In Northern California, around 18,000 nurses will start a two-day strike today because they aren’t happy with the equipment and training standards in place to deal with Ebola. The strike will affect 21 hospitals and 65 clinics owned by Kaiser Permanente.
Fortunately, the hospitals have plans in place and will go on with normal business hours, but elective and non-urgent procedures and appointments will need to be rescheduled, according to Kaiser spokesman John Nelson.
Nelson doesn’t believe that the training and equipment standards are an issue that would warrant the strike.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
“We are training our staff on how to use the right protective gear, to make sure they know how to use it,” Nelson said in the statement. “We have repeatedly asked union leadership to work with us on our Ebola strategy. They have refused. Instead, they continue to hold press conferences claiming hospitals are unprepared for Ebola.”
Other news:
Medical experts meeting with WHO to discuss testing Ebola drugs -Experts are meeting at the World Health Organization in Geneva to try to figure out how to design Ebola tests that will provide the fastest and most trustworthy answers while minimizing the need for comparison groups who won’t be offered the experimental treatments.
Twelve people are being monitored in Illinois for the virus – The people are not officially being quarantined, they are just being monitored, considering they are at low risk or some risk of the virus. They’ve been asked to report temperatures or symptoms to health officials daily.
BioLabs Pegasus Park Cultivates Life Science Ecosystem
Gabby Everett, the site director for BioLabs Pegasus Park, offered a tour of the space and shared some examples of why early-stage life science companies should choose North Texas.
Pop stars re-recording Band Aid charity single for Ebola cause – Bob Geldof and fellow singer-songwriter Midge Ure, the original Band Aid organizers announced plans to re-record the single — “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” with other stars like OneDirection, Bono, Coldplay’s Chris Martin and Ellie Goulding. This effort to raise money to aid the Ebola crisis coincides with 30th anniversary version of the Band Aid charity single, which was first recorded in aid of famine relief in Ethiopia.
Craig Spencer released from Bellevue – The New York City doctor who tested positive for Ebola will no longer be kept in isolation, as he has now tested negative for the virus. He will be speaking out today from the hospital.
