Fetterman Hospitalized; Pandemic Hearing Gets Testy; Hamlin ‘Guaranteed’ to Return

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Sen. John Fetterman (D-Penn.), who had a stroke during his campaign last year, was hospitalized Wednesday night after feeling lightheaded at a Senate Democratic retreat. (AP)

Top Biden administration officials were grilled on their response to the COVID-19 pandemic for several hours at a hearing before members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. (NBC News)

During this hearing, NIH acting director Lawrence Tabak, DDS, PhD, fired back against the lab leak theory, maintaining that that viruses being studied at a laboratory in Wuhan, China, were different from the strain that started COVID-19. (New York Times)

The WHO is sending rescue teams and medical supplies to Turkey and Syria after the destructive earthquake on Monday. It is estimated the disaster’s death toll will exceed 20,000 deaths. (Reuters)

Commercial sterilizers of medical equipment emit carcinogenic gas ethylene oxide within 5 miles of 14.2 million people, according to a report from the Union of Concerned Scientists. (The Hill)

It’s an uphill battle to FDA authorization for a promising investigational drug against COVID-19, pegylated interferon lambda. (New York Times)

Tenet Healthcare forecast 2023 profit below Wall Street estimates as staffing shortages persist. (Reuters)

The House passed a bill to end lingering CDC vaccination requirements for foreign air travelers and to prevent the CDC from mandating proof of COVID-19 vaccination in the future. (The Hill)

Data from Beijing suggest no novel SARS-CoV-2 variants emerged from China in 2022, a study found. (The Lancet)

California public health officials and outside researchers shared their process of adapting routine wastewater-surveillance infrastructure to monitor for mpox. (New England Journal of Medicine)

In one part of Guatemala, researchers conduct disease surveillance using mosquitoes sucked up in a vacuum trap. (NPR)

Shortages of antibiotics in Europe are said to stem from the shrinking financial incentive of drugmakers to keep making cheap generic medications. (Reuters)

“I guarantee you that Damar Hamlin will play professional football again,” said the medical director of the NFL Players Association, approximately a month after the athlete’s cardiac arrest. (CNN)

Concerns grow around the outbreak of Pseudomonas aeruginosa linked to over-the-counter eyedrops. (NBC News)

An investigation reveals that many of those dying of unnatural causes in Houston-area jails are people with mental illness. (Houston Landing)

Conservative state lawmakers continue to advance bills to prohibit gender-affirming treatments for trans children and teenagers. (AP)

The Georgia Senate voted 31-21 to curb local governments from denying services to unvaccinated residents. (Washington Examiner)

Clubbers describe how they are replacing stimulants with small-dose psychedelics at parties in Europe. (VICE)

Insurance giant Centene agrees to pay California over $215 million to settle for allegedly overcharging for pharmacy services. (KHN)

U.K. nursing training programs have nearly 20% fewer applicants for the upcoming cycle. (Nursing Times)