News/Press Releases

New York (March 22, 2021) —The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) condemns the escalating violence directed at and ongoing harassment of Asian Americans. We are deeply saddened by the shootings in the Atlanta area that killed eight people, the majority of whom were women of Asian descent. We stand against discrimination, harassment, prejudice, systemic injustice, and violence targeting any individual for their identity.  The AGS is committed to achieving a just society, one where all people are full members of our communities and entitled to equal protection and treatment.  We renew our ongoing commitment to working with other stakeholders on preventing firearms from being used intentionally to cause harm. 

In the short term, we are heartened by the passage of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2021 and Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021 in the U.S. House of Representatives and call on the Senate to swiftly approve and send these bills to President Biden’s desk for signature. 

About the American Geriatrics Society

In recent letters to @JoeBiden & Congress, @AmerGeriatrics emphasizes the importance of preparing for future public health emergencies, building & maintaining a healthcare workforce equipped to care for us all as we age, and more at the federal level: http://ow.ly/82wV50DCUcK

• .@AmerGeriatrics' new cognitive screening toolkit, providing info about and links to free, open-access tests, is now available on the iGeriatrics app! Check out the desktop version here: http://bit.ly/3p3wf1M #geriatrics

New York (Jan. 19, 2021) —The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) launched its new AGS Cognitive Screening Toolkit on the iGeriatrics app today, introducing an easy-to-access resource that can help clinicians select the appropriate free, open-access cognitive screening test among those identified by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) for use with primary care patients.

Users can browse each of the 10 free cognitive screening tests or narrow their choices using filters based on how the test is administered: whether it evaluates a patient's executive function and/or short-term memory; whether it is simple or challenging to score; and whether it takes less or more than 10 minutes to complete. 

• .@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.” 

• .@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. 

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.

• .@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.

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.

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.”

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.”