The Washington Post: Hearing Aids Are Going Retail With Lower Costs And Easier Access
The government on Monday will begin allowing pharmacies and big-box stores to sell hearing aids without prescriptions, a move that is expected to shake up an industry that has long been dominated by a handful of manufacturers under a model of care that critics said raised costs and stifled innovation. (Rowland and Morris, 10/16)

KHN: Say What? Hearing Aids Available Over-The-Counter For As Low As $199, And Without A Prescription 
Starting Monday, consumers will be able to buy hearing aids directly off store shelves and at dramatically lower prices as a 2017 federal law finally takes effect. Where for decades it cost thousands of dollars to get a device that could be purchased only with a prescription from an audiologist or other hearing professional, now a new category of over-the-counter aids are selling for hundreds of dollars. Walmart says it will sell a hearing aid for as little as $199. (Galewitz, 10/17)

The Washington Post: How To Buy A Hearing Aid Online Or In A Store 
The new rule from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration goes into effect Monday, and experts have called it a game changer that is expected to make the devices more affordable and accessible for millions of people. With a variety of brands, styles and features to choose from, picking the right one may be daunting. Here’s some expert advice for buying a hearing aid that works for you. (Morris, 10/16)

NPR: What To Know Now That Hearing Aids Are Available Over The Counter
The move is being hailed as a win for those with hearing loss, which afflicts millions of people across the country, but experts say customers need to be cautious about what products they purchase as sales begin. "I hate to use the words 'buyer beware,' so instead it's 'buyer be educated' about what you're doing, what your needs are," said Kate Carr, president of the Hearing Industries Association, a trade group representing hearing aid manufacturers. (Hernandez, 10/17)

CNN: Hearing Aids: What To Know About Buying Them Over The Counter 
Dr. Frank Lin, director of the Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Dr. Lindsay Creed of the American Speech Hearing Association, offer their advice on what to keep in mind when buying hearing aids over the counter. Both Lin and Creed strongly recommend getting a hearing test before heading to the store. (Charles, 10/17)

Press Association: Cancer Vaccine Could Be Available By 2030, Say Scientists Behind Covid Shot
Cancer vaccines could be accessible to patients within the next decade, the husband and wife team behind one of the most successful Covid jabs has said. German couple Professors Ugur Sahin and Ozlem Tureci said they are hesitant to say they can find a cure for cancer, but that they have had "breakthroughs" they will keep working on. (10/16)

The Guardian: Vaccines To Treat Cancer Possible By 2030, Say BioNTech Founders 
Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci, who co-founded BioNTech, the German firm that partnered with Pfizer to manufacture a revolutionary mRNA Covid vaccine, said they had made breakthroughs that fuelled their optimism for cancer vaccines in the coming years. Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Prof Türeci described how the mRNA technology at the heart of BioNTech’s Covid vaccine could be repurposed so that it primed the immune system to attack cancer cells instead of invading coronaviruses. (Sample, 10/16)

In updates on the effort to eradicate polio —

AP: Gates Foundation Pledges $1.2B To Eradicate Polio Globally 
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation says it will commit $1.2 billion to the effort to end polio worldwide. The money will be used to help implement the Global Polio Eradication Initiative’s strategy through 2026. The initiative is trying to end the polio virus in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the last two endemic countries, the foundation said in a statement Sunday. The money also will be used to stop outbreaks of new variants of the virus. The announcement was made Sunday at the World Health Summit in Berlin. (10/16)

Bloomberg: Gates Pledges $1.2 Billion To Speed End Of Crippling Poliovirus
Bill Gates says polio came tantalizingly close to being eradicated in the spring, before new outbreaks were seeded in Africa and a man was paralyzed in New York. Now the billionaire’s philanthropic foundation is pledging $1.2 billion to complete the mission. (Gale, 10/16)

Fierce Healthcare: New Biden Order Wants Payment Models To Tackle Drug Prices
President Biden is calling for new payment and delivery models that will lower drug prices in a new executive order. The order released Friday calls on the Department of Health and Human Services to craft a report outlining the payment models that will test how to improve access to innovative drugs and lower costs for those in Medicare and Medicaid. While the order doesn’t grant any new authorities to HHS, it underscores the administration’s next steps in lowering drug prices. (10/14)

Los Angeles Times: Biden Campaigns With Katie Porter On Work To Lower Drug Costs
President Biden and Rep. Katie Porter sought to focus voters’ attention on Democrats’ work to lower the cost of prescription drugs during an event in Orange County on Friday afternoon. With inflation likely to be Democrats’ biggest liability in next month’s midterm elections, Biden and Porter (D-Irvine) eagerly emphasized what their party had already done to try to reduce consumer costs. (Stokols, 10/14)

On dental care and Medicare coverage —

KHN: After Congress Fails To Add Dental Coverage, Medicare Weighs Limited Benefit Expansion
Proposed changes in Medicare rules could soon pave the way for a significant expansion in Medicare-covered dental services, while falling short of the comprehensive benefits that many Democratic lawmakers have advocated. That’s because, under current law, Medicare can pay for limited dental care only if it is medically necessary to safely treat another covered medical condition. In July, officials proposed adding conditions that qualify and sought public comment. Any changes could be announced in November and take effect as soon as January. (Jaffe, 10/17)

In other pharmaceutical industry news —

Politico: Battle Over Pregnancy Drug Highlights Risks Of FDA Expediting Drugs To Market 
The FDA will make its case this week to do something it hasn’t in over a decade — order a drug it expedited to the market to be pulled. A panel of independent expert advisers on obstetric and reproductive drugs will meet starting Monday to decide whether to recommend that Makena, an injection marketed as lowering the risk of preterm birth, remain available for at least some patients. (Gardner, 10/16)

Stat: What To Know About Roche’s Experimental Alzheimer’s Treatment
The next big Alzheimer’s disease study readout is almost here. Roche is nearing the completion of a pair of clinical trials involving its experimental treatment called gantenerumab. The Swiss pharma giant will announce results from the studies within the next six weeks. (Feuerstein and Garde, 10/17)

Stat: Lawmakers Push NIH To Disclose Steps It Will Take On Clinical Trial Reporting
A group of Republican senators is demanding to know what steps the U.S. National Institutes of Health will take to ensure that results of clinical trials funded by the agency — both those conducted by its own scientists and outside researchers — are reported to a federal database. (Silverman, 10/14)

In other health industry news —

CBS News: Man Plays His Saxophone Through 9-Hour, "Very, Very Complex" Brain Surgery To Remove Tumor
A musician had a brain tumor removed in Italy this week in a nine-hour surgery that he spent not only awake and fully conscious, but playing his saxophone. The 35-year-old male patient had the procedure at Rome's Paideia International Hospital on Monday and was discharged early Thursday morning. (Matranga, 10/14)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: New Technology Paves Way For Robotic, 1-Incision Colon Surgery
Friedman and HCA’s MountainView Hospital have joined a Food and Drug Administration clinical trial to confirm the safety and feasibility of using the da Vinci SP (single port) robotic system in a variety of colorectal surgeries. The trial is enrolling adult patients who are candidates for minimally invasive surgery for colon cancer, polyps and other conditions. (Hynes, 10/15)

Indianapolis Star: Supreme Court Case Could Help Red States Defund Planned Parenthood
Although the case began as a dispute over alleged poor nursing home care, the sweeping nature of what the Health & Hospital Corp. of Marion County is asking the Supreme Court to do would have far-reaching repercussions. Among them: Taking away a key legal tool that Planned Parenthood has used to beat back efforts to defund the organization in Republican-led states, including Indiana. (Cook, 10/17)

In other abortion updates —

ABC News: How Some Providers Work Around Abortion Bans Since Roe V. Wade Was Overturned
Some state officials as well as abortion providers are trying to find workarounds to help patients who want to end their pregnancies after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Since the late June ruling, at least 12 states have ended nearly all abortion services, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights. (Kekatos, 10/17)

CNN: Fact Check: How Democratic Ads Mislead On Four GOP Candidates' Abortion Stances 
Democrats have spent weeks attacking Republican midterm candidates with television ads about abortion. Some of the ads have been misleading. Many of the Democratic ads accurately describe their Republican targets’ strict anti-abortion positions. But some others employ slippery phrasing and the power of insinuation to promote the impression that certain Republican candidates have taken more aggressive anti-abortion stands than these candidates actually have. (Dale, 10/17)

The New York Times: Mike Pence Runs Toward Abortion Fight 
Former Vice President Mike Pence shared his vision for a post-Roe America on Thursday evening, supporting efforts to further limit abortion rights, even as many in the Republican Party are running away from the issue in the final stretch of the midterm elections. “Our work must also go far beyond simply working to make abortion illegal,” Mr. Pence said to a banquet hall of about 1,200 people. “We must continue to work to make it unthinkable, changing hearts and minds.” (Dias and Lerer, 10/14)

USA Today: Missouri Abortion Ban Left This Woman 'With A Baby Dying Inside'
At 6:30 a.m. on Aug. 2, nearly 18 weeks into her pregnancy, Mylissa Farmer experienced what doctors call a preterm premature rupture of membranes – her water broke before labor, followed by vaginal bleeding, abdominal pressure and cramping. (Szuch, 10/15)

Also —

KHN: Listen: Why Childbirth Is So Dangerous For Many Young Teens
The new laws criminalizing abortion in many conservative states are expected to boost birth rates among teenage moms, whose bodies often aren’t built for safe childbirth. On this episode of NPR’s “Weekend Edition Sunday,” KHN senior correspondent Sarah Varney talks with host Ayesha Rascoe about the dangers that pregnancy poses for adolescents. (Varney, 10/17)

CBS News: New COVID Variant BQ.1 Now Makes Up 1 In 10 Cases Nationwide, CDC Estimates
The CDC had previously bundled BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 with their shared parent BA.5 in the agency's weekly "Nowcast" estimates. BQ.1 was first named by scientists in early September, based on sequences spotted across the U.S. and several other countries. (Tin, 10/14)

San Francisco Chronicle: These Two New COVID Variants Could Drive The Next Surge. Here's Why They're Causing Surprise And Concern
Concern is rapidly growing over emerging omicron coronavirus variant BQ.1 and its sibling BQ.1.1, which experts say appear to be strong candidates for a winter surge in the U.S. and could knock the BA.5 variant out of its dominant spot. (Hwang, 10/16)

CNBC: Omicron Covid Boosters Appear To Work, Regardless Of Side Effects
If you already got your omicron-specific Covid booster, you might have experienced some side effects. Maybe even ones that were more intense than your previous shot. But there’s no need to worry: Experts and new data say the new shots appear to work — regardless of whether you experience moderate, mild or no side effects at all. (Constantino, 10/15)

In related news about covid research —

Politico: Fauci Recalls Highs And Lows Of Trump Covid Response 
Anthony Fauci praised Operation Warp Speed, former President Donald Trump’s campaign to quickly create a Covid-19 vaccine, as “a very positive thing” in an interview Sunday. But what, host Jonathan Karl asked, about the idea that many Trump supporters continue to constitute a majority of the anti-vaccine movement anyway? (Olander, 10/16)

In related news about covid research —

The Guardian: Can Long Covid Research Unlock Other Great Medical Mysteries Of Our Time? 
Chronic fatigue syndrome and long Covid are both part of a much larger group of illnesses that arise after a viral, or sometimes bacterial, infection. Mononucleosis, HIV, Lyme, Ebola, Sars and many other infections can also have similarly prolonged effects. But experts say attention, funding and research into these post-infectious illnesses has historically been limited, and patients have often had their symptoms minimized or dismissed. Long Covid has changed that. (Root, 10/17)

The Baltimore Sun: NIH Expands Faster Path Used To Develop COVID-19 Screening To Tests, Therapies For Alzheimer’s And Other Neurological Disorders 
As the coronavirus pandemic was upending daily life across the globe in early 2020, government officials challenged scientists to swiftly develop accurate and easy-to-use tests for COVID-19. It was a break in the traditional slog from idea to marketable medical tool. The effort, which included funding and support, proved so successful that it’s now a format for a new initiative funded by the National Institutes of Health. (Cohn, 10/17)

NPR: Research Hints At Why Monkeypox Cases Could Keep Falling In The U.S. 
Health experts attribute the success to changes in behavior among those at high risk for monkeypox and quick uptake of vaccines. But a growing body of evidence suggests another factor is also helping slow down the outbreak: the virus can spread only under very particular circumstances. (Doucleff and Huang, 10/17)

Salon.com: Monkeypox Didn't Become A Pandemic. Are We Celebrating Too Soon? 
Not all experts agree with the rosier assessments about monkeypox's future. Indeed, some experts are warning that celebrations of a non-pandemic may be premature. (Rozsa, 10/14)

In updates on the flu and RSV —

CIDRAP: First Week Of New Flu Season Shows Highest Rises In The South
Most of the country is experiencing an early increase in flu activity, with southeast and south-central states reporting the highest levels, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said [Friday]. Its weekly report [was] the first for the 2022-23 flu season. (10/14)

Stat: CDC: Signs Point To An Early Start For Flu Season 
Flu transmission has been low since the start of the pandemic, but an odd spurt of activity in April, May, and even early June of 2022 — which coincided with the onset of an early and robust flu season in Australia — suggests that flu may be making its way back. (Branswell, 10/17)

NBC News: Surge In RSV, Virus That Can Severely Sicken Infants, Fills Hospital Beds
"The ones who tend to get the most sick are the infants below four months. And then the ones who are older who tend to get most sick are those who have some other medical conditions," said Dr. Sameer Kamath, chief medical officer for Duke Children’s Hospital and Health Center. (Bendix, 10/14)

CBS News: Abbott Recalls More Baby Formula Over Faulty Bottle
Abbott is recalling some formula for infants and kids because the bottles may have defective caps and not seal completely, possibly leading to spoilage. But Friday's recall is relatively small and shouldn't spark a repeat of the nationwide shortages of baby formula endured earlier this year, the company said. (Gibson, 10/14)

In other public health news —

CIDRAP: USDA Proposes Plan To Cut Salmonella Risks In Poultry Products 
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) today proposed new rules that would support a strategy for cutting Salmonella contamination in poultry products to reduce foodborne illnesses. In a nutshell, the USDA is exploring whether certain levels or types of Salmonella in raw poultry products pose enough of a risk to be considered adulterants. In August, the USDA's FSIS announced that it would declare Salmonella an adulterant in breaded and stuffed raw chicken products, which have been linked to as many as 14 foodborne illness outbreaks since 2018. (Schnirring, 10/14)

Stat: U.S. Grocery Chains Failing To Stop Antibiotic Overuse In Meat Supply Chains
Amid rising concern over antibiotic resistance, a new report finds that a dozen of the leading grocery chains in the U.S. are largely failing to take steps that are needed to prevent the spread of so-called superbugs in the food supply chain. (Silverman, 10/14)

In mental health news —

Roll Call: Youth Mental Health Advocates Renew Calls For Action
More than 130 national and state children’s groups are asking the Biden administration to do more to address youth mental health, including by issuing an emergency declaration on the issue — the latest amplification of the seriousness of the youth mental health crisis. (Raman, 10/14)

NBC News: Taking A Break From The News Can Improve Mental Health, Study Finds
The researchers looked at how people were best able to manage feelings of anxiety and depression at the height of the pandemic, finding that one of the most effective methods was to take breaks from the barrage of bad news. (Edwards, 10/14)

Fortune: The Science Behind Why You Need A Hobby To Boost Your Brain Health And Self-Esteem 
When Dr. Ken Duckworth, chief medical officer of the National Alliance on Mental Illness and author of You Are Not Alone, interviewed 130 people with mental health conditions for his new book, he found a common thread among many of his interviewees: they used hobbies as a way to manage their stress and mental health. One person Duckworth interviewed began drumming as a way to calm themselves and felt that the rhythmic aspect engaged them, while another enjoyed the playful nature of routinely going thrifting with a friend: one of them would look for motorcycle parts while the other searched for baseball cards. (Mikhail, 10/16)

The Washington Post: Teen Vaping Remains A Serious Public Health Crisis 
Teen vaping continues to be a public health crisis. For evidence, look no further than new data released by the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on youth e-cigarette use. (10/16)

Columbus Dispatch: How Has The Pandemic Affected Students' Mental Health?
A recent study by The Commonwealth Fund showed that 50% of mental health problems emerge in people by the age of 14. So, across the spectrum, institutions of primary, secondary and higher education must invest in and commit to cultures of wellness that prioritize students’ holistic well-being. (Bernadette Melnyk, 10/17)

The Washington Post: Care Work Is In Crisis. That's A Disaster For The Rest Of The Economy
Home health-care services employment is up by 34,000 jobs, or 2 percent. But that growth is not fast enough to offset the hundreds of thousands of comparable positions lost in nursing homes or to meet skyrocketing demand for elder care as the country ages. (Catherine Rampell, 10/13)

CNN: I Have A Disability That Is Obvious — And One That's Not 
My wheelchair hides my worst disability. Most people probably think that having spinal muscular atrophy — a neuromuscular weakness I’ve had since birth — is the nastiest thing that ever happened to me. It isn’t. It isn’t even my most irritating, aggravating or vexingly incurable medical problem. (Ben Mattlin, 10/16)

The Tennessean: Telehealth Provides Solution For Rural Veterans In Need Of Care
Medical deserts – areas where residents have to travel longer than an hour to receive critical care services – are quickly growing in number across the nation as hospitals close and access to doctors and other medical professionals dissipates before a community’s eyes. (Lt. Col Wade Priddy, 10/14)