2020 Press Releases

AGS Commends FDA and CDC for Work on COVID-19 Vaccinations

  • .@AmerGeriatrics commends the @US_FDA for authorizing 2 #COVID19 vaccines & expresses its support for the @CDCgov #ACIP's recommendations on groups that should be prioritized for #vaccination in the U.S. https://bit.ly/3h6CiiG

New York (Dec. 21, 2020) —The American Geriatrics Society today commends the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its speedy, but thorough and transparent emergency use authorization of two COVID-19 vaccines and expresses its support for the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ (ACIP) recommendations on groups that should be prioritized for vaccination in the initial phases of the U.S. COVID-19 vaccination program.

“An independent expert advisory board, FDA officials, and members of the ACIP have now vetted the available data for both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and the AGS trusts the science behind them. We are happy to note that adults ages 65 and older comprised at least 21 percent of participants in Phase 3 clinical trials, and both vaccines demonstrated at least 86.5 percent efficacy in that age group,” said AGS President Annette Medina-Walpole, MD, AGSF.  “Based on these results, we encourage older adults to get vaccinated when the vaccine becomes available to them.” 

AGS Calls on Congress to Protect our Most Vulnerable Citizens by Preventing Cuts to Key Services

  • .@AmerGeriatrics supports long-overdue improvements in #geriatrics & #primarycare reimbursement in the 2021 #Medicare Physician Fee Schedule final rule, but expresses deep disappointment in cuts to #nursing home, home, & domiciliary services  bit.ly36ERbFm 

New York, NY (Dec. 4, 2020) – The AGS today commends the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for making long-overdue improvements in reimbursement for geriatrics and primary care in the 2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule final rule issued this week. The AGS has long advocated for appropriately valuing outpatient geriatrics and primary care services and urges Congress to ensure that these changes are fully implemented on January 1, as finalized by CMS. 

AGS Launches New Initiative Addressing the Intersection of Structural Racism and Ageism in Health Care

New York (Nov. 2, 2020)—The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) today publicly announced its plan for how it will begin to address the intersection of structural racism and ageism, after issuing a position statement on discrimination this summer.

“Since we issued that statement, AGS leaders have spent the intervening time thinking about what that commitment means for a Society that is focused on addressing another big ism – ageism – in health care. We’ve also been in learning mode, working to understand our own implicit bias and gathering ideas for achieving lasting and meaningful change,” said AGS CEO Nancy E. Lundebjerg, MPA.

The AGS has committed to three actions steps to address racism in health care, given its impact on older adults, their families, and their communities: (1) affirming the Society’s commitment to creating a future where health care is free of discrimination and other forms of bias; (2) ensuring its educational programs and products address the diversity of older adults; and (3) setting an aspirational goal of guaranteeing that all original research published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (JAGS) and presented at the AGS Annual Scientific Meeting will take full account of ethnicity, gender, disability, age, and sexual orientation in design, undertaking, and reporting by 2031.

AGS Refutes President Trump’s Claim that Physicians are Over-counting COVID-19 Deaths for Financial Gain, in Solidarity with the CMSS

  • .@AmerGeriatrics stands with the Council of Medical Specialty Societies (@CMSSmed) in condemning Trump’s false claim that physicians are inflating the #COVID19 death toll for financial gain #geriatrics https://bit.ly/31KAohw

New York (Oct. 26, 2020) — With its more than 6,000 members continuing to care for older Americans affected by COVID-19 at the front-line of the nation’s pandemic response, the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) today stood in solidarity with the Council of Medical Special Societies (CMSS) in condemning President Trump’s baseless claim that hospitals and physicians are inflating the number of COVID-19 deaths for their own financial gain.

AGS: Equitably Distributing COVID-19 Vaccine Means "Prioritizing Health Workforce, Older Adults" & Avoiding Age as Unfair Criterion

New York (Sept. 3, 2020)—In oral and written testimony delivered today to the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) stressed the importance of prioritizing health professionals and older adults in the distribution of a future COVID-19 vaccine. Delivered in response to an NASEM draft framework for the equitable distribution of coronavirus immunizations, the comments also stressed the importance of ensuring age is never used to exclude someone categorically from care, including prevention for a pandemic as pernicious as COVID-19.

Renowned Geriatrician Dr. Joseph Ouslander to Helm Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

New York (Aug. 14, 2020)—The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) today announced that Joseph G. Ouslander, MD, AGSF—a leading figure in geriatrics with decades of experience helming organizations like the AGS, its Health in Aging Foundation, and some of the nation’s most prestigious health institutions—will succeed William B. Applegate, MD, MPH, MACP, AGSF, as editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (JAGS). Having already served in editorial leadership for JAGS across nearly three decades, Dr. Ouslander now will pilot one of the leading and only academic journals dedicated to the care we all need as we age, with Dr. Applegate’s tenure closing at the end of 2020. Dr. Applegate will remain active with the journal, serving as editor emeritus.

“Dr. Ouslander was unanimously endorsed for this position by the AGS Board of Directors,” noted AGS President Annie Medina-Walpole, MD, AGSF. “That speaks volumes not only about his prowess, but also about how highly regarded he is among his peers. We’re very fortunate to have Dr. Ouslander leading JAGS as we look to showcase a new decade of innovative research, care models, and education.”

Protecting American Homes from COVID-19 Means “Protecting Home for COVID-19 Data at CDC”: AGS Experts

New York (July 20, 2020)—The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) today expressed concern that the new process for sharing COVID-19 data risks fragile progress in our hard-fought national response to the pandemic. The AGS is particularly concerned that the new process, which would change the role of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), does not provide public access to the data at a time when the agency’s impartial expertise has never been needed more.

“Representing more than 6,000 experts who care for us all as we age, the AGS strongly believes the CDC is still best positioned to collect, analyze, and act on health data as we support age-friendly care in the face of pandemics,” notes AGS President Annie Medina-Walpole, MD, AGSF. “Instead of removing the country’s premier health protection agency from the equation, let’s focus on building the infrastructure it needs to remain ‘first among equals’ leading local, state, and other national partners in ending COVID-19.”

Sustained Support for WHO “Vital to Us All as We Age,” Say AGS Experts

New York (July 9, 2020)—The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) today joined organizations across health care, international development, and science in criticizing the Trump Administration’s move to withdraw the U.S. from the World Health Organization (WHO).

“Simply put: The WHO is vital to who we are—and who we can become—as we age,” notes AGS President Annette Medina-Walpole, MD, AGSF. “At a time when so many hard-won victories for creating  age-friendly communities and health are jeopardized by crises like COVID-19, we need to stand indivisible and support international cooperation critical to high-quality, person-centered care for us all.”

As the United Nations agency responsible for public health, the WHO has played a key role in improving health, safety, and independence for us all as we age. Founded after World War II, the WHO employs more than 7,000 workers spread across 150 offices that alert the world to threats, fighting diseases, developing policy, and improving access to care, including for older adults.

AGS Commends Leaders in Senate, House for Advancing Important Protections in Nursing Homes, Long-Term Care

  • .@AmerGeriatrics commends @SenBobCasey @SenWhitehouse @RepAnnaEshoo @JanSchakowsky for introducing S3768 and HR6972, proposals in Senate and House to address #COVID19 in nursing homes http://ow.ly/wKE330qVHaq

New York (July 2, 2020)—As its more than 6,000 members continue to care for older Americans impacted by COVID-19, the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) today thanked Senators Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and House Representatives Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) for contributing to those efforts with nursing home COVID-19 protection and prevention acts introduced in the U.S. Senate (S.3768) and House of Representatives (H.R. 6972), respectively. With estimates suggesting that long-term care facilities account for 30 to 40 percent of U.S. COVID-19 deaths, actions to safe-guard residents and those who care for them are not just important, they are absolutely essential to improving health and safety for us all, AGS experts observed.

In Virtual Presentation, Top Geriatrics Research Addresses Key Concern for Older Adults: Medications

New York (June 12, 2020)—New insights on a host of factors impacting medication use for older adults will anchor a special research presentation hosted by the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) on June 24 from 3-4pm ET. Originally scheduled as part of the AGS 2020 Annual Scientific Meeting canceled due to COVID-19, data presentations from the three top studies comprising the meeting’s prestigious Plenary Paper Session will instead be delivered during a virtual conference session, with registration open to all here.

Presentations will address a key concern for us all as we age: Medication and medication management. Older adults are prescribed medications more than any other age group in the U.S. While these prescriptions often play an important role in health and well-being, they can also lead to other problems when not managed effectively. In the three presentations included in the AGS Plenary Paper Session, researchers will look critically at top-ranked studies representing from the field:

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