CDC announces shakeup after pandemic response criticism - August 18, 2022

Executive Leadership Briefing

The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced a shake-up of the organization, saying it fell short responding to COVID-19 and needs to become more nimble. The agency has long been criticized as too academic, focusing on the collection and analysis of data but not acting quickly against new health threats. Plans to modernize the agency include giving the CDC new authority to require states to report data and changes that will allow the agency to hire staff more quickly. The change follows the Biden administration’s announcement it would elevate the Department of Health and Human Services pandemic and disaster response office.

A federal judge ordered CVS, Walgreens and Walmart to pay $650.6 million in a landmark judgment that will force three of the country’s largest pharmacy chains to bear some of the cost that the opioid epidemic wrought on two counties outside Cleveland. The award comes after a jury ruled last year that the pharmacies played a significant role in the crisis, dispensing drugs without effective controls and procedures. In Wisconsin, lawmakers are debating how to spend the state’s $31 million opioid settlement awarded to help combat fentanyl deaths.

Construction on new single-family homes fell about 10% in July, marking the third month new construction slowed. With home prices and mortgage rates both high, economists say housing affordability has plunged to the lowest levels since the late 1980s. Experts have noted a pullback in home buying activity and fewer people willing to commit to a new home that’s still under construction. While prices for commodities like lumber have eased, builders continue to struggle to fill open positions, especially more skilled roles.

Interest rates on credit cards are so high that consumers with a $5,000 credit card balance could pay an extra $1,000 in interest over the course of a year. While the Federal Reserve has aggressively raised interest rates this year in a bid to get inflation under control, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau noted more families are relying on credit cards to keep up with the high cost of living. The Credit Card Competition Act of 2022 introduced by lawmakers last month marks a bipartisan attempt to curb processing fees stemming from merchants battling banks and payment processors.

An intelligence group that monitors extremist communities online found an increase in calls for civil war and other extremist rhetoric after news broke that federal agents had executed a court-authorized search for documents at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Violent extremism in the U.S. has increased consistently since 2008, fueled by conspiracy theories and mistrust of government institutions. Former Vice President Mike Pence implored fellow Republicans to stop lashing out at the FBI as more law enforcement officials warn of an escalating number of violent threats.

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