The Wall Street Journal: CVS Announces Deal To Acquire Home-Healthcare Company Signify 
CVS Health Corp. is betting $8 billion that the house call is the future of healthcare. The drugstore giant’s deal to acquire home-healthcare company Signify Health Inc., announced Monday, will add 10,000 contracted doctors and clinicians and give CVS a hand in coordinating medical care for millions of Americans. CVS, the nation’s biggest healthcare company by revenue, said that it agreed to acquire Signify for $30.50 per share in an all-cash deal, confirming earlier Wall Street Journal reports. (Terlep, 9/5)

Dallas Morning News: Dallas-Based Signify Health Sells To CVS In $8 Billion Deal
“This is not a deal about money,” said Signify Health CEO Kyle Armbrester in an interview with The Dallas Morning News. “This is a deal about building something better.” (O'Donnell, 9/5)

The New York Times: CVS Makes $8 Billion Bet On The Return Of The House Call 
In Signify, CVS is acquiring a company that offers analytics and technology to help a network of 10,000 doctors provide in-home health care to 2.5 million patients across the United States. Signify has a focus on those on Medicare and in underserved communities. “Their interest is to take over the home,” said Dr. Eric Topol, a professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research in San Diego, who noted that any care provided to patients at home, rather than in the hospital, lightens the financial load on insurance companies, including Aetna, the insurance business that CVS owns. Signify contracts with insurance providers, including Aetna. (Hirsch, 9/5)

Modern Healthcare: CVS Health To Acquire Signify Health For $8 Billion
CVS Health’s Aetna, Humana and UnitedHealth Group’s UnitedHealthcare are the three largest Medicare Advantage carriers and Signify Health’s three largest customers. UnitedHealth Group Optum’s healthcare services arm operates the second-largest home health risk adjustment provider HouseCalls, which will conduct 2 million home visits in 2022, Cowen analyst Gary Taylor wrote in an August research note. Humana last year bought the remaining shares of Kindred at Home, purchasing the nation’s largest home health provider to $8.1 billion.  (Tepper and Perna, 9/5)

AP: CVS To Buy Home Health-Care Provider Signify For $8 Billion
The acquisition would continue CVS’ effort to grow from its pharmacy-chain roots to other sectors of the health industry. In 2018, the Woonsocket, Rhode Island, company purchased health insurer Aetna for $69 billion. CVS will pay $30.50 per share in cash for Signify. According to a CVS presentation, the deal has a stock value of $7.6 billion, with the total transaction rising to about $8 billion with debt, equity appreciation rights and other items are included. (9/5)

The Texas Tribune: VA Will Provide Abortions Even In States Like Texas That Ban It
The Department of Veterans Affairs said Friday it will provide abortions for veterans and their beneficiaries as medically necessary or in cases of rape or incest. The VA said it plans to provide abortions across the entire nation — including states, such as Texas, that prohibit the procedure. (Erickson, 9/2)

NPR: The VA Says It Will Provide Abortions In Some Cases Even In States Where It's Banned
Now, the VA says it's stepping in to offer abortions in order to protect the health and lives of veterans in places where they can no longer access such reproductive care. Under a new interim final rule, pregnant veterans and VA beneficiaries will be able to get abortions if their life or health would be in danger if the pregnancy went to term. Patients whose pregnancies were the result of rape or incest will also be eligible for abortions. (Hernandez, 9/3)

In other abortion updates —

The Washington Post: Abortion Has Upended The Midterms As Sprint To November Begins
Cat Thomas used to call herself politically independent. But she registered as a Democrat the moment she turned 18 this summer, fearful that Republicans in Pennsylvania would ban abortion. Hope Pierotti, 20, hurried to re-register in her new swing-state home days after Roe v. Wade was overturned, similarly anxious about abortion rights. The procedure is legal in Pennsylvania, but Republicans could pass sweeping new restrictions if they win the governor’s race and keep control of the statehouse. (Knowles and Kitchener, 9/5)

KHN: In The Rush To Curtail Abortion, States Adopt A Jumbled Stew Of Definitions For Human Life
As life-preserving medical technology advanced in the second half of the 20th century, doctors and families were faced with a thorny decision, one with weighty legal and moral implications: How should we define when life ends? Cardiopulmonary bypass machines could keep the blood pumping and ventilators could maintain breathing long after a patient’s natural ability to perform those vital functions had ceased. After decades of deliberations involving physicians, bioethicists, attorneys, and theologians, a U.S. presidential commission in 1981 settled on a scientifically derived dividing line between life and death that has endured, more or less, ever since: A person was considered dead when the entire brain — including the brainstem, its most primitive portion — was no longer functioning, even if other vital functions could be maintained indefinitely through artificial life support. (Varney, 9/6)

Oklahoman: Oklahoma AG Issues Guidance On State Abortion Bans For Law Enforcement
Both the Oklahoma attorney general's office and the state's medical boards have crafted guidance meant to shed light on how Oklahoma's multiple abortion laws should be interpreted by doctors and law enforcement agencies. Abortions in Oklahoma essentially ceased about three months ago, when Oklahoma banned the procedure at any point during pregnancy. (Branham, 9/1)

Missouri Independent: Abortion Rights Groups Fear Outcome Of St. Louis Loss In Federal Court 
When the attorney general’s lawsuit challenging St. Louis’ plan to use federal funds to support abortion access was moved to federal court, it didn’t draw much attention. But the move set off alarms for abortion-rights advocates. (Weinberg, 9/2)

AP: Lawyer's Mission: Translate Tenn.'s Bewildering Abortion Ban
Chloe Akers considers herself a grizzled criminal defense attorney. Until a few months ago, she didn’t spend much time thinking about abortion — for all her 39 years, abortion was not a crime, so she’d never imagined having to defend someone accused of performing one. That changed in June, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Akers sat down in her law office and pulled up Tennessee’s new criminal abortion statute. She didn’t read it through a political lens; it doesn’t matter whether she likes a law — there are a lot of them she doesn’t like. Instead, she read it like she would any other statute: What does it make illegal? How would it be enforced? She was shocked. She read it maybe 10 times more. Surely, she was missing something. (Galofaro, 9/5)

In news about contraception access —

Dallas Morning News: Rape Victims Can Take Plan B Instead Of Having Abortions, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Says
“We want to support those victims, but also those victims can access health care immediately, as well as to report it,” Abbott said during a segment that will air Sunday on Lone Star Politics, a show produced by KXAS-TV (NBC 5) and The Dallas Morning News. “By accessing health care immediately, they can get the Plan B pill that can prevent a pregnancy from occurring in the first place. With regard to reporting it to law enforcement, that will ensure that the rapist will be arrested and prosecuted.” (Jeffers Jr., 9/2)

The Texas Tribune: Plan B Isn’t Widely Available For The State’s Poorest People
On Friday, Gov. Greg Abbott told The Dallas Morning News that rape victims can take emergency contraception, like Plan B, to prevent a pregnancy. With abortion now banned in Texas, even in instances of incest or rape, the governor recommended the use of emergency contraception to ensure a victim of rape does not become pregnant. (Melhado, 9/3)

NPR: Birth Control Access Can Be Limited In Places With Catholic Health Systems
Last week, students returning to campus at Oberlin College in Ohio got a shock: A local news outlet reported that the campus' student health services would severely limit who could get contraception prescriptions. They would only be given to treat health problems — not for the purpose of preventing pregnancy — and emergency contraception would only be available to victims of sexual assault. It turned out the college had outsourced its student health services to a Catholic health agency – and like other Catholic health institutions, it follows religious directives that prohibit contraception to prevent pregnancy. They also prohibit gender-affirming care. (Godoy, 9/4)

Forbes: New Bivalent Covid-19 Boosters: When Should You Get These BA.4, BA.5 Updated Vaccines
Going forward, bivalent versions of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 mRNA boosters are what’s going to be available, replacing the original univalent ones. ... In the word univalent, “uni” refers to “one,” as it does in unitard or unibrow, and “valence” refers to the immune system stimulating items in the vaccine. So a univalent vaccine is designed to stimulate your immune system to protect against a single antigen or single microbe. The original univalent Covid-19 mRNA vaccines included one type of mRNA to serve a blueprints for your cells to produce the spike protein that studded the surface of the original version of the SARS-CoV-2. While this univalent vaccine still offers some protection against the currently circulating Covid-19 coronaviruses, its protection is limited since the viruses spike proteins have changed quite significantly. (Lee, 9/5)

NPR: Omicron COVID Boosters: Do I Need One, And If So, When? 
After talking to several infectious disease experts, we found there's a whole range of opinions on who needs to boost and when. So, if you are navigating this decision, here are some things to consider. (9/5)

The Wall Street Journal: How Pfizer And BioNTech Modified Covid-19 Vaccines For Fall Boosters
Before new versions of the Omicron strain took hold in the U.S., Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE had begun tinkering with their widely used Covid-19 vaccine. In May, researchers tracking how coronavirus strains behave saw the potential for Omicron subvariants to predominate. Just in case, the companies started building blueprints of shots reformulated to target BA.4, BA.5 and other substrains, and laid the groundwork for testing them. (Hopkins, 9/5)

Stat: Pfizer Isn’t Sharing Covid Vaccines With Researchers For Next-Gen Studies
Researchers studying next-generation vaccines to fight an evolving Covid-19 threat are running into problems getting existing vaccines to use in their research. (Cohrs, 9/6)

In other covid vaccine news —

CBS News: Biden Administration Is Preparing For The End Of Free COVID-19 Vaccines As Funds Run Dry
Formal preparations are underway for the end of the federal COVID-19 vaccination and treatment effort, health officials say, with money for the Biden administration's campaign to buy and distribute shots to the public for free now set to run out "as early as January" 2023. (Tin, 9/2)

Euronews: China Approves The World's First Inhaled COVID Vaccine For Emergency Use As A Booster 
The world's first inhaled COVID-19 vaccine has been approved in China. The Chinese company CanSino Biologics Inc said on Sunday its inhaled version of a coronavirus vaccine had been approved by the country's drug regulator for emergency use as a booster. (Huet, 9/5)

The Washington Post: Pandemic Trauma Caused Many To Lose Their Sense Of Time 
Did you lose track of time during the early days of the pandemic? If so, you’re not alone. A new study says a majority of Americans experienced time distortions at the beginning of the pandemic, which are common during traumatic times. (Blakemore, 9/5)

More on the pandemic's effects —

Chicago Tribune: University Of Chicago Offers Class On Medical Misinformation
Patients have long been told to turn to their doctors for accurate, trusted health information. But in recent years, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, doctors’ voices have sometimes been drowned out by social media users who blast misinformation across the globe, leading patients to make questionable, and sometimes dangerous, choices about their health. (Schencker, 9/6)

Wyoming Public Radio: University Of Wyoming Researchers Will Help Formulate Post-Pandemic Modeling For Future Pandemics
The University of Wyoming was recently selected as one of just a few research institutions nationwide to receive approximately one million dollars in grant funding for research into pandemic modeling. (Cook, 9/2)

The CT Mirror: CT Hospital Housekeepers Push For Essential Worker Relief, Benefits
During the terrifying spring of 2020, as COVID-19 paralyzed the nation and hospitals buckled, Katherine Stearns was on the front lines in Windham Hospital’s emergency room. Stearns works as the lead housekeeper at the hospital. (Golvala, 9/4)

KHN: ‘He Stood His Ground’: California State Senator Will Leave Office As Champion Of Tough Vaccine Laws
A California lawmaker who rose to national prominence by muscling through some of the country’s strongest vaccination laws is leaving the state legislature later this year after a momentous tenure that made him a top target of the boisterous and burgeoning movement against vaccination mandates. State Sen. Richard Pan, a bespectacled and unassuming pediatrician who continued treating low-income children during his 12 years in the state Senate and Assembly, has been physically assaulted and verbally attacked for working to tighten childhood vaccine requirements — even as Time magazine hailed him as a “hero.” Threats against him intensified in 2019, becoming so violent that he needed a restraining order and personal security detail. (Hart, 9/6)

In updates on the spread of covid —

CIDRAP: Study: Previous COVID-19 Infection Offers Protection Against BA.5
Infections with previous COVID-19 variants offer more protection against the Omicron BA.5 subvariant in vaccinated people compared with vaccinated people who had no previous  infections, according to a New England Journal of Medicine study yesterday. (9/1)

CIDRAP: Low Testosterone In Men May Raise Risk Of COVID Hospitalization
Men with low testosterone levels and COVID-19 were more than twice as likely as men with normal concentrations to be hospitalized, but those treated with hormone replacement therapy weren't at elevated risk, suggests an observational study today in JAMA Network Open. (Van Beusekom, 9/2)

USA Today: CDC Report: 44% Of People Hospitalized With COVID Got Third Dose, Booster
Nearly half of Americans hospitalized in the spring for COVID-19 were fully vaccinated and got a third dose or booster, according to a report by the CDC. (Rodriguez, 9/2)

Also —

San Francisco Chronicle: UC Berkeley To Require, But Not Enforce, Indoor Masks For Students Who Decline Flu Vaccine
UC Berkeley will again require students and employees who choose not to get vaccinated against influenza to mask up indoors during the upcoming flu season, a rule that has been in place since 2020 but led to outcry last week from critics of vaccines, masks and mandates relating to either. (Asimov, 9/3)

The Hill: WHO: Declining Monkeypox Cases Prove Outbreak Can Be Stopped Or Even Eliminated 
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday that the recent decline in monkeypox cases that has been observed in North America and Europe is evidence that the current outbreak can be stopped or eliminated outright. (Choi, 9/2)

NBC News: Monkeypox Cases Are Falling, But Experts Warn That The Outbreak Is Not Over
The number of new monkeypox cases in the United States has fallen by 40% since early August — a signal that the country's outbreak could be abating. According to an NBC News analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the seven-day average of new reported cases decreased from a daily average of 465 on Aug. 10, to 281 on Aug. 31. (Edwards, Murphy and Kopf, 9/1)

Fox News: US Reports At Least 30 Kids Test Positive For Monkeypox
Data from the Texas Department of State Health Services shows that there are nine pediatric cases in the state. The Florida Department of Health shows three cases in kids under the age of 4, including one in Brevard County, another in Martin and one in Monroe. (Musto, 9/1)

On tracking the virus —

CNN: Wastewater Surveillance Becomes More Targeted In Search For Polio, Monkeypox And Covid-19
Early in the coronavirus pandemic, health officials closely monitored sewage samples for signs of the virus to track where it could be circulating. Now, that technique is being used to detect other infectious diseases: polio and monkeypox. Some disease detectives in the United States are narrowing their wastewater surveillance efforts to zero in on specific buildings and to identify hot spots for a growing list of diseases. (Howard, 9/5)

Axios: Monkeypox Outbreak Poses Communication Challenge As Cases Rise In Colorado 
The initial information shared by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment drew backlash from the state employee union for being misleading because it suggested it only spread between gay men, the Colorado Sun reports. In the latest public briefing, officials didn't use the name monkeypox, instead calling it MPV (short for the monkeypox virus). (Frank, 9/6)

On monkeypox vaccine and research —

Politico: The Biden Administration Is Gambling That A Little-Studied Vaccine Can Stop Monkeypox
Since monkeypox began its unprecedented spread through the nation in May, more than 352,600 people in the U.S. have placed their trust in a vaccine that has never undergone trials to evaluate how well it fights the virus in humans. The vaccine was designed to prevent smallpox, a related virus, and studies conducted by its Danish manufacturer have shown it works against monkeypox too, in animals. (Mahr, 9/6)

Bloomberg: Monkeypox Vaccine Study Raises Questions About Protection
The monkeypox vaccine that’s become the main method doctors use to try to stop the global scourge may be less potent than hoped, new research shows. (Gale and Muller, 9/2)

Becker's Hospital Review: Monkeypox May Cause Heart Muscle Inflammation, Case Report Finds
A patient with a monkeypox infection in Portugal developed myocarditis, or heart muscle inflammation, a week after the onset of monkeypox symptoms, researchers said in a case report published Sept. 2. (Carbajal, 9/2)

Bloomberg: Kids With Liver Damage, Polio, Monkeypox, Tomato Flu: Viruses Are Behaving Badly
“Viruses have been doing strange things since the Covid pandemic started,” Sarah Pitt, a principal lecturer in the University of Brighton’s school of applied sciences, wrote in a recent article about a freaky tomato-shaped rash in India. Turns out, it wasn’t an exotic new pathogen, but Coxsackie A16, a common cause of hand, foot and mouth disease. (Gale, 9/5)

Modern Healthcare: Medicaid, CHIP Enrollment To Undergo Big Changes
Applying for Medicaid or Children's Health Insurance Program benefits would become much easier under a proposed rule the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services published Wednesday. The draft regulation includes several policies that would ease access to the low-income health programs, such as limiting eligibility checks to once every 12 months, requiring renewal forms to be pre-populated with certain information and establishing consistent processes across states. The plan also includes measures to help qualified beneficiaries remain on the programs from year to year. (Goldman, 8/31)

More Medicaid news from Missouri, Florida, Iowa, and elsewhere —

Missouri Independent: Report: State’s Medicaid Wait Times Among Worst In Nation
A federal report released Thursday shows Missouri ranks at or near the bottom nationally in terms of processing Medicaid applications in the federally-permitted time. The report, issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, contains the first data covering the period since Missouri expanded Medicaid eligibility late last year. CMS used to release the reports annually but will now publish them on a quarterly basis. (9/3)

Politico: New Data Shows Thousands Of Transgender Medicaid Recipients Sought Care In Florida
Florida saw the number of transgender Medicaid recipients seeking gender-affirming treatment almost double in recent years — yet the state still banned its program from covering such medical care. (Sarkissian, 9/3)

Des Moines Register: Iowa's Medicaid Program Will Soon Have 3 Insurance Companies
Iowa will soon have three health insurance companies to help run its Medicaid program. On Wednesday, the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services announced the intent to award managed care contracts to two winning bidders: Amerigroup Iowa and Molina Healthcare of Iowa. Iowa Total Care currently holds a managed care contract with Iowa that lasts through 2025. (Ramm, 8/31)

AP: Medicaid Extensions For New Moms Grow, May Run Into Limits 
States around the country are making it easier for new moms to keep Medicaid in the year after childbirth, a time when depression and other health problems can develop. But tight government budgets and the program’s low reimbursement may ultimately limit this push or make it hard for women with extended coverage to find doctors. “A lot of things have changed since the pandemic,” said Venessa Aiken, a new mom in Orlando, Florida. “A lot of places no longer take Medicaid or if they do, you have to wait like two months before you can be seen.” (Murph, 9/5)

In news about Medicare Advantage —

Stat: Doctors, Seniors Groups Flag Concerns With Medicare Advantage
Doctors, patients, and seniors groups are airing new grievances about Medicare Advantage, arguing the growing government program is failing seniors and making life miserable for doctors and other providers. (Herman, 9/6)

Benefits Pro: Almost Half Of Eligible Medicare Beneficiaries Use Medicare Advantage, Analysis Shows
A new analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that increasing numbers of Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans. In fact, 48% of all eligible enrollees use Medicare Advantage, and that number is expected to rise to over 50% next year. (Hart, 9/5)

Stat: Doctors, Seniors Groups Flag Concerns With Medicare Advantage
Doctors, patients, and seniors groups are airing new grievances about Medicare Advantage, arguing the growing government program is failing seniors and making life miserable for doctors and other providers. (Herman, 9/6)

AP: FTC Investigating Amazon's $3.9B Purchase Of One Medical 
The Federal Trade Commission is investigating Amazon’s $3.9 billion acquisition of the primary health organization One Medical, a move that could delay the completion of the deal. Both One Medical and Amazon received a request for additional information Friday in connection with an FTC review of the merger, according to a filing made with securities regulators by One Medical’s parent, San Francisco-based 1Life Healthcare Inc. (9/2)

The Verge: The FTC Is Looking Into Amazon’s Deals To Acquire One Medical And iRobot 
One Medical serves as a sort of Netflix-for-healthcare subscription service that gives customers access to in-person and virtual appointments at 125 clinics across the US for $199 per year. Meanwhile, iRobot’s known for its line of Roomba robot vacuums that have only grown more adept at understanding users’ homes and their habits with the rollout of iRobot OS. The acquisitions of both companies align with Amazon’s long-term goals of carving out its own lane in the healthcare industry, as well as collecting more data about its customers, something Amazon could do with Roomba’s home-mapping capabilities. (Roth, 9/5)

In other news about Amazon's health care ventures —

The Washington Post: Amazon Care Is Dead, But The Tech Giant’s Health-Care Ambitions Live On 
Late last month, staffers at Amazon Care — the company’s in-person and virtual primary care service — were called into a meeting and given bad news: Amazon was shutting it down. Some employees were let go immediately. Others walked out. Everyone was promised paychecks through the end of December. The news caught Amazon employees by surprise — including those who used the service as patients. The company’s human resources staff had been promoting Amazon Care as a health benefit the same week it shut down, an Amazon employee told The Washington Post. (O'Donovan, 9/4)

Stat: What Happens To Patients When Telehealth Businesses Shutter? 
Buzzy, venture-backed startups and big tech companies that have promised to disrupt health care are indeed doing so — including by shuttering services that early adopter patients may have come to rely on. (Ravindranath, 9/6)

Insider: Amazon Is Considering Entering Japan's Prescription Drug Market In 2023, Report Says
Amazon is considering a foray into Japan's prescription drug sales business with plans to launch a service in the country next year, according to a report from Nikkei on Monday that cited people involved with the project. The plans would be a sign that the US-based online retail giant is seeking to further expand its healthcare capabilities after it announced its planned acquisition of primary care company One Medical for $3.9 billion. (Ungarino, 9/5)

And more about the high cost of health care —

Crain's Chicago Business: Hospitals Pitch Medical Credit Cards To Patients To Cover Costs
As healthcare costs and insurance deductibles rise, more hospitals in Chicago and around the country are teaming up with banks to market medical credit cards and other loans to patients who lack the insurance or funds to pay for care. (Davis, 9/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Profit From America’s Healthcare Bloat
It’s no secret America has one of the least-efficient healthcare systems in the world, far outspending other wealthy countries for poorer results. The high cost of everything from medical procedures to cancer drugs often gets much of the blame. But just as bad are the incentives baked into it. Most wealthy countries have government-controlled health systems that encourage doctors to keep costs down by directing patients to less invasive approaches at first. America’s works the opposite way. (Wainer, 9/4)

Anchorage Daily News: Alaska’s Hospitals Are Relying On Lower 48 Nurses To Fill Empty Positions. It’s A Costly Strategy
Experts say the state’s reliance on travel nurses comes at a cost. The practice is expensive and could both demoralize and lure away permanent full-time workers who traditionally make up the core of hospital care here. (Berman, 9/4)

More about health care personnel —

Modern Healthcare: Hospitals Reduce Services Over Staffing Concerns
Memorial Hospital of Carbon County lost five labor and delivery nurses to travel jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. For a department made up of just 12 people, the impact was immense. The hospital in Rawlins, Wyoming, turned to contract workers and paid three to four times as much for nurses to fill vacancies so the maternity department could operate. (Christ, 9/2)

Modern Healthcare: Jobs Report Shows Healthcare Hiring Increase In August
Healthcare employers added an estimated 48,200 jobs in August as hiring rose from the previous month, according to preliminary U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Friday.  (Hudson, 9/2)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: UW Health Nurses Seeking Union Recognition Give 10-Day Strike Notice
UW Health nurses notified hospital officials Friday of their intention to strike, a legally required 10-day notice. Barring a discussion between nurses and hospital officials in which an agreement is reached to recognize the nursing union, SEIU Healthcare Wisconsin, the strike will be held Sept. 13-16. (VanEgeren, 9/1)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: How Therapists Cope With Stress And Deal With Their Own Mental Health
When Dr. Jessi Gold would log off from seeing her patients during the pandemic, she would go straight to bed. “I didn’t know I was burned out until my therapist told me,” she said. “And I’m a burnout expert.” (Sultan, 9/4)

Also —

KHN: Meet Mary Wakefield, The Nurse Administrator Tasked With Revamping The CDC 
It’s been a rough couple of years for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Facing a barrage of criticism for repeatedly mishandling its response to the covid-19 pandemic and more recently monkeypox, the agency has acknowledged it failed and needs to change. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky has tapped Mary Wakefield — an Obama administration veteran and nurse — to helm a major revamp of the sprawling agency and its multibillion-dollar budget. Making the changes will require winning over wary career CDC scientists, combative members of Congress, and a general public that in many cases has stopped looking to the agency for guidance. (Whitehead, 9/6)

NPR: An E. Coli Outbreak Possibly Linked To Wendy's Expands To New York And Kentucky
An E. coli outbreak that was first detected largely in the Midwest is growing, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. There are now reported illnesses in New York and Kentucky in addition to those previously recorded in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. (Hernandez, 9/4)

In news about contaminated water —

AP: E. Coli Bacteria Found In Baltimore Drinking Water Samples 
Baltimore officials are encouraging residents to boil water used for drinking or cooking after E. coli bacteria was detected in some samples of the water supply in parts of West Baltimore. The city Department of Public Works issued a series of tweets Monday informing residents that the bacteria, which is often spread during contact with feces, had been found in portions of the city’s ninth council district, which includes the Sandtown-Winchester and Harlem Park neighborhoods. (9/5)

Bloomberg: Arsenic Found In NYC Public Housing Water
Residents of a New York City public housing complex should avoid drinking or cooking with water from their taps after initial samples revealed unsafe levels of arsenic, Mayor Eric Adams’ office said. (Cavaliere, 9/3)

Politico: City Of Jackson ‘Will Be In An Emergency Even After Water Is Restored,’ Mayor Says 
Workers on the front lines of the water crisis in Jackson, Miss., are “optimistic,” but “we are still in an emergency” that won’t end soon, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” ... A growing majority of residents had water pressure as of Sunday, but were still under a boil-water notice, the mayor said, saying workers are “optimistic about the progress that has been taking place.” While drinkable water approved by the health department is “days, not weeks, away,” the mayor said, “an equitable water treatment facility is a much longer road ahead.” (Olander, 9/4)

In news about brain-eating amoebas and Salmonella —

WMFE: AdventHealth Develops A Quick Diagnostic Test For Brain-Eating Amoebas
Researchers at AdventHealth Central Florida have developed a test that can detect brain-eating amoebas in a patient’s body in about five hours. (Prieur, 9/2)

CIDRAP: Online Retailer A Source Of Turtles In Salmonella Outbreak, CDC Says
In an update yesterday on a Salmonella Stanley outbreak tied to small turtles, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said investigators have identified an online retailer as a source of the illnesses. Five patients reported buying turtles from myturtlestore.com before they got sick. (9/1)

The Boston Globe: New Study Examines Program That Could Prevent Half The Cases Of Postpartum Depression In The US
A team of researchers from Providence-based Care New England Health System, Henry Ford Health, and Michigan State University is collaborating on a $6.2 million mental health research study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), looking into the “ROSE” program. (Gagosz, 9/5)

In other news about lifestyle and health —

The Guardian: Doomscrolling Linked To Poor Physical And Mental Health, Study Finds 
There’s no shortage of bad news in the media to “doomscroll”, from a global pandemic to the war in Ukraine and an impending climate crisis, but new research suggests the compulsive urge to surf the web can lead to poor mental and physical health outcomes. (Cassidy, 9/5)

Fox News: New Study Suggests Steroids May Change The Structure Of The Brain
Dutch researchers conducted the study by examining the brains of nearly 25,000 steroid users and non-users. The team found that those who inhaled or orally took glucocorticoids, a steroid that is prescribed to decrease inflammation, experienced changes to their brain's white and grey matter. (Nieto, 8/31)

C-HIT.ORG: Yale-Led Study Aims To Transform Heart Disease Diagnosis In Women
Standard medical testing for heart disease is based on research on men, whose chest pains are primarily attributed to blockages in major arteries, according to Dr. Samit Shah, an interventional cardiologist at Yale New Haven Hospital. But women often have heart disease that isn’t caused by such blockages, and their symptoms may not even include chest pains, said Shah, who ultimately diagnosed Lombardi. Shah is trying to transform the diagnosis of women’s heart disease by doing testing that goes beyond the usual practice of looking for blockages. He is about to embark on research with nine other hospitals in the country that will aim to standardize the expanded testing. (McCarthy, 9/5)

Chicago Tribune: How Walking Together Helped 2 Cancer Patients Heal: ‘You Think You’re Alone, And You’re Just Not’ 
The first time Eric McElroy knocked on Zach Jenkins’ door, Jenkins was not in the mood to chat. At age 25, he had recently been diagnosed with leukemia. While he was still absorbing this, he was on the 15th floor of a Northwestern Memorial Hospital building, preparing to undergo chemotherapy. (Bowen, 9/6)

San Francisco Chronicle: Sweltering California Could Become The First State To Rank Heat Waves
When natural disasters such as hurricanes, wildfires or tornadoes strike in the United States, the calamities are given rankings and names to emphasize the havoc they wreak. But no similar ranking system exists to highlight the deadly toll of extreme heat, such as the scorching heat wave that is baking the state. (Gardiner, 9/5)

Other news from California, Utah, and Georgia —

KHN: Watch: The Mysterious Death Of A Congressman’s Wife 
KHN senior correspondent Samantha Young appeared on CBS News to discuss her exclusive coverage of the death of Lori McClintock, the wife of Northern California congressman Tom McClintock. When Lori McClintock died in December 2021, what caused her death wasn’t clear. The original death certificate, dated Dec. 20, 2021, listed the cause of death as “pending.” (9/6)

Salt Lake Tribune: As Utah Changes, This Salt Lake County Hospital Has Decided To Close Its Maternity Ward
Nearly 150 years after the Catholic Holy Cross Hospital opened in the Latter-day Saint stronghold of Salt Lake City, the medical center that stands on its site today has decided to stop delivering babies. Salt Lake Regional Medical Center closed its maternity ward Thursday, it said in a statement, as Utah’s fertility rate — once No. 1 in the nation — has continued to drop. (Sapunar, 9/2)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: ‘All Of Us’ Program Diversifies Medical Research, Health Care
Kappa Alpha Psi member Antonio Martez came to the parking lot of Friendship Baptist Church on a recent Saturday morning to talk with members of traditionally Black Greek letter organizations about joining another group a half-million strong and growing. The pitch: Sign up to help improve the health of people of color and other populations that have historically been excluded from medical research and care, by participating in “All of Us,” an ambitious National Institutes of Health (NIH) project. (Pratt, 9/6)

Mental health news from Missouri, Wyoming, Illinois, and New Hampshire —

St. Louis Public Radio: Missouri Calls To 988 Hotline Surge, But Funding Uncertain 
In July, Missouri officials debuted 988, an emergency mental health hotline that connects callers to dozens of organizations around the country based on the caller’s area code. During the hotline’s first month of service, calls to Missouri mental health centers increased 30%. (Fentem, 9/2)

Wyoming Public Radio: Mental Health Hotline For Farmers And Ranchers Pilots In Wyoming
The AgriStress Helpline is staffed 24/7, similar to the National Suicide Prevention Hotline. The difference is, if a farmer or rancher calls, they’re going to get a response from someone who’s trained to help agricultural workers. (Walkey, 9/2)

ProPublica and Capitol News Illinois: At An Illinois Mental Health Facility, A Culture Of Cruelty Persists Despite Decades Of Warnings
Over a year ago, the security chief at Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center in southern Illinois sent an email to the head of the state agency that operates the facility, warning her of dangerous conditions inside. (Parker and Hundsdorfer, 9/5)

New Hampshire Public Radio: Organization Provides Legal Advice To People With Mental Illnesses 
Last year, there were around 4,600 filed cases throughout the state’s Circuit Court Family Division reporting domestic violence, trafficking, sexual assault, or stalking problems. New Hampshire Legal Assistance, an organization that advocates for people without legal representation, says it is a number they predict will remain constant this year. (Lozada, 9/5)

USA Today: Is Remote Work Bad For Our Mental Health? Dr Phil Says Yes
Americans' collective mental health is near an "all-time low," according to a recent study of U.S. workers. This was surely accelerated by the pandemic. Globally, the prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by a whopping 25% in 2020. (Phil McGraw and Dr. John Whyte, 9/5)

The Star Tribune: Decline In American Life Expectancy Is Not Inevitable
Life expectancy in the United States continued to decline in 2021, according to data released by the federal government. Is there a more fundamental barometer of the health of our nation? The stagnation in life expectancy reflects deep societal challenges — not just in our health system but also in our economic and political systems. (Dave A. Chokshi, 9/2)

NBC News: The Biggest Unexpected Effect Of Calorie Labeling Regulations
The convenience of eating out comes at a price to our health. Since the 1970s, we have doubled the  amount of calories we consume eating outside our homes, with a third of adults in the U.S. eating fast food on any given day. (Dr. Hasan Merali, 9/4)

Stat: The FDA Got It Right With Hearing Aids. Updating Medicare Is Next
“You would really benefit from hearing aids, but they aren’t covered by Medicare and cost around $4,000.” We’ve each said this phrase countless times to patients with hearing loss and are prepared for the reaction that invariably follows: an expression of bewilderment about why a pair of hearing aids may have to be their third largest material purchase in life, after a house and car. (Nicholas S. Reed and Frank R. Lin, 9/6)

Stat: Dying Of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, A Disease I Never Knew Existed
By this time next year, if the medical forecasts are correct, I will probably be dead, another casualty of a fatal illness that most people have never heard of: idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). (Richard B. Woodward, 9/5)

Houston Chronicle: America Banished Polio. Anti-Vaxxers Brought It Back
In the San Diego suburb of La Jolla, on the edge of a high coastal bluff overlooking the Pacific, two mirror-image rectangular buildings frame a spectacular view of the sky and the endless sea. In the courtyard between the stark, concrete buildings, a narrow “river of life” streams toward the edge of infinity. Designed by legendary architect Louis Kahn, the buildings are the public face of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, founded in 1960 by the pioneering scientist and medical researcher who developed a vaccine to conquer one of the most lethal of epidemic diseases, paralytic poliomyelitis. (9/4)

Kansas City Star: Missouri Has One Of The Lowest COVID Vaccination Rates. Get Booster Shot, Kansas City
On Wednesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized two new COVID-19 boosters, available as early as this week. With children back in school, workers back on site and a broad loosening of pandemic protections everywhere, those who can get the vaccines should. (9/6)

Modern Healthcare: Caring For The Nurses Of Tomorrow-And Today
It’s September, and that means around the country, schools are welcoming first-year nursing students and greeting those who have returned. Most of us probably know someone headed down this career path. (Mary Ellen Podmolik, 9/6)

Newsweek: Our Health Care System Is Facing Massive Staffing Shortages. A Crisis Is Looming 
My home state of Florida, like many other states across the country, is facing a monumental workplace issue in one of our most important industries: health care. As a registered nurse working in a Miami hospital for 10 years, including the last three on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, I know that my field is much more than an economic sector; it's a core system to protect the well-being of our society. (Rublas Ruiz, 9/1)

The Star Tribune: Congress Should Protect Access To Home Health Care
Throughout the pandemic, Minnesota's home health care agencies and clinicians have had to navigate a series of setbacks and challenges that have made it more difficult to meet the increased demand for in-home care. Those challenges, including rising labor and still-high fuel costs, as well as record inflation, have worsened an already notable workforce crisis within the home health community, leaving an increasing number of at-risk patients without care. (Kathy Messerli, 9/5)

Stat: Open Access To Research Can Close Gaps For People With Disabilities 
In a long-overdue move, the federal Office of Science and Technology Policy has issued guidance on making federally supported research and publications available to all without delay or embargo. This remarkable announcement about open access has the potential to remove information barriers that have long held back social and scientific progress. (Bonnielin Swenor and JR Rizzo, 9/6)

Dallas Morning News: After My Wife Died, She Continued To Help Others Through Organ Donation
More than 10,000 Texans — including many here in Dallas — are waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant, more than half of which are from multicultural communities. According to the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network, a quarter of people waiting are Black, and 43% are Latino. While, statistically, people of color are more likely to need a transplant, they’re also less likely to register as organ donors. (Alfonso Solis, 9/6)