The New York Times: CDC Ends Country-By-Country Covid Travel Advisories 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will no longer maintain a list of Covid-19 travel advisories for foreign countries, the agency said on Monday, another sign of the gradual shift toward prepandemic normalcy even as about 1,400 people around the world are dying each day from the virus. The agency said it would instead issue travel health notices only for “a concerning Covid-19 variant” or other situation that would change travel recommendations for a particular country, as it does with other diseases like monkeypox, polio and yellow fever. (Cameron, 10/3)

CNN: CDC Suspends Country-Specific Covid-19 Travel Notices 
The agency said that regardless of their destination, international travelers should stay up-to-date on their Covid-19 vaccines and follow CDC guidance for international travel. Being "up-to-date" means having all doses from the primary vaccination series as well as any boosters for which you are eligible. (Hunter and Brown, 10/3)

In news on the vaccine rollout —

Reuters: Supreme Court Turns Away Challenge To U.S. Vaccine Rule For Health Workers 
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge by Missouri and nine other states - mostly Republican-led - to President Joe Biden's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for workers in healthcare facilities that receive federal funds. (Chung, 10/3)

AP: Another Court Mulls Biden Vaccine Mandate For US Contractors
A federal appeals court in New Orleans on Monday became the latest to hear arguments on whether President Joe Biden overstepped his authority with an order that federal contractors require that their employees be vaccinated against COVID-19. The contractor mandate has a complicated legal history. It is being challenged in more than a dozen federal court districts, and the mandate has been blocked or partially blocked in 25 states. At one time, enforcement was blocked nationwide under a ruling by a Georgia-based federal judge. But an appeals court in Atlanta narrowed the scope of that ruling to the seven states that had sued in that case. (McGill, 10/3)

AP: Panel Rejects $1M Payouts To Inmates Given Vaccine Overdoses 
A state board on Monday rejected claims for $1 million payments for 52 prison inmates who were given six times the proper dose of COVID-19 vaccines last year. The three-member State Appeals Board, which considers state legal financial obligations, unanimously denied the claims from inmates who received the extra doses in April 2021. The 52 inmates who each sought a $1 million payment were among 77 prisoners at the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison who had been given overdoses of the Pfizer vaccine by prison nursing staff. (Pitt, 10/3)

MarketWatch: Norwegian Drops COVID-19 Testing, Vaccination And Masking. Should You Take A Cruise Without Such Measures? Experts Weigh In
Norwegian Cruise Line, one of the largest cruise lines in the world, said Monday that passengers will no longer be required to show they are vaccinated against COVID-19, show the results of such a test, or wear a mask. The new policy goes into action Tuesday. Harry Sommer, chief executive of Norwegian Cruise Line  cited “significant, positive progress in the public-health environment.” (Fottrell, 10/4)

NPR: Planned Parenthood Launches Its 1st Mobile Abortion Clinic
With a growing number of patients in states that now prohibit abortion traveling for the procedure, Planned Parenthood says it will soon open its first mobile abortion clinic in the country, in southern Illinois. "Our goal is to reduce the hundreds of miles that people are having to travel now in order to access care...and meet them where they are," said Yamelsie Rodriguez, President of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, said in an interview with NPR. (McCammon, 10/3)

From Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio, and Iowa —

AP: Judge Who Voided Minnesota Abortion Limits Blocks Appeal Bid 
A Minnesota judge who struck down key restrictions on abortion in the state has rejected a bid by a county prosecutor who hopes to appeal the ruling. Ramsey County District Judge Thomas Gilligan ruled Tuesday night that Traverse County Attorney Matthew Franzese is not entitled to intervene in the case. Franzese had hoped to pursue an appeal after Attorney General Keith Ellison declined to challenge Gilligan’s previous ruling that Minnesota’s restrictions were unconstitutional. (Karnowski, 10/3)

AP: Indiana ACLU: No Rush To Halt Judge's Pause On Abortion Ban
Attorneys for Indiana abortion rights supporters argued Monday there is no rush to suspend a judge’s decision temporarily letting abortions continue in the state. It’s the latest legal step in the fight over the state’s recent abortion ban. ... In court documents Monday, lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana called the state’s motion “hastily filed” and argued the case does not need to go to the Supreme Court. That’s because lawyers for the state “have not established that an emergency exists that justifies departure from normal procedure and deliberation by the Court of Appeals,” the ACLU wrote. (Rodgers, 10/3)

Columbus Dispatch: 538 Children In Ohio Had Abortions In 2021 As Total Numbers Increase
The nation was shocked when a 10-year-old Ohio rape victim was forced to obtain an abortion in Indiana after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June. ... How common are these abortions? New data from the Ohio Department of Health offer some insight: In 2021, 538 children ages 17 and younger legally obtained abortions in Ohio, including 57 who were younger than 15 years old. (Balmert, 10/3)

Des Moines Register: No Abortion Investigations In Des Moines Under City Council Proposal
Police and city officials would be limited in their ability to investigate a person for accessing or providing abortions in Des Moines under a proposed resolution drafted by City Council member Josh Mandelbaum. (Barreda, 10/3)

From Arizona —

AP: Arizona Clinic Has Workaround For Abortion Pill Ban 
A Phoenix abortion clinic has come up with a way for patients who can end their pregnancy using a pill to get the medication quickly without running afoul of a resurrected Arizona law that bans most abortions. Under the arrangement that began Monday, patients will have an ultrasound in Arizona, get a prescription through a telehealth appointment with a California doctor and then have it mailed to a post office in a California border town for pickup, all for free. (Christie, 10/4)

Kansas City Star: Teen Denied ‘Lifesaving’ Meds Due To AZ Abortion Ban: Doctor
A 14-year-old girl in Arizona was denied the low dose of the “lifesaving” medication she takes to treat the debilitating symptoms of her arthritis, according to her doctor. (Baitinger, 10/3)

In other abortion news —

ABC News: White House Set To Highlight Republican-Led Abortion Restrictions In 100 Days Since Roe Was Overturned
A new Biden administration report on abortion access in the U.S. describes how widely the procedure has been curtailed in the roughly 100 days after Roe v. Wade was overturned, according to excerpts from the memo that were obtained by ABC News. (Haslett, 10/3)

Los Angeles Times: Caruso Has Yet To Fulfill $1-Million Abortion Rights Pledge
Initial paperwork forming the “Caruso Right to Choose Constitutional Amendment Committee” was filed May 20, according to state records. The committee has filed three campaign statements since then, with the most recent paperwork covering the period between July and Sept. 24. (Wick, 10/3)

Stateline: Privacy, Stigma May Keep Workers From Using Abortion Travel Benefits
“A lot of companies have talked big about it, but far fewer have actually implemented it,” said Bethany Corbin, senior counsel at health care specialists Nixon Gwilt Law. When companies do begin to offer abortion benefits, she said, she expects worker uptake to be minimal. (Vestal, 10/3)

Daily Beast: ‘Pro-Life’ Herschel Walker Paid For Girlfriend’s Abortion Georgia Senate
Herschel Walker, the football legend now running for Senate in Georgia, says he wants to completely ban abortion, likening it to murder and claiming there should be “no exception” for rape, incest, or the life of the mother. But the Republican candidate has supported at least one exception—for himself. A woman who asked not to be identified out of privacy concerns told The Daily Beast that after she and Walker conceived a child while they were dating in 2009 he urged her to get an abortion. The woman said she had the procedure and that Walker reimbursed her for it. (Sollenberger, 10/4)

Politico: Herschel Walker Threatens To Sue Over Abortion Accusation And Is Then Attacked By Son
“This is a flat-out lie — and I deny this in the strongest possible terms,” Walker posted on Twitter, in response to the Daily Beast article. Things got more complicated for the Republican candidate when his son, Christian Walker, subsequently sent a series of tweets accusing his father of abusive behavior and of being a terrible father. “I know my mom and I would really appreciate if my father Herschel Walker stopped lying and making a mockery of us,” Christian Walker tweeted. (Olander, 10/3)

More election news from Louisiana, California, Iowa, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere —

The Washington Post: New Ad Shows Louisiana Congressional Candidate Giving Birth
If you watch until the end of this campaign ad, you’ll see a candidate giving birth. Katie Darling, a Democrat and business executive challenging House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), is out with a spot that documents the arrival of “someone else who’s going to be joining us” on the family farm. Darling narrates the ad, in which she relays her concerns about climate change, underperforming public schools and her state’s abortion ban. (Wagner, 10/3)

CalMatters: Churches Battle California Ballot Measure On Abortion
From the pulpit of the bright and airy Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove, Father Bao Thai delivered a homily on a recent Sunday morning, urging his congregation to vote against Proposition 1, a measure on the Nov. 8 ballot that would enshrine the right to abortion in California’s constitution. “A steward is entrusted to care for the master’s property until his return,” he preached. “What precious goods has the creator placed in our care? Do they include the innocent and sacred lives of the unborn and children to be born?” (Koseff, 10/3)

CNN: Republicans Largely Stay Away From Abortion Issue In Their Ads. But Not All Of Them.
Not many Republican candidates want to talk about abortion in their campaigns, especially in their costly paid television or digital ads. But the few who are taking on the issue are doing so with a familiar message: We aren’t the extremists, Democrats are. ... Zach Nunn, the Republican challenging Democratic Rep. Cindy Axne in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District, touted in a recent ad how “most Iowans support common sense limits on abortion” but that his opponent “votes for the most extreme abortion laws in the world.” Axne has been running ads attacking Nunn for raising his hand during a GOP primary debate when candidates were asked if they supported a policy banning “all abortions” with “no exceptions.” Adam Laxalt, the Republican nominee for Senate in Nevada, launched an ad last month pushing back on criticism of his abortion position. (Merica and Wright, 10/4)

The Washington Post: As TV Doctor, Mehmet Oz Provided Platform For Questionable Products And Views 
Mehmet Oz looked directly into the camera and introduced his daytime television viewers to a “controversial” weight-loss approach: taking a hormone that women produce during pregnancy combined with a diet of 500 calories a day. “Does it really work? Is it safe? Is it a miracle? Or is it hype?” he asked in a 2011 episode of “The Dr. Oz Show” before introducing his audience to “human chorionic gonadotropin,” or HCG, and to a weight-loss doctor who promoted it. In fact, there was little uncertain about the HCG Diet. (Itkowitz and Bernstein, 10/3)

Midterm elections are Nov. 8 —

The Hill: Here Are The 2022 Voter Registration Deadlines In All 50 States 
The 2022 midterms elections are just over a month away, on Nov. 8, with both chambers of Congress and a slew of governorships hanging in the balance. Here are the deadlines to register to vote in each state. All mail-in registration forms must be postmarked by the listed deadline, unless otherwise noted. (Rai and Scully, 10/3)

The Washington Post: What Happens If Republicans Take The House, Senate (Or Both) In 2023?
This November, voters will determine which party controls Congress for the last half of President Biden’s first term. Democrats control both the House of Representatives and Senate now. What was once widely expected to be a wipeout for their party has turned into a competitive battle. It’s possible that Republicans pick up one or both chambers of Congress — or neither. What happens in these elections will drastically reshape the next two years before Biden potentially runs for reelection — and potentially runs against Donald Trump again. Here are the three likeliest scenarios for who will win Congress, and what they’ve talked about doing with that power. (Phillips, 10/2)

Axios: Gender-Affirming Care Threats: Medical Groups Urge DOJ, Social Media Action
Three major medical groups sent a letter to the Justice Department Monday asking it to investigate increasing threats of violence against children's hospitals and physicians that provide gender-affirming care to trans youth. (Ravipati, 10/3)

The 19th: Medical Groups Call On DOJ To Investigate Threats Against Gender-Affirming Care
The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association and the Children’s Hospital Association urged the department “to investigate the organizations, individuals, and entities coordinating, provoking, and carrying out bomb threats and threats of personal violence against children’s hospitals and physicians across the U.S.” Boston Children’s Hospital in Massachusetts, Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee (VUMC), and Akron Children’s Hospital in Ohio have all recently received social media threats after far-right influencers condemned gender-affirming programs offered by the hospitals and spread misinformation on their practices. This has brought both scrutiny — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, formally called for an investigation into Vanderbilt’s practices — and threats of violence — a local woman was charged with making a fake bomb threat to the Boston Children’s Hospital.  (Rummler, 10/3)

The Hill: Medical Groups Call On DOJ To Investigate Threats Targeting Gender-Affirming Care 
Medical associations on Monday also called on Twitter, TikTok and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, to increase efforts to prevent disinformation on their platforms and take “bolder action” when false information is shared about physicians and hospitals. (Migdon, 10/3)

In other news about health care for transgender people —

Kansas City Star: Can Pharmacies Deny Trans Patients Testosterone In Missouri? 
In April, Kenny Caldwell walked into a Costco pharmacy in Kansas City to pick up their monthly medication. They walked out empty-handed. “The pharmacist was like, well, we’re not willing to take that risk. You’ll have to go somewhere else,” they recalled. “It just felt (like) it was very much a trans thing… I definitely felt like it was against me, specifically.” Caldwell is a nonbinary person who takes testosterone as part of their gender-affirming healthcare. (Wallington, 10/4)

Stat: The Story Of The Nation's First Clinic For Gender-Affirming Surgery
Nearly 60 years ago, Johns Hopkins Hospital opened a first-of-its-kind clinic to provide gender-affirming surgery. The Gender Identity Clinic blazed a new trail, with more than a dozen new clinics opening across the country in the decade that followed. (Gaffney, 10/3)

Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Workforce Programs Get $346M
In a series of grants focused on equity and access to care, the Health and Human Services and Labor departments are awarding more than $346 million to train nurses, community workers and public health professionals. (Devereaux, 10/3)

Modern Healthcare: Hospitals Battle Bottlenecks From Post-Acute Staffing Gaps
On any given day, social workers and case managers at Adventist Health Tillamook call 15 to 20 post-acute care facilities trying to place patients ready to be discharged. Some facilities say they can’t accept new residents. Others don’t pick up the phone. “A lot of time is wasted in looking for facilities to try to take patients,” said Heather Thompson, patient care executive at the Oregon critical access hospital. (Christ, 10/4)

Detroit Free Press: University Of Michigan Nurses Approve Contract With $5K Bonuses, 22.5% Raises Over 4 Years
Michigan Medicine nurses have approved a four-year, $273 million contract with University of Michigan Health after months of working without a new agreement in place. (Hall and Jordan Shamus, 10/3)

In other news about health workers —

Des Moines Register: Iowa Nursing Home Resident Suffocates While Suspended Upside Down
According to the inspectors’ report, Clarion Wellness had installed a grab bar — also known as an assistance handle or bed bar – on a resident’s bed in June 2021. The facility installed the device without first assessing the risk it might pose and without obtaining consent from the resident’s family, the inspector reported. (Kauffman, 10/3)

The Boston Globe: Brother Of Patient Who Died At New Hampshire Hospital Slams State Regulators
The brother of a New Hampshire woman who died in 2014 after heart surgery at Catholic Medical Center in Manchester told a legislative committee Monday that she wouldn’t have gone through with the operation had she known that the hospital had recently disciplined her surgeon for professional misconduct. (Saltzman and Fernandes, 10/3)

KHN: Watch: Meet The Latest Fact-Checker — Your Doctor 
In a one-on-one conversation, KHN partnerships editor and senior correspondent Mary Agnes Carey talked with American Medical Association President Dr. Jack Resneck Jr. about how the current climate of misinformation affects doctors and their daily efforts to treat patients. This interview, which took place Sept. 29 as part of PolitiFact’s United Facts of America: A Festival of Fact-Checking, covered a range of topics — from how the debate over the safety of covid-19 vaccines played out in exam rooms across the country, to what needs to be done to help rebuild the nation’s trust in the public health system, and the misinformation that swirls around the abortion issue. (10/4)

Stat: Get A Ph.D. In Health Policy — From A Single Powerpoint Slide
Looking for an actually concise explanation of a half-century’s worth of research and arguments about health care spending in the U.S.? You’re in luck: Government budget wonks, against all odds, condensed it down to a single PowerPoint slide. (Herman, 10/3)

Also —

CIDRAP: Study: Hospital Floors, Healthcare Workers' Shoes May Spread MRSA
A study conducted at a Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital in Ohio suggests that hospital floors and shoes of healthcare workers are potential sources for dissemination of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and other healthcare-associated pathogens, researchers reported late last week in the American Journal of Infection Control. (10/3)

Inside Climate News: Amid The Devastation Of Hurricane Ian, A New Study Charts Alarming Flood Risks For U.S. Hospitals 
It was a scene that played out in cities and towns along the path of Hurricane Ian as it roared ashore last week: nurses, physicians and other medical personnel working feverishly to evacuate hospitals that were at risk of flooding or worse. According to a team of Harvard researchers, that harrowing reality may become even more commonplace in the decades to come. Scientists have found that roughly a third of the metropolitan areas on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts are at risk of seeing at least half of their hospitals experience some form of flooding during a hurricane. (St. Martin, 10/3)

In corporate and legal news —

Modern Healthcare: UnitedHealth, Change Healthcare Complete $13B Merger
The healthcare conglomerate and the technology company had agreed to wait 10 days to finalize the deal after a federal judge last month declined the Justice Department’s challenge to the merger over antitrust concerns. The Justice Department technically has 60 days after that ruling to submit an appeal, but now would face the challenge of breaking up the combined company. (Tepper, 10/3)

Modern Healthcare: Trinity Health's Losses Near $1.5B In 2022
Trinity Health recorded a $1.43 billion net loss for the fiscal year that ended June 30, a steep drop from $3.85 billion in net earnings the prior year, the not-for-profit Catholic health system disclosed last week. (Hudson, 10/3)

Reuters: Anthem Must Face U.S. Government Lawsuit Alleging Medicare Advantage Fraud 
A federal judge ordered Anthem Inc to face a U.S. government lawsuit claiming it submitted inaccurate diagnosis data, enabling the health insurer to fraudulently collect tens of millions of dollars in annual overpayments from Medicare. In a decision released on Monday, U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter in Manhattan said the total alleged overpayment to Anthem appeared to be well over $100 million, making the government's financial costs "substantial and not merely administrative." (Stempel, 10/3)

Bloomberg: Tenet Healthcare Names Former US Senator Bob Kerrey As Chairman
Tenet Healthcare Corp. named former US Senator and Nebraska Governor Bob Kerrey as its chairman after Ronald Rittenmeyer stepped down from the role due to health reasons. (Lauerman, 10/3)

In other health industry updates —

Axios: Home Health, Nursing Homes Look For Year-End Breaks In Spending Deal
Long-term care and home health providers are ramping up pleas for financial relief in a year-end congressional spending deal, testing their influence against a other health interests trying to tuck favorable provisions in the must-pass bill. (Knight and Dreher, 10/4)

KHN: Nursing Home Surprise: Advantage Plans May Shorten Stays To Less Time Than Medicare Covers 
After 11 days in a St. Paul, Minnesota, skilled nursing facility recuperating from a fall, Paula Christopherson, 97, was told by her insurer that she should return home. But instead of being relieved, Christopherson and her daughter were worried because her medical team said she wasn’t well enough to leave. “This seems unethical,” said daughter Amy Loomis, who feared what would happen if the Medicare Advantage plan, run by UnitedHealthcare, ended coverage for her mother’s nursing home care. The facility gave Christopherson a choice: pay several thousand dollars to stay, appeal the company’s decision, or go home. (Jaffe, 10/4)

Post Bulletin: Medical Bills Can Be Crippling. Mayo Clinic’s Charity Care May Be Lacking
Every nonprofit hospital, including Mayo Clinic, is required by the Affordable Care Act to establish free or discounted care policies, known as “charity care” or “financial assistance,” for eligible, often low-income patients in order to maintain and justify the hospital’s tax-exempt status. With support from Dollar For, a nonprofit that works with patients to relieve medical debt, Bass applied for charity care through Mayo Clinic and was approved. However, only half of her bill was covered, so Bass submitted an appeal and awaits Mayo Clinic’s decision. Mayo Clinic responded that it cannot comment on an appeal in process. (Castle Work, 10/2)

CNN: Antidepressant Use During Pregnancy Doesn't Harm Child Development, Study Says
Antidepressant use during pregnancy was not associated with autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), behavioral disorders, developmental speech, language, learning and coordination disorders or intellectual disabilities, according to a study of over 145,000 women and their children across the United States followed for up to 14 years. (LaMotte, 10/4)

In other pharmaceutical research —

Stat: CAR-T Therapy Doesn’t Always Work For Cancer. Now There Are Clues Why
When CAR-T therapy works against blood cancer, it can work spectacularly, but cancer still returns for many patients. In lymphoma, scientists are just beginning to work out why over half of treated patients don’t experience lasting remission, depending on the product. (Chen, 10/4)

Stat: Many Trials To Confirm Benefits Of Drugs Granted Accelerated Approvals Are Running Late 
Amid heightened debate over a regulatory program for speeding the approval of some medicines, a new government analysis finds extensive delays in the clinical trials that drug makers are required to conduct after approvals. (Silverman, 10/3)

More pharmaceutical industry news —

Reuters: U.S. Supreme Court Turns Away Biogen Bid To Reinstate MS Drug Patent 
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear Biogen Inc's bid to win reinstatement of a patent on the company's blockbuster multiple sclerosis drug Tecfidera in a dispute with Viatris Inc subsidiary Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Brittain, 10/3)

Reuters: Supreme Court Asks U.S. To Weigh In On Teva Patent Dispute With GSK
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday asked President Joe Biden's administration for its opinion on whether the court should hear Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc's challenge to a $235 million award for GlaxoSmithKline LLC in a patent dispute over generic heart medication. (Brittain, 10/3)

The Wall Street Journal: Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes Gets Hearing On New Trial
Theranos Inc. founder Elizabeth Holmes is due back in court this month to make the case that she deserves a new trial based on her allegations that the government manipulated testimony from a key witness who testified against her. The hearing was granted Monday by the judge who presided over Ms. Holmes’s monthslong criminal-fraud trial. (Somerville, 10/3)

Modern Healthcare: Express Scripts-Kroger Contract In Jeopardy
Kroger is threatening to exit Express Scripts' network if the pharmacy benefit manager does not agree to a more “equitable and fair” contract. Kroger said it has attempted--to no avail--to negotiate more favorable rates with Cigna subsidiary Express Scripts dozens of times over the past eight months, the company said in a news release. Express Scripts’ proposal is “far out of line” with the industry standard, according to the supermarket company. (Tepper, 10/3)

The Wall Street Journal: World’s Most Expensive Drugs Can’t Cure What Ails This Biotech 
Bluebird Bio is about to become the seller of the two most expensive drugs in the U.S., and by extension the world, each fetching nearly $3 million. While the high price tag is already leading to public backlash, one would think the company and its investors would at least see a huge payoff as the drugs finally hit the market. Not quite. Two approvals by the Food and Drug Administration this past summer might have rescued the company from the financial abyss, but the Boston-area-based Bluebird, which in April announced significant cost cuts to stay afloat, is going to be cash-strapped for a while. (Wainer, 10/3)

CNN: Dementia Diagnosis Increases Suicide Risk For Those Under Age 65, Study Finds
A diagnosis of dementia more than doubles the risk of suicide in the first three months after a patient is told the news, according to the latest research. (LaMotte, 10/3)

The Guardian: People With Recent Dementia Diagnosis Found To Have Higher Suicide Risk 
“What it tells us is that period immediately after diagnosis is when people really need support from the services that provide the diagnosis,” said Dr Charles Marshall, co-author of the research and a clinical senior lecturer and honorary consultant neurologist at the Wolfson Institute of Population Health at Queen Mary University of London. (Davis, 10/3)

In other news about dementia —

WUSF Public Media: Are You Caring For Someone Living With Dementia? Expert Offers Tips To Weather A Hurricane
Seeking shelter during storms like Hurricane Ian can be challenging for many Floridians, but caregivers of people living with dementia often face added hardship. (Colombini, 10/3)

WKYC: Doctor Gets Therapy From Dementia Center He Founded
It's been about a year since we've caught up with Dr. Charlie Farrell, the founder of the Carolyn L. Farrell Foundation. He still spends his days there, helping families cope with dementia. Now, he's participating right along with them because since early 2021, Dr. Charlie has been dealing with the disease himself. "Now I've been living with my new friend, Mr. Alzheimer's, and we're getting for better, for worse, closer and closer together," Dr. Charlie said of the disease he's named "Mr. Alzheimer's." (Buckingham, 9/30)

More mental health news —

The Washington Post: How To Tell If Mental Health Advice On Tiktok And Instagram Is True 
Mental health tips on social media are a mixed bag. Your favorite online creator might give valid advice on managing anxiety symptoms or drawing boundaries with family members. They also might spread wrong information or use their platform to promote dubious products. (Hunter, 10/3)

Wired: The Problem With Mental Health Bots 
With human therapists in short supply, AI chatbots are trying to plug the gap—but it’s not clear how well they work. (Browne, 10/1)

Bloomberg: Bank Of America, Axa Back New Workplace Mental-Health Scorecard
A coalition of corporate, academic and nonprofit partners including Bank of America Corp. and insurer Axa SA has developed a tool that employers can use to measure and improve the mental health of their workers. (Boyle, 10/3)

San Francisco Chronicle: San Francisco Could Turn To Hydromorphone To Curb Opioid Deaths
San Francisco might study prescribing a little-known narcotic that’s not approved for treatment to people struggling with opioid addiction as part of its effort to stem the carnage from drug overdoses. The city already doles out doses of buprenorphine and methadone, two of three opioids approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat addiction to other opioids, which have been shown to cut drug deaths by up to half. (Moench, 10/3)

AP: $500M-Plus From Opioid Deal Starts Heading To Washington
The first payments from a $518 million settlement with the nation’s three largest opioid distributors will begin reaching Washington communities in December, providing much-needed cash officials can use to hire first responders or direct toward prevention, treatment and other services, Attorney General Bob Ferguson said Monday. (Johnson, 10/3)

Anchorage Daily News: Federal Trial Begins For Eagle River Nurse Practitioner Charged With Deadly Opioid Over-Prescribing
The federal criminal trial of a former Eagle River nurse practitioner charged with supplying vast quantities of opioids that resulted in the overdose deaths of several of her patients started Monday in Anchorage. (Theriault Boots, 10/3)

The New York Times: Victoria And Albert Museum Reverses Course And Removes Sackler Name 
The director of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London once told the BBC that the museum was “proud to have been supported by the Sacklers” — the family whose philanthropy is tied to the drug at the heart of the opioid crisis. The museum was “not going to be taking” its name off the walls, the director, Tristram Hunt, added at a 2019 news conference. Yet now, the museum has done just that: removing signage that pointed visitors to its Sackler Courtyard, the glittering multimillion-dollar main entrance that opened to much fanfare in 2017, as well as to its Sackler Center for Arts Education. (Marshall, 10/3)

11alive.Com: Medical Cannabis Production Stalled In Georgia 
The state’s medical cannabis production program is stalled again after a court action suspended the state-issued grow licenses to two companies. It means that while medical marijuana is legal in Georgia – it’s still illegal to buy it because nobody is producing it in-state.  Last week, a south Georgia medical cannabis company granted one of the state’s two new grow licenses and gave a tour of a facility already in place in south Georgia – documented on Agriculture Commissioner Candidate Tyler Harper's Facebook page. (Richards, 10/3)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Medical Marijuana Companies Now Licensed And Operating
Medical marijuana cultivation started on the night licenses were awarded in Georgia. Trulieve opened a nursery in its South Georgia greenhouse as soon as it became one of two companies that won a license last month to grow, process and sell medical marijuana oil to registered patients. (Niesse, 10/3)

In other health news from across the U.S. —

Bay Area News Group: California Dialysis Clinics On The Ballot For The Third Time
The “No on 29” campaign, backed by the dialysis companies, says the union is abusing California’s direct democracy system, trying to push the companies to the negotiating table and gain leverage. But the union says the dialysis industry is making huge profits off vulnerable patients. Proposition 29 backers insist they are just using the tools available to check corporate power, and accomplish their broader policy goals. (Blair Rowan, 10/3)

San Francisco Chronicle: ‘Human Composting’ Is Coming To California. It Could Revolutionize How We Get Buried
Throughout her century-long life, Ruth Gottstein broke new ground as an activist and publisher in the fields of domestic violence, women’s health, civil rights, gay rights and the La Raza movement as well as being an avid outdoorswoman. So in her final days, when she and her son Adam Gottstein were planning the disposition of her body, it was fitting that they decided she would be in the vanguard there as well, choosing to have her earthly remains turned into literal earth. (Said, 10/3)

The Colorado Sun: Vaccine, Behavior Changes Drive Colorado Monkeypox Case Decline
After more than two years of turmoil and stress during the COVID pandemic, here’s a bit of good news for the state’s public health system: Cases of monkeypox have plummeted in recent weeks. (Ingold, 10/3)

New Hampshire Public Radio: In The Upper Valley, Fighting Back Against Parkinson's With A One-Two Punch
Parkinson’s disease affects the nervous system. It muddles how the brain sends signals that coordinate movement. In Vermont, it's estimated that one out of a thousand people over age 55 have it. (Keck, 10/3)

The New York Times: The Failed Quest For Community Mental Health Centers In The U.S. 
Few Americans are receiving adequate psychiatric care or psychological support these days — either because their health insurance doesn’t cover it, or because they don’t have insurance to begin with, or because wait lists run far too long. (10/4)

Miami Herald: Beyond The Physical Damage, Hurricane Ian Could Leave Mental-Health Issues In Its Wake
While many Floridians are focused on cleaning up the storm’s aftermath — clearing fallen trees, repairing power lines and rebuilding homes — some residents are dealing with the ripple effect of emotional and mental-health issues that tend to follow natural disasters. (Melanie Brown-Woofter, 10/3)

The Atlantic: When Fetal Rights Are More Important Than Democracy
The anti-abortion movement has long loved to profess its love for democracy. Clarke Forsythe of Americans United for Life consistently called on the Supreme Court to reverse Roe v. Wade and put questions about abortion “back into voters’ hands—where they belong.” The National Catholic Register proclaimed the day Roe was overturned “a wonderful day for democracy.” (Mary Ziegler, 10/3)

Modern Healthcare: Physician Leadership Critical In An Evolving Industry
The healthcare industry continues to face an era of seismic change and disruption, one in which the demand for effective physician leadership is rising more dramatically than ever. The COVID-19 pandemic brought this need into sharp relief as exhausted clinicians, contentious politicians and a terrified public cried out for leaders with medical training and priorities beyond the financial bottom line. (Dr. Peter Angood, 10/4)

The Tennessean: The Quality Of A Hospital Relies On Intentional Preventative Care
Institutions aren’t good enough at diagnosing maladies and are worse than ever at simple measures like keeping patients walking while hospitalized. Not failings of clinical people, these are expressions of system breakdown – the underlying disease declaring itself – and their cause is no mystery. (John Corsino, 10/3)

Stat: Messaging: An Unrecognized Coefficient In Controlling A Pandemic
A little over a century ago, scientists working in laboratories discovered that microbes were the cause of many epidemics. Once they understood that, they began to put their faith more and more in laboratory science. This major transformation, called the bacteriological revolution, began in the 1880s. (Jim Downs and Eleanor J. Murray, 10/4)

Los Angeles Times: Suicide Is Complicated. So Is Prevention
I was 11 years old when I thought about killing myself for the first time. Since then, I’ve struggled for more than a decade to overcome  suicidal ideations on a regular basis. (Madalyn Amato, 10/2)