Politico: House Republicans Introduce National Ban On Abortion Pills
Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), flanked by leaders of anti-abortion groups, introduced a bill Thursday that would ban abortion pills nationwide. “Banning these dangerous drugs for the purpose of chemical abortion is an important step in protecting life,” he told reporters. “We have a duty to uphold the sanctity of life.” The new bill, which has 13 Republican co-sponsors as of Thursday, comes on the 23rd anniversary of the FDA approving the abortion drug mifepristone for terminating a pregnancy in the first 10 weeks. In recent years, the pills have become the most common method of abortion nationwide. (Miranda Ollstein, 9/28)

Meanwhile, so-called crisis pregnancy centers are at the center of a battle —

Fox News: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton To Sue Yelp For ‘Misleading’ Disclaimers On Pregnancy Crisis Centers
Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will be filing a lawsuit against Yelp for allegedly for adding "inaccurate and misleading language" to pregnancy crisis centers listings on the platform, Fox News has learned. The lawsuit comes after the business review site and aggregator’s CEO, Jeremy Stoppelman, said that Yelp needed to "take action" after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs Decision, which ruled that the Constitution does not protect access to an abortion. The decision effectively returned regulation of abortion to the states. (Christ, 9/28)

MoneyWatch: Yelp Sues Texas To Keep Crisis Pregnancy Center Description Labels
Online business review site Yelp is suing Texas to defend its descriptions of crisis pregnancy centers which make clear to readers that the centers do not provide abortions or abortion referrals. Currently, Yelp applies an alert it calls a "Consumer Notice" to crisis pregnancy center listings reading, "This is a Crisis Pregnancy Center. Crisis Pregnancy Centers do not offer abortions or referrals to abortion providers." (Cerullo, 9/28)

In other news relating to abortion —

Politico: Appeals Court Lifts Partial Block On Idaho Abortion Ban 
A federal appeals court has lifted a lower court ruling that prevented the State of Idaho from enforcing aspects of its near-total ban on abortion. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order Thursday granting Idaho officials’ request to put the injunction against the law on hold while the state appeals the lower judge’s decision. (Gerstein, 9/28)

AP: Republican Offers New Twist On Abortion Exceptions As Issue Stays At Forefront Of Kentucky Campaign
The complexities of abortion-related politics in the post-Roe v. Wade era continue to put the squeeze on Republican Daniel Cameron, who appeared to redefine his position on Kentucky’s strict anti-abortion law for the second time in two weeks while campaigning for governor. After revealing last week that he would sign legislation adding rape and incest exceptions to the state’s abortion ban, Cameron seemed to take a more hardline stance Wednesday. He did so while trying to reassure someone who claimed to be concerned that he was weakening his anti-abortion position. Cameron indicated that he would support such exceptions “if the courts made us change that law.” (Schreiner, 9/29)

The Colorado Sun: Suit Against Colorado Abortion Pill "Reversal" Law Could Be A Big Deal
Lawyers for a national religious rights organization have filed a new motion for a preliminary injunction against Colorado’s law banning so-called abortion pill “reversal.” The motion, filed last week by lawyers from the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty on behalf of Catholic health clinic Bella Health and Wellness, says recent rulemaking by state medical boards has “doubled down” on the law’s alleged violations of religious freedom and free expression. (Ingold, 9/29)

AP: Judge Sentences A Woman Who Investigators Say Burned A Wyoming Abortion Clinic To 5 Years In Prison 
Emotional and physical abuse by parents who expected her to someday play a “supporting role” in her own life in deference to a future husband featured in the childhood of a woman who burned what was to be Wyoming’s first full-service abortion clinic in at least a decade, a judge said Thursday in handing down the minimum prison sentence for the crime. (Gruver, 9/29)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Abortions Increased Last Year In Georgia — Except For Black Women
As what was then known as House Bill 481 made its way through Georgia’s legislative process in 2019, abortion rights activists repeatedly said that enacting new restrictions would disproportionately affect Black women. That prediction looks to be coming true, with state Department of Public Health data showing that Black women were the only single-race demographic group to get fewer abortions in 2022 than in 2021. Black women still received the procedure at a higher rate in Georgia than any other racial group. (Prabhu, 9/29)

USA Today: Free Government COVID Tests May Work After Expiration Date, FDA Says
Consumers who've ordered free home COVID-19 tests through a federal website could be in for a surprise: they might get kits with expiration dates that passed months ago. But experts say you shouldn't immediately discard those tests. Even though you might not see it on the packaging, the federal government has extended expiration dates on many of these home tests. Consumers can check this Food and Drug Administration website to find extended expiration dates for home coronavirus tests. (Alltucker, 9/29)

On the fall covid surge, vaccines and more —

The Hill: CDC Director Urges Flu, COVID Vaccination Amid Low Uptake
Vaccination rates for COVID-19 and the flu have declined, and a significant portion of the U.S. population indicated they are not interested in getting either this year, according to a new survey. The survey from the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases found that only about 20 percent of Americans are worried about themselves or someone in their family getting infected with the flu, COVID-19 or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). (Weixel, 9/28)

AP: What To Know As Fall Vaccinations Against COVID, Flu And RSV Get Underway
Updated COVID-19 vaccines may be getting a little easier for adults to find but they’re still frustratingly scarce for young children. Health officials said Thursday the kid shots have started shipping — and reminded most everyone to get a fall flu shot too. About 2 million Americans have gotten the new COVID-19 shot in the two weeks since its approval despite early barriers from insurance companies and other glitches, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. (Neergaard, 9/28)

Stat: Flu, Covid Vaccination Rates Decline, New Survey Data Show
Vaccination rates against flu and Covid-19 have declined since earlier in the pandemic and a new survey suggests significant portions of the U.S. population intend to forgo these vaccines this fall. The survey, conducted by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, suggests only about one in five Americans worry that they or someone in their family will contract influenza, Covid, or RSV — respiratory syncytial virus. (Branswell, 9/28)

CNN: Is It Cold, The Flu Or Covid-19? A Doctor Helps Sort It Out
Autumn is here, school is back in session, and along with the recent uptick in Covid-19 cases, people are experiencing sniffles, coughs and other cold-like symptoms. What should people do if they have these symptoms? At what point should they get tested for Covid-19, flu and other viruses? What can they take to feel better, and when should they seek medical help? And what precautions should they take at school, work and home? (Hetter, 9/28)

Hydroxychloroquine is in the news again —

USA Today: Post Misrepresents Mayo Clinic Hydroxychloroquine Stance | Fact Check
The claim: Mayo Clinic updated guidance to say hydroxychloroquine is effective against COVID-19. A Sept. 25 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows a screenshot of a blog post with a supposed guideline change at one of the country's top hospitals. “Mayo Clinic updates guidance, now states hydroxychloroquine is effective against COVID-19,” reads the headline in the image. Our rating: False. There was no such update. (McCreary, 9/28)

Also —

The Hill: Sen. Stabenow Tests Positive For COVID
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) said Thursday that she tested positive for COVID-19 and would continue working remotely as she isolated. (Fortinsky, 9/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Kevin McCarthy Wins Three, Loses One In Late-Night Spending Votes
House Republicans largely succeeded in passing a series of annual spending bills late Thursday night, trying to show that the often fractured conference can stay united on legislation headed into any last-gasp negotiations with Democrats to avert a government shutdown this weekend. (Stech Ferek, Hughes, Wise and Peterson, 9/29)

The Hill: House GOP To Consider Stopgap To To Avert Shutdown That Includes Deep Spending Cuts
House Republicans on early Friday rolled out their new plan for a short-term spending bill that would stave off a government shutdown. The plan, dubbed the Spending Reduction and Border Security Act, would extend funding through the end of October, but impose across the board cuts of about 30 percent – with exemptions for national defense, the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security, and for funding designated disaster relief. (Folley and Brooks, 9/29)

NPR: How A Government Shutdown Would Impact Safety-Net Clinics For Most Vulnerable
Community health centers across the country are anxiously watching the budget impasse in Congress. Some 1,400 clinics depend on federal funds to serve the most vulnerable patients, and any interruptions in their funding will only add to the financial pressures they already face. These federally-qualified health centers, or FQHCs, are often located in low-income or rural communities. They deliver care on a sliding-fee scale and are mandated to serve everyone regardless of a patient's ability to pay. For millions of Americans, these clinics are the only way they can access primary care. (Boden, 9/29)

MedPage Today: With Shutdown Likely, Policy Experts Weigh Health Risks 
Unless Congress acts to pass a spending package on or before September 30, the federal government is hurtling toward a shutdown. How will that affect federal healthcare programs? Stakeholders and policy experts, including former government officials, shared with MedPage Today their forecasts around which health programs and personnel might be most impacted by a shutdown and the kinds of ripple effects patients, providers, and consumers broadly should anticipate. (Firth, 9/28)

Military.Com: How A Government Shutdown Impacts Military Family Services
For on-base medical care: Unless it's an emergency or an inpatient hospital service, your appointment is probably going to be canceled. Give your clinic a buzz to be sure or watch for specific information from your local base. For off-base medical care: You won't be affected. All Tricare functions will continue without interruption. (Bushatz and Theisen, 9/28)

Also —

AP: Government Shutdown: What Would It Mean For Me? SNAP, Student Loans, Travel Impacts
A handful of federal programs that people nationwide rely on everyday could also be disrupted — from dwindling funds for food assistance to potential delays in customer service for recipients of Medicare and Social Security. The ripple effects would come down to how long the shutdown lasts and varying contingency plans in place at impacted agencies. (Grantham-Philips, 9/28)

Capital News Service: Food Banks, Feeding Programs Gird For Federal Shutdown’s Impact
Food banks and pantries statewide, already straining to fill the gap from the end of COVID benefits, are bracing to meet additional demand if a government shutdown furloughs federal and military workers and federal nutrition programs run dry. (Quinn, 9/29)

Minnesota Public Radio: MN Health Official: Federal Family Nutrition Aid Won't End On Oct. 1
Minnesota’s supplemental nutrition program for women, infants and children — WIC — will continue to run even if the federal government shuts down on Sunday, the state director of that vital program told MPR News. “Participants should continue to use their benefits, and keep their appointments with WIC clinics,” Kate Franken told MPR News host Cathy Wurzer. “We plan to continue business as usual for as long as we can with the program.” (Wurzer and Brown, 9/28)

CBS News: Detroit Small Grocers Worry Government Shutdown Impact On Food Stamps Could Put Them Out Of Business
For manager Dave Gasso, King Cole Foods in Detroit's Highland Park neighborhood provides more than just fair prices. It is a place that helps serve low-income families. "We're a small store, but we have everything for what families need," Gasso says. Gasso says the majority of the store's customers are reliant on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program, and food stamp benefits to pay for their groceries. (Samra, 9/28)

Politico: Manchin Snarls Top VA Nominee Over Abortion
Manchin (D-W.Va.) has joined Republicans on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee in blocking Anjali Chaturvedi, a top Department of Justice lawyer, over the agency’s policy allowing it to provide abortion counseling and some abortions. The VA last fall finalized the policy, which enables it to provide the procedure when the life or health of a veteran or beneficiary is in peril, or in cases of rape or incest. The policy also covers dependents. (Leonard, 9/28)

In other news —

KFF Health News: Social Security Overpayments Draw Scrutiny And Outrage From Members Of Congress
Several members of Congress are calling on the Social Security Administration to answer for issuing billions of dollars of payments it says beneficiaries weren’t entitled to receive — and then demanding the money back. Many of the recipients are elderly, poor, or disabled and have already spent the money. They have little or no way of repaying it. (Hilzenrath and Fleischer, 9/29)

Politico: House Judiciary Committee Approves Bill To Combat Illicit Opioids
The House Judiciary Committee advanced legislation Thursday to reauthorize the Support for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act, a major 2018 opioid law providing treatment and support to people with opioid use disorder. The measure includes an amendment by New York Rep. Jerry Nadler, the top Democrat on the panel, that would make the horse sedative xylazine — which drug traffickers are adding to illicit fentanyl with deadly effect — a Schedule III controlled substance, for three years, subject to additional Drug Enforcement Administration regulation. (Paun, 9/28)

Stat: Senator Probes 340B Programs At Cleveland Clinic, Bon Secours
The top-ranking Republican on the Senate health committee is launching an investigation into two hospitals’ use of a government program that provides big drug discounts in return for serving low-income communities. (Wilkerson, 9/28)

The Hill: Bipartisan Battle Over Prescription Intermediaries Heats Up
The intermediaries in the prescription drug supply chain are stuck between a rock and a hard place, facing congressional scrutiny and pharmaceutical-industry-backed efforts to reform the multibillion-dollar industry. Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) have emerged as a bipartisan target in a divided Congress. (Choi and Giorno, 9/28)

Politico: Cardin Vows To Re-Up Global AIDS Program But There’s No Deal In Sight
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) said Thursday he will keep pushing for a five-year renewal of the country’s $7 billion annual global HIV-AIDS initiative, even as his colleagues call for a shorter extension to satisfy anti-abortion groups. “It’s important to give the signal to the international community that we’re in the game,” said Cardin, who took over as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this week after Sen. Bob Menendez was indicted. (Miranda Ollstein and Paun, 9/28)

KFF Health News: GOP Presidential Primary Debate No. 2: An Angry Rematch And The Same Notable No-Show
From the start of the second Republican presidential primary debate of the 2024 campaign, the seven candidates on stage were boisterous and unruly. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum spent most of the evening talking loudly over — and sometimes quite angrily at — one another. (9/28)

The Boston Globe: Sec. Tutwiler: More Mental Health Support In Schools A "Priority"
Similar to the updated health, physical, and sex education framework the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education unanimously approved last week, the mental and behavioral health framework would be a set of guidelines and recommendations for how schools and teachers could teach about mental health in all grades, Tutwiler said. “What we want to do is establish a strategy around mental health and that, quite frankly, does not exist,” Tutwiler said in an interview with the Globe on Thursday. (Griswold, 9/28)

On the Biden administration —

Politico: FDA Fines 22 Retailers In 13 States For Selling Illegal Vapes
The FDA on Thursday said that for the first time, it was fining 22 retailers for more than $19,000 each after it found they continued to sell unauthorized flavored e-cigarettes despite warnings to stop. (Ellen Foley, 9/28)

Politico: The Trump Health Insurance Policy That Biden Hasn’t Scrapped
When President Joe Biden took office, his administration gutted many of the health policies former President Donald Trump had implemented. But there’s one Trump-era health insurance regulation that Biden has yet to touch: the 2019 rule that allowed employers to provide tax-exempt subsidies to help workers purchase Obamacare plans. The lack of action is puzzling left-leaning health care advocates who say the Trump rule allows employers to dump sicker, more expensive employees onto the Affordable Care Act exchanges, raising premiums for everyone else. (Hooper, 9/28)

Also —

Bloomberg: J&J Sees Talc-Suit Surge After $9 Billion Bankruptcy Plan Tossed
Johnson & Johnson has seen at least a 28% surge in new lawsuits claiming its talc-based Baby Powder causes cancer a little more than five weeks after the company’s plan to resolve the cases was tossed from bankruptcy court. A New Jersey judge overseeing all the federal talc litigation said in a Sept. 6 court hearing that more than 11,000 new complaints have been filed, according to a court transcript. (Feeley, 9/28)

Politico: CBO: Center Tasked With Saving Medicare Money Falls Short
The agency tasked with lowering Medicare costs by changing how physicians and hospitals are paid is on pace to increase spending by more than $1 billion through 2030. The Congressional Budget Office released an updated estimate Thursday that shows the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, created under Obamacare to test new ways to pay for health care, will increase federal spending by $1.3 billion from 2021 to 2030. From 2011 through 2020, the center increased spending by $5.4 billion. (King, 9/28)

On the cost of health care —

Politico: Merck Agrees To Medicare Drug Price Negotiations
Merck confirmed on Thursday it will enter talks with CMS for Medicare price negotiations on its diabetes drug Januvia, saying that it has no choice but to agree. The drugmaker in June sued the Biden administration challenging the constitutionality of the negotiations policy. It is the fourth company to say it will opt into talks with the government ahead of an Oct. 1 deadline joining AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Boehringer Ingelheim. (King, 9/28)

Stat: Payments To Eye Docs Boosted Medicare Spending On Pricier Drugs
Ophthalmologists who accepted payments from drug companies were less likely to prescribe a cheaper medicine to treat an eye disease that causes blindness in older people, rather than a pair of more expensive alternatives, according to a new study. This led Medicare to spend an additional $643 million during a recent six-year period. (Silverman, 9/28)

On disenrollment —

The Washington Post: Medicaid Rolls Are Being Cut. Few Are Finding Refuge In ACA Plans
As states prepared to end a pandemic-era promise earlier this year that everyone on Medicaid could keep their health coverage, the Biden administration sought to quell fears that millions of people would become newly uninsured. A policy favorite of the president’s — Affordable Care Act insurance marketplaces — would offer a haven for people losing Medicaid because their incomes had grown too high to qualify, his aides pledged. (Goldstein, 9/28)

Meanwhile, in Nebraska —

Associated Press: Nebraska Becomes Latest Red State To Expand Medicaid To Cover Postpartum Care
Lower-income new mothers will get a full year of Medicaid health care coverage in Nebraska under an order issued Wednesday by Republican Gov. Jim Pillen. The move makes Nebraska the latest in a growing list of Republican-led states that had previously refused to expand postpartum Medicaid coverage beyond the minimum 60 days after women give birth. Conservatives are now largely embracing the change as part of an anti-abortion agenda in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year overturning Roe v. Wade, which for 50 years guaranteed a constitutional right to abortion. (9/28)

The Boston Globe: Combatting Loneliness Is One Step Toward Solving The Mental Health Crisis, Surgeon General Says In N.H. Visit
As the surgeon general, part of Vivek H. Murthy’s job is to figure out what ails the country and how we can heal. His diagnosis: As we have receded from the places and activities where we used to find community, our mental health is worse than ever. “Our connection to one another as a foundation on which we build a healthy society, as that foundation has crumbled and weakened, we’ve seen that we’re suffering across the board,” he told Dartmouth students and faculty during a panel at the college on Thursday. (Gokee, 9/28)

New Hampshire Public Radio: At Dartmouth, US Surgeons General Call For ‘Stronger Communities’ To Address Mental Health Crisis
Seven current and former U.S. surgeons general were at Dartmouth College on Thursday to talk about the nation's mental health crisis. The country's current top doctor, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, was joined by predecessors going back to the first Bush administration. Murthy said loneliness has become widespread, as communities have become less and less connected. He called it one of the country’s most pressing public health issues. (Cuno-Booth, 9/28)

CNN: The US Has A Mental Health Crisis That Could Undermine Our Democracy, US Surgeon Generals Say
While working in the West Wing under President George W. Bush, then-US Surgeon General Dr. Richard Carmona got a terrible telephone call from his daughter. After he had been missing, she found Carmona’s adult son in a catatonic state. He sat in the corner of his father’s home for two days and he kept screaming “incoming, incoming.” Carmona’s son served in the army for 21 years, and Carmona said while he doesn’t talk much about it, his son has had “crippling PTSD” and been in and out of mental care facilities since that incident. Yet when the family initially sought help from the VA, Carmona said, even with all of his connections as surgeon general, they started to see the cracks in the country’s mental health care system. (Christensen, 9/28)

In other public health news —

CBS News: Parasite Found In Drinking Water Could Make Vulnerable People In Baltimore Area Sick, DPW Says
Low levels of a microscopic parasite were found during routine testing of Druid Lake Reservoir, the Baltimore Department of Public Works said, meaning the drinking water could sicken some vulnerable populations in parts of Baltimore, Baltimore County and Howard County. Today, Thursday, Sept. 28, DPW announced that during a routine test of the Druid Lake Reservoir low levels of the microscopic parasite Cryptosporidium were discovered. pic.twitter.com/VUBF6KJnBH (Mattu, 9/28)

Fortune: TikTok Influencers Promoting Steroids, Warns Nonprofit
TikTok has become a key marketing channel for vendors promoting steroids and other bodybuilding drugs to millions of the app’s users, according to a report released Thursday that the social media company disputes. In the study, the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate says popular videos encouraging use of the products for aesthetic or athletic gain are being posted by influencers who often downplay the risks associated with them. It follows a warning issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in April about performance-enhancing drugs being marketed to teenagers and young adults on social media platforms. (Hadero, 9/28)

CBS News: Thousands Of Cantaloupes Sold In 19 States Recalled Due To Potential Salmonella Contamination
Thousands of whole cantaloupes sold in 19 states and Washington, D.C., have been recalled due to potential salmonella contamination, the Food and Drug Administration announced. Eagle Produce, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, is doing a voluntary recall of 6,456 cases of whole cantaloupe after the fruits were tested in a distribution center by the FDA, the agency said in a news release. (Martinez, 9/28)

The Baltimore Sun: The Immunocompromised, Young Kids And Seniors Advised To Avoid Drinking Water In Parts Of Baltimore Area After Parasite Detected
Baltimore City officials are advising immunocompromised individuals, as well as some young children and the elderly, to avoid drinking tap water across a large swath of its service area in the city, Baltimore County and a small part of Howard County due to parasitic contamination. Testing has detected low levels of a microscopic parasite called cryptosporidium in the drinking water reservoir at Druid Lake in Baltimore, officials announced Thursday. (Condon, 9/28)

CIDRAP: Study: 75% Of Infants Hospitalized With COVID-19 Born To Unvaccinated Women
This week, studies in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report describe the landscape of COVID-19 vaccination among women of reproductive age and those who are pregnant, showing better outcomes for infants whose mothers were vaccinated during pregnancy. Maternal mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 have been widely recommended by providers for more than 2 years, and now evidence from the Omicron surge shows they were effective in preventing hospitalizations for infants ages 6 months or less. (Soucheray, 9/28)

CBS News: COVID Vaccine During Pregnancy Still Helps Protect Newborns, CDC Finds
Maternal vaccination was 54% effective against COVID-19 hospitalization in infants younger than 3 months old over the past season. The findings from the CDC-backed Overcoming COVID-19 Network were published Thursday in the agency's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. They drew from data on hospitalizations from 26 pediatric hospitals around the country through May 2023. (Tin, 9/28)

CIDRAP: Evolving Peak SARS-CoV-2 Loads Relative To Symptom Onset May Influence Home-Test Timing
In a group of adults in the state of Georgia tested for both COVID-19 and influenza A, most of whom were vaccinated and/or previously infected, median SARS-CoV-2 viral loads peaked on the fourth day of symptoms, while flu loads peaked soon after symptom onset. The authors of the study, published today in Clinical Infectious Diseases, say the findings have implications for the use of rapid antigen tests for COVID-19 and flu. (Van Beusekom, 9/28)

In other research not related to covid —

CIDRAP: Antibiotic Shows Efficacy Against Complicated Staph Bacteremia
The results of a phase 3 clinical trial show an antibiotic used for treating pneumonia could be an option for treating bloodstream infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, researchers reported today in the New England Journal of Medicine. The trial, which was led by investigators from Duke University and received funding from the US Department of Health and Human Services, found that the cephalosporin antibiotic ceftobiprole was noninferior to daptomycin for treatment of patients with complicated Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia, including methicillin-resistant S aureus (MRSA). (Dall, 9/28)

Fox News: Progress For Paralyzed Patients: First Implanted Device Is Placed To Restore Arm, Hand And Finger Movement
For the first time ever, a human has successfully received an implanted device to enable movement of the arms, hands and fingers after a paralyzing spinal cord injury. Onward Medical NV, a medical technology company based in the Netherlands, announced on Wednesday the surgical implant of its ARC-IM Stimulator, which is designed to restore function to the upper extremities of paralyzed patients. (Rudy, 9/28)

CNN: Hot Flashes Are More Dangerous Than Previously Thought
The rush of heat comes out of nowhere, so fierce for some that their faces burn and sweat streams from every pore of their bodies. Welcome to the hot flashes and other symptoms of approaching menopause — an experience experts say about 75% of women will share if they live long enough. Even if menopause is years or decades away, it’s time to pay attention — because according to emerging science, the menopause experience may be damaging to future health. (LaMotte, 9/27)

Modern Healthcare: Hospitals, Health Systems Facing Credit Rating Downgrades
Dozens of hospitals and health systems have faced credit rating downgrades this year as the industry continues to wrestle with a challenging operating environment. As of the end of August, more than 60 hospitals and health systems have been downgraded by at least one of the three largest credit rating agencies. ... Reports from the agencies often cited operating losses stemming from labor shortages and high costs plus dwindling liquidity, high debt-to-cash ratios and/or possible default on debt agreements as reasons for the downgrades. (Hudson, 9/28)

Stat: Data Show Record Exodus Of Life Scientists From Academia 
New data released Thursday by the National Science Foundation show the exodus of young life scientists from the Ivory Tower to industry has reached the highest level in nearly three decades, deepening concerns about the future of academic science in the U.S. (Wosen, 9/28)

In other industry news —

The Wall Street Journal: FemHealth Ventures Closes $32 Million Fund For Women’s Health Investments
FemHealth Ventures, which invests in companies focused on women’s health, has closed a $32 million debut fund despite a difficult fundraising environment for new venture firms. (Gormley, 9/28)

The Boston Globe: Harbinger Health Raises $140 Million For Blood Test To Screen For Cancers
A Cambridge biotech run by the former head of the Food and Drug Administration has raised $140 million to complete the study of a blood test it developed to screen for cancers in people without symptoms. Harbinger Health, founded in 2020 by Flagship Pioneering, the venture capital giant that created the vaccine-maker Moderna, is testing the cancer screening technology in a clinical trial of 10,000 volunteers. Some trial results are expected next year. Saltzman, 9/28)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Jefferson Forms Mammography Joint Venture With Private Equity-Backed Solis Mammography
Jefferson Health continued a recent push into money-raising deals with outside partners with an announcement on Thursday that it will put its 13 mammography clinics into a joint venture with Solis Mammography, which already had a partnership with Einstein Healthcare Network before it was acquired by Jefferson in 2021. ... Based in Addison, Texas, Solis is owned by Madison Dearborn Partners, a private equity firm based in Chicago. (Brubaker, 9/28)

In Massachusetts —

Stat: How The Dana-Farber Split Will Change Cancer Care At Brigham
The severing of ties between two of Boston’s biggest health care giants has placed one of the nation’s largest health care systems in the position of figuring out how, exactly, to fill a new hole in its oncology services, at a time when cancer care is changing rapidly. (DeAngelis, 9/28)

Axios Boston: InSpring To Remedy Nursing Shortage With International Students 
While hospitals struggle with nursing shortages, a Massachusetts startup is preparing to train hundreds of foreign-born students to fill those roles. Boston-based InSpring plans to admit its first cohort of 20-30 international students with bachelor's degrees in the U.S. and other countries this winter, co-founder and CEO Chris Hoehn-Saric tells Axios. (Solis, 9/28)

The Boston Globe: Broad Institute Co-Founder Scales Back His Role
Stuart L. Schreiber, one of the four founding members of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, is scaling back his work at the renowned biomedical research center in Cambridge. Schreiber, a Harvard professor known for his role in the development of the field of chemical biology, is “transitioning his status to founding core institute member emeritus as he enters the next phase of his career,” David Cameron, a Broad spokesman, confirmed Thursday. He had no further details. (Saltzman, 9/28)

Also —

Crain's Cleveland Business: Duly Health And Care Lays Off Workers, Reducing Services
After overhauling its C-suite, Chicago’s largest physicians group is shedding staff, cutting compensation and reducing services as it battles industrywide headwinds and lugs a heavy debt burden from a 2017 private-equity deal. Downers Grove-based Duly Health & Care laid off a number of workers in September across the organization, the second round of job cuts in recent months, current and former employees say. (Davis, 9/28)

Reuters: GSK Lifts Growth Target For HIV Business On Demand For Long-Acting Drug
GSK on Thursday lifted its medium-term growth forecast for its HIV drugs business ViiV, encouraged by strong sales of long-acting injections that aim to replace daily pills for preventing and treating the infection. The ViiV business, in which Pfizer and Shionogi hold small stakes, is a key element of a push by group CEO Emma Walmsley to improve investor confidence in the strength of GSK's drug development pipeline, which has lagged that of its rivals. (Burger, 9/28)

Reuters: Eli Lilly Settles Whistleblower Lawsuit Over Manufacturing Problems 
Eli Lilly and Co and a former employee agreed to settle a lawsuit in which the worker claimed she was terminated after pointing out poor manufacturing practices and data falsification involving one of its blockbuster diabetes drugs, according to court filings. The former human resources officer, Amrit Mula, contended in the lawsuit that she repeatedly urged leaders at a New Jersey plant to remedy problems involving several biologic drugs, including Type 2 diabetes medicine Trulicity. (Levine and Taylor, 9/28)

In other news —

The Hill: FDA Approves Exxua For Depression Treatment After Multiple Rejections Over More Than Two Decades
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday approved the medication Exxua to treat major depressive disorder – a significant step after a decades-long battle for approval. Exxua is unique for its ability to target the serotonin 1A receptor, which is a regulator of mood and emotion. In doing so, it avoids undesirable side effects that often come with drugs that treat anxiety and depression disorders, including sexual dysfunction and weight gain, according to the press release from drug manufacturer Fabre-Kramer Pharmaceuticals. (Fortinsky, 9/28)

Reuters: Merck's Blood Vessel Disorder Therapy Receives US FDA's Priority Review
Merck said on Thursday the U.S. health regulator will review its experimental therapy to treat a type of progressive blood vessel disorder on a priority basis. The drugmaker had gained rights to the therapy, sotatercept, through its $11.5 billion acquisition of Acceleron Pharma in 2021. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has set March 26, 2024 as a target action date for the review, Merck said. (9/28)

Reuters: Amicus' Muscle Disorder Therapy Gets US FDA Nod But Restricted Label Drags Shares
Amicus Therapeutics' treatment for a rare muscle disorder called Pompe disease was approved by the U.S. health regulator, the drugmaker said on Thursday, ending its years-long efforts to launch the therapy. (Roy, 9/29)

Reuters: J&J's Lung Cancer Therapy Succeeds In Head-To-Head Study With AstraZeneca's Drug
Johnson & Johnson said its cancer drug combination increased the time patients with a type of non small-cell lung cancer live without the disease worsening compared to AstraZeneca's Tagrisso in a late-stage study. J&J said on Thursday it expects the combination to become a first-line treatment for non small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with a type of mutation in EGFR protein that causes rapid tumor cell growth. (Satija, 9/28)

Stat: Setback For Rare Diseases As Taysha Gene Therapies Pulls Back
In 2020, as biotech stocks surged amid the pandemic, a startup called Taysha Gene Therapies raised over $300 million off an audacious promise: It was going to license and develop gene therapies for at least 18 different rare and serious neurological diseases. (Mast, 9/29)

Axios San Francisco: San Francisco To Roll Out Newsom's Mental Illness Court Next Week 
Starting in October, San Francisco will implement a new civil court process aimed at helping people with untreated schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders get off of the streets. CARE court — the result of legislation championed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom — will allow first responders, family members, behavioral health providers and others to directly petition the court for behavioral health services. (Chen, 9/28)

Modesto Bee: CARE Court Program Will Begin Monday In Stanislaus County
Starting Monday, a program including Stanislaus County and the Superior Court will try to assist people who aren’t getting treated for severe mental illness. Stanislaus is one of seven counties in the state’s CARE Court pilot program aiming to get people with untreated mental disorders off the streets and into housing and treatment. Many of these adults are not sheltered and exhibit behavior that could lead to injury or incarceration. (Carlson, 9/28)

AP: Los Angeles City And County To Spend Billions To Help Homeless People Under Lawsuit Settlement
Los Angeles County and city will spend billions of dollars to provide more housing and support services for homeless people under a lawsuit settlement approved Thursday by a federal judge. The county ends more than two years of court battles over LA’s response to the homelessness crisis by agreeing to provide an additional 3,000 beds by the end of 2026 for people with mental health and drug abuse issues. (Jablon, 9/29)

Axios: Blue Cities Question Their Embrace Of Progressive Drug Measures
Blue cities that have taken the most progressive — and often controversial — steps to tackle the nation's drug crisis are beginning to question those strategies amid rising political backlash. Public health experts emphasize policies that prioritize saving the lives of drug users — like so-called safe injection sites — but the worsening fentanyl problem is testing the patience of even the seemingly most tolerant cities. (Owens, 9/29)

In other news from across the states —

AP: Houston Creates $5M Relocation Fund For People Near Polluted Rail Yard
Houston officials on Wednesday approved $5 million for a fund to help relocate residents from neighborhoods located near a rail yard polluted by a wood preservative that has been blamed for an increase in cancer cases. (9/28)

Houston Chronicle: Concrete Plant Near LBJ Hospital May Endanger Patients, Officials Say
Houston community leaders are pushing back against a company’s effort to build a concrete crushing plant across the street from Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital, just as the Harris Health System prepares for a possible expansion of the LBJ hospital campus. ... In a statement, Dr. Esmaeil Porsa, Harris Health’s CEO and president, said the hospital already treats many patients with conditions associated with exposure to pollutants from concrete plants. “Further contributing to the pollution in the vicinity will exacerbate these conditions,” he said. (Gill, 9/28)

The New York Times: Vulnerable New Yorkers Suffer As Some Services Decline Under Mayor Adams
The city’s eight sexual health clinics saw nearly 95,000 annual visits before the pandemic; that number has dropped to nearly 62,000 over the last year, according to data from the Health Department. Only five of the clinics offered sexual health services, and a sixth reopened in July. As for tuberculosis — a highly infectious disease that has higher rates in some other countries from which people emigrate to New York — one of the city’s four clinics, in Washington Heights, closed as part of the pandemic response and has not reopened. (Rubinstein and Fitzsimmons, 9/29)

The Washington Post: Sixth Circuit Ban Trans Youth Health Care In Kentucky And Tennessee
After a very active legislative session in which more than a dozen states passed restrictions on gender-affirming care, many of the laws are now being challenged in court as unconstitutional. Federal courts have started to weigh in, offering conflicting decisions. The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit is the latest of these. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit issued a ruling Thursday evening that allowed Tennessee and Kentucky to enforce laws banning gender-affirming medical care for minors, such as puberty blockers and hormones. (Javaid, 9/28)

Axios Des Moines: Iowa Ranked 12th Most Obese State In 2022 
Around 37.4% of Iowa adults were considered obese in 2022 — up from 36.4% the previous year, according to a report by non-partisan health advocacy group Trust for America's Health. Iowa's obesity rates have trended upward for the last decade and underscore a host of complicated issues, such as eating and sleep patterns, lack of activity, genetics and environmental factors. (Ta, 9/28)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Wills Eye Hospital To Provide Free Vision Care To Children Ages 6 To 17
Wills Eye Hospital will once again offer free vision care and screenings for Philadelphia-area children at its annual “Give Kids Sight Day,” slated for Saturday, Oct. 7, at its Walnut Street location in Center City, from 8 a.m. to noon. The event is geared toward helping uninsured or underinsured children, ages 6 to 17, gain access to vision care. Children will get an eye exam and an eyeglasses prescription, along with two free glasses frames. (Ruderman, 9/29)

The CT Mirror: Yale Cites 'Mounting Concerns' About Prospect Hospital Deal
Yale New Haven Health officials acknowledged Thursday for the first time they have growing concerns about the completion of a deal to buy Waterbury, Manchester Memorial and Rockville General hospitals and said the acquisition is “more at risk” as time passes without approval from the state. The three hospitals are owned by Prospect Medical Holdings. (Carlesso and Altimari, 9/28)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: SSM Building Children's Hospital To Replace Cardinal Glennon
SSM Health is building a new, 14-story pediatric hospital to eventually replace Cardinal Glennon, officials announced on Thursday. They said the new building, planned just north of St. Louis University Hospital at Chouteau Avenue and South Grand Boulevard, will be better suited for the more complex — and often, larger — equipment that hospitals now use in pediatric care. (Merrilees, 9/28)

St. Louis Public Radio: Cardinal Glennon To Build New Children's Hospital In St. Louis
SSM Health and Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital on Thursday announced plans to build a new hospital in St. Louis at the corner of Grand Boulevard and Chouteau Avenue. Officials say the new hospital will be better equipped to meet the increasing demand for specialized pediatric treatments for newborns, children and teenagers in the region. (Fentem, 9/28)

Minnesota Public Radio: New Ulm Medical Center To Close Its 10 Bed Residential Addiction Services Unit
New Ulm Medical Center is planning to close its 10 bed residential addiction services unit. In an email statement on Thursday Allina Health said it made the decision to move away from the hospital-based residential addiction service to a new partial hospitalization and day treatment program. (Yang, 9/28)

Also —

KFF Health News: These Appalachia Hospitals Made Big Promises To Gain A Monopoly. They’re Failing To Deliver
Five years ago, rival hospital companies in this blue-collar corner of Appalachia made a deal. If state lawmakers let them merge, leaving no competitors, the hospitals promised not to gouge prices or cut corners. They agreed to dozens of quality-of-care conditions, spelled out with benchmarks, and to provide hundreds of millions of dollars in charity care to patients in need. (Kelman and Liss, 9/29)

KFF Health News: She Received Chemo In Two States. Why Did It Cost So Much More In Alaska?
Emily Gebel was trying to figure out why she was having trouble breastfeeding. That’s when she felt a lump. Gebel, a mother of two, went to her primary care doctor in Juneau, Alaska, who referred her for testing, she said. Her 9-month-old was asleep in her arms when she got the results. (Zionts, 9/29)

The Washington Post: Despite A New Vaccine, Polio Eradication Remains Elusive 
A variety of new hurdles has emerged in the long, difficult struggle to eradicate polio, a disabling and life-threatening disease caused by the poliovirus that can infect the spinal cord and cause paralysis. World health authorities have the tools to fight back. But the effort will require sustained attention — and funding. (9/28)

Scientific American: Classifying Heat Waves Will Help People Better Understand Their Dangers 
Heat is now the deadliest weather effect in the U.S. It kills more people per year than hurricanes and tornadoes combined. Last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported at least 1,710 heat-related deaths, and researchers have consistently found deaths increase on extreme heat days. In 2019, one study found 1,373 additional deaths could be attributed to extreme heat days in the U.S. each year. In July, another study estimated that last year there were 60,000 heat-related deaths in Europe. (Gina Jimenez, 9/28)

The New York Times: For The F.D.A., Cold Medicine That Doesn’t Work Is Just The Tip Of The Iceberg 
Nearly two decades ago, several pharmacists started calling into the University of Florida Drug Information and Pharmacy Resource Center hotline with the same query: Does phenylephrine, a common ingredient in cold medicine sold over the counter, actually work? (Randy C. Hatton and Leslie Hendeles, 9/29)

Chicago Tribune: It's Time We Address Isolation And Loneliness As The Systemic Issues They Are
A 2020 report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine found that social isolation significantly increases our risk of premature death, a risk that may rival those associated with smoking, obesity and physical inactivity. (Amy Eisenstein, 9/29)

USA Today: Racial Disparities In Health Care Cost Lives. Medical School Needs Race-Conscious Admissions
As three Black men in the medical field, one of whom served as an officer in the Air Force, we seek to make the case that a diverse medical workforce is of compelling national health and security interest, and that race-conscious admissions should be considered in medical institutions. (Victor Agbafe, Dr. Lawrence Brown and Dr. Brian Williams, 9/29)

Also —

Chicago Tribune: Scientists: This Is The Missing Puzzle Piece To Getting COVID-19 Vaccines Into Arms
On Sept. 11, the Food and Drug Administration approved an emergency use authorization for updated COVID-19 vaccines. The next day, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a statement that recommended updated vaccines for people 6 months and older. As these new vaccines become available, it is critical that we improve access to save lives. (Amelia E. Van Pelt, Sara Becker and Rinad S. Beidas, 9/28)

The Washington Post: The CDC Needs To Change Its Covid-19 Isolation Guidance 
The end-of-summer increase in covid-19 infections has brought renewed attention to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s isolation guidance. These outdated recommendations must be revised, as they disincentivize testing, sow confusion and fail to achieve the most important objective of protecting vulnerable individuals. (Leana S. Wen, 9/28)