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The amount of misery and abuse suffered by hospital patients, and the workers who cared for them, jumped significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, new data from the Massachusetts health department show. From patients who developed severely damaged skin, known as pressure ulcers, which often appear while bed-ridden for hours without being moved, to caregivers and security officers being assaulted by patients, the numbers paint a sobering picture of the heavy toll exacted by the pandemic on the state’s health care system and the people in it. (Lazar, 5/17)

An analysis of DNA from more than 24,000 people who had COVID-19 and required treatment in intensive care has yielded more than a dozen new genetic links to the risk of developing extreme illness from the disease. The study, which was published on 17 May in Nature1 and has more than 2,000 authors, highlights the role of the immune system in fueling the later stages of particularly severe COVID-19. The results could one day contribute to the development of therapies for COVID-19 — and potentially other diseases that cause acute respiratory distress or sepsis. (Ledford, 5/17)

Covid-19’s devastating toll is often measured by hospitalizations and deaths, but the effects of the pandemic run far deeper and wider. (Gale, 5/17)

Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½Ò•îl Health News: A Covid Test Medicare Scam May Be A Trial Run For Further Fraud 

Medicare coverage for at-home covid-19 tests ended last week, but the scams spawned by the temporary pandemic benefit could have lingering consequences for seniors. Medicare advocates around the country who track fraud noticed an eleventh-hour rise in complaints from beneficiaries who received tests — sometimes by the dozen — that they never requested. It’s a signal that someone may have been using, and could continue to use, seniors’ Medicare information to improperly bill the federal government. (Jaffe, 5/18)

An independent advisory committee to the Food and Drug Administration will decide Thursday whether to recommend an RSV vaccine for infants. (Bendix, 5/17)

Could the vaccine be available this winter, and how can people access it? Can this vaccine be used for young children who are also vulnerable to RSV? CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen answers your questions. (Hetter, 5/18)