his Friday, September 17, The Pennsylvania Medical Society (PAMED), in partnership with the Foundation of the Pennsylvania Medical Society, Berks County Medical Society, Lackawanna County Medical Society, Lancaster City & County Medical Society, Luzerne County Medical Society, and Lycoming County Medical Society will work to raise awareness of Physician Suicide through a virtual awareness event on Facebook.

While the COVID-19 Mu variant has been widely discussed in the media, neither the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) nor the World Health Organization (WHO) have published much other than the WHO identifying Mu’s status (of interest) on their website. It is the fifth coronavirus variant the WHO is monitoring.

Thirty-two resolutions submitted by PAMED members have been loaded to our House of Delegates website. Resolutions are the vehicle by which PAMED members may introduce important issues they would like the delegates of the annual meeting (or House of Delegates) to address and create or update policy on. Resolutions are written proposals that suggest a change or addition to PAMED policy.

Established in 2021, the Snyder, Union or Northumberland County Scholarships (“SUN” Scholarship) is the largest award currently offered by the Foundation of the Pennsylvania Medical Society. Two $10,000 awards will be offered to a second or third-year medical student that is a resident of the SUN counties.

The Continuing Professional Development and the Physician Remediation communities are invited to submit programs and resources for the ABMS Continuing Certification Directory.

PAMED has been working to address COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, especially in diverse communities, and has partnered with some of our physician members who are multi-lingual. Check out and share our videos in a variety of languages that provide the facts and dispel common myths.

SunPointe Health in State College, PA was among several recipients of PAMED's Community Care Grant. It plans to use the $40,000 it received to support Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, an innovative treatment that has been FDA approved for the treatment of refractory depression since 2008.

PAMED member Dr. Steven Shapiro talks about the Community Care Grant they were awarded by PAMED and how his practice plans to use the grant to advance the level of preventative health care offered to their community.

The legislature will soon be returning to Harrisburg after its summer recess. Check out PAMED’s exclusive, members-only legislative update for what you can expect this fall on issues such as prior authorization, telemedicine, and scope of practice.

The Pennsylvania General Assembly has declined to extend Gov. Wolf’s disaster declaration. While physicians should not notice substantial changes in their daily obligations, it is important to note the end to this declaration.

Danielle Miller, MD, a family physician with Luz Medicine in Ephrata, has been named PAMED’s Everyday Hero for August 2021. She was presented with the award on Aug. 26.

September 17 is National Physician Suicide Awareness Day. It is a day to acknowledge the nearly four hundred physicians - an average of one physician per day - that die by suicide in the U.S. every year. Learn more from Dr. Edwin Kim, Medical Director of the Foundation of the Pennsylvania Medical Society.

The following is a letter from PAMED Board Chair Edward Balaban, DO re: masking.

On Aug. 23, 2021, the Pfizer vaccine got full FDA approval for ages 16 and older. It is still available under emergency use authorization, including for individuals 12 through 15 years of age and for the administration of a third dose in certain immunocompromised individuals.

PAMED members have access to a toolkit that is designed to help physicians navigate opioid-related laws in Pennsylvania; learn what education is available, including PAMED CME that meets the state's requirement for licensure renewal; and much more!

In a significant victory for health care providers, the PA Supreme Court reversed the Superior Court’s ruling in the case of Leadbitter v. Keystone Anesthesia Consultants, LTD., et al, by holding that peer review activities of a credentialing committee are protected under the state’s Peer Review Protection Act. PAMED, in collaboration with the AMA, filed an amicus brief in this case.

On Aug. 18, 2021, public health and medical experts from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that they have developed a plan to begin offering booster shots this fall subject to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conducting an independent evaluation and determination of the safety and effectiveness of a third dose of the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines and CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) issuing booster dose recommendations based on a thorough review of the evidence.

Stay up to date on new regulations that impact your practice.