First Edition: Sept. 8, 2023
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
KFF Health News:
The Shrinking Number Of Primary Care Physicians Is Reaching A Tipping Point
I’ve been receiving an escalating stream of panicked emails from people telling me their longtime physician was retiring, was no longer taking their insurance, or had gone concierge and would no longer see them unless they ponied up a hefty annual fee. They have said they couldn’t find another primary care doctor who could take them on or who offered a new-patient appointment sooner than months away. Their individual stories reflect a larger reality: American physicians have been abandoning traditional primary care practice — internal and family medicine — in large numbers. Those who remain are working fewer hours. And fewer medical students are choosing a field that once attracted some of the best and brightest because of its diagnostic challenges and the emotional gratification of deep relationships with patients. (Rosenthal, 9/8)
KFF Health News:
In Move To Slash CDC Budget, House Republicans Target Major HIV Program Trump Launched
More than four years ago, then-President Donald Trump declared an ambitious goal that had bipartisan support: ending the HIV epidemic in the United States. Now, that Trump program is one of several health initiatives targeted for substantial cuts by members of his own party as they eye next year’s elections. (Miller and Whitehead, 9/8)
KFF Health News:
Heat-Related Deaths Are Up, And Not Just Because It’s Getting Hotter
Heat-related illness and deaths in California and the U.S. are on the rise along with temperatures, and an increase in drug use and homelessness is a significant part of the problem, according to public health officials and data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Heat was the underlying or contributing cause of about 1,670 deaths nationwide in 2022, for a rate of about 5 deaths per million residents, according to provisional data from the CDC. That’s the highest heat-related death rate in at least two decades. Data from this year, which has been exceptionally hot in much of the country, is not yet available. The next-highest death rate was logged in 2021. (Reese, 9/8)
KFF Health News:
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Welcome Back, Congress. Now Get To Work
Congress returns from its summer recess with a long list of tasks and only a few work days to get them done. On top of the annual spending bills needed to keep the government operating, on the list are bills to renew the global HIV/AIDS program, PEPFAR, and the community health centers program. Meanwhile, over the recess, the Biden administration released the names of the first 10 drugs selected for the Medicare price negotiation program. (9/7)
The New York Times:
Jill Biden Tests Negative For Coronavirus
Jill Biden, the first lady, tested negative for the coronavirus on Thursday, the White House said, putting an apparent end to a minor health scare that had threatened to upend President Biden’s trip to a Group of 20 summit in India. The announcement came shortly before Mr. Biden departed the White House for his trip to New Delhi, where he plans to lobby world leaders on matters that include condemning Russia’s war with Ukraine and curbing China’s financial influence over poorer countries. The president also tested negative for the virus on Thursday, as he had throughout the week. (Cameron, 9/7)
Reuters:
Biden Tests Negative Again For COVID-19 - White House
President Joe Biden has tested negative again for COVID-19, the White House said on Thursday, following his wife Jill's positive diagnosis earlier in the week. Biden is due to travel to India later on Thursday for a summit of the Group of 20 nations, followed by a trip to Vietnam. (9/7)
The Hill:
Vance And Markey Clash In Senate Over Anti-Mask Mandate Bill
Sens. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) clashed on the Senate floor Thursday, debating Vance’s proposed bill to ban future mask mandates for COVID-19. Vance’s bill, announced yesterday, would prevent the federal government from enforcing mask mandates in places like airplanes, where they were once in place during the height of the pandemic. (Robertson, 9/7)
AP:
Gov. DeSantis And Florida Surgeon General Warn Against New COVID-19 Restrictions And Vaccine
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday criticized recent efforts across the U.S. to tamp down a recent jump in COVID-19 cases through temporary restrictions or masking, and his state surgeon general warned against getting the latest COVID-19 vaccine, which is expected to be available this month. The criticism from DeSantis at news conference in Jacksonville, Florida, arrived the same day that his campaign for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination sent out an email to supporters vowing to “fight back against every bogus attempt the Left makes to expand government control” when it comes to COVID-19 precautions. (9/7)
Los Angeles Times:
Huntington Beach Moves To Ban COVID-19 Vaccine And Mask Mandates
The City Council approved the motion, which was introduced by Mayor Pro Tem Gracey Van Der Mark, in a 4-3 vote Tuesday. The motion asserted that the mask mandates that were previously imposed in the city “unnecessarily limited the freedoms of the citizens of Huntington Beach, even those who were not around anyone who tested positive for COVID-19 or at risk of any exposure.” The ban applies to city personnel and not to private businesses in the city. (Lin, 9/7)
Los Angeles Times:
COVID Outbreaks Hit Workplaces, Schools Across California
While health officials continue to say the numbers are no cause for alarm, the infections are beginning to bring more disruptions to everyday life. In Los Angeles County, the number of new COVID-19 outbreak investigations at work sites tripled in the last month, reaching 73 for the 30-day period that ended Sept. 1. An outbreak is defined as a number of cases in which there is confirmed viral transmission at a work site and not just a cluster of cases where people were infected elsewhere. (Lin II and Alpert Reyes, 9/7)
The New York Times:
Should You Get Another Covid Booster Now, Or Wait Until The Fall?
Dr. David Boulware, a professor of medicine specializing in infectious diseases at the University of Minnesota Medical School, added that because the new vaccine is a better match for the current variants, he is “somewhat optimistic” that it will help prevent not only severe disease but also infection. “Once you’re boosting with the variant that is closest to what’s actually circulating,” you will most likely regain some protection against infection, he said. (Smith, 9/7)
The Washington Post:
How Covid Experts Are Approaching This Fall’s Expected Rise In Infections
The Washington Post has interviewed numerous medical experts several times over the past three years to learn what precautions they were taking as the coronavirus circulated. With so much news swirling about, we’ve done this once again, and here’s what they have to say today. Responses have been edited for space and clarity. (Cimons, 9/7)
ABC News:
Why You May Want To Think Twice Before Throwing Out Those Old At-Home COVID Tests
Dr. Matthew Binnicker, director of clinical virology at the Mayo Clinic, told ABC News that earlier in the pandemic, expiration dates were conservatively set due to unknowns about how long they would be effective for. "Now that we have been in the pandemic for over three years, the manufacturers have had a better opportunity to determine the true expiration dates of those kits," he said. (Kekatos and Benadjaoud, 9/7)
Stat:
Trump Surgeon General Acknowledges Mistakes During Covid
The Trump administration made some serious missteps during the coronavirus pandemic, Trump’s top doctor Jerome Adams admits. But he says we still haven’t learned from them. (Owermohle, 9/7)
AP:
Florida Abortion Rights At Stake As State Supreme Court Takes Up Challenge To GOP-Led Restrictions
The fate of abortion rights in Florida will be at stake Friday morning when the state Supreme Court is expected to take up a challenge to a law banning the procedure in most cases after 15 weeks of pregnancy, which will determine whether an even stricter six-week ban signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis can take effect. The seven justices — including five conservatives appointed by DeSantis, a GOP candidate for president — are set to hear oral arguments in Tallahassee in the lawsuit brought by Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union and others. (Anderson, 9/8)
CBS News:
Stanford Studies Show Difference In Birth Complications Between Races
Two new studies from the Stanford University School of Medicine revealed significant differences between races in rates of birth complications caused by high blood pressure and anemia during pregnancy. The studies, published Thursday in the peer-reviewed medical journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, looked at the prevalence of birth complications caused by chronic hypertension, or high blood pressure, in pregnant women and the rates of complications from iron-deficiency anemia, excluding patients with anemia caused by genetic factors. (9/7)
The Washington Post:
This Was The World’s Hottest Summer On Record ‘By A Large Margin’
Fueled by unprecedented heat on much of Earth’s land and ocean surface, this summer was the planet’s hottest on record “by a large margin,” the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service announced Wednesday. August capped this summer’s extreme heat with a monthly average temperature of 62.3 degrees Fahrenheit (16.82 Celsius), which was 0.71 C warmer than the long-term average and 0.31 C warmer than the previous warmest August in 2016. It was the planet’s second-hottest month ever observed, closely following July, which was the hottest. (Stillman, 9/6)
NPR:
Antibiotic-Resistant Superbugs Catch A Ride On Air Pollution Particles
It has long been suspected that particulate air pollution could transport antimicrobial-resistant bacteria that leak into the environment from farming, aquaculture, wastewater treatment and hospitals. The new research, from a team at Zhejiang University in China and the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, set out to quantify the role of air pollution in the growing global AMR problem. The team found a strong association between particulate air pollution [in a given country and reports of clinical antibiotic resistance. (Spitzer. 9/7)
USA Today:
HPV Vaccine Proves Effective In Preventing Infection, Cancer Risk
The nation’s most common sexually transmitted infection appears to have an effective, long-term vaccine that continues to reduce cancer risk, a new study found. New research published this week in the journal Pediatrics builds on growing evidence about the efficacy of vaccination against HPV, which is most often spread through vaginal, anal or oral sex and can result in genital warts. For most people who get HPV, the virus goes away on its own without any effect, but for others, it can lead to certain cancers. (Cuevas, 9/7)
CIDRAP:
Jynneos Vaccine Protects Against Mpox Hospitalization, Study Finds
Today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, researchers from the California Department of Public Health show that one or two doses of the Jynneos mpox vaccine effectively prevented hospitalization among those who contracted mpox, people with HIV. The study was based on 5,765 mpox patients in California who contracted the virus from May 2022 to May 2023. Among those patients, 4,353 (94.4%) were male, 2,083 (45.2%) were Hispanic or Latino, and 3,188 (69.1%) identified as gay, lesbian, or same-gender-loving. (Soucheray, 9/7)
Modern Healthcare:
HHS Proposes Nondiscrimination Rule For People With Disabilities
Healthcare providers would be required to make greater accommodations for patients with disabilities under a proposed rule the Health and Human Services Department announced Thursday. Primarily, the draft regulation seeks to prevent providers from turning away patients with disabilities based on an inability or an unwillingness to accommodate their needs. (Hartnett, 9/7)
Modern Healthcare:
Hospital Data Centers Face Threats From Hurricanes, Hacking, Heat
Hospital tech executives are managing more digital health applications at a time when their systems face multiple threats to business continuity and patient safety. Amid greater threats to cybersecurity and an increasing number of weather-related events ranging from storms to excessive temperatures, health systems have had to map out extensive strategies to minimize data server downtimes. The average cost of data center downtime is $7,900 per minute, according to a study from research firm Ponemon Institute. (Perna, 9/7)
The Washington Post:
Police Didn’t Fully Secure Murder Suspect Who Fled D.C. Hospital, Chief Says
A murder suspect escaped from George Washington University Hospital on Wednesday because D.C. police officers did not secure one of his arms to a gurney as they changed his handcuffs in the emergency room, acting D.C. police chief Pamela A. Smith said. (Hermann and Davies, 9/7)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Mercy St. Louis Patient Dies After 8 Hours Unattended In ER
Kat Dunkus was doing better. She had moved in with her niece after completing an alcoholic treatment program two years ago. The program helped her learn better ways to cope with her schizophrenia and trauma. “She was trying to find her way back to more stability. She was trying to find happiness for herself,” said her niece Rachael Benns, 31, of Creve Coeur. “She kept saying, ‘I’m finally in a safe place.’” (Munz, 9/7)
Fox News:
Burnt Out And Getting Out: American Hospitals Struggle With Increasing Shortage Of Nurses
America's nurses are stressed out to the point where they are leaving the industry. By 2027, nearly a fifth of registered nurses will hang up their scrubs for good, according to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. Tracey Moffatt, the Chief Nursing Officer at Ochsner Health in New Orleans, said the nursing shortage has been a problem for years and the pandemic only made it worse. For the ones that are working, Moffatt said some are now looking for nursing jobs outside a hospital setting. (Kedrowicz, 9/8)
Axios:
Employers Couldn't Duck Higher Costs Of Covering Workers: Survey
Pulling out the stops to bring the cost of workplace health insurance coverage down couldn't keep employers from absorbing some of the biggest increases in a decade this year, according to preliminary findings from Mercer's 2023 National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans. (Reed, 9/8)
CBS News:
Medical Credit Cards Can Be Poison For Your Finances, Study Finds
Medical credit cards have proliferated in health care offices across the nation as more Americans struggle to afford treatment, even when they have insurance. Yet while these cards may seem like a good way to quickly pay for needed services, they come with some serious downsides that experts say could cost you dearly.One major card provider, CareCredit, is offered in more than 250,000 health care provider offices, an increase of more than 40% from a decade ago, according to a recent report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. (Picchi, 9/7)
Stat:
Amazon On Where The Company's Health Care Bets Are Headed Next
The graveyard is littered with Amazon’s bets in health care: wearables, Care, the ill-fated Haven. Out of their ashes, a new health strategy has emerged at the tech goliath. And while its leaders insist that Amazon has no grand plan for health care, a flurry of moves in the last year offer a glimpse into its ambitions at a time when they seem more cohesive than ever. (Palmer, 9/7)
The New York Times:
CPAP Maker Agrees To $479 Million Settlement Over Defects
Philips Respironics has agreed to a $479 million partial settlement on claims over flaws in the company’s breathing machines that spewed gases and flecks of foam into the airways of consumers and that spawned recalls involving millions of the devices, lawyers for plaintiffs in the lawsuit announced on Thursday. (Jewett, 9/7)
NBC News:
Popular Weight Loss Drug May Help People With Type 1 Diabetes Cut Back On Insulin, Small Study Suggests
Treatment with the diabetes and weight loss drug semaglutide may allow people newly diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes to dramatically cut back or even completely stop insulin injections, a very small study published Wednesday suggests. ... Experts not involved with the study called the results exciting, but stressed that much more research is needed.
Reuters:
Massachusetts Top Court Allows Electric Shock Therapy For Disabled Patients
A Massachusetts institution for the developmentally disabled can continue to use controversial electric shock devices to address aggressive or self-harming behavior in residents, the state's highest court ruled Thursday, though it left the door open to future challenges. In a unanimous ruling Thursday, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts upheld a 2018 lower court ruling that the state acted in bad faith in regulating the Canton-based Judge Rotenberg Educational Center. JRC, which provides education and treatment to people with development disabilities and behavioral disorders, is the only institution in the country to use the treatment. (Pierson, 9/8)
AP:
Massachusetts Investigates Teen's Death As Paqui Pulls Spicy One Chip Challenge From Shelves
The maker of an extremely spicy tortilla chip said Thursday it is working to remove the product from stores as Massachusetts authorities investigate the death of a teen whose family pointed to the One Chip Challenge popularized as a dare on social media as a contributing factor. The cause of Harris Wolobah’s death on Sept. 1 has yet to be determined and an autopsy is pending, but the 14-year-old’s family blamed the challenge. Since his death, Texas-based manufacturer Paqui has asked retailers to stop selling the individually wrapped chips, a step 7-Eleven has already taken. (Casey and LeBlanc, 9/8)
Stateline:
Sexual Assault Survivors Can Now Track Their Rape Kits In Most States
“The overarching purpose is to restore dignity and sort of try to tip the balance of power from folks who have been sexually assaulted,” said Colorado state Rep. Meg Froelich, a Democrat who authored her state’s rape kit tracking law, in an interview with Stateline.“What we’re trying to do is get folks to come forward,” she said, “and to feel that the process is there for them to achieve what they need for healing and closure.” (Hernández, 9/8)
AP:
As More Children Die From Fentanyl, Some Prosecutors Are Charging Their Parents With Murder
A growing number of parents across the U.S. are being charged amid an escalating opioid crisis that has claimed an increasing number of children as collateral victims. (Rodriguez, 9/8)
The Hill:
Marijuana Rescheduling Falls Short Of Expectations On Biden
The Biden administration’s recommendation last week for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to reschedule marijuana marked one of its most significant steps related to the president’s ambitious campaign promise to decriminalize cannabis use. But advocates and policy experts say rescheduling marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) does not address the plethora of racial justice issues caused by current cannabis laws. (Choi and Daniels, 9/8)
The Colorado Sun:
A Colorado Entrepreneur Created A Game He Hopes Can Help Others Get Sober
Ed McCaffrey has never been much of a drinker, but on a steamy recent summer evening at his home, the legendary Denver Broncos receiver was playing a drinking game with his 85-year-old mother-in-law, Betty Conroy. Actually, it was a game for not drinking. Or, as Pepper Pong creator Tom Filippini said: “It’s a game that can maybe help someone who’s trying not to drink stop drinking” by focusing on something frivolous created by someone like them. (Ross, 9/8)