Registration Still Open for Wellness Webinar Tomorrow

Throughout the course of this pandemic, you’ve likely experienced burnout, chronic stress, or even PTSD. Before the pandemic, physicians were at twice the risk for burnout compared to the general population. Now, exacerbated by COVID-19, the situation is worse. You provide tireless care for others. Here is an immediate opportunity to prioritize your own health and wellness! 

The Physician Wellness Webinar will be held tomorrow (Saturday, January 15), 8:00am–1:45pm. The program offers 5 AOA Category 1-A CME credits as well as a discounted registration rate for OOA members! Students can register for free. 

Call for Abstracts

Abstracts are now being accepted for the 2022 Ohio Osteopathic Symposium Research Competition. There is one category, biomedical/clinical research, for the competition.

The poster competition will be held virtually, similar to last year. Authors of the top 20 abstracts will be invited to submit a pre-recorded three-minute thesis for peer-review and the top three will invited to give a live virtual podium presentation during the Symposium. Each author presenting live will receive a cash prize.
 
The guidelines, abstract submission form, and other information is here. The deadline is January 31.

COVID-19 Cases and Hospitalizations Continue to Hit Record Numbers

In a press briefing yesterday, Ohio Department of Health (ODH) Director Bruce Vanderhoff, MD, said the omicron variant is “nothing short of a tidal wave” as cases and hospitalizations reach record numbers in the nearly two-year pandemic. Ohio’s rate of new coronavirus cases is at nearly 2,000 per 100,000 people. The CDC’s threshold for high transmission is 100 cases per 100,000 people. For comparison, in July 2021 before the delta variant, Ohio was as low at 19 per 100,000.

Today’s case count exceeded 41,000 due to a backlog. ODH said the numbers are expected to be higher for the next few days. 
 
The federal government is sending military medical personnel to Ohio and five other states beginning next week. The phased dispatch of 1,000 physicians, nurses and other health care workers will help hard-pressed hospitals in Ohio, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and Rhode Island.
 
The state continues to enlist help from the Ohio National Guard. It was announced this week that the Guard will support additional COVID-19 testing locations in Cincinnati, Gallipolis, Toledo, and Mansfield, bringing the total number of Guard-supported testing locations to 15. The total deployment of National Guard members is about 2,300, which includes approximately 2,100 offering general support, including testing, food services, in-hospital patient transportation, and administrative tasks, and 200 offering medical support.
 
As of this afternoon, 64.49% of eligible Ohioans (age 5 and up) have started the vaccine process.

Supreme Court Rejects Redistricting Maps

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that the new legislative maps drawn by the Ohio Redistricting Commission are invalid and ordered the Commission to go back to the drawing board. The Court made the same decision today to invalidate the Congressional map that was drawn by the Ohio General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine in November.

In both cases, the Court said the maps do not meet provisions to reduce partisan political gerrymandering—a key requirement in the state constitution after voters amended it in 2015. Districts must be proportional to how Ohioans have voted over the past decade and the Court noted that split,  54% Republican to 46% Democratic, is not reflected in the new maps.

The Redistricting Commission, comprised of five Republican members and two Democratic members, has 10 days to redraw the district boundaries for the Ohio House of Representatives and Ohio Senate.

The General Assembly has 30 days to draw a new Congressional map. State lawmakers originally approved the four-year map (SB 258) along party lines. It favored the GOP in at least 12 of the 15 races. Because the bill passed without Democratic support—another constitutional provision approved by voters—the map would have only been in effect for the 2022 and 2024 elections.

Both cases were 4-3 decisions with Republican Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor joining Democratic Justices Michael Donnelly, Jennifer Brunner, and Melody Stewart in the majority opinion. Justices Sharon Kennedy, Patrick DeWine, and Patrick Fischer dissented.

Medical Board Receives Nine Petitions

During the 2021 petition window, the State Medical Board of Ohio received nine petitions for potential new qualifying conditions for medical marijuana use. The Medical Board’s Medical Marijuana Committee is anticipated to meet February 9. At that meeting, the committee will decide which petitions will be considered. A final vote on new qualifying conditions is expected this summer.
 
Condition names as listed by the petitioners include:

• Gilbert’s Disease
• Anxiety
• Degenerative Disk Disease, Chronic pain, PTSD
• Bi polar, Anxiety, Depression, Sleep Disorder
• Opioid Use Disorder (OUD)
• Insomnia
• Lupus
• Opioid Use Disorder
• Autism Spectrum Disorder

During the submission period (November 1, 2021 - December 31, 2021), petitions were filed electronically through the state’s website. Per Ohio Administrative Code, a petition needs to include: name and contact information; specific disease or condition requested to be added; information from experts who specialize in the study of the disease or condition; relevant medical or scientific evidence; consideration of whether conventional medical therapies are insufficient to treat or alleviate the disease or condition; evidence supporting the use of medical marijuana to treat or alleviate the disease or condition and other types of medical or scientific documentation; and letters of support provided by physicians.
 
Petitions that meet the requirements proceed and will be reviewed by subject matter experts. Petitions submitted for the same condition will be combined for the reviews. Any petition for a condition that has been previously reviewed by the board and rejected will not be considered by the board unless new scientific research that supports the request is offered.
 
The board’s committee will review the expert reports and then make a recommendation to the full board for a vote to adopt/deny a petition to add the qualifying condition under review.
 
The SMBO rules for the qualifying conditions can be found here. The next condition petition window is November 1-December 31.

In other SMBO news, new rules were adopted at the board meeting this week.

Seeking Nominations for Board Seat

The State Board of Emergency Medical, Fire, and Transportation Services (EMFTS) is seeking nominations for Seat #2. It is designated for a trauma surgeon. 
 
The Board is responsible for establishing training and certification standards for emergency medical services personnel, accreditation of EMS training programs, and more. Board members are appointed by the Governor as spelled out in the Ohio Revised Code—which calls for three nominations from the OOA. A list of current Board members is here.
 
Interested candidates should send their CV to OOA Executive Director Matt Harney at mattharney@OhioDO.org.