Before his death, a nurse warned of the pandemic’s toll on health care workers

Michael Odell while traveling in Iceland in 2019. (PHOTO ILLUSTRATION FROM HANDOUT)

In early 2020, Michael Odell sensed that Covid-19 would hit hard. A young intensive care nurse who traveled to hospitals needing an extra hand, by April 2 he became worried about the toll on health care workers. “I am already feeling the emotional burnout of caring for patients who, despite some being the sickest they’ve ever been, are unable to have their loved ones by them,” Odell wrote. “I feel for them as deep as human empathy can allow.” That month, Odell attempted to kill himself. And in January of this year, amid another Covid-19 wave, Odell walked out of his shift early one morning. He died in an apparent suicide. He was 27. STAT’s Andrew Joseph tells Odell’s story as the country approaches the once-unimaginable milestone of 1 million documented Covid-19 deaths. Read more.

An inventor urges funding monoclonals now and stocking up for future pandemics

If Congress doesn’t pass additional Covid-19 funding, a critical tool to protect immunocompromised people will become increasingly harder to obtain. Supplies of Evusheld, the long-acting monoclonal antibody made by AstraZeneca, need to be replenished. STAT’s Helen Branswell spoke recently to Vanderbilt’s James Crowe, one of Evusheld’s inventors (with a financial interest). With evidence that Covid vaccine efficacy wanes quickly — and doesn’t protect some immunocompromised people — monoclonals that can work for six to 12 months fill a critical need, he said. He and others also hope Congress will fund a $2.5 billion effort to prepare for future pandemics. A nonprofit he’s involved with wants to develop and stockpile similar long-acting monoclonal antibodies for 100 pathogens with pandemic potential. “I think in the past, people thought that was crazy,” Crowe said. But after a pandemic that has cost the globe trillions of dollars, “a $2 billion readiness program looks super cheap.”

Opinion: Covid has taught us we need a better way to do clinical trials

The battle against Covid-19 has been marked by false hope, as too many people embraced would-be cures like hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin only to have rigorous studies fail to show the drugs had a benefit. One lesson is to trust only the most rigorous studies, known as randomized controlled clinical trials. But STAT’s Matt Herper says in a column today there’s an equally important lesson: We need to get much better at conducting these rigorous studies more quickly and cheaply — and that goes beyond the Covid pandemic. This is not just a problem of science, but of infrastructure, Matt writes. The best way to get real-world evidence would be to find ways of doing trials faster and cheaper. One example: a platform study, a streamlined clinical trial that evaluates multiple medicines at once and uses a common placebo group. Read more.

Closer look: Once-tarnished scientist seeks redemption with ‘brain-reading’ research

Niels Birbaumer. (ALAMY/CHRISTOPH SCHMIDT/DPA)

Niels Birbaumer, once a prominent neuroscientist in Germany, fell hard from his pedestal three years ago. Accused of scientific misconduct for his “brain-reading” research, he was stripped of funding and fired. His work showing people paralyzed with ALS could communicate with a brain-computer interface was retracted by PLOS Biology. Now, Birbaumer, who has fiercely defended his previous research, has a new study in Nature Communications that builds upon his prior, discredited work. It shows how a device implanted in the brain of a 34-year-old man with locked-in syndrome — on a ventilator, paralyzed, and unable to even move his eyes — could help him communicate in full sentences. Birbaumer said the research is about more than his reputation. “We do these things because we want these people to be alive, even if society doesn’t want them to be.” STAT’s Meghana Keshavan has more.

Firefighters may see their risk of A-fib rise with the number of fires they fight

For firefighters, a higher risk of heart disease comes with the job. Almost half of their on-duty deaths follow an irregular heart rhythm in the ventricles that suddenly stops the heart. A new study in the Journal of the American Heart Association looks at atrial fibrillation, a more common irregular heart rhythm that puts people at higher risk for blood clots, heart failure, and stroke. The researchers’ 2018-2019 survey of more than 10,800 firefighters revealed that 2.5% of firefighters under age 60 had A-fib diagnosed, compared to 0.1% to 1% of the general population. And the number of fires fought mattered: There was a 14% increased risk of atrial fibrillation for every additional 5 fires fought per year. Chemicals inhaled during a fire, psychological and physical stress, and high heat could be factors.

Referrals via children's doctors for intimate partner violence rose in pandemic's early days

It’s a small study from one hospital, but it adds to the growing literature on intimate partner violence — defined by WHO as “any behavior within an intimate relationship that causes physical, psychological, or sexual harm.” Focused on the early days of the pandemic, the study out yesterday in Pediatrics also underscores the impact on children. Social workers at Boston Children’s Hospital said requests for intimate partner violence consultations rose from 240 to 295 during the 11 months before and after February 2020. The increase happened after primary care providers moved from in-person visits to telehealth; most requests related to emotional abuse. “Although many survivors were at home with partners who use abusive behaviors, obligatory pediatric primary care visits may have been a rare opportunity for them to leave their residence and seek support,” the authors write.

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (Español: 1-888-628-9454; deaf and hard of hearing: 1-800-799-4889) or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.

On this week's episode of the "First Opinion Podcast," First Opinion editor Patrick Skerrett talks with Sneha Dave, executive director of the nonprofit Generation Patient, about including adolescents and young adults in clinical trials testing new medicines. Listen here.

What to read around the web today

What a 'grief camp' for kids can show us about healing. New York Times
TeamHealth hit with another lawsuit for alleged overbilling, this time from an employer. STAT+
As a nurse faces prison for a deadly error, her colleagues worry: Could I be next? Kaiser Health News
Pfizer launches a recall of blood pressure drugs due to a potential carcinogen. NPR
Aurobindo, major generic drug maker, will close a key U.S. production plant. STAT+