AP: Judge Halts Wyoming Abortion Ban Days After It Took Effect
Abortion will again be legal in Wyoming — at least for now — after a judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked a ban that took effect a few days earlier. Teton County District Court Judge Melissa Owens’ decision halts the ban amid a challenge in her court to a law that took effect Sunday. The Republican-controlled Legislature approved the law despite earlier rulings by Owens that had blocked a previous ban since shortly after it took effect last summer. (Gruver, 3/23)

The New York Times: Wyoming Judge Temporarily Blocks The State’s New Abortion Ban 
The new ban, enacted earlier this month, was the legislature’s attempt to circumvent the constitutional guarantee of freedom in health care choices by declaring in the law that abortion is not health care. On Wednesday, Judge Owens questioned that assertion. “I’m just still hung up on abortion not being health care,” she said to the lawyer defending the laws for the state, Jay Jerde, a special assistant attorney general for Wyoming. “An abortion can only be performed by a licensed medical professional, so what authority does the legislature have to declare that abortion is not health care when our laws only allow a licensed medical professional to administer one?” she asked. (Belluck, 3/22)

In abortion news from Kansas and Massachusetts —

Kansas City Star: Kansas House Passes ‘Born Alive’ Abortion Bill
The Kansas House Wednesday passed a bill that requires physicians to care for infants born alive during an abortion, despite no evidence this has happened in Kansas in decades. The chamber voted 88 to 34 to approve the “born alive” bill and send it to the state Senate. Similar legislation has been pursued at the federal level and in Republican-led statehouses nationwide. (Bernard, 3/22)

Kansas News Service: Small Planes And Secrecy: Pilots Fly People To Kansas And Other States For Abortions
The pilot, clad in a blue windbreaker, pulls his single-engine, four-seater prop plane onto the tarmac. The small municipal airport sits in a state where abortion is now banned in virtually all cases. But a short flight away in Kansas, it remains legal. That’s launched a wave of travel from across the South and Midwest in pursuit of pills and procedures no longer legal in many places. Michael — who asked to only use his first name — is part of a growing group of hobby pilots who have begun ferrying people across state lines to get abortions and gender-affirming medical care, flouting local restrictions and bans. (Conlon, 3/23)

The Boston Globe: State Officials Issue Guidance To Mass. Pharmacies: Stock Abortion Pills 
State officials on Wednesday reminded Massachusetts pharmacies that they must stock all reproductive health medications including mifepristone, a drug that can safely end a pregnancy in its early stages and whose availability is the subject of dueling lawsuits. In a statement, the state Department of Public Health said the “clarifying guidance” came from the state Board of Registration in Pharmacy. (Andersen, 3/22)

From North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Ohio —

AP: New Hawaii Law Expands Abortion Access, Protects Providers
Hawaii’s governor on Wednesday signed legislation expanding access to abortion and putting into law recent executive orders protecting local health care providers from prosecution by out-of-state authorities. (McAvoy, 3/23)

North Carolina Health News: Docs Visit Legislature To Oppose Abortion Limits
Since legislators returned to Raleigh in late January, physicians opposed to any new restrictions on abortion in North Carolina have been making themselves visible at the General Assembly. Leading the opposition to any new legislation are obstetrician-gynecologists (known as OB-GYNs), who have the closest contact with people who face the decisions about whether to continue a pregnancy. (Hoban, 3/23)

Oklahoman: Excerpts: Oklahoma Supreme Court Justices' Deep Division Over Abortion
The Oklahoma Supreme Court was deeply divided over the abortion question, with the 5-4 majority ruling on Tuesday that the state constitution protects a woman’s right to have an abortion to save her own life. The majority opinion states that the court did not rule on elective abortions. The majority opinion was accompanied by six separate concurring and dissenting opinions. (Casteel, 3/22)

Axios: Inside The Fight For Abortion Rights In Ohio
The battle over a proposed amendment for abortion rights in Ohio intensified this week with legal maneuvering and a trained army of volunteers at the forefront. Why it matters: If the amendment makes it to the November ballot and voters approve it, it would preserve abortion access in a state that's been a conservative front for opposing abortion. (Smith, 3/23)

Also —

CNN: How Ginsburg's Death And Kavanaugh's Maneuvering Shaped The Supreme Court's Reversal Of Roe V. Wade And Abortion Rights 
The internal negotiations on the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which ended up reversing nearly a half century of abortion rights, were tightly tied to Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death and the succession of Amy Coney Barrett. (Biskupic, 3/23)

The Washington Post: White House To Disband Covid-19 Team
The White House will shut down its covid response team after the public health emergency ends in May, with some staffers already departing and national coordinator Ashish Jha likely to leave the administration once his team is disbanded, according to multiple current and former officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal operations. (Diamond and Pager, 3/22)

The Washington Post: More Testing Of Nursing Home Staff Would Have Reduced Covid-19 Deaths, Study Says
Insufficient coronavirus testing of nursing home staff was a driver of waves of coronavirus infections and deaths of elderly residents in 2020, the most vulnerable time before vaccines became available, according to a study published Wednesday. The study, in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that 1.1 million more staff tests per week nationwide would have saved 427 lives each week during the worst time of nursing home outbreaks, from November 2020 to mid-January 2021. ... The nursing home industry’s top trade association said this week that it was hamstrung by a lack of tests and prioritization from government leaders. (Rowland, 3/22)

Modern Healthcare: Hospitals Re-Evaluate Policies As State Mask Mandates End 
After three years of strict federal and state policies, health systems are regaining the ability to make their own decisions on the use of masks and other personal protective equipment. As a result of declining COVID-19 infection and mortality rates nationwide, most states have ended executive orders and emergency mandates requiring universal masking for patients, visitors and workers in healthcare settings. (Devereaux, 3/22)

Slate: Long COVID: The Truth About It Is Emerging, And It’s Not What We Thought
Three years later, the research is catching up to the anecdotal reports and the early evidence, and a clearer picture of long COVID has emerged. It turns out that, like COVID-19 itself, a lot of our early guesses about it turned out to be considerably wide of the mark. This time, fortunately, the surprises are mostly on the positive side. Long COVID is neither as common nor as severe as initially feared. As the U.S. government moves to end the country’s state of emergency, it’s another reassuring sign that, as President Biden put it during his State of the Union address, “COVID no longer controls our lives.” (Wise, 3/19)

In updates on the flu —

CIDRAP: Global Flu Activity Declines With Greater Influenza B Proportions
In Europe, half of the countries are still reporting widespread activity, though in North America, flu has declined to levels normally seen at this point of the season. The WHO report roughly covers the end of February and into the first week of March. (Schnirring, 3/22)

Stat: Bancel, Sanders Spar Over What Moderna Owes The Government
Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel and Senate health committee Chair Bernie Sanders shook hands amicably before Wednesday’s hearing examining the company’s vaccine pricing strategy began. That’s about where the goodwill ended between the two. Sanders, a Vermont Independent, promptly highlighted the $12 billion the federal government spent on research, development, and procurement of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine. (Cohrs, 3/22)

AP: Senators Press Moderna CEO On COVID-19 Vaccine Price Hike
The CEO said Moderna gave the government a discount with its initial prices. Now, the company must assume more costs and risk, he said. He said, for instance, that the drugmaker will switch to single-dose vials from ones that held 10 doses. He also that Moderna will have to make more doses than it anticipates using to ensure enough is available. The company will then have to eat the cost of unused doses, something the government has done. (Murphy, 3/22)

Politico: The Covid Vaccine King On Biden World's Nerves
But when Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) lit into Moderna’s CEO at a congressional hearing Wednesday, few in Biden’s administration rushed to the company’s defense. The White House’s relationship with Moderna has deteriorated dramatically over the last two years, marring what should have been one of the most successful public-private partnerships in U.S. history, four people with knowledge of the matter told West Wing Playbook. (Cancryn, 3/22)

In other covid vaccine news —

News-Medical.net: Tetravalent COVID Vaccine Provides Broad Antibody Responses Against SARS-CoV-2 Variants In Animal Model
The study findings showed that the tetravalent vaccine approach conferred broad immune protection against several SARS-CoV-2 variants. The findings could inform vaccine development to reduce the global health burden of COVID-19. (Paharia, 3/21)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Even Before COVID-19 Vaccine Revenue Surge, Penn Ranked #1 For Licensing Dollars
The University of Pennsylvania recently touted its number-one ranking among U.S. research institutions for licensing revenue — more than twice the next highest reported. Penn’s licensing revenue totaled $310 million in the year that ended June 30, 2021, a “huge number,” Stephen J. Susalka, CEO of AUTM, a trade group that collects licensing data, told The Inquirer last year. The entire University of California system came in second, with $135 million in revenue. But wait until next year. That’s when Penn’s haul of more than $1 billion in licensing revenue for fiscal 2022 — most from its development of technology used in COVID-19 vaccines — will be included in the annual ranking by AUTM, which represents university technology transfer managers who help scientists commercialize their inventions. (Brubaker, 3/23)

The New York Times: Biden Plan To Cut Billions In Medicare Fraud Ignites Lobbying Frenzy 
“How’s the knee?” one bowler asked another across the lanes. Their conversation in a Super Bowl ad focused on a Biden administration proposal that one bowler warned another would “cut Medicare Advantage.” “Somebody in Washington is smarter than that,” the friend responded, before a narrator urged viewers to call the White House to voice their displeasure. The multimillion dollar ad buy is part of an aggressive campaign by the health insurance industry and its allies to stop the Biden proposal. It would significantly lower payments — by billions of dollars a year — to Medicare Advantage, the private plans that now cover about half of the government’s health program for older Americans. (Abelson and Sanger-Katz, 3/22)

The Nevada Independent: How Medicare Advantage Could Become A Marquee Issue In Nevada's 2024 Senate Race
Ten days after the State of the Union, the National Republican Senatorial Committee came out with a new ad targeting Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), a swing-state Democrat up for re-election in 2024, over Medicare. “You earned your retirement benefits,” the ad says. “You followed the rules. You paid into the system. But Jacky Rosen wants to take them away. Rosen backed Joe Biden’s extreme agenda, putting your Medicare and Social Security at risk. “Tell Jacky Rosen – hands off our benefits,” the ad concludes. (Birenbaum, 3/22)

The Hill: Pence Calls For ‘Common Sense’ Reforms To Social Security, Medicare
Former Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday called for “common sense” reforms to federal entitlement programs, namely Social Security and Medicare, weighing in on what is set to be a wedge issue in the 2024 presidential campaign. “If we act in this moment with the support of this generation, we can introduce common sense reforms that will never touch anyone who is in retirement, or anyone who will retire in the next 25 years,” Pence told an audience of college students at Washington and Lee University in Virginia. “It’ll just take courage to do it, and that’s where your generation will come in.” (Neukam, 3/22)

The Center Square: Personal Data Of 254K Medicare Beneficiaries At Risk After Breach 
Hundreds of thousands of Americans’ personal information is at risk after Medicare’s data was breached. Now, lawmakers want answers. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., sent a letter demanding a range of documents and communications from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Lawmakers said that in October of last year Healthcare Management Solutions, a subcontractor to ASRC Federal Data Solutions, which works for CMS, suffered a ransomware attack. (Harper, 3/21)

Modern Healthcare: North Carolina Medicaid Expansion Bill Passes
After a yearslong battle to expand Medicaid in North Carolina, the Republican-led state General Assembly advanced the policy on a bipartisan vote Wednesday. (Nzanga, 3/22)

Idaho Capital Sun: Idaho House Kills Medicaid Budget
The Idaho House of Representatives voted Monday to kill the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare’s Medicaid budget, placing a potential barrier in the way of wrapping up the 2023 legislative session this week. House Bill 334 failed on a 34-36 vote after several Republicans complained about the overall cost of the Medicaid budget, which totals $4.7 billion from all state, federal and dedicated funding sources. (Corbin, 3/20)

On the coverage cliff —

The Hill: Why Millions Of People Could Lose Medicaid Next Month 
Health officials are bracing for chaos as states begin to determine — for the first time in three years — who is eligible for Medicaid, as a key pandemic policy of guaranteed eligibility ends. Advocates warn that without a safety net, millions of vulnerable people will fall through the cracks and lose coverage. The Biden administration is giving states a year to go through the once-routine process of sorting through Medicaid rolls, though some are moving much faster. Arkansas for instance will speed through the redetermination process in only six months, citing cost concerns and the goal of Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) to push people to “escape the trap of government dependency.” (Weixel, 3/22)

WDRB: Medicaid Coverage Renewal Notices Being Sent To Indiana, Kentucky Residents
 Medicaid coverage will end for millions of Americans in the coming months, and it will push many into unfamiliar territory: the health insurance marketplace. States will start cutting people from the government-funded plans when they no longer qualify based on income, a process that has been paused since shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic hit. (3/22)

11Alive.com: Thousands Of Georgians At Risk Of Losing Medicaid Coverage
Starting in April, if you're on Medicaid or PeachCare, the state will be determining if you and you and your children are eligible for coverage. With only a few days before the renewal process starts, the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute (GBPI) and the Latin American Association are sharing tips on how to maintain your coverage. (Bowles, 3/21)

WPBF: Medicaid Eligibility Could Be At Risk For Thousands In Florida
Thousands of people who receive Medicaid could be at risk of losing health coverage now that a continuous enrollment policy that started during the pandemic is about to end. During the pandemic, the federal government required states to keep people on Medicaid as long as there was a public health emergency, and now that the emergency is over, patients will have to renew or lose their coverage. (Rozier, 3/22)

On aging at home —

New Hampshire Bulletin: ‘We’re Teetering On The Edge.’ Are Medicaid Rates Making It Harder To Age At Home In NH? 
Instead of living in nursing facilities, nearly 3,800 Granite Staters are in their own homes and communities thanks to the help they receive with basic needs like bathing, transferring from a wheelchair to bed, managing medications, making meals, and getting to medical appointments. Approximately 600 of them risk losing that care in July if the state doesn’t increase what it’s paying providers through the Medicaid-funded Choices for Independence (CFI) program, which covers the cost of housekeeping and personal care services for people who want to age at home and qualify for Medicaid. (Timmins, 3/22)

Government Executive: State To End Severe Restrictions On Disabled Individuals Entering Foreign Service 
The State Department is lowering the medical threshold job applicants must meet to qualify for Foreign Service positions, the agency announced on Monday, making it easier for disabled individuals to serve in roles from which they were previously prohibited. The change marks the implementation of a settlement agreement stemming from a lawsuit that disabled employees launched in 2006, who alleged State was engaging in discriminatory behavior by blocking their candidacies. (Katz, 3/20)

Federal Times: State Department Settles 17-Year-Old Lawsuit Over Foreign Service Jobs
A settlement has been finalized between the U.S. Department of State and more than 200 class action members who alleged that the agency’s Foreign Service medical clearance policy illegally discriminated against job candidates with disabilities. The case, which began in 2006, claimed that the department’s “worldwide availability” hiring rule, which required Foreign Service officer candidates to be able to work at any of the State Department’s 270 overseas posts without a need for ongoing medical treatment, unfairly precluded applicants with disabilities from employment. (Weisner, 3/17)

In education news —

USA Today: Special Education Clash: Supreme Court Sides Unanimously For Student With Disability
The Supreme Court sided unanimously Tuesday with a student who is deaf and who sought to sue his school for damages over profound lapses in his education, a case that experts say could give parents of students with disabilities more leverage as they negotiate for the education of their children. Central to the case was the story of Miguel Perez, who enrolled in the Sturgis Public School District in Michigan at age 9 and brought home As and Bs on report cards for more than a decade. Months before graduation, Perez's parents learned that he would not receive a diploma and that aides the school assigned to him did not know sign language.  (Fritze, 3/21)

LAist: During Strike, As In Pandemic, Students With Special Needs Get Sidelined 
San Fernando Valley sixth grader Marie will be home from school for much of this week, along with more than 422,000 other Los Angeles Unified students. District support staff members are striking to protest alleged harassment during contract negotiations over the last year. Teachers have also walked off the job in solidarity. ... The family is enduring an uncertain week. Marie has multiple diagnoses, including autism. LAist agreed not to publish the family’s last name and use their daughter’s middle name to protect their privacy. (Dale, 3/22)

KOCO: Oklahoma House Passes Bill Banning Corporal Punishment On Students With Special Needs
A week ago, a bill to ban corporal punishment – a physical punishment – on students with special needs failed in the Oklahoma House. On Monday, though, lawmakers took another look at the bill. It passes and now heads to the state Senate. (Burger, 3/21)

The Daily Tar Heel: 'Dehumanizing' Experiences Lead Disabled Student To Demand Improved Bus Accessibility  
After a series of what she describes as “horrible” experiences with Chapel Hill Transit, Sarah Ferguson refuses to get on another bus. Ferguson, a UNC junior who uses a wheelchair, has had several encounters with bus operators who didn’t know how to accommodate her mobility devices. On one occasion, she said she had to get off a bus because the operator did not know how to secure her electric wheelchair since it didn’t have specific “tie-down” hooks. But these difficulties weren’t isolated to just one of her mobility aids. (Martin, 3/21)

In other news about people with disabilities —

Missouri Independent: Missourians With Developmental Disabilities Languish In Hospitals, Jails, Shelters
On a Friday afternoon in late December, Geri Curtis received a disturbing phone call informing her she had only five days to find a new home for a developmentally disabled person. As part of her job as public administrator for Livingston County, she had become legal guardian of a person with severe developmental disabilities two months earlier. The person, autistic and unable to speak, was living in a residential support facility in Jackson County. Soon after she became the legal guardian, Curtis received notice from the facility that the person had to move within 30 days because of aggression. (Keller, 3/22)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Nevada Bill Would Require Equal Pay For Intellectually Disabled
Assembly Bill 259, introduced by Assemblywoman Tracy Brown-May, D-Las Vegas, would require providers of jobs and day training services to pay at least the state minimum wage to those with intellectual or developmental disabilities. (Hill, 3/22)

The 19th: How A Senate Aide And Her Guide Dog Made Capitol Hill More Accessible For All
In 1997, Moira Shea and her guide dog Beau made history when they became the first blind woman and guide dog team on the Senate floor. In doing so, Shea, who was working as an aide, opened doors for disabled congressional staff and elected officials. (Luterman, 3/22)

Bloomberg: Biogen’s ALS Drug Gets Partial Backing From FDA Panel
A Biogen drug that targets a rare form of ALS got partial support from a panel of US Food and Drug Administration advisers Wednesday, paving the way for a possible accelerated approval. If it’s approved, the medication, tofersen, would be the first drug targeting a specific genetic cause of the incurable paralysis disease to get the regulatory green light. (Langreth, 3/22)

Stat: Senators Interrogate Health Secretary On Alzheimer's Drug Coverage
The future of Alzheimer’s treatments and coverage hung heavily over lawmakers’ Wednesday hearing with Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra. Dotted throughout the hearing room for Becerra’s testimony on the president’s proposed health care budget for 2024 were purple-clad advocates for Alzheimer’s disease treatments, who Democrats and Republicans alike acknowledged repeatedly throughout the hearing. But while senators from both parties pushed for speedy approvals and Medicare coverage of new drugs for the disease, they unsurprisingly diverged on how to manage the costs. (Owermohle, 3/22)

WMFE: Alzheimer's Study Explores New Drug's Potential To Delay Or Prevent Symptoms
In the past two years, the FDA has approved the first two drugs that treat the actual disease of Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia affecting more than 6 million people in the U.S. An ongoing study -- with participants in Central Florida -- examines whether one of those drugs can prevent or at least delay the appearance of symptoms. (Byrnes, 3/22)

On drug shortages —

NPR: Why Drugs Like Adderall, Antibiotics And Flu Medications Are In Short Supply
It's not just your imagination: Drugs such as children's flu medication, common antibiotics and ADHD treatments are getting harder to buy, according to a Senate report published Wednesday. Democrats on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee say the number of new drug shortages rose by 30% between 2021 and 2022, an increase that has had "devastating consequences" for patients and doctors. (Olson, 3/23)

Roll Call: Lawmakers Say Reliance On China Exacerbates Drug Shortages
Lawmakers say the worsening drug shortage in the United States is hurting the American health care system and called for shifting more manufacturing from China to the United States to help alleviate the problem during a Senate hearing Wednesday. (Cohen, 3/22)

In other pharmaceutical news —

Stat: NIH Rejects Bid To Cut A Cancer Drug's Price By Sidestepping Patents
In a long-awaited decision, the National Institutes of Health rejected a petition urging the agency to use a controversial provision of federal law to widen access to a cancer drug by forcing the manufacturers to license their patents. (Silverman, 3/22)

Stat: Drugmakers Push Back On A Clever Tactic Employers Use To Avoid Paying For Specialty Medicines 
In the face of rising drug prices, health plan sponsors have quietly used a clever, but questionable tactic over the past few years to deflect costs. And now, some pharmaceutical companies are pushing back. (Silverman, 3/22)

Stat: 89bio Treatment Reduces Liver Scarring In Patients With NASH
Biotech company 89bio said Wednesday that its experimental treatment improved liver scarring at more than three times the rate of placebo without worsening other symptoms of patients with the fatty liver disease known as NASH. The results met the main goal of a mid-stage clinical trial, with the potential for less frequent injections than a similar experimental treatment being developed by a competing drugmaker. (Feuerstein, 3/22)

Stat: Gene Researchers Try To Find Ways To Get Around Key CRISPR Flaw
It took just three years, after the tool’s invention, for researchers to devise ways of using CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to treat mice with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Since those first 2015 papers, dozens more have been published and multiple startups have launched, spurred by the hope that CRISPR could outperform the gene therapy approaches now nearing approval. One company was even bought out for over $200 million. Yet, with one exception, no gene-editing treatments for the rare muscle-wasting disease have entered the clinic and none appear particularly close. Why? (Mast, 3/22)

Quartz: Is There A Bird Flu Vaccine Available For Humans?
The good news is, there are vaccines. More accurately: There can be, quickly, if we need them. The US has a stockpile of avian flu vaccines, and vaccine makers say they would be able to turn around hundreds of millions of doses of vaccines for the bird flu latest subtype in months. But there’s a downside to that: Most of the potential millions of doses of bird flu vaccines that would be needed in a potential (though, yes, unlikely) human epidemic are already reserved. For rich countries, of course. (Merelli, 3/22)

Fox News: Is Parkinson’s Disease, 'World’s Fastest Growing Brain Disease,’ Mostly Preventable? Study Offers Clues
Researchers warn that a colorless chemical known as trichloroethylene (TCE) — which has been used to dry-clean clothes, degrease metals and decaffeinate coffee — may be linked to the dramatic increase in Parkinson’s disease (PD) cases. They recently published a series of seven cases in the Journal of Parkinson’s disease that illustrate TCE’s harmful health effects and the potential PD association. (Sudhakar, 3/22)

Bloomberg: Spiked Drug Tests Undermining Opioid Treatment Efforts
Some patients addicted to opioids may be spiking their drug tests to mimic adherence to their treatment plans, undermining attempts to address an epidemic that looms larger than ever. About 8% of opioid patients could be spiking their urine samples with buprenorphine, a drug used to treat pain and opioid addiction, according to a JAMA Psychiatry study published Wednesday. Adding buprenorphine tablets or residue directly into urine can create the impression that patients have taken their medication when they haven’t. (Meghjani and Peng, 3/22)

AP: Doctors May Miss How Addiction Patients Cheat Drug Tests 
Doctors often use urine tests to make sure patients taking medication for opioid addiction are sticking with treatment. A new study suggests they may be missing some cheaters. Nearly 8% of these patients sometimes spike their urine by adding their treatment medicine, buprenorphine, to the samples. Such spiking may go unnoticed by doctors who use rapid tests instead of more sophisticated lab tests that can reveal who’s cheating. (Johnson, 3/22)

More on the opioid crisis —

The Washington Post: Homeland Security Launches “Operation Blue Lotus” To Target Fentanyl 
The Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday it has intensified efforts to stop fentanyl trafficking across the country’s southern border, launching “Operation Blue Lotus” with hundreds of U.S. agents and officers. The campaign will use new scanning technology, more drug-sniffing dogs and other detection tools to ramp up interdiction efforts and build criminal cases, officials said. Much of the effort will focus on ports of entry, the land border crossings where more than 90 percent of U.S. fentanyl seizures along the southern border have occurred since the start of the 2023 fiscal year on Oct. 1. (Miroff, 3/21)

The Texas Tribune: Bills Call For Texas Teachers To Administer Lifesaving Overdose Drugs To Students
As illegal opioid use rises among young people, several bills filed by state lawmakers would require Texas teachers to be trained and equipped to treat fentanyl overdoses, both on campus and at school-related events. Several bills call for educators and school staff at public, charter and private schools, as well as those at colleges and universities, to know how to reverse deadly opioid overdoses with Narcan and other overdose medications known as “opioid antagonists.” (Simpson, 3/23)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Metro Atlanta Governments Call Drug Makers, Pharmacies A `Public Nuisance’ In New Opioid Lawsuit
The city of Atlanta and six metro area counties this week filed a federal lawsuit against more than two dozen drug makers, pharmacies and prescription drug brokers, alleging that their role in the opioid crisis represents a public nuisance. The lawsuit is just the latest of dozens that have been filed by Georgia cities and counties seeking to recover damages from the pharmaceutical industry for its role in spreading the addictive and potent painkillers. (Eason, 3/23)

CNN: What Makes Fentanyl So Deadly And How Can People Prevent Overdoses?
The United States is facing a crisis of overdose deaths. In 2021, more than 106,000 Americans lost their lives to drug-involved overdoses — including more than 1,100 teens that year alone. Synthetic opioids, primarily involving the powerful drug fentanyl, are the main driver of overdose deaths, with nearly a 7.5-fold increase overall from 2015 to 2021, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Overdoses and poisoning are the third leading cause of death in kids and adolescents age 19 and younger. (Hetter, 3/23)

Dallas Morning News: How Fentanyl Journeys From China To Mexico To North Texas
It begins as a white powder in Chinese chemical factories. A mix of illegal drugs and chemical compounds, the powder, sometimes disguised as soap, journeys across oceans in massive container ships bound for Mexico’s western ports. From there, Mexican drug cartel workers press the fentanyl powder into small pills with blue coloring and stamp them. The pills are hidden inside secret compartments within trucks, trailers and other vehicles that couriers drive across the U.S.-Mexico border headed toward markets in Dallas and beyond. (Krause and Corchado, 3/23)

In other news about drug use —

AP: Oregon Issues First License Under Psilocybin Program
Oregon has issued its first license under its new system that offers controlled use of psilocybin to the public. The Oregon Health Authority announced Wednesday that it had issued a manufacturer license to Satori Farms PDX LLC, owned by Tori Armbrust. Oregon Psilocybin Services, which falls under the health authority, began accepting applications for four license types in January. More than 220 license and worker permit applications have been submitted to Oregon Psilocybin Services so far. (3/23)

NBC News: Congress Members Send Letter To HCA About Conditions At Florida Hospital After NBC News Report
Two Washington lawmakers have requested information from HCA Healthcare Inc., the nation’s biggest hospital company, about conditions and practices at its Bayonet Point Hospital in Hudson, Florida, following a February report by NBC News in which insiders detailed extensive deficiencies at the facility. (Morgenson, 3/22)

KHN: Legal Questions, Inquiries Intensify Around Noble Health’s Rural Missouri Hospital Closures 
A year after private equity-backed Noble Health shuttered two rural Missouri hospitals, patients and former employees grapple with a broken local health system or missing out on millions in unpaid wages and benefits. The hospitals in Audrain and Callaway counties remain closed as a slew of lawsuits and state and federal investigations grind forward. (Tribble, 3/23)

Modern Healthcare: Bright Health Under Supervision In Tennessee
Bright Health Group can add Tennessee to the growing list of states concerned about its ability to meet its financial obligations. Tennessee regulators placed the struggling health insurance company under supervision in November, according to Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance filings. Bright Health has been prohibited from spending more than $10,000 at a time without approval from Tennessee. The state also reserved the right to initiate legal, liquidation or delinquency proceedings against the company. (Tepper, 3/22)

Modern Healthcare: Intermountain Health Operating Income Fell 82% In 2022
Intermountain Health's merger with SCL Health bolstered the nonprofit health system's financial performance by $4 billion last year, the company disclosed Tuesday. Net income grew 6.5% to $2.63 billion in 2022 while revenue rose 29.6% to $13.94 billion. (Hudson, 3/22)

Stat: Mindstrong Sells Its Mental Health Technology For Parts
Mindstrong, a high-profile mental health tech startup, is selling off its assets to the therapy platform SonderMind. The acquisition comes less than two months after Mindstrong laid off most of its employees and permanently shuttered its Menlo Park offices. (Ravindranath, 3/22)

Also —

Fierce Healthcare: Patients Want Their Medical Test Results Immediately, Even When It's Bad News, Survey Finds
Nearly every patient wants to see their lab test results as soon as possible, even if their provider has not yet reviewed the results, according to new data in a new study. In a survey of 8,000 patients who accessed their test results via an online patient portal account, 96% of patients preferred receiving immediately released test results online. That percentage stayed at around 95% even for patients who received non-normal results through the online patient portal. (Landi, 3/22)

Fox News: Caffeine, The Wonder Drug? Study Suggests More Coffee Could Lower Body Fat And Prevent Type 2 Diabetes
That morning cup of coffee might provide more benefits than just a quick energy boost. New research suggests that consuming higher levels of caffeine could help curb body fat and reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Researchers at the University of Bristol, the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and Imperial College in London conducted the study, which was published in the journal BMJ Medicine. (Rudy, 3/20)

In other health and wellness news —

Fox News: Chemicals In Water And Household Objects Could Reduce Chances Of Pregnancy, Live Births: New Study
For women who are struggling to conceive, chemicals could be the culprit — that's according to a new study published in Science of the Total Environment. The study found that women whose blood plasma contained higher amounts of PFAS (perfluoroalkyl substances) — chemicals often found in drinking water and in ordinary household products — had up to a 40% lower chance of pregnancy and live births. (Rudy, 3/21)

Stat: Eating Disorders Study Calls Social Media 'Self-Perpetuating Cycle Of Risk'
Social media use is linked with body image concerns and eating disorders among young people, according to a new review of the scientific literature. But rather than social media being a direct cause of these issues, a “self-perpetuating cycle of risk” could be to blame, with more vulnerable teens and young adults succumbing to online pressures, the authors say. (Cueto and Gaffney, 3/22)

Journal Star: Illinois Boy Spends Week In Hospital With An Invasive Strep Infection
Samantha Moore had no idea her 9-year-old son was suffering from a strep infection until his foot swelled up and he became delirious. Colt Bearce is an active, healthy kid, so when he complained of feeling unwell after returning to the family's Macomb, Illinois, home from school Feb. 7, Moore wasn’t overly concerned. (Renken, 3/23)

KHN: Being ‘Socially Frail’ Comes With Health Risks For Older Adults 
Consider three hypothetical women in their mid-70s, all living alone in identical economic circumstances with the same array of ailments: diabetes, arthritis, and high blood pressure. Ms. Green stays home most of the time and sometimes goes a week without seeing people. But she’s in frequent touch by phone with friends and relatives, and she takes a virtual class with a discussion group from a nearby college. (Graham, 3/23)

KHN: Fresh Produce Is An Increasingly Popular Prescription For Chronically Ill Patients
When Mackenzie Sachs, a registered dietitian on the Blackfeet Reservation, in northwestern Montana, sees a patient experiencing high blood pressure, diabetes, or another chronic illness, her first thought isn’t necessarily to recommend medication. Rather, if the patient doesn’t have easy access to fruit and vegetables, she’ll enroll the person in the FAST Blackfeet produce prescription program. FAST, which stands for Food Access and Sustainability Team, provides vouchers to people who are ill or have insecure food access to reduce their cost for healthy foods. Since 2021, Sachs has recommended a fruit-and-vegetable treatment plan to 84 patients. Increased consumption of vitamins, fiber, and minerals has improved those patients’ health, she said. (Graf, 3/23)

Also —

AP: What Made Beethoven Sick? DNA From His Hair Offers Clues 
Nearly 200 years after Ludwig van Beethoven’s death, researchers pulled DNA from strands of his hair, searching for clues about the health problems and hearing loss that plagued him. They weren’t able to crack the case of the German composer’s deafness or severe stomach ailments. But they did find a genetic risk for liver disease, plus a liver-damaging hepatitis B infection in the last months of his life. (Burakoff, 3/22)

The Washington Post: Martina Navratilova Says She Is Cancer-Free, Describes ‘Total Panic’ Of Diagnosis
Two months after publicly sharing a diagnosis of breast and throat cancer that left her in a “total panic,” tennis great Martina Navratilova revealed that she is “cancer-free.” ... Navratilova, 66, received the Stage 1 diagnosis late last year and told Morgan that they caused her and her wife, Julia Lemigova, to postpone plans to adopt a child. Now, “as far as they know, I’m cancer-free,” she said, adding that she “should be good to go” after having radiation treatment. (Boren, 3/21)

Reuters: Florida Moves To Expand Teaching Ban On Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity
Florida is looking to expand its ban on teaching young children about sexual orientation and gender identity issues to include all students in its public schools under a new rule set for a vote by the state Board of Education next month. The proposed rule is the latest move by the administration of Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who is expected to seek his party's 2024 nomination for president, to limit or prohibit instruction on topics conservatives consider inappropriate for the state's classrooms. (Bernstein, 3/22)

NPR: Florida Lawmaker Behind 'Don't Say Gay' Law Pleads Guilty To COVID Fraud 
A former Florida lawmaker who sponsored a bill dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" law by critics has pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 relief funds. Joseph Harding entered a guilty plea on Tuesday in federal court in the Northern District of Florida to one count of wire fraud, one count of money laundering and one count of making false statements, according to court records. Harding faces up to 35 years in prison, including a maximum of 20 years on the wire fraud charge. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 25 at the federal courthouse in Gainesville. (Hernandez, 3/22)

In other news from Florida —

NPR: New Tropical Mosquito Is Buzzing Across Florida
Eleven of the 17 non-native mosquitoes in Florida were discovered in the past two decades, with six of those detected in the last five years. The deadliest mosquitoes found in the U.S., Aedes aegypti, Aedes albopictus and Culex quinquefasciatus are all non-native species introduced from the tropics. (Allen, 3/22)

Updates from California —

NPR: California Could Ban Red Dye No. 3 And Other Ingredients Used In Processed Foods
A California assembly member has introduced legislation that would ban processed food items that contain potentially harmful ingredients that are used in several brands of fruit cups, chewy candies and cookies and cakes. Under Assembly Bill 418, Red Dye No. 3, as well as titanium dioxide, potassium bromate, brominated vegetable oil and propylparaben would be outlawed in the manufacturing, distribution or sale of foods in the state. (Archie, 3/23)

Los Angeles Times: California Bill Would Require High Schools To Hand Out Free Condoms
A high school student went to a pharmacy to purchase condoms but was turned away because of his age. A student wanting to buy condoms to prevent sexually transmitted diseases was shamed at the store. Another student couldn’t afford the contraceptives and became pregnant. Teenagers shared these stories with Ria Barbaria and Fiona Lu, California high school students who are co-policy directors for GENup, a youth-led social justice organization. (Arredondo, 3/22)

Other health news from across the U.S. —

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Pelvic Exams On Unconscious Patients Could Be Banned In Missouri
The Missouri House Wednesday endorsed legislation prohibiting health care providers from performing certain exams on patients who are under anesthesia. On a 157-0 vote, the House forwarded the measure to the Senate, where a similar proposal has won approval at the committee level. Under current law, there is no prohibition on Missouri doctors or medical school students from legally performing pelvic, prostate and anal exams on patients when the patients are unconscious. (Erickson, 3/22)

The Washington Post: N.J. Hospitals Accused Of Drug Testing Pregnant Women Without Consent
Kate L. developed cravings for everything bagels last year while pregnant with her first child. On Sept. 20, she picked one up and ate it on the way to a check up with her OBGYN. She didn’t know it would lead to “one of the most traumatic experiences of her life,” according to a recently filed complaint with the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights. Kate L. is one of two New Jersey women who filed complaints earlier this month against the hospitals where they gave birth last year. Both allege that medical professionals drug tested them without their knowledge and that when those tests came back positive for opiates — the result of having eaten bagels topped with poppy seeds — a chain of events was set in motion that tarnished what was supposed to be one of the happiest moments of their lives. (Edwards, 3/22)

New Hampshire Public Radio: NH Supreme Court Rules On Medical Monitoring For People Exposed To Toxins
The New Hampshire Supreme Court has ruled that people who have been exposed to toxic substances cannot try to recover the costs of medical testing from polluters if they’re not currently sick. (Hoplamazian, 3/22)

CIDRAP: Swiss Study Finds Catheter-Associated UTIs Are More Frequently Antibiotic Resistant
A study of urine cultures in Switzerland found that pathogens that cause catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) were more frequently resistant to antibiotics than non-CAUTI pathogens, researchers reported yesterday in Antimicrobial Stewardship & Healthcare Epidemiology. (Dall, 3/21)

ScienceDaily: Researchers Uncover A Protein Deficiency In Neurons Of Patients With Neurodegenerative Diseases That Could Be Targeted By New Gene Therapy Approach
Researchers discovered that a protein called Stathmin-2 is lost in these neurons, which prevents them from regenerating after injury and disrupts their connection with the muscles to control movements. (Massachusetts General Hospital, 3/20)

CIDRAP: Electronic Medical Record Notification Tied To Reduced C Diff Testing, Incidence 
An intervention to reduce unnecessary Clostridioides difficile testing was associated with a decline in healthcare-facility–onset C difficile infection (HCFO-CDI) across a five-hospital health system, researchers reported today in Antimicrobial Stewardship & Healthcare Epidemiology. (Dall, 3/16)

ScienceDaily: Researchers Create Artificial Enzyme For Fast Detection Of Disease-Related Hormone In Sweat 
Researchers have developed a handheld sensor that tests perspiration for cortisol and provides results in eight minutes, a key advance in monitoring a hormone whose levels are a marker for many illnesses including various cancers. (Oregon State University, 3/22)

New England Journal of Medicine: Antidepressant Augmentation Versus Switch In Treatment-Resistant Geriatric Depression 
We conducted a two-step, open-label trial involving adults 60 years of age or older with treatment-resistant depression. (Lenze, M.D., et al, 3/23)

The Washington Post: Covid Gave America A Surprise Baby Boom 
Covid-19 accomplished what would-be grandparents and government actuaries could not: It persuaded millennials to have kids. So. Many. Kids. (Catherine Rampell, 3/21)

The Washington Post: After The Winter Kids Just Had,  Pediatricians Are Not Okay
For many parents with young children, this winter was a slog through the “tripledemic” of covid-19, flu and respiratory syncytial virus and other resurgent infections. My own family’s tally: 13 doctors’ appointments since October, eight infected ears, two cases of strep throat, two different strains of pinkeye and one covid infection. (Alyssa Rosenberg, 3/22)

USA Today: Moderna Price Hike Questions Necessary, But Don't Destroy System That Made Covid Vaccines Possible
As a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, I witnessed the monumental challenges brought on by a historic pandemic. Three years ago, COVID-19 was decimating the country and the world ground to a halt. We were all hopeful science would deliver a vaccine, yet in March 2020 Dr. Anthony Fauci predicted it would take 12 or 18 months at least – and even that would be incredibly fast given that vaccines often take as many as 15 years to come to market. (Dr. Jerome Adams, 3/22)

The Tennessean: Removing Nurse Regulations Would Benefit Tennessee's Health Care System
As nurses, we are compelled to speak out when the self-interests of one professional group trump the interests and well-being of Tennesseans. What if we told you there is a way to improve access to primary care and other needed health services and generate significant cost savings in Tennessee? The answer lies in allowing the state’s Advanced Practice Registered Nurses, APRN, to practice at the top of their licenses. (Tracy Stansberry and Carole R. Myers, 3/22)  

Harvard Public Health: Tuberculosis, Not COVID-19, Is The Plague Of The Century
COVID-19, of course, has also affected nearly every family on the planet, with at least 758 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, and 6.8 million documented deaths. Some estimates count more than 20 million deaths. But in 2021, in the teeth of COVID-19, millions of people fell sick with TB, many of them uncounted because many TB treatment and services halted during pandemic lockdowns. It’s now clear that the two pathogens—novel virus and ancient bacterium—work as an efficient tag team, each amplifying the other. Plagues, after all, are shaped by other plagues. We are witnessing a moment of extraordinary vulnerability in global health as new plagues, far from supplanting old ones, are making them worse. (Vidya Krishnan, 3/21)

Scientific American: Health Research Is Needed Now Before Sending Civilians To Space
Within decades, hundreds and perhaps thousands of average civilians will travel, live and work in space. Along with their space suits, they will bring with them their illnesses, chronic health problems and disabilities. ... We need to go the extra mile to protect civilians if they are to travel, live and work in space. NASA’s reports on astronauts before, during and after extended space travel and habitation make this clear: astronauts face chronic motion sickness, neurological disorders, cardiovascular problems, increased risk for blood clotting and vision problems, as well as increased risks of cancer, muscle atrophy and bone loss. That’s despite their excellent health, physical and mental fitness, and years of training. As astronauts, they are fully aware of these risks and willing to take them. (Michael Marge, 3/22)