republican leaders of “doing everything they can to undermine the life-saving requirements” he proposed to counter the spread of Covid-19.

The number of coronavirus patients in U.S. hospitals breached 100,000, the highest level in eight months, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, as a resurgence of Covid-19 spurred by the highly contagious Delta variant strains the nation’s health care system.

The number of children hospitalized with Covid-19 in the United States hit a record high of more than 1,900 on Aug. 14, as hospitals across the South were stretched to capacity fighting outbreaks caused by the highly transmissible Delta variant.

The cities of San Francisco and New Orleans on Aug. 12 ordered patrons to show proof of Covid-19 vaccinations to enter restaurants, gyms and other venues, joining New York in a severe step designed to contain the fast-spreading Delta variant.