Today as we remember those who have fallen for our Country, let’s also note that today is the 100th anniversary of the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial located on the Mall in Washington DC.

The Senate and the House of Representatives are holding a State / District work period this week. Insurance News Net adds that the House Oversight and Reform Committee has “requested information regarding insurers’ and PBMs’ compliance with the ACA and CMS guidance [on contraceptive coverage] by June 8, 2022.

From the Omicron and siblings front —

The Wall Street Journal reports

Pfizer’s antiviral drug, called Paxlovid, totaled more than 412,000 prescriptions through May 6, compared with about 110,000 prescriptions of molnupiravir, an antiviral from Merck & Co. and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP [called Lagevrio], according to drug-data firm Iqvia Holdings Inc. * * *

“Now that Paxlovid has become much easier to obtain, by and large relative to where it was before, Paxlovid is mine and the majority of my colleagues’ first choice,” said Ali Khan, chief medical officer of value-based strategy at Oak Street Health Inc., which has more than 140 primary-care clinics in 20 states across the U.S. * * *

“Doctors have become more comfortable with Paxlovid and more regularly prescribing the more effective drug,” said Zenobia Brown, medical director of health solutions at Northwell Health, a major New York healthcare provider.

Paxlovid, like Lagevrio, has been shown through lab studies to remain effective against Omicron and its subvariants. That has allowed doctors to prescribe it and reserve antibody treatments for other people who can’t take Paxlovid because of the potentially harmful drug interactions.

Federal News Network tells us

The White House earlier this month announced that households can now order a third round of free COVID-19 rapid tests on COVIDTest.gov.

Households can now receive eight new tests, double what households could order in the previous two rounds. USPS has delivered at least 380 million free tests through the program so far.

Bravo, USPS.

From the unusual viruses front —

• STAT News updates us on monkeypox. “The ongoing monkeypox outbreak currently poses a moderate risk to global public health, the World Health Organization said Sunday in a statement that nevertheless raised the specter of the virus becoming entrenched as a pathogen that spreads from person to person. * * * To date most of the [257 confirmed] cases have been diagnosed in Europe and North America. The United States had detected 12 cases as of Friday. “Currently, the overall public health risk at [a] global level is assessed as moderate considering this is the first time that monkeyp ox cases and clusters are reported concurrently in widely disparate WHO geographical areas,” the global health agency said.”

• The World Health Organization updates us on “Six hundred and fifty probable cases of acute hepatitis of unknown aetiology in children [that] have been reported to WHO from 33 countries in five WHO Regions between 5 April and 26 May 2022. The majority of reported cases (n=374; 58%) are from the WHO European Region (22 countries), with 222 (34%) cases from the United Kingdom of Great Britiain and Northern Ireland alone. Probable cases and cases pending classification have also been reported from the Region of the Americas (n=240, including 216 cases in the United States of America) * * *.

From the miscellany department

• The American Medical Association offers an article about what doctors wish their patients knew about living with migraines.

• MedPage Today informs us “Using artificial intelligence (AI) during screening colonoscopy could be a cost-savings strategy that also could boost the prevention of colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence and mortality, a researcher reported.”

• MedPage also tells us “Physical therapy-based rehabilitation frequently leads to better outcomes using fewer resources for patients with MSK pain when compared to operative procedures. But physical therapy must be a part of the treatment conversation early on, while surgery should be positioned as a last resort with the patient made well aware of surgery’s risks and complications. This is currently not the case in many patient-provider interactions.”