On March 28, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced four new enforcement actions against healthcare providers for violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule. Three of…
On March 29, 2022, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a Media Statement calling for certain immunocompromised individuals and people over the age of 50 who received an initial COVID-19 vaccine booster dose at least 4 months…
Note that following information about the updated CDPH requirement regarding face coverings does not apply to healthcare settings, including dental offices. The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) updated its COVID-19 masking guidelines, effective March 1, 2022, which now allow…
In early February, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that it is updating its Clinical Practice Guideline for Prescribing Opioids (initially released in 2016 and covering only chronic pain). The draft update was published on February…
In the wake of the Russian attacks against Ukraine, the American Dental Association (ADA) published an article in ADA News advising dentists to be on alert for cyberattacks. This article follows a joint warning issued by the US Cybersecurity and…
Note that following information about the updated CDPH requirement regarding face coverings does not apply to healthcare settings, including dental offices. The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) announced last week that the universal indoor masking requirement will expire after…
On February 9, 2022, California Governor Newsom signed legislation that requires employers with 26 or more employees to provide COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave (SPSL) for most of 2022. The law takes effect on February 19, 2022. Under the new…
While we are STILL in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are also in the midst of flu (influenza) season. The flu and COVID-19 are both contagious respiratory illnesses, with similar symptoms, and it can be difficult to tell…
On January 3, 2022, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sent out a News Release, announcing amendments to its Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine. The updated guidelines call for: Expanding the use of a single…
Our blog post from December 20, 2021, details Cal/OSHA’s updates to the COVID-19 Prevention Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS). One of the revisions to take effect on January 14 concerns the return-to-work criteria, which automatically updates in real-time to reflect current…
