JULY 2, 2020
COVID-19 lawsuit protections passed for Georgia businesses, hospitals (quotes MAG Legal Counsel Bethany Sherrer)
Savannah Now
Legislation aimed at shielding Georgia businesses and health care providers from lawsuits brought by people who contract coronavirus cleared the General Assembly Friday night during the final hours of this year’s legislative session. | READ MORE
Considerable action on health bills puts cap on interrupted [legislative] session [in Georgia]
Georgia Health News
Pharmacy Benefit Managers are basically corporate middlemen between health insurers or large employers and drugmakers in handling pharmaceutical benefits. The Georgia General Assembly approved a group of bills in recent days to rein in how PBMs operate. | READ MORE
Drafting error could mean 21 percent tax hit on ‘CARES Act’ relief funds
AMA Wire
The AMA and many other stakeholders in health care are urging Congress to rectify an apparent CARES Act drafting error that, if left unaddressed, could mean that entities receiving relief funds under the legislation might have to pay taxes on the money they got from the government. | READ MORE
Georgia governor responds to spike in COVID-19 cases
Fox 5 Atlanta
Gov. Brian Kemp will visit several Georgia cities to encourage citizens to wear masks, and practice social distancing to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. | READ MORE
[Gov.] Kemp on requiring masks: ‘There's a lot of people that don't believe a mask mandate would work’
11 Alive
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Wednesday expressed his skepticism about the need for a statewide mask mandate and his reluctance to impose one, calling it an issue he feels is "overpoliticized." | READ MORE
Health care workers’ letter to governor urges mandatory masks
Georgia Health News
Hundreds of Georgia health care workers are urging Gov. Brian Kemp to require people to wear face masks in public. | READ MORE
Masks required in all Savannah commercial establishments
Savannah Now
Employees of Savannah commercial establishments, including restaurants, retail stores, salons, grocery stores and pharmacies, will be required to wear face coverings while having face-to-face interaction with the public under an emergency mandate issued by Mayor Van Johnson on Tuesday. | READ MORE
‘COVID fatigue’: Are folks [in Georgia] slacking off in the fight?
Georgia Health News
“COVID fatigue’’ is a natural response to four months of unprecedented social restrictions, experts say. But such fatigue — if it leads to careless behavior — is potentially dangerous, the experts say, and may at least partially be responsible for the spikes in new cases in Georgia and many other states. | READ MORE
Cobb health department issues alert over rise in COVID-19 cases
Marietta Daily Journal
Cobb & Douglas Public Health is issuing a public health alert due to a substantial rise in daily confirmed positive COVID-19 cases in Cobb and Douglas counties. | READ MORE
Pfizer & BioNTech report “early positive data” from COVID vaccine study
Press Release
Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech have announced “preliminary data from the most advanced of four investigational vaccine candidates from their BNT162 mRNA-based vaccine program, Project Lightspeed, against SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing the current global pandemic…preliminary data demonstrated that BNT162b1 could be administered in a dose that was well tolerated and generated dose dependent immunogenicity, as measured by RBD-binding IgG concentrations and SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody titers.” | READ MORE
Tracking coronavirus cases proves difficult amid new surge
Associated Press
Health departments around the U.S. that are using contact tracers to contain coronavirus outbreaks are scrambling to bolster their ranks amid a surge of cases and resistance to cooperation from those infected or exposed. | READ MORE
As coronavirus surges, how much testing does your state need to subdue the virus?
NPR
A new analysis that researchers at Harvard conducted for NPR finds that more states have begun to do enough testing to keep their outbreaks from getting worse, but most are still falling short. | READ MORE
Piedmont agrees to pay $16 million to settle billing lawsuit by feds
Georgia Health News
Atlanta-based Piedmont Healthcare has agreed to pay $16 million to settle allegations it violated the False Claims Act by improperly billing Medicare and Medicaid. | READ MORE
GSMA's new president to strive to ensure all Georgians are protected
PRNewswire
Ericka Russell-Petty, M.D., was sworn into office as the president of the Georgia State Medical Association (GSMA ) during a virtual ceremony that took place on June 28. | READ MORE
Advertise with MAG: Please contact Tom Kornegay at 678.303.9260 or tkornegay@mag.org if you are interested in running an ad in the Georgia Pulse, which is a weekly compilation of media reports that are related to health care and the medical profession. It is sent to more than 6,000 physicians in Georgia.
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Medical Association of Georgia
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Atlanta, Georgia 30339
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