AP: FDA Spells Out Lower Sodium Goals For Food Industry
Food companies are coming under renewed pressure to use less salt after U.S. regulators spelled out long-awaited guidelines aimed at reducing sodium levels in dozens of foods including condiments, cereals, french fries and potato chips. The voluntary goals finalized Wednesday for 163 food categories are intended to help lower the amount of salt people eat. A majority of the sodium in U.S. diets comes from packaged or restaurant foods -- not the salt added to meals at home -- making it hard for people to make changes on their own. (Choi, 10/13)

NBC News: Sweeping FDA Guidance Would Drastically Cut Salt In American Foods
The Food and Drug Administration is asking food manufacturers and restaurants to cut the salt in their products over the coming 2½ years, hoping to reduce Americans' overall sodium intake by 12 percent. The sweeping recommendation, announced Wednesday, is expected to cover a wide variety of foods — from chain restaurant meals to processed food on grocery store shelves and even baby food. (Edwards, 10/13)

NPR: Eating Too Much Salt Is Making Americans Sick. Even A 12% Reduction Can Save Lives
It's an incremental step, as the agency hopes to see even deeper cuts in years to come, but reducing sodium consumption even this much could have big public health benefits, says the FDA's acting commissioner, Dr. Janet Woodcock. "Too much sodium is making people sick. It's leading to hypertension, and that causes both heart disease, strokes and even kidney damage, and it's preventable," Woodcock told NPR in an interview. (Aubrey, 10/13)

NBC News: 'Mix And Match' Covid Vaccine Boosters Are Effective, NIH Study Finds
A highly anticipated study of “mixing and matching” Covid-19 vaccines found the approach to be safe and effective, although the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines were found to spark stronger immune system responses than Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine. “Mixing and matching” refers to giving a booster dose of a vaccine different from the vaccine type that was used for the initial vaccination series. (Chow and Syal, 10/13)

Bloomberg: 'Mix-And-Match' Covid Vaccines Could Boost Antibodies, Study Finds
Mixing Covid vaccines produces as much or more antibodies as using the same shot as a booster, according to preliminary results of a widely awaited U.S. government-sponsored trial. The trial is the first major U.S. study to compare the effects of using different vaccines as boosters from the initial shot or shots. The complicated, 9-arm trial involved over 450 people and measured the effects from giving a booster shot of the Moderna Inc., Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE or Johnson & Johnson vaccines to those who had originally gotten a different vaccine. Overall, the results found that mixing-and-matching resulted in comparable or higher levels of neutralizing antibodies compared to same-vaccine boosting, the researchers said in the preprint posted on medRxiv.org. Rates of adverse events were similar across all the different booster groups, the study found. (Langreth and Rutherford, 10/13)

If you got a Johnson & Johnson shot, it may be better to get a booster of something else —

The New York Times: J.&J. Recipients May Be Better Off With Other Boosters 
People who received a Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine may be better off with a booster shot from Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech, according to preliminary data from a federal clinical trial published on Wednesday. That finding, along with a mixed review by the Food and Drug Administration of the case made by Johnson & Johnson for an authorization of its booster, could lead to a heated debate about how and when to offer additional shots to the 15 million Americans who have received the single-dose vaccine. (Zimmer, Weiland and LaFraniere, 10/14)

NPR: A Moderna Or Pfizer Booster Appears Better For J&J COVID Vaccine
If you got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as your first COVID-19 shot, a booster dose of either the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine apparently could produce a stronger immune response than a second dose of J&J's vaccine. That's the finding of a highly anticipated study released Wednesday. And if you started out with either Pfizer or Moderna, it probably doesn't matter that much, the research suggests, as long as you get one of the two mRNA vaccines as a booster. The study, which was sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, involved 458 volunteers. They were divided into nine groups with roughly 50 volunteers in each group. Those who initially got the two-dose Moderna vaccine got either another Moderna shot, a Pfizer shot or a Johnson & Johnson shot as a booster four to six months after their primary immunization. (Stein, 10/13)

But a Johnson & Johnson booster still provides protection —

The Wall Street Journal: Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 Booster Shot Bolsters Immune Defense, FDA Staff Say
A booster of Johnson & Johnson’s JNJ 0.96% Covid-19 vaccine showed signs of significantly bolstering the immune defenses of study subjects, federal health regulators said Wednesday. The regulators cautioned, however, that data was limited and that they had to rely on J&J’s own analysis for some of the study findings, rather than conducting their own. (Loftus and Schwartz, 10/13)

CNBC: J&J Covid Booster Shot: FDA Scientists Strike Favorable Tone Ahead Of Vote This Week
The staff of the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday struck a more favorable tone on Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 booster shots, saying there may be a benefit to administering a second dose two months after the initial shot. The staff acknowledged, however, the data to support boosters was limited and the agency hasn’t verified all the information yet. (Lovelace Jr., 10/13)

Also —

The Hill: More Than One-Third Of Eligible Seniors Have Received Boosters, White House Says 
More than one-third of seniors who are eligible to get a third Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 shot have received a booster dose, the White House said on Wednesday. About three weeks after a third dose was authorized for certain Pfizer recipients, including those aged 65 and older, White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients said 7 million people by the end of Wednesday will have gotten their booster shot. (Coleman, 10/13)

Roll Call: Some Health Experts Confused About Administration's Booster Goal 
With just days to go before a high-stakes debate to determine which Moderna and Johnson & Johnson recipients receive COVID-19 booster shots, some experts remain confused about President Joe Biden's goals for the booster rollout. The White House was expected to meet privately with independent experts to outline and discuss Biden’s endgame for the booster campaign recently. But scientists and other experts said a proposed Zoom meeting had not been scheduled after the details of an earlier call, in which many argued that boosters are premature, were leaked to the press last week, according to two of the experts. (Kopp, 10/13)

The Washington Post: Vaccination Could Have Saved 90,000 Lives Over Four Months, Study Says 
Approximately 90,000 covid-19 deaths could have been avoided over four months of this year if more U.S. adults had chosen to be vaccinated, a new study finds, as the disease caused by the coronavirus became the second-leading cause of death in the United States. The estimate from the Peterson Center on Healthcare and the Kaiser Family Foundation focused on deaths of U.S. adults from June 2021 — when the report says coronavirus vaccines became widely available to the general public — through September. (Jeong, Timnsit and Paul, 10/14)

The Biden administration wants more donations to COVAX —

Axios: Biden Administration Warns Moderna To "Step Up" Global Vaccine Supply 
The federal government is demanding Moderna provide enough vaccines to the global initiative COVAX, at not-for-profit prices, a top federal official said during an intense panel event today. "We expect that Moderna will step up as a company," David Kessler, the Biden administration's chief science officer of the COVID-19 response, said, adding Moderna has additional capacity to meet these demands. "Failure to do that would be unconscionable in my view." (Herman, 10/13)

Axios: Moderna, Biden Administration Criticized On Global Vaccine Supply 
Moderna is under fire for not doing enough to vaccinate the world, particularly low-income countries — and the Biden administration is being criticized for not doing enough to force Moderna's hand. Low-income countries are desperate for more vaccine, and experts warn that higher levels of global spread will increase the likelihood of a vaccine-resistant variant emerging. (Owens, 10/14)

In other news on the vaccine rollout —

The New York Times: Why The Tuskegee Study Slowed Vaccinations Of Black Americans 
By the time vaccines for the coronavirus were introduced late last year, the pandemic had taken two of Lucenia Williams Dunn’s close friends. Still, Ms. Dunn, the former mayor of Tuskegee, contemplated for months whether to be inoculated. It was a complicated consideration, framed by the government’s botched response to the pandemic, its disproportionate toll on Black communities and an infamous 40-year government experiment with which her hometown is often associated. (Burch and Walker, 10/13)

CIDRAP: About 3 In 20 Midwest Healthcare Workers COVID Vaccine Hesitant
In a 1,971-person survey conducted from March to May, about 3 in 20 Midwest HCWs were hesitant about the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a study published yesterday in the American Journal of Infection Control. Respondents were from a 465-bed University of Illinois at Chicago hospital, a 664-bed Rush University Medical Center hospital, and a 26-hospital system in Wisconsin and Illinois run by Advocate Aurora. The survey, which was based off the Health Belief Model framework, showed that 15% of HCWs had not received or were not planning to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. (10/13)

CNN: Indiana Parents Say Walgreens Mistakenly Injected Them And Their Two Kids With The Covid-19 Vaccine Instead Of Flu Shot
Joshua and Alexandra Price say they and their two children were mistakenly given the Covid-19 vaccine instead of a flu shot a week ago at their local pharmacy -- and they are now dealing with some adverse symptoms. The Prices took their 4- and 5-year-olds to the Walgreens in Evansville, Indiana, on October 4 for their yearly shots. About 90 minutes later the pharmacist called saying they had made a mistake. The entire family had been injected with adult doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. (Simonson and Holcombe, 10/13)

CNBC: Education Secretary Says Texas Is Wrong To Ban Covid Vaccine Mandates
U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said that he disagrees with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s move to ban nearly any coronavirus vaccine mandates in the state. That’s because the move will affect children in both public and private schools in the state, some of whom are not yet eligible to be vaccinated themselves. (Reinicke, 10/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Vaccine-Mandate Fight Between Texas And Biden Has Companies Caught In The Middle
The Greater Houston Partnership, which represents some 900 companies including Exxon Mobil Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Chevron Corp. and Accenture PLC, said Tuesday that Mr. Abbott’s order would make it more difficult for Texas businesses to operate safely. The organization has been generally supportive of Mr. Biden’s efforts to require vaccines for large employers. (Harrison and Findell, 10/13)

CBS News: Texas Hospital CEO "Deeply Disappointed" By Abbott's Bid To Ban Vaccine Mandates 
Texas Governor Greg Abbott's executive order banning vaccine mandates in the Lone Star state is not sitting well at Houston Methodist, the first hospital system in the country to require employees be immunized against COVID-19. Houston Methodist — a medical center and six community hospitals — is "deeply disappointed in the governor's order," Dr. Marc Boom, president and CEO of Houston Methodist said in an emailed statement to CBS MoneyWatch. Medical workers take an oath to "do no harm," and that includes "doing everything possible to prevent the spread of disease — something we know these vaccines are very good at doing," he added. (Gibson, 10/13)

Dallas Morning News: Mark Cuban Stiffens COVID-19 Stance: ‘If You Work For Me, I Require My Employees To Be Vaccinated’
With just under two weeks until the Dallas Mavericks’ season opener, owner Mark Cuban has made his stance known on COVID-19 vaccinations. And it doesn’t appear that he will be backing down any time soon. “It is your choice. It is absolutely, positively up to you. But there are consequences that come with that,” Cuban said during an appearance on 10 Questions with Kyle Brandt, a Spotify podcast. “If you work for me, I require my employees to be vaccinated unless there’s a doctor’s reason where they can’t be. I don’t want my kids to be at risk, so the consequences of you not being vaccinated is I’m not going to shut the [expletive] up. I’m going to be in your mother[expletive] ear driving you mother[expletive] crazy.” (Lopez, 10/13)

In updates on mandates in California —

AP: Judge Blocks Vaccination Mandate For California Prisons
A judge on Wednesday blocked an order due to take effect this week that required California prison employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19.Kern County Judge Bernard Barmann issued a temporary restraining order that prevents enforcement of the vaccination mandate for guards and peace officers represented by a powerful union while the court weighs a request for a preliminary injunction, the Sacramento Bee reported. (10/14)

AP: San Francisco Hasn't Approved Any Vaccine Waiver For Workers
About 800 San Francisco city workers have asked for medical or religions exemptions to avoid a looming deadline for them to get vaccinated or lose their jobs, but so far the city has not approved a single request, a human resources official said Wednesday. About 1,900, or 5.5% of the city’s 35,000-employee workforce, have not complied with the mandate to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Nov. 1, said Mawuli Tugbenyoh, chief of policy at San Francisco’s Department of Human Resources. (10/14)

In other vaccine mandate news —

AP: Boston Suspends 800 For Failing To Comply With Vaccine Rules
More than 800 people who work for Boston have been suspended without pay for failing to comply with the city’s coronavirus vaccine mandate, city officials said. Acting Mayor Kim Janey announced in August that the city’s roughly 18,000 employees would be required to either show proof of vaccination, or, if they do no want to get a shot, submit to regular testing. (10/13)

AP: Arkansas Governor OKs Bill Allowing Vaccine Mandate Opt-Outs
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Wednesday effectively approved a new law that will allow employees to opt-out of COVID-19 vaccine requirements, a move by fellow Republicans to challenge federal vaccine mandates. Hutchinson allowed the measure to become law without his signature despite his concerns about the impact it will have on businesses in the state. The new law won’t take effect until early next year. (DeMillo, 10/14)

AP: Judge Bars United From Putting Unvaccinated Workers On Leave
A federal judge has extended a ban on United Airlines putting employees on unpaid leave for seeking a medical or religious exemption from the airline’s requirement to get vaccinated against COVID-19.U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman in Fort Worth, Texas, granted a restraining order Tuesday in favor of employees who are suing the airline over the mandate. (10/13)

Also —

The Hill: Kyrie Irving Explains His Decision To Remain Unvaccinated
Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving on Wednesday explained his refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19 a day after his team announced it was suspending him because his stance made him ineligible to play or practice in their arena. (Scully, 10/13)

The Wall Street Journal: The Doctors Who Blocked Kyrie Irving 
There are not many people standing in between the Brooklyn Nets and the NBA championship. ... But it turns out the greatest threat to Nets hegemony when the NBA season begins next week might be a team of New York City health officials. Jay Varma is their LeBron James. Varma was the senior adviser for public health in the New York City mayor’s office, where it was his job until recently to lead the city’s strategy against Covid-19, and he remains a consultant on pandemic matters. He’s also suddenly become one of the most significant figures in the NBA. (Cohen and Radnofsky, 10/13)

The Boston Globe: Delta Surge Appears To Be Ebbing, Fauci Says
After weathering four distinct surges since the coronavirus pandemic began last year, the United States appears to be moving toward a decline in acceleration and a turnaround of cases, Dr. Anthony Fauci said at a White House news conference Wednesday. The comments from the White House’s chief medical adviser and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases come amid a decline in coronavirus cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, sparking hope that the summer surge fueled by the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus is ebbing. Although the numbers are dropping, Fauci said, the virus is not yet under control. He cautioned that rates have surged from low points in the past. (10/13)

Axios: New COVID Cases Down, But The West Is At Risk 
For the first time since early August, the U.S. is averaging fewer than 100,000 new COVID-19 cases per day. The U.S. has blown opportunities like this before, but the prospect of controlling the virus and being able to safely put pandemic life behind us is once again within reach. (Baker, 10/14)

In other news on the spread of the coronavirus —

Salt Lake Tribune: 19 More Utahns Die Of COVID-19 As ICUs Remain Near Capacity, Providers ‘Struggle To Provide Care’
Nineteen more Utahns died of COVID-19 in the past day, according to the Utah Department of Health. One of them was between the ages of 25-44, and six were 45-64. Despite the additional 19 deaths reported, the state’s overall COVID-19 death toll instead rose by 17 on Wednesday. The Health Department said that’s because two previously reported COVID-19 deaths have been removed from the overall total following further analysis. The state’s intensive care units remain near capacity. According to the Utah Department of Health, 92.1% of all ICU beds and 94.3% of ICU beds in larger medical centers are occupied. Of all ICU patients, 45% are suffering from COVID-19. (Means and Pierce, 10/13)

CBS News: "Do We Need To Ration Care?": COVID Patients Overwhelm Montana Hospitals 
Montana, the first state to ban COVID-19 mandates for employees, has one of the lowest vaccination rates and the highest hospitalization rates in the country. Some hospitals have reached the point of not accepting new patients and are preparing to ration care. The intensive care unit at Billings Clinic is operating at 175% capacity. Dr. Jaimee Belsky, an emergency room doctor there, is trying to keep up with the crush of COVID patients. The hospital's emergency department is "beyond slammed at this moment," a spokesperson said, adding that the department has 9 ICU patients and 13 others waiting to be seen. (Oliver, 10/13)

AP: September Marks New Peak Of Oregon COVID-19 Deaths
At least 610 Oregonians died from COVID-19 complications in September, marking the highest fatality count of any month of the pandemic. The death tally increased Wednesday as the Oregon Health Authority announced 1,278 cases and 33 more fatalities connected to COVID-19, including 15 deaths in September, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. (10/14)

Detroit Free Press: Michigan ER Patients Left On Stretchers, Recliners, In Swamped Wards
Just looking at all the patients lying on the stretchers in emergency department hallways makes Tiffani Dusang physically uncomfortable. It’s like she vibrates, a sort of perpetual small bounce on the soles of her practical shoes. “It’s hard to watch,” said Dusang, the director of emergency and forensic nursing at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing. “I always feel very, very bad when I walk down the hallway, and see that people are in pain, needing to sleep or needing quiet. But they have to be in the hallway, with 10 or 15 people walking by every minute.” (Wells, 10/13)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: New COVID Variant Detected In Louisiana; It's Not An Imminent Threat, Health Officials Say
A new COVID variant named B.1.630, first detected in the U.S. in March, has been sequenced by LSU in Shreveport. It is the first time the variant has been detected in the state of Louisiana. “This is mostly academic curiosity," said virologist Jeremy Kamil, an associate professor of microbiology and immunology at Louisiana State University Health Shreveport (LSUHS). "This is not a public health threat in the immediate sense." (Pierce, 10/13)

Also —

AP: COVID-19 Hospital Visitor Rules: Families Want More Access
Banned from the Florida hospital room where her mother lay dying of COVID-19, Jayden Arbelaez pitched an idea to construction employees working nearby. “Is there any way that I could get there?” Arbelaez asked them, pointing to a small third-story window of the hospital in Jacksonville. The workers gave the 17-year-old a yellow vest, boots, a helmet and a ladder to climb onto a section of roof so she could look through the window and see her mother, Michelle Arbelaez, alive one last time. (Licon, 10/13)

AP: Big Cats At Lincoln Children's Zoo Contract COVID-19
Officials at the Lincoln Children’s Zoo announced Wednesday that five big cats at the zoo are being treated for COVID-19.Two Sumatran tigers and three snow leopards were tested after they began showing signs of the virus during the weekend, spokeswoman Sarah Wood said in a release. Wood said zoo officials don’t believe the public was at risk because of the distance between the animals and zoo visitors. (10/13)

CIDRAP: Most COVID-19 Survivors Have Symptoms 6 Months On, Review Finds
A systematic review of 57 studies involving more than 250,000 COVID-19 survivors reveals that 54% still had at least one symptom 6 months or more after initial diagnosis or release from the hospital. In the review, published today in JAMA Network Open, a team led by Hershey (Pennsylvania) Medical Center researchers searched the literature from December 2019 through March 2021 for studies on persistent COVID-19–related symptoms diagnosed using lab results, radiologic findings, or clinical signs or symptoms at or after 1 month. (Van Beusekom, 10/13)

The Hill: 'Shameless' Actor Ricarlo Flanagan Dies Several Weeks After Contracting COVID-19 
Ricarlo Flanagan, who acted in “Shameless” on Showtime and “Walk the Prank” on Disney+, died on Sunday, several weeks after contracting COVID-19. According to Variety, he was a semifinalist in NBC’s “Last Comic Standing” during its ninth season and had appeared in several other TV shows, including “Insecure,” “Room 104,” “The Carmichael Show,” and “The Neighborhood,” among others. (Vakil, 10/13)

KHN: Covid Testing, Turnaround Times Are Still Uneven This Far Into Pandemic
In one recent week, a New Yorker got a free covid-19 test in a jiffy, with results the next day, while a Coloradan had to shell out $50 for a test two cities from her hometown after a frantic round of pharmacy-hopping. A Montanan drove an hour each way to get a test, wondering if, this time, it would again take five days to get results. While covid testing is much easier to come by than it was early in the pandemic, the ability to get a test — and timely results — can vary widely nationwide. A fragmented testing system, complicated logistics, technician burnout and squirrelly spikes in demand are contributing to this bumpy ride. “We’re still where we were 18 months ago,” said Rebecca Stanfel, the Montana woman who had to wait five days for test results in Helena last month after being exposed to someone with the virus. (Bichell, 10/14)

Axios: U.S. Sees Record High Of 96,000 Drug Overdose Deaths In 12 Month Period 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recorded over 96,000 deaths from drug overdoses in a twelve-month period ending in March 2021, according to provisional data released Wednesday. It's a nearly 30% jump over the preceding 12 months and coincides with one of the deadliest periods of the COVID-19 pandemic, when stay-at-home orders radically changed daily life for most Americans. (Garfinkel, 10/13)

WBTW: Horry County Leads South Carolina In Opioid Overdoses
Horry County has the highest number of suspected opioid overdoses in South Carolina, according to data from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC). At Tuesday’s public safety meeting, Horry County Coroner Robert Edge told members that drugs continue to be a big problem in the county. “The drug war is still going,” Edge said. “In the last three months, we’ve had 45 calls,” he said. “I can tell you what they’re going to come back and they’re going to come back mostly with fentanyl, heroin, or cocaine.” (DeBone, 10/13)

AP: US Supreme Court Won't Hear Dispute Over Injection Sites
The U.S. Supreme Court decided Wednesday it will not review a nonprofit group’s effort to open a supervised injection site in Philadelphia to try to reduce overdose deaths. The high court’s decision in the widely watched test case is a setback for the two dozen U.S. states and cities that supported the petition. A divided U.S. appeals court had rejected the Safehouse plan in January. Organizers of the Safehouse project say federal “crackhouse” laws enacted are not intended to criminalize medically supervised centers. (10/13)

In updates on the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy case —

NPR: Federal Judge Rejects A Government Bid To Delay Purdue Pharma's Bankruptcy Settlement
In a surprise ruling late Wednesday a federal judge in New York allowed work to continue on implementation of a controversial bankruptcy plan for Purdue Pharma, the maker of Oxycontin. The U.S. Justice Department's bankruptcy watchdog agency had urged Judge Colleen McMahon of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan to put the brakes on the deal until it was reviewed on appeal. During a hearing Tuesday, McMahon signaled support for a stay. But in her ruling on Wednesday, she said work on the settlement, valued at between $5 and $10 billion, can go forward. (Mann, 10/13)

And in more news about the opioid crisis —

Everyday Health: 1 In 5 ‘Opioid-Naive’ People Continue To Take Pain Medication 3 Months After Surgery
New research shows that approximately 1 in 5 “opioid-naive” adults continued to use the pain medication three months after having a procedure. People with depression, bipolar disorder, pulmonary hypertension, or who were smokers were among those with the highest risk for continuing to take opioids, according to the findings which were presented at the Anesthesiology 2021 annual meeting held October 8 to 12 in San Diego, California. “The more than 100 million surgeries in the United States every year create an unintended and alarming gateway to long-term opioid use,” said Gia Pittet, PhD, doctor of audiology, lead author of the study and visiting graduate researcher for anesthesiology and perioperative medicine at the University of California in Los Angeles, in a release. (Upham, 10/12)

SILive: ‘The People Are Losing.’ Cop From S.I. Waging War On Opioid Epidemic; Organizes Brooklyn Walk For Saturday
A Walk for Hope is slated to begin on Saturday morning under the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in John Paul Jones Park near the cannon at Shore Road and 4th Avenue. “The goal of the walk is to end overdoses in America,” said Michael Balioni, who organized two previous marches, including one in the NYPD’s 60th Precinct in Brooklyn where he works as a police officer. Balioni pointed to record-high overdoses nationwide during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as proof that the status quo isn’t working. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics found that there were more than 93,000 deaths from drug overdoses in the United States in 2020, a whopping 29% increase from 2019. (Grunlund, 10/11)

WKRG: 'It Is Not Getting Better': Pensacola’s Lakeview Center Sees More People Seeking Help For Opioid Addiction
Addiction treatment professionals say opioid abuse has been escalating in Escambia County, Fla., in the past two years. “It is getting worse,” Sandra Crawford said. “It is not getting better.” Crawford is a director of addiction treatment at Lakeview Center, a Baptist Health facility, in Pensacola. She helps people who are addicted to pain pills and says the opioid crisis during the pandemic has caused more people to come through their doors seeking help. “The past couple of years have been exceptionally challenging because COVID has created a lot of factors,” Crawford said. “It has made folks feel in a lot of ways more isolated, created some more depression, more stress, creating financial hardships.” (Long, 10/13)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Nurse Pleads Guilty To Stealing Pain Meds From Metro East Nursing Home Residents 
A nurse pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges and admitted stealing pain medications from at least 23 residents of eight nursing homes in Madison and St. Clair counties, causing some to go without pain relief. Angela M. Mohler, of Shiloh, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in East St. Louis on Wednesday to five counts of obtaining a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud or deception. (Patrick, 10/13)

Iowa Public Radio: State Will Use Opioid Lawsuit Settlement Funds To Launch A New Addiction Treatment Program
The state Attorney General's office is partnering with the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics to launch a new program to combat opioid addiction. The $3.8 million comprehensive treatment program will be funded using Iowa's settlement with McKinsey & Co., a large consulting firm that the state alleged in its lawsuit contributed to the opioid crisis by helping to promote opioids like oxycodone. Under the program UIHC specialists will train practitioners across the state so they can obtain a waiver to use medication to treat opioid addiction. Alison Lynch, who directs the opioid addiction clinic at UIHC, said medication greatly reduces the risk of death. (Krebs, 10/13)

New York State Attorney General: Attorney General James To Deliver Up To $26.7 Million To Southern Tier To Combat Opioid Crisis
New York Attorney General Letitia James today continued her statewide ‘HealNY’ tour of New York state with stops in Binghamton and Ithaca, where she announced that she will deliver up to $26.7 million to the Southern Tier to combat the opioid epidemic. The funds come from different settlements Attorney General James has negotiated following her March 2019 lawsuit against the various manufacturers and distributors responsible for the opioid crisis. Attorney General James’ tour will make stops in dozens of New York counties throughout the month of October, with up to $1.5 billion in funds going to counties across New York state. (10/13)

Politico: House, Senate Democrats At Odds Over Whether To Slash Paid Leave Plan 
Senate leadership is considering slashing funding for paid leave in Democrats’ reconciliation package to $300 billion, four sources told POLITICO, as part of a broader push to bring down the bill’s price tag to appease moderates. That’s about $200 billion, or about 40 percent, less than what the House approved. To get there, policymakers would need to make major changes to the House-drafted language, illustrating the kind of tradeoffs Democrats are being forced to consider — and the type of schisms that's creating between moderates and progressives. (Mueller, 10/13)

The New York Times: Which Of These 4 Family Policies Deserves Top Priority? 
The safety net spending bill proposed by Democrats in Congress includes major benefits for families: paid leave, child care, pre-K and child allowances. But as they negotiate over the size of the bill, they may need to choose. Senator Joe Manchin, one of the two centrists whom Democrats must persuade to vote with them, has suggested that they pick just one, Axios reported. In a letter to colleagues Monday night, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote, “Overwhelmingly, the guidance I am receiving from members is to do fewer things well.” We asked 18 academics who study family policy — scholars of sociology, economics, public policy, social work and law — what they would choose if they could have only one, based on evidence from research in the United States and other countries. (Miller, 10/13)

Politico: Social Spending Fight May Claim Progressives’ Medicare Expansion
The push to cut more than $1 trillion from Democrats’ social spending bill and possibly scrap a planned expansion of Medicare presents the biggest test to date of the Congressional Progressive Caucus’ clout. The 96 members, who account for nearly half of the House majority, showed their strength last month by delaying a bipartisan infrastructure bill until party leaders finish work on the social policy package H.R. 5376 (117). But the coming weeks could prove much tougher, with Speaker Nancy Pelosi intent on trimming the number of programs in the bill and cutting back on how long certain others will be funded to pare the $3.5 trillion price tag to a figure that centrist Democrats would support. (Ollstein, 10/13)

NBC News: Democrats Confront Divisions Over Health Care Benefits In Biden's Mega-Bill
Democrats, wrestling with what to cut from their economic and safety net package, are confronting intensifying divisions over health care as competing factions on Capitol Hill fight to keep their priorities off the chopping block. As President Joe Biden seeks to cut more than $1 trillion from his $3.5 trillion price tag, House leaders are trending toward prioritizing extending the increase of the Obamacare subsidy in the American Rescue Plan and closing the Medicaid coverage gap in states that didn’t expand the program. (Kappur, 10/14)

Politico: Dems Torn Between Wooing And Badgering The Biden Agenda Holdouts
There’s a wide spectrum of Democratic-allied groups trying to cajole the party’s moderates into backing President Joe Biden’s major domestic spending proposal. Their approaches, though, have followed two vastly different tracks: There’s the honey and there’s the vinegar. Progressive activists have adopted an aggressive, confrontational approach, epitomized by protesters following Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) into the bathroom and then traveling to Boston to hound her at the Monday marathon there, even though a foot injury kept her from running the actual race. (Korecki, 10/13)

The New York Times: Social Security Cost Of Living Increase Will Be 5.9% In 2022 
Benefits from Social Security, which tens of millions of retired Americans rely on to pay their bills, will increase by 5.9 percent in 2022, the Social Security Administration said on Wednesday. It is the biggest boost in 40 years as prices for food, cars and rent keep climbing. The increase, known as a cost of living adjustment, is the largest since 1982, when the adjustment was 7.4 percent, according to data from the administration. The average benefit — 70 million Americans receive them — would climb to $1,657 a month, up $92 from this year. (Ngo, 10/13)

NBC News: Social Security Checks Going Up By 5.9 Percent, The Highest Increase In Decades
The Social Security Administration announced Wednesday that recipients will receive a nearly 6 percent increase in benefits next year. The boost in benefits, which will affect nearly 70 million people, is being fueled by a spike in inflation caused by supply chain bottlenecks, worker shortages and other economic disruptions from the Covid pandemic. The larger checks will begin to arrive for most recipients in January. (Shabad, 10/13)

Detroit Free Press: Social Security COLA Increase: What To Know About Adjustment In 2022
Retirees and disabled people who are receiving Social Security benefits will get a 5.9% boost in benefits, thanks to a spike in inflation. It's good news for those on stretched budgets and living on a limited income. But many remain concerned about how much they're being hit by rapidly rising prices for many items, including food, housing and drugs. (Tompor, 10/13)

In related news about Medicare and health insurance coverage —

CNBC: Most Medicare Beneficiaries Don’t Compare Options In Open Enrollment
This is one of those times you may not want to follow the herd. Most Medicare beneficiaries — 71% — do not explore their coverage options during open enrollment, according to a new Kaiser Family Foundation study. Because the specifics of health plans change from one year to the next, experts say this is a mistake. (O'Brien, 10/13)

Georgia Health News: Most Georgians Struggling To Afford Health Care, Survey Says 
About 70 percent of Georgia adults in a new survey report they had burdensome health care costs in the past year. And an even higher percentage – 80 percent – are worried about being able to afford health care in the future. The survey of more than 950 adults was conducted from April 12 to May 3 by Altarum, a nonprofit research and consulting organization. (Miller, 10/13)

The Atlantic: How Mail-Order Abortion Could Circumvent The Texas Law 
So many states have restricted access to abortion so severely that people in large swaths of the country feel they have no options if they want to terminate a pregnancy. But technically, those who want an abortion still have options. It’s just that few have heard of them. Pregnant people in Texas, or in any other U.S. state, can visit an array of websites that will mail them two pills—mifepristone and misoprostol—that will induce a miscarriage when used in the first trimester of pregnancy and possibly even later. The so-called self-managed abortion is therefore an option at least six weeks further into a pregnancy than the controversial new Texas law’s six-week “heartbeat” cutoff for an abortion at a clinic. Though people in other states have several websites to choose from, Texans can visit Aid Access, a website that provides the pills for $105 or less based on income. (10/12)

Also —

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Planned Parenthood Urges Biden Administration To Act Against New Missouri Abortion Rule 
Planned Parenthood officials in Missouri on Wednesday urged the Biden administration to take action against new state regulations the organization said could threaten its status as a Medicaid provider. The call came the same day the emergency regulation took effect. The rule requires violations of laws or regulations at abortion facilities to be referred to state Medicaid officials, potentially paving the way to remove Planned Parenthood from the Medicaid program, which is mostly funded with federal dollars. (Suntrup, 10/13)

San Francisco Chronicle: Anti-Abortion Activists Have Already Sued Over California's New Law Limiting Vaccination Site Protests
Anti-abortion activists have sued to overturn a new California law that restricts protests outside vaccination sites, just days after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the measure despite warnings from First Amendment experts that it would violate free speech rights. The lawsuit, filed Sunday in the U.S. District Court in San Jose, argues that the state went too far in trying to protect people from harassment as they get vaccinated. Buffer zones for demonstrations established under the law, according to the complaint, unfairly burden and deny free speech in public spaces. (Koseff, 10/13)

AP: 'We Have To Be Heard': Texas Women Travel To Seek Abortions
The 33-year-old Texas woman drove alone four hours through the night to get to the Louisiana abortion clinic for a consultation. She initially planned to sleep in her car, but an advocacy group helped arrange a hotel room. Single and with three children ranging from 5 to 13, she worried that adding a baby now would take time, food, money and space away from her three children. She doesn’t have a job, and without help from groups offering a safe abortion, she said, she probably would have sought another way to end her pregnancy. (Murphy, 10/13)

The 19th News: Kansas Has Become A Beacon For Abortion Access. Next Year, That Could Disappear
Trust Women was flooded with patients; doctors and staff in the Oklahoma City abortion clinic were scrambling to care for everyone they could. It was March 27, 2020, the beginning of the United States’ COVID-19 crisis. Earlier that month, Texas’ governor had announced a temporary ban on elective surgeries — an effort, he said, to conserve medical resources. The ban had included abortions. Almost immediately, Texans seeking care turned to Oklahoma, their neighboring state. That Friday morning had been particularly hectic. By 10 a.m., the Trust Women clinic had already seen eight patients. And then came the phone call: Julie Burkhart, then the clinic’s CEO, was asked by a local TV reporter for a comment on breaking news — Oklahoma had also temporarily banned abortions as COVID surged. (10/13)

AP: Study: 'Sociability' Hormone Didn't Help Kids With Autism
Children with autism didn’t benefit from an experimental therapy made with a hormone thought to promote social bonding, researchers reported Wednesday in the largest study of its kind. “This is really a major setback,” said Dr. Linmarie Sikich, a Duke University researcher who led the multi-site U.S. study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. “We were really hoping to find a benefit and just couldn’t see it anywhere.” The U.S. government-funded study used a synthetic form of oxytocin, a hormone made in the brain that stimulates uterus contractions and helps mothers bond with their newborns. (Tanner, 10/13)

In other public health news —

Fox News: Dementia Signs Are In The Blood, Researchers Say
Researchers have reportedly found warning signs that could indicate impending dementia in the blood. In a new study published Monday in the scientific journal "EMBO Molecular Medicine," scientists from the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) and the University Medical Center Göttingen said that certain levels of microRNAs could be harbingers of the condition. MicroRNAs are molecules that regulate and influence the production of proteins and are a central process in metabolism. (Musto, 10/13)

USA Today: Breast Cancer Patients Say 'Cold Capping' Saved Their Hair. What Is It And Why Aren't More People Doing It?
Scalp cooling is available to all cancer patients except those battling leukemia or certain other blood-related cancers, but health experts say many people don’t know the option exists. And for those familiar with the process, the high cost and spotty insurance coverage can put the option out of reach. Cancer patients, survivors and advocates want to create more awareness about scalp cooling therapy and the effect hair has on a patient’s mental health, emotional health and their recovery process. As more people learn about cold capping, they hope more insurance companies will see the value in providing coverage or reimbursement. “We cringe every time we get an email saying, ‘I just had my first chemo treatment and heard about cold caps – is it too late to save my hair?’ Sadly, it is too late," said Nancy Marshall said, co-founder of the The Rapunzel Project, a non-profit promoting cold-capping awareness. (Rodriguez, 10/14)

USA Today: Americans Exercised Less And Drank More During COVID Pandemic: Study
Americans drank more, smoked more, exercised less and spent more time in front of a computer or television compared to pre-pandemic levels, a study led by UCLA researchers found. Across those surveyed, research found that alcohol consumption increased by 23% and cigarette smoking by 9%, respectively. Smoking, especially, could have adverse effects on those who contract COVID-19 — according to the research study, current and former smokers are 2.4 times more likely to need intensive care unit support or die from the disease, compared with non-smokers. Exercise decreased by almost a third and screen time increased 60%, the researchers found. Other countries like Canada, Italy, Brazil, and Poland have observed similar behaviors during the pandemic. (Tebor, 10/14)

The Atlantic: We Accidentally Solved the Flu. Now What?
It’s easy to think of the flu as an immutable fact of winter life, more inconvenience than calamity. But each year, on average, it sickens roughly 30 million Americans and kills more than 30,000 (though the numbers vary widely season to season). The elderly, the poor, and people of color are all overrepresented among the casualties. By some estimates, the disease’s annual economic cost amounts to nearly $90 billion. We accept this, when we think about it at all, as the way things are. Except that this past year, things were different: During the 2020–21 flu season, the United States recorded only about 2,000 cases, 17,000 times fewer than the 35 million it recorded the season before. That season, the flu killed 199 children; this past season, as far as we know, it killed one. (Stern, 10/13)

Bloomberg: New Toxic Drug Impurities Detected In Some Heart Pills In US
Over the past three years, millions of blood pressure pills that contain a probable carcinogen have been recalled around the world. As pharmaceutical companies have worked on finding a fix, they’ve discovered an entirely new problem: Another potentially dangerous chemical is showing up in the same drugs. The new chemicals are called azido impurities and regulatory authorities say they’re mutagenic, meaning they can change someone’s DNA and potentially increase cancer risk. (Edney, 10/13)

In other pharmaceutical and biotech news —

The Wall Street Journal: Apple Studying Potential Of AirPods As Health Device
Apple Inc. is studying ways to make AirPods into a health device, including for enhancing hearing, reading body temperature and monitoring posture, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal and people familiar with the plans. The plans further demonstrate Apple’s ambition to add health and wellness features to devices beyond the Apple Watch, where most of the company’s health functions exist today. Apple is also working on technology that aims to use iPhones to help diagnose depression and cognitive decline, the Journal reported last month. (Winkler, 10/13)

Stat: Pfizer Uses Warranties To Refund Costs When Cancer Drug Fails
In an unusual bid to address prescription drug costs, Pfizer (PFE) is promising to offer warranties for its Xalkori lung cancer treatment and will refund the entire cost to any patient and health plan if the medication fails to work within the first three months. The drug maker last June quietly began what it calls a pilot program, which runs through the end of this year, for anyone who is covered by Medicare or commercial insurance, or pays by cash. Called the Pfizer Pledge, the program has escaped notice because the company has, so far, not publicized the effort beyond describing the details on its web site. (Silverman, 10/13)

Bloomberg: Ivermectin Demand Sends Sales Soaring For Foreign Generic Drugmakers
Before the pandemic, Taj Pharmaceuticals Ltd. shipped negligible amounts of ivermectin to Russia for veterinary use. But over the past year it’s become a popular product for the Indian generic drug maker: Since July 2020, Taj Pharma has sold $5 million worth of the pills for human use in India and overseas. That’s a bonanza for a small family-owned company with an annual revenue of about $66 million. Sales of the drug, which is primarily approved to treat diseases caused by parasites in livestock and humans, have surged around the world as anti-vaccine propagandists and others tout it as a Covid-19 cure. They claim it could end the pandemic if only people like Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, would open their eyes to it. “We are working 24/7,” says Shantanu Kumar Singh, Taj Pharma’s 30-year-old executive director. “The demand is huge.” (Einhorn and Kay, 10/13)

Stat: In Search For FDA Chief, The White House Is Relying On Insiders For Advice
Ten months into his tenure, President Biden has yet to nominate anyone to helm the Food and Drug Administration. But key new details about who’s helping to handle the interviews and which candidates have taken meetings shed some light on where the process stands. Biden himself kicked off wide speculation about who might direct the agency last week, when he told reporters that he’d weigh in on a nominee for the agency “in a little bit.” Throughout his presidency, Acting Commissioner Janet Woodcock, an agency veteran, has been at the helm. It’s not clear whether she’ll be nominated to take on the role herself, but in the meantime, the White House has vetted an array of other candidates. (Florko, 10/14)

And in updates on the Theranos trial —

The Washington Post: Former Walgreens CFO Testifies In Theranos Trial 
The former chief financial officer of Walgreens took the stand for his first full day of testimony at the trial of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, a key government witness in the case surrounding the failed blood-testing start-up. Wade Miquelon told prosecutors that Theranos impressed the company with its plans for in-store blood testing and technological promises surrounding its apparently state-of-the-art device that could deliver test results in 30 minutes. Company executives were so impressed that Walgreens poured $140 million in the venture — $40 million of which could be converted to equity. (Siddiqui, 10/13)

Modern Healthcare: Entry-Level Workers Rejected Jobs In Home Health, Nursing Homes During Pandemic
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and 13.7 million workers in roles comparable to direct care lost their jobs in early 2020, they did not turn to direct care jobs, a recent study found. Of the 9.1 million who have now found a new job, "an immeasurably small number of workers" entered the direct care workforce, despite high demand for staff, a study by consulting firm PHI and the Health Workforce Research Center on Long-Term Care at the University of California San Francisco found. "The fact that few workers who lost jobs during the pandemic moved into open direct care jobs highlights the need to improve direct care jobs so they attract well-skilled and dedicated people to care for people who need their services," Joanne Spetz, associate director for research at the Health Workforce Research Center on Long-Term Care at the University of California in San Francisco and an author of the report, said in a press release. (Christ, 10/13)

WMFE: How Has The Pandemic Affected Students' Decisions To Enroll In Medical School In Florida? 
A shortage of doctors and nurses across the country has been amplified by the pandemic. Doctors-in-training were thrown in the trenches as a way to help fill the gap at the height of the pandemic. Now, we’re almost halfway through the 2021 fall semester. How has this past year and a half influenced students’ decisions to enter the medical field? (Blake, 10/13)

In other health care industry news —

Modern Healthcare: Aetna Hit With A Provider Suit Over Its 'Mystery Re-Pricing Program'
An orthopedic surgical practice sued Aetna on Wednesday, alleging the Hartford, Connecticut-based insurer's failure to reveal its "mystery re-pricing program" of provider claims violates state and federal laws. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, arises from Aetna Life Insurance Company re-pricing a spinal surgery and implant procedure conducted by Surgery Center of Viera, an ambulatory surgical center that specializes in laser fusion and repair operations. The Melbourne, Florida-based provider had seen a patient, identified as C.S., who suffered from a number of spinal conditions that left them in severe pain, according to the suit. The individual was covered under a company plan administered by Aetna through the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. Surgery Center of Viera deemed surgery as "medically necessary" for the patient and submitted a prior-authorization for the procedure to Aetna, which the insurer approved, the complaint said. (Tepper, 10/13)

Axios: Blue Cross Blue Shield CEOs Pocket Larger Bonuses During Pandemic 
The CEOs of several Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance companies received significant pay raises and bonuses in 2020, according to an analysis by AIS Health. The not-for-profit Blue Cross Blue Shield insurers keep executive compensation more hidden than publicly traded insurers. And the data show pay increased during the pandemic, as insurers retained higher profits due to people delaying care. (Herman, 10/14)

Stat: Buoyed By Its Popular Weight Loss App, Noom Enters Digital Mental Health
Five months ago, weight loss company Noom announced $540 million in funding, dwarfing its previous investments. With locked-down users flocking to its app, revenues in 2020 had surged to $400 million, and the company made an ambitious pitch: It would spend the money to expand its behavioral change approach to other conditions, including diabetes, hypertension, and sleep. (Palmer, 10/14)

Stat: With New Startup, The Virtual Primary Care Market Grows More Crowded
As the digital health sector teems with new entrants, another virtual care startup is stepping into the fray. With three digital health veterans at the helm, primary care company Marley Medical launched Thursday with a promise to treat chronic conditions with an array of remote services and a team-based approach to care. The startup, founded by the former executives of digital respiratory health company Propeller Health, enters what has quickly become a crowded market. (Brodwin, 10/14)

The CT Mirror: Hanes Got Out Of The Mask Business. Connecticut Is Trying.
Not so long ago, Connecticut couldn’t get masks at any price. Now, it can’t get rid of 202,500 reusable cloth masks, leftovers from a gift of 2 million face coverings procured by the federal government from the maker of Hanes underwear. Connecticut used about 1.8 million, but the rest sit in 450 cases on nine pallets in a New Britain warehouse. They contain 40,500 five-mask packs made by Hanesbrands Inc., a company briefly bullish on a PPE product line. (Pazniokas, 10/14)

In news from California —

PBS NewsHour: As Toxic Smoke And Dust Batters Parched California, It Can Feel ‘Like You Are Eating Pollution’
A new analysis of air quality in the United States clears up just how far smoke from wildfires burning in the western part of the nation can travel, as the fires continue to pose significant health risks to nearby communities. Wildfire smoke produced in the west reached as far east as Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, increasing the number of smoky days in the east by 40 percent, according to an analysis released in September by NPR’s California Newsroom and Stanford University’s Environmental Change and Human Outcomes Lab. Researchers analyzed more than 10 years of data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. While the smoke was dispersed widely, California communities closest to the wildfires have experienced high amounts of air pollution lasting for days in the past two months. In some cases, pollution indexes reached levels unlike any seen before, according to health and education officials who spoke to the PBS NewsHour. (Rodriguez-Delgado, 10/13) 

Los Angeles Times: L.A. City Council Considers Action On Heat-Related Deaths
Members of the Los Angeles City Council are urging new measures to protect residents from extreme heat, citing a recent Los Angeles Times investigation that revealed the state has failed to adequately address the health dangers of worsening heat waves or accurately count heat-related deaths. City Councilman Paul Koretz introduced a motion this week directing the city’s Emergency Management Department, among other actions, to report back on the status and cost of a surveillance system to track “when and where heat-related deaths are occurring, the identification of vulnerable populations in those locations, and the development of plans to minimize to near-zero deaths related to heat.” (Barboza, 10/13)

KHN: Q&A: How Will California’s New 988 Mental Health Line Actually Work? 
In September 2020, Congress passed bipartisan legislation creating a three-digit national suicide hotline: 988. Think of it as an alternative to 911 for mental health emergencies. The system is intended to make it easier to seek immediate help during a mental health crisis. Instead of calling 911 or the 10-digit national suicide hotline, Americans theoretically will be able to speak to a trained counselor by calling 988 from most any phone line. (Gold, 10/14)

The Washington Post: Hollywood Production Workers Announce Monday Strike Unless They Win Concessions On Bathroom And Meal Breaks
Hollywood production workers pushing for a larger share of pandemic-era profits and better working conditions will walk off the job Monday unless they win concessions on bathroom and meal breaks and other issues in contract negotiations, their union announced. Members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) contend that television and film studios have raked in massive profits during the coronavirus pandemic as consumers turn to streaming options to fill more time at home. But those gains have not extended to workers, they say, who now put in significantly longer workweeks. The union seeks to have new rest periods, meal breaks and pay raises for entry-level workers codified in a new collective bargaining agreement. (Bogage, 10/13)

In news from Michigan, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Connecticut and Florida —

CBS News: Lead Water Crisis Hits Another Michigan City 
Residents of Benton Harbor, Michigan — a predominantly African American city just three hours away from Flint, Michigan — are dealing with a lead water crisis. People are under orders not to drink, cook or even brush their teeth with tap water because of the high levels of lead from old pipes. And city officials have known about the problem for years. Benton Harbor gets its water from nearby Lake Michigan, but residents like Frances Davis say what comes out of the faucet is not safe to use. She instead turns to bottled water for everything from cooking, to brushing her teeth, to bathing. (Villafranca, 10/13)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Evers Announces $45 Million For Violence Prevention, Victim Services
Gov. Tony Evers on Wednesday announced a $45 million allocation of federal pandemic aid for violence prevention and crime victim services that he anticipated would begin reaching communities across Wisconsin within weeks. "Much like the pandemic, this is another public health crisis that deserves our attention and our action. And much like any public health issue, it starts with prevention. Violence and its impact on kids, families and communities is not inevitable," Evers said during a news conference at the COA Goldin Center, 2320 W. Burleigh St. in Milwaukee. (Dirr, 10/13)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Following Ida Blackout Deaths And Lawsuit, New Orleans Targets Independent Living Centers
Responding to the deaths of at least seven elderly residents during the Hurricane Ida blackout, New Orleans officials are proposing new rules to ensure that operators of independent living centers follow emergency procedures during disasters. The proposed ordinance, which passed the City Council’s Community Development Committee on Tuesday, would create a new license for apartment buildings that are designated for people older than 55 but that do not fall within Louisiana licensing requirements. The new classification would apply to about 75 centers around the city. (Myers, 10/13)

The CT Mirror: Anti-Smoking Forces Press To Restore Funding For Tobacco Control
Connecticut has a history of collecting billions of dollars from the tobacco industry and smokers — and not using those resources to fight addiction. Gov. Ned Lamont insisted, during his first year in office in 2019, that this needs to change. And now that Connecticut coffers are flush with cash — much more so than they were two years ago — anti-smoking forces are challenging the governor and legislators to reverse what many call an embarrassing and dangerous trend. (Phaneuf, 10/13)

WJCT News: Hundreds Of Doctors Call For More Scrutiny Into DeSantis' Surgeon General Nominee 
More than 350 Florida doctors signed a letter asking the state Senate to closely scrutinize Gov. Ron DeSantis’ selection for surgeon general before confirm the nomination during next year's legislative session. The letter Tuesday outlined a series of questions about nominee Dr. Joseph Ladapo’s positions, including his opposition to required masks in schools. Many of his approaches to the COVID pandemic put him into conflict with the recommendations of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics on masks for children. (Heddles, 10/13)

Axios: WHO Launches New Advisory Committee To Investigate COVID Origins 
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday named 26 scientists to a new advisory board that will study the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. Without a shift in attitude from Beijing, the new panel isn't likely to succeed in determining how this pandemic began. But it should be in a position to create a clearer picture of how to identify where new diseases like COVID-19 come from. (Walsh, 10/13)

In other global news about covid —

Bloomberg: WHO Says Six Out Of Seven African Covid Infections Undetected
Six out of seven Covid-19 infections go undetected in Africa, showing that the impact of the disease on the world’s least vaccinated continent is likely underestimated, according to the World Health Organization. To date 8.4 million cases have been confirmed in Africa, or 3.5% of the global total, even though the continent accounts for about a sixth of the world’s population. The WHO will later on Thursday announce a plan to step up testing in Africa. (Sguazzin, 10/14)

Bloomberg: Covid-19 Infections ‘High And Rising’ Among Children In England
Coronavirus infections among school-aged children in England are “high and rising,” according to a major study that is likely to exacerbate concerns about the pace of the vaccine rollout. Prevalence of Covid-19 is growing among those aged 17 and younger, the React-1 study led by Imperial College London found. The reproduction rate in that age group was 1.18, meaning that on average every 10 young people infected is passing it on to about 12 others. That has driven up the national infection rate, even though prevalence is falling in the 18-54 age group. (Ashton, 10/14)

AP: 'Marginalized': Women Trail Men In Some Vaccine Efforts
As coronavirus vaccines trickle into some of the poorest countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, data suggest some women are consistently missing out, in another illustration of how the doses are being unevenly distributed around the world. Experts fear women in Africa may be the least vaccinated population globally, thanks in large part to widespread misinformation and vaccine skepticism across the continent. But vaccine access issues and gender inequality reach far beyond Africa, with women in impoverished communities worldwide facing obstacles including cultural prejudices, lack of technology, and vaccine prioritization lists that didn’t include them. And while global data by gender in vaccine distribution is lacking in many places, officials agree that women are clearly being left behind men in some places, and that the issue must be addressed for the world to move past the pandemic. (Cheng, 10/14)

The Washington Post: WHO To Honor Henrietta Lacks, Whose Cells Led To Vital Medical Research On Polio, Covid
Henrietta Lacks is set to be honored Wednesday by the World Health Organization in Geneva for her enduring contribution to medical science, more than 70 years after her cells were taken without her consent during a 1951 hospital visit in Baltimore. Descendants of Lacks, a Black American, will meet with WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Switzerland to acknowledge her legacy and “contribution to revolutionary advancements in medical science,” the global health body said in a statement. (Suliman, 10/13)

In other news from around the world —

The Washington Post: Canadian City To Get 21,000 Gallons Of Water By Air Amid Suspected Contamination Crisis
Public health officials have told residents of Canada’s northernmost capital not to use tap water for drinking and cooking due to suspected fuel contamination in the city’s water supply. The city council of Iqaluit declared a state of emergency Monday and later urged its 7,000-plus residents not to swallow water when taking a shower. Municipal authorities said they were investigating “infiltration into underground chambers” at a city water treatment plant as the potential source of contamination but have not ruled other other possibilities. (Cheng, 10/14)

AP: UN Starts Vaccinating People Against Ebola In Congo
The World Health Organization said Wednesday that officials have begun vaccinating people in eastern Congo against Ebola, after it was confirmed last week that the disease killed a toddler. The U.N. health agency said in a statement that people at high risk of catching the disease, including the young boy’s family members and health workers, would receive first doses of the vaccine made by Merck. (Cheng, 10/13)

NBC News: 'Seized By Some Invisible Hand': What It Feels Like To Have Havana Syndrome
In March 2017, Tina Onufer, a career foreign service officer stationed in Havana, was standing at her kitchen window, washing dishes, when it hit her.“I felt like I was being struck with something,” she said. “Pain that I have never felt before in my life … mostly in my head and in my eyes. … It was as if I had been seized by some invisible hand and I couldn't move.” Onufer didn’t know it then, but she was among the first victims of a still-unexplained phenomenon that has come to be known as Havana Syndrome. (Mitchell, Dilanian and Breslauer, 10/13)

CIDRAP: Republican-Led States Linked To Weaker Health Policies, Preventable COVID
Republican-led US states had an average public health protective index (PPI) that was 10 percentage points weaker than Democrat-led US states, according to a study published yesterday in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Besides suggesting the politicization of public health policy, the researchers say the lower PPI was associated with an 8% increase in expected new COVID-19 cases. The PPI looked at 15 categories of public health measures and was calculated each day in each state on a national, state, and aggregate level. The researchers then used a Bayesian model to look at the connection between PPI and COVID-19 virus spread, while also accounting for state-specific variations in population density, poverty, number of physicians, and cardiovascular disease. (10/12)

American Academy Of Pediatrics: SARS-CoV-2 Among Infants <90 Days of Age Admitted for Serious Bacterial Infection Evaluation
SARS-CoV-2 was common among young infants hospitalized for an SBI evaluation during periods of high but not low community SARS-CoV-2 circulation in New York City, although most infants did not require intensive care admission. (Paret et al, 10/1)

American Academy Of Pediatrics: Community SARS-CoV-2 Surge And Within-School Transmission
With adherence to basic mitigation strategies, within-school transmission of SARS-CoV-2 can be interrupted, even during a surge of community infections. (Zimmerman et al, 10/1)

CIDRAP: Mental Health Worsened Amid Pandemic, Especially In Women, Young Adults
An estimated 53.2 million additional cases of major depressive disorder and 76.2 million additional cases of anxiety disorders occurred during the pandemic, with women and young people most affected, according to a study published late last week in The Lancet. The researchers used a systematic literature review to find 48 eligible data sources, 46 involving major depressive disorder and 27 involving anxiety disorders. The studies, which were conducted from Jan 1, 2020, to Jan 29, 2021, were used to extrapolate global data using the Global Burden of Disease Study Model; most were from Western Europe (22) and high-income North America (14). (10/12)

Also —

ScienceDaily: Study Detects Origins Of Huntington's Disease In Two-Week-Old Human Embryos 
Huntington's disease is a fatal condition involving the death of brain cells, typically striking in midlife. But new findings suggest the disease process starts decades earlier. Although symptoms emerge in adulthood, researchers have been able to detect the earliest effects of Huntington's in the first two weeks of human embryonic development.  Rockefeller University, 10/5)

American Academy Of Pediatrics: Early-Onset Sepsis Among Very Preterm Infants 
In a nationally representative sample of very preterm infants with EOS from 2018 to 2019, approximately one-third of isolates were neither group B Streptococcus nor E coli. Three-quarters of all infected infants either died or survived with a major medical morbidity. The profoundly negative impact of EOS on very preterm infants highlights the need for novel preventive strategies. (Flannery et al, 10/1)

The Washington Post: Yes, Treatments For Covid-19 Might Keep Some People From Being Vaccinated. But We Still Need Them
Drug manufacturer Merck on Monday requested emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for its antiviral medication, molnupiravir. While many have heralded this first-ever oral treatment for covid-19 as a game-changer, others are raising the concern that an easy-to-access treatment could further deter the unvaccinated from getting their shots. (Leana S. Wen, 10/13)

Bloomberg: Wuhan Coronavirus Lab Leak Theory Needs To Be Taken Seriously
With so many conspiracy theorists embracing the view that the coronavirus escaped from a laboratory, it’s tempting to dismiss the idea out of hand. But it's important to keep an open mind — because the possibility of a lab leak still exists, and needs to be investigated. Serious people are demanding a closer look at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. There isn’t much evidence that a lab leak was the origin of the pandemic, but neither is there much evidence for any other scenario. Though scientists recently found somewhat related viruses harbored by bats in Laos, this doesn’t answer the key question of how the SARS-CoV-2 got into humans.  (Faye Flam, 10/13)

Stat: The Hidden Cost Of Covid-19: Years Of Life Lost Among The Young 
Body counts appear to support the common perception that Covid-19 does its worst damage among the old and vulnerable. But body counts mask another reality, and focusing on them is skewing policy decisions and individual choices. There’s no question that deaths were most common among old and vulnerable individuals early in the pandemic. Some politicians and academics have used death rates to conclude that the pandemic’s toll has been largely confined to the elderly and sick, and that widespread mitigation measures such as mask and vaccine mandates are unjustified. We looked at Covid-related deaths through a different lens — years of life lost — which revealed a very different picture about the burden of illness than deaths alone. (Darius Lakdawalla and Julian Reif, 10/14)

The Star Tribune: Make America Admired Again — As The Arsenal Of Vaccine 
As someone with a serious genetic respiratory disease, I felt an overwhelming joy to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine this past spring. I could not have imagined that, several months later, I would be risking arrest by locking arms with others to block the entrance of the pharmaceutical giant's headquarters in New York City. Dismayed by the growing "vaccine apartheid," as the head of the World Health Organization put it, we called on the company to relinquish its patents and share the technical know-how to manufacture the vaccine. That would allow production to be quickly ramped up throughout the Global South, saving millions of lives. (Eric Stoner, 10/13)

The New York Times: What If You Had Abortion Pills In Your Medicine Cabinet? 
In 2018, the Austria-based nonprofit Aid Access began offering Americans a new service: For the first time, pregnant people could obtain abortion pills by mail, with a prescription from a licensed physician, without ever visiting a clinic. For years, the group’s founder, Dr. Rebecca Gomperts, had been doing similar work overseas. But as abortion rights were steadily eroded by Republican-controlled legislatures, Dr. Gomperts found herself inundated with requests from the United States and decided to act. (Patrick Adams, 10/13)

The Baltimore Sun: The Case For Marijuana Legalization 
Even though the rationale behind our drug policies is hard to defend, reform is painfully slow. The overwhelming majority — lawmakers, activists, health care providers — want the same thing: a steady and significant drop in overdose fatalities, access to effective treatment for those who seek it, quality health care for all and safe communities, especially for children. Together, we could save thousands of lives and billions of dollars. But we must overcome autopilot conclusions, take seriously the findings of medical research and conduct a deep analysis of the ways current practices do — and do not — serve the greater good. (Jessie Dunleavy, 10/13)

Stat: Health Care Workers Are Catalysts For Improvement, Not Costs To The System
The White House Covid Summit recently convened world leaders, multilateral organizations, global health experts, and the private sector to address the pandemic. We were privileged to be among the stakeholders as representatives of Seed Global Health, which partners with governments to strengthen health workforces in countries with critical shortages. (Pooja Yerramilli and Vanessa Kerry, 10/14)