First Edition: May 31, 2023

KFF Health News: Mood-Altering Mushroom Sales Bloom Despite Safety Concerns 
When a hemp dispensary in this Florida city started to stock edibles with certain mushroom extracts last year, state regulators quickly ordered it to stop selling the items. The shop had been advertising fruit-flavored gummies and other products containing tiny doses of mood-altering chemicals from the mushroom Amanita muscaria. The red-capped, white-spotted fungus — rooted in popular culture through the Super Mario Nintendo game franchise, “The Smurfs,” and “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” — is legal for consumers to possess and eat in every state except Louisiana, according to a review of state laws. (Ogozalek, 5/31)

KFF Health News: Readers And Tweeters Weigh Marijuana’s Merits Against Those Of Alcohol Or Opioids
KFF Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories. (5/31)

KFF Health News: Listen To The Latest ‘KFF Health News Minute’ 
This week’s KFF Health News Minute: Potent new forms of recreational cannabis are increasing the risk of dependency, and learn how Medicare fraud could prevent you from getting the medical supplies you need. (5/25)

Politico: Senate Braces For Last-Minute Conservative Demands On Debt Deal 
Kevin McCarthy and Joe Biden achieved what once looked improbable: A bipartisan deal to raise the debt ceiling. Now any one senator has the leverage to bring the country right to the brink of default. After the House’s planned Wednesday vote to raise the debt ceiling through 2024, the Senate will have only days before the June 5 deadline. And Senate leaders may have to do procedural acrobatics to clear the bill through their chamber in time to keep financial markets and everyday Americans comfortable. (Everett and Diaz, 5/30)

The Wall Street Journal: Debt-Ceiling Deal Raises Age Of Americans Who Must Work For Food Aid 
Some older adults would be required to work to get food aid under the federal debt-limit deal set for congressional votes this week, while others would be newly exempt from having to find a job, in one of the more controversial provisions of the compromise agreement. The deal struck by President Biden and House GOP negotiators over the weekend would raise the age to 54, up from 49, for able-bodied, low-income adults without dependents who would be required to work at least 80 hours a month to receive food aid. (Peterson, 5/31)

NBC News: Anti-Hunger Advocates Slam The Expanded Work Requirements For SNAP Participants Included In The Debt Limit Deal
While Republicans say the expanded work requirements would help people get jobs, anti-hunger advocates argue that requirements should be eliminated altogether, citing research that indicates they don’t have a measurable effect on participants’ employment. “It’s not doing anything to help them, to help the economy. It’s just a punitive way to take food away from people,” said Ellen Vollinger, the SNAP director for the Food Research & Action Center, an anti-hunger group. (Chuck and McCorvey, 5/30)

NPR: Appeals Court Approves A Deal To Shield The Sackler Family From Opioid Lawsuits 
In a landmark ruling Tuesday, a federal appeals court in New York cleared the way for a bankruptcy deal for opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma. The deal will shield members of the Sackler family, who own the company, from future lawsuits. The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals spent more than a year reviewing the case after a lower court ruled it was improper for Purdue Pharma's bankruptcy deal to block future lawsuits against the Sackler family. (Mann, 5/30)

AP: Nevada Republican Governor Approves Abortion Protections In Cross-Party Move 
Nevada’s Joe Lombardo on Tuesday became one of the first Republican governors to enshrine protections for out-of-state abortion patients and in-state providers, adding the western swing state to the list of those passing new laws to solidify their status as safe havens for abortion patients. The legislation codifies an existing executive order from former Gov. Steve Sisolak last year — who lost reelection to Lombardo — that bars state agencies from assisting in out-of-state investigations that could lead to the prosecution of abortion patients who travel to Nevada. It also ensures medical boards and commissions that oversee medical licenses do not discipline or disqualify doctors who provide abortions. (Stern, 5/31)

AP: Wisconsin Republicans Introduce Bill That Clarifies Procedures That Don't Qualify As Abortion
Wisconsin Republicans released a package of legislation Tuesday that would tweak the state’s abortion ban by specifying medical procedures to save a mother’s life that don’t qualify as abortion. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers is almost certain to veto the measure should it pass the Republican-controlled Legislature. He has already promised to veto a different Republican-backed bill that would allow abortions in the case of rape or incest, saying he supports restoring abortion rights to what they were in Wisconsin before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year. (Richmond, 5/30)

AP: ACLU Sues To Block New Hybrid Nebraska Law Restricting Abortion, Gender-Affirming Care For Minors 
As promised, the American Civil Liberties Union is suing to block the Nebraska Legislature’s most controversial measure combining an abortion ban with restrictions on gender-affirming care for minors, just days after it was signed into law. The lawsuit, filed in state court Tuesday by the ACLU on behalf of Planned Parenthood and one of its doctors who performs abortions in Nebraska, argues that the law violates a state constitutional requirement that legislative bills stick to a single subject. The lawsuit is also asking for an injunction to block enforcement of the trans health and abortion restrictions until the court case is decided. (Beck, 5/30)

Stat: Elizabeth Warren Probes Abortion Access
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is launching a fresh round of questioning on states’ limits to abortion rights as a battle on medication abortion hangs in the balance at a federal court. (Owermohle, 5/30)

Roll Call: Dobbs Decision Now A Factor In Med School Residency Picks 
When Rose Al Abosy began weighing which obstetrics and gynecology residencies to apply to, she spoke to advisers, considered programs’ academics and evaluated how state laws would affect her ability to train in providing abortions. The Boston University Medical School graduate narrowed down the options to 80 programs in states that had not enacted restrictions on abortion care. (Raman, 5/31)

AP: Food Poisoning Outbreaks Tied To Sick Workers, CDC Says
Food workers who showed up while sick or contagious were linked to about 40% of restaurant food poisoning outbreaks with a known cause between 2017 and 2019, federal health officials said Tuesday. Norovirus and salmonella, germs that can cause severe illness, were the most common cause of 800 outbreaks, which encompassed 875 restaurants and were reported by 25 state and local health departments. (Aleccia, 5/30)

CIDRAP: Good Sleep Linked To Lower Odds Of Developing Long COVID
Having a healthy sleep schedule before COVID-19 infection may help prevent long COVID, according to a study today in JAMA Network Open. The cohort study included 1,979 women who participated in the Nurses' Health Study II, completing surveys about sleep habits and COVID infections between April 2020 and November 2021. (Soucheray, 5/30)

CIDRAP: Night Shift Work, Binge Drinking Linked To Increased COVID Risk In Nurses
Working the night shift or binge drinking may double the risk of COVID-19 infection, according to a study of nurses published this week in Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research. Poor sleep quality and binge drinking have been associated with COVID-19 infections, likely because both promote a pro-inflammatory state. (Soucheray, 5/30)

AP: US Sanctions Chinese, Mexican Companies Over Pill Making Machinery
The United States Treasury sanctioned more than a dozen people and businesses in China and Mexico Tuesday that allegedly helped provide machines used to make counterfeit prescription drugs in the latest efforts to confront trafficking of the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl. Those targeted for sanctions were all involved in one or another with the sale of pill press machines, molds and other equipment drug cartels use to produce counterfeit pills. (5/30)

Modern Healthcare: Hospital Expenses Remain High As Systems See Profits In 2023
“Organizations have taken a really hard stance at how they’re going to improve margin, and they’ve gone through and looked at every opportunity,” said Rick Kes, healthcare partner at professional services firm RSM. “Now it’s like… we have to make these decisions, and there’s no other choice. I think everyone in the ecosystem understands that.” Here are four key takeaways from the latest round of earnings reports. (Hudson, 5/30)

Modern Healthcare: Medicaid Redeterminations Shouldn't Be Rushed: CMS Official
"Our priority and commitment is to do everything within our power to help keep people covered for the coverage that they're eligible for," Center for Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program Services Director Dan Tsai said at a news conference Tuesday. "We are deeply concerned when we see large termination numbers—in particular with non-response—because our concern is that they're eligible kids and families, he said. (Turner, 5/30)

Modern Healthcare: OptumRX Unveils Rural Pharmacy Programs Amid PBM Crackdown
The PBM, which is owned by UnitedHealth Group, will work with pharmacies in seven states to connect pregnant women and patients with diabetes with housing, transportation and food support, the company said Tuesday. OptumRx will rely on community pharmacists to connect members with Unite Us, a software company that will link members in Louisiana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina and Texas with local resources beginning in June. Plans call for the program to expand nationally in the fall. (Tepper, 5/30)

Stat: New Survey Shows Racism Is A Huge Problem In Nursing 
A family nurse practitioner in New York City, Jose M. Maria has come to expect overt racism from patients. “I’ve been called the N-word, I’ve been called, you name it,” he said. A triple minority in nursing — Black, Latino, and male — he often gets mistaken for a janitor. More subtle racist behavior has come from supervisors and fellow nurses in past jobs, too — uncomfortable looks in the break room, extra questioning from supervisors over narcotics errors he’s responsibly reported and been cleared for. “I’ve felt I’ve had a target on my back.” (McFarling, 5/31)

The New York Times: Elizabeth Holmes Reports to Prison to Begin More Than 11-Year Sentence
Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced entrepreneur who was convicted of defrauding investors at her failed blood testing start-up, Theranos, reported to a federal prison in Texas on Tuesday to begin her 11-year, three-month sentence. Ms. Holmes surrendered to F.P.C. Bryan, a minimum-security prison camp for women roughly 90 minutes from Houston. She pulled up in a Ford Expedition that appeared to be driven by her mother, Noel Holmes. Her father, Christian Holmes, appeared to be inside. (Griffith, 5/30)

AP: North Carolina Legislature Passes Insurance Bill Allowing Blue Cross To Reorganize
The North Carolina legislature gave final approval Tuesday to a bill allowing the state’s leading health insurance provider to restructure despite criticisms from the state insurance commissioner that it would erode his regulatory authority and undermine his ability to protect consumers. The measure, which permits Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina and a dental insurance provider to transfer assets into a parent holding company, cleared the Senate 41-5 Tuesday after passing the House with similar bipartisan support earlier this year. (Schoenbaum, 5/30)

AP: Colorado Tackles Eating Disorders By Limiting Use Of BMI And Diet Pill Sales To Kids
In the midst of a surge in eating disorders across the country, Colorado’s acting governor signed bills Tuesday that will create a state program dedicated to addressing the mental illness, limit the use of body mass index in determining treatment and restrict the sale of diet pills to minors. Colorado and several other states tackling the issue are responding to the nearly 30 million Americans — roughly the population of Texas — who will struggle with an eating disorder, such as anorexia or bulimia, in their lifetime. More than 10,000 people will lose their life to the condition every year, according to data cited by the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders. (Bedayn, 5/30)

The 19th: New Anti-Trans Laws Target Autistic Youth And Those With Mental Health Conditions
Three states want to stipulate how, and whether, autistic transgender youth and those with mental health conditions are able to access gender-affirming care — a new tactic aimed at the intersection of two marginalized groups. (Rummler and Luterman, 5/30)

The Boston Globe: Demonstrators Protest Planned Closure Of Leominster Hospital’s Maternity Ward
Healthcare workers, residents, and elected officials rallied Tuesday at UMass Memorial Health’s Leominster campus to protest the planned closure of its maternity ward, which they say will endanger the lives of mothers and infants across North Central Massachusetts. The crowd of more than 100 people, including several nurses and pediatricians, gathered on the hospital’s lawn to condemn the closure they say will place a greater burden on emergency services and leave an already vulnerable population without accessible maternal care. (Mohammed, 5/30)

AP: Man In Police Custody Falls To Death After Breaking California Hospital Window With Oxygen Tank
A man in police custody died Thursday in Northern California after he broke a hospital’s window with a metal oxygen tank and fell off a ledge following an altercation with an officer and a nurse, authorities said. (5/28)

Los Angeles Times: With Fentanyl Deaths Soaring, L.A. County Is Giving Out Drug Pipes And Other Supplies
By a line of ragged RVs slung along 78th Street in South Los Angeles, a seven-member team passes out glass pipes used for smoking opioids, crack and methamphetamine. Part of the front line of Los Angeles County’s offensive against the deadly fentanyl epidemic, the group hands out other supplies: clean needles, sanitary wipes, fentanyl test strips and naloxone, medication that can reverse an overdose. (Holland, 5/30)

NBC News: Laws Criminalizing Drug Use During Pregnancy Need To Change: Research
Brandi Williams had been up for two straight days smoking crack cocaine when she realized she was going into labor. It was a cold Tennessee morning in December 2014, and Williams had to pull herself together to get to a hospital. She borrowed a car from a friend whose excessive alcohol use required him to have a breathalyzer attached to the car's starter. (Edwards, 5/31)

AP: Teenager Walks At Brain Injury Event Weeks After Getting Shot In Head For Knocking On Wrong Door
Ralph Yarl — a Black teenager who was shot in the head and arm last month after mistakenly ringing the wrong doorbell — walked at a brain injury awareness event Monday in his first major public appearance since the shooting. The 17-year-old suffered a traumatic brain injury when he was shot while trying to pick up his younger brothers in April, the Kansas City Star reported. Yarl walked with family, friends and other brain injury survivors Monday at Going the Distance for Brain Injury, a yearly Memorial Day race at Loose Park in Kansas City, Missouri. (5/30)

CNN: Cognitive Decline Accelerates After Heart Attack, Study Finds
Having a heart attack may put you at risk of accelerated cognitive decline in later years, above and beyond what is considered appropriate for the aging mind, according to a new study. Everyone’s brain ages as the years pass, some more than others. What’s considered normal is typically quite subtle: Processing speed slows, the ability to pay attention declines, and it can be common to have trouble finding the right word. (LaMotte, 5/30)

The New York Times: To Prevent Heart Attacks, Doctors Try A New Genetic Test 
Cardiologists hope to use such tests, which cost about $150 and are not typically covered by health insurance, to identify people most likely to have heart attacks long before they have them. Some doctors envision testing children as part of routine pediatric care. (Kolata, 5/30)

Bloomberg: Bariatric Weight-Loss Surgeries Rose 20% Among US Teens, Children
Weight-loss surgeries among adolescents increased substantially in recent years, part of an overall rise in obesity treatments in the US. The number of adolescents ages 10 to 19 who underwent metabolic or bariatric surgery rose about 20% in 2021 from the year before, according to a research letter published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Pediatrics. Rates of these surgeries, which are uncommon, also rose among minors between 2019 and 2020, even as rates for adults dipped. (Peng and Court, 5/30)

CNN: Cocoa Flavanols May Boost Memory, Study Says
If your diet is low in flavanols — antioxidant compounds found in foods such as green tea, apples, berries and cocoa — adding 500 milligrams a day to your diet may slow and possibly improve age-related mental decline, according to a new study. (LaMotte, 5/29)

Fox News: Exercise Of Any Amount Could Help Increase Pain Tolerance, New Study Finds
To the long list of the benefits of physical activity, researchers have just added one more thing: a greater ability to handle pain. A recent study published in the journal PLOS One found that regular exercise is an effective way to reduce or prevent chronic pain without the use of medication. (Rudy, 5/30)

AP: Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter Has Dementia, The Carter Center Says
Former first lady Rosalynn Carter has dementia, her family announced Tuesday. Carter, now 95, remains at home with former President Jimmy Carter, 98, who has been at home receiving hospice care since early this year. “She continues to live happily at home with her husband, enjoying spring in Plains and visits with loved ones,” the family said via The Carter Center, the global humanitarian organization the couple founded in 1982, less than two years after Jimmy Carter’s landslide defeat. (Barrow, 5/30)