First Edition: Nov. 8, 2023
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
KFF Health News:
What I Learned From The World’s Last Smallpox Patient
Rahima Banu, a toddler in rural Bangladesh, was the last person in the world known to contract variola major, the deadly form of smallpox, through natural infection. In October 1975, after World Health Organization epidemiologists learned of her infection, health workers vaccinated those around her, putting an end to variola major transmission around the world. The WHO officially declared smallpox eradicated in 1980, and it remains the only human infectious disease ever to have been eradicated. Among infectious-disease doctors like me, Banu is famous as a symbol of the power of science and modern medicine. (Gounder, 11/8)
KFF Health News:
US To Cover HIV Prevention Drugs For Older Americans To Stem Spread Of The Virus
A proposed federal policy aims to protect older Americans from contracting HIV by offering free preventive medication, the latest effort to catch up to much of Europe and Africa in stemming the spread of the virus. Under the plan from the Biden administration, Medicare would cover patients’ full cost of preexposure prophylaxis drugs, which prevent HIV transmission. The drugs, known by the shorthand “PrEP,” would be free in pill form and — for the first time — as long-acting injectables through the government insurance program designed for those 65 and older. Those 50 and over make up half of all people in the U.S. already living with HIV. (Scaturro, 11/8)
KFF Health News:
Listen To The Latest 'KFF Health News Minute'
This week on the KFF Health News Minute: Schools struggle to keep nurses on staff, and the Social Security Administration says it will review how it claws back money it says it wrongly paid to beneficiaries. (11/7)
AP:
Ohio Voters Enshrine Abortion Access In Constitution In Latest Statewide Win For Reproductive Rights
Ohio voters approved a constitutional amendment on Tuesday that ensures access to abortion and other forms of reproductive health care, the latest victory for abortion rights supporters since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year. Ohio became the seventh state where voters decided to protect abortion access after the landmark ruling and was the only state to consider a statewide abortion rights question this year. “The future is bright, and tonight we can celebrate this win for bodily autonomy and reproductive rights,” Lauren Blauvelt, co-chair of Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights, which led support for the amendment, told a jubilant crowd of supporters. (Smyth, 11/7)
The Hill:
Biden Touts Passage Of Ohio Abortion Measure: ‘Democracy Won’
President Biden released a statement following Ohio voters passing a ballot measure enshrining abortion protection in the state constitution. “Tonight, Americans once again voted to protect their fundamental freedoms – and democracy won,” Biden’s statement said. “Ohioans and voters across the country rejected attempts by MAGA Republican elected officials to impose extreme abortion bans that put the health and lives of women in jeopardy, force women to travel hundreds of miles for care, and threaten to criminalize doctors and nurses for providing the health care that their patients need and that they are trained to provide,” Biden’s statement said. (Irwin, 11/7)
The Washington Post:
Virginia Democrats’ Wins Thwart Youngkin On Abortion, Taxes, Climate
Democrats flipped the Virginia House of Delegates and held on to the state Senate in elections Tuesday, dashing Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s hopes for curbing abortion rights in Virginia, the only Southern state that has not restricted or banned the procedure since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year. By giving control of those two chambers to Democrats, voters denied Youngkin (R) the political allies he needed to ban most abortions after 15 weeks. The governor also lost his chance for turning Virginia sharply to the right in other areas, including public education, tax policy, LGBTQ+ rights, criminal justice, the environment and voting access. (Vozzella and Armus, 11/8)
The 19th:
Virginia State Legislature Results: Voters Hand Democrats Control Of Both Chambers
With control of the legislature, Virginia Democrats will remain a “brick wall” against state Republicans’ conservative agenda. “It’s official: there will be absolutely no abortion ban legislation sent to Glenn Youngkin’s desk for the duration of his term in office, period,” said Sen. Mamie Locke, who leads the Democrats in the Senate. Locke and fellow Senate Democratic leaders raised bricks in the air while declaring victory to signify the wall that will block Republicans’ agenda.
(Barclay, 11/7)
The 19th:
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear Wins Second Term In Race Shaped By Abortion
Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear will defeat Republican Daniel Cameron to win a second term in the highly watched race for Kentucky governor, Decision Desk HQ projects. Abortion and Cameron’s anti-abortion record became a key issue in the race between the two men — even though the governor’s office has little power over abortion policy. (Panetta, 11/7)
Huffpost:
Democrats Hold Essential Pennsylvania Supreme Court Seat In Latest Abortion Campaign Test
Superior Court Judge Daniel McCaffery, a Democrat, defeated Republican Judge Carolyn Carluccio in a closely watched race to fill a vacant Pennsylvania Supreme Court seat on Tuesday. McCaffery’s win is the latest in a string of victories for Democrats running on an abortion rights platform following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade and ending national abortion rights protections. His campaign was supported by state and national reproductive rights groups that spent millions on advertising and grassroots efforts in the highly competitive swing state. (Blumenthal, 11/7)
Politico:
New Jersey Democrats Notch Big Legislative Wins After Bracing For Losses
Final counts could not be made late Tuesday night, but Democrats won or led in virtually every competitive district Republicans needed to have a chance at regaining control in either chamber. That included Democrats reclaiming the Senate seat won by Republican Ed Durr in a national upset in 2021, when he defeated then-Senate President Steve Sweeney on a shoestring budget. Democrats also capitalized on backlash from the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade, warning voters that New Jersey Republicans would chip away at abortion rights. (Racioppi, 11/8)
The Texas Tribune:
Appeals Court Considers Texas’ Challenge To Federal Abortion Guidance
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments Tuesday about whether the federal government can require Texas hospitals to perform life-saving abortions, despite the state’s near-total ban on the procedure. After the overturn of Roe v. Wade, President Joe Biden issued guidance to federally funded hospitals, reminding them of their obligation to provide stabilizing health care to anyone who shows up at the emergency room, even if that care requires performing an abortion. (Klibanoff, 11/7)
Stat:
NIH Director Monica Bertagnolli Confirmed By Senate
Longtime cancer doctor Monica Bertagnolli is finally heading to the National Institutes of Health director’s office after a nearly two-year effort to install a permanent leader atop the $48 billion science agency. (Owermohle, 11/7)
The Washington Post:
Bertagnolli Confirmed As New Head Of National Institutes Of Health
Bertagnolli will be the second woman ever to lead the nearly $48 billion agency, which plays a central role in the U.S. scientific agenda by funding grants to hundreds of thousands of researchers, overseeing clinical trials on its Maryland campus, and supporting other endeavors to develop drugs and therapeutics. NIH has not had a permanent director since December 2021, with Lawrence A. Tabak, a longtime NIH official, serving as the agency’s acting leader. (Diamond, 11/7)
Axios:
New NIH Director Faces Battles Over Virus And Drug Research
Newly confirmed National Institutes of Health director Monica Bertagnolli is taking the helm of the biomedical research agency at a critical moment, with budgets tightening and lingering questions about its stewardship of high-risk virus research and role in keeping drugs affordable. (Bettelheim and Millman, 11/8)
The Wall Street Journal:
A Skeptical Supreme Court Considers Whether Domestic Abusers Have Gun Rights
Supreme Court justices showed little sympathy Tuesday for a violent domestic abuser arguing he had a Second Amendment right to keep a semiautomatic rifle and a .45 caliber pistol at home, in arguments over the scope of a 2022 precedent holding gun regulations unconstitutional unless they are analogous to those in force in the founding era. “You don’t have any doubt that your client’s a dangerous person, do you?” Chief Justice John Roberts asked Matthew Wright, a federal public defender representing Zackey Rahimi, who was sentenced to more than six years for violating a federal law prohibiting people under domestic-violence protective orders from possessing firearms. (Bravin, 11/7)
Politico:
Supreme Court Looks Poised To Uphold Ban On Guns For Accused Domestic Abusers
Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett — two conservatives who may provide key votes in the case — did not seem particularly troubled by the domestic-abuser restriction Congress adopted in 1994, even as they expressed concerns that some government efforts to deny guns to people deemed dangerous could run afoul of the Second Amendment or of due process rights. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, another potentially pivotal vote, was fairly quiet during the argument, though he did raise the prospect that striking down the law could imperil portions of a federal background-check system. (Gerstein, 11/7)
AP:
Syphilis Cases In US Newborns Skyrocketed In 2022. Health Officials Suggest More Testing
Alarmed by yet another jump in syphilis cases in newborns, U.S. health officials are calling for stepped-up prevention measures, including encouraging millions of women of childbearing age and their partners to get tested for the sexually transmitted disease. More than 3,700 babies were born with congenital syphilis in 2022 — 10 times more than a decade ago and a 32% increase from 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday. Syphilis caused 282 stillbirth and infant deaths, nearly 16 times more than the 2012 deaths. (Stobbe and Hunter, 11/7)
NPR:
Congenital Syphilis Is Still Rising. Better Treatment In Pregnancy Urged
"The situation is very serious," says Dr. Laura Bachmann, chief medical officer for the CDC's Division of STD Prevention. "We need to do things differently." "We have a perfect storm in the United States of funding cutbacks, not enough testing and treatments and a lack of awareness of this out-of-control syphilis epidemic," he says, "And babies are paying the price." (Stone, 11/7)
NPR:
Antibiotics For Babies Are Stymied By Antimicrobial Resistant Infections
The drugs aren't working as well as they used to. That's the sobering takeaway from new research published in The Lancet Regional Health – Southeast Asia last week: The most commonly prescribed antibiotics in Southeast Asia are now only 50% effective at treating sepsis and meningitis in newborns. And that's a serious setback. Sepsis kills 1 in 5 patients. Meningitis is responsible for a quarter of million deaths a year – half among children under the age of 5. (Barnhart and Barber, 11/7)
CIDRAP:
RSV-Preventing Injection In Shortage As Respiratory Virus Season Begins
Respiratory virus season is only starting, and demand has already outstripped supply for the newly approved and potentially lifesaving monoclonal antibody injection for preventing respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in children. David Margraf, PharmD, PhD, pharmaceutical research scientist at the Resilient Drug Supply Project (RDSP), said the nirsevimab-alip (Beyfortus) shortage is reminiscent of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. RDSP is part of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), publisher of CIDRAP News. (Van Beusekom, 11/7)
CIDRAP:
WHO Sees Some Signs Of Progress In Fight Against Tuberculosis
In its latest Global Tuberculosis Report, released today, the WHO reported that 7.5 million people were newly diagnosed with TB in 2022, the highest number since the WHO began recording TB statistics in 1995. That number is significant because it means more people with TB are being officially diagnosed and getting the treatment and services they need. (Dall, 11/7)
The Washington Post:
D.C. Students Will No Longer Be Required To Vaccinate Against Covid
The D.C. Council voted Tuesday to repeal its coronavirus vaccine mandate for the city’s schoolchildren, a measure that was controversial when it passed in 2021 and was never enforced. The vote ends a long-running debate over whether D.C. should require students over the age of 12 to get vaccinated against the coronavirus as a condition for attendance. Lawmakers added a coronavirus vaccination to the city’s list of required immunizations in hopes of curbing the virus in schools, but thousands of families failed to meet deadlines. (Lumpkin, 11/7)
Military.com:
VA Suspends Debt Collection From Veterans Whom It Mistakenly Overpaid Due To Data Errors
The Department of Veterans Affairs has suspended debt collections related to overpayments of pensions to low-income veterans or their survivors after the agency found it had mistakenly paid too much, in some cases, over a period of many years, department officials announced Friday. The VA provides pensions to some veterans or survivors based on self-reported income that is later verified by the department, using data reported from outside sources such as the Social Security Administration and other federal agencies. (Kime, 11/7)
CBS News:
VA Says It's Open To Exploring The Use Of Psychedelics To Treat PTSD
Like other psychedelics, psilocybin is illegal under federal law and classified as a Schedule I drug, which the Drug Enforcement Administration says have a "high potential for abuse and no recognized medical value." As a result, there are roadblocks to research its effectiveness in treating PTSD and the VA is prohibited from prescribing or administering it. But local Congressman and Naval vet Chris Deluzio is supporting legislation to change that. "I say let the science and medicine lead us here and if there are safe therapies that are helping veterans and helping people, we should be making those available to folks," Deluzio said. (Sheehan, 11/7)
Military.com:
Military Hunger: New Study Shows 1 In 8 Military Families Turned To Food Banks During The Pandemic
Around one military family out of eight turned to food banks during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new academic study led by a researcher at the University of Georgia has revealed. Researchers surveyed more than 8,000 military families who applied for child care subsidies from the National Military Family Association, a military-focused nonprofit, in the spring of 2021 and found that about 13% of those families had used a food pantry in the past year. (Toropin, 11/7)
The New York Times:
Peace Corps, Criticized For Medical Care, Settles Wrongful-Death Suit For $750,000
The Peace Corps, which has repeatedly come under scrutiny for the medical care it provides to volunteers, has agreed to pay $750,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by the family of a 24-year-old volunteer who died of undiagnosed malaria in the island nation of Comoros off the coast of East Africa. The federal government did not admit any guilt or liability in the death of the volunteer, Bernice Heiderman of Inverness, Ill., according to a legal filing on Tuesday in Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. (Stolberg, 11/7)
Stat:
FTC Challenges Drugmakers Over Inaccurate, Improper Patent Listings
Making good on a recent threat, the Federal Trade Commission is challenging more than 100 patents on brand-name medicines that were improperly or inaccurately listed by some of the world’s biggest drug companies in a key government registry. (Silverman, 11/7)
CBS News:
FDA Moves To Pull Carbadox, Drug Used By Pork Industry, Citing Human Cancer Risk
A common veterinary drug used by American pork farms could soon be pulled from the market, the Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday, due to concerns that it could pose a cancer risk in humans who eat hot dogs, sausages and other foods made from animals given the drug. The FDA's move comes nearly a decade after the agency first began a renewed probe into safety concerns over the drug, carbadox, which is added to feed given to pigs to combat infections and help fatten them up. (Tin, 11/7)
Reuters:
Accord Resumes Production Of Cancer Drug Methotrexate Amid Supply Shortage
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported on Tuesday Accord Healthcare has resumed manufacturing of methotrexate, one of the most commonly used cancer drugs, amid ongoing shortages for some cancer drugs in the United States. Methotrexate is an injected drug used to treat cancers ranging from acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children, breast cancer, lung cancer, bone cancers and certain types of head and neck cancers, according to the National Cancer Institute. (11/7)
Reuters:
Biogen-Sage Therapeutics Postpartum Depression Pill Priced At $15,900
Sage Therapeutics has priced the oral postpartum depression (PPD) pill it developed with partner Biogen at $15,900 for a full 14-day course of treatment, the company said on Tuesday, months after the drug was approved by the U.S. health regulator. The companies had sought U.S. approval for Zurzuvae to treat clinical depression, a much larger market, and postpartum depression, but the Food and Drug Administration in August approved it only for PPD. (Mandowara, 11/7)
AP:
Drugs Aren't Required To Be Tested In People Who Are Obese. Here's Why That's A Problem
More than 40% of American adults are considered obese, yet the medications many take are rarely tested in bigger bodies. That’s because they are not required to be included in drug studies. And often, they’re explicitly excluded. “Clinical trials and dosing instructions don’t always ensure that drugs will be safe and effective for people with obesity,” said Christina Chow, a drug researcher who’s reported on the challenges of considering obesity in drug development. “There’s no real emphasis for them to be studied at all.” (Aleccia, 11/7)
CBS News:
FDA Investigating Reports Of Hospitalizations After Fake Ozempic
At least three Americans have been reported hospitalized after using suspected counterfeits of semaglutide drugs, which include Novo Nordisk's diabetes medication Ozempic, according to records released by the Food and Drug Administration. The hospitalizations are among 42 reports to the FDA's Adverse Event Reporting System that mention use of counterfeit semaglutide from around the world. The agency last updated its database at the end of last month to include reports tallied through the end of September. (Tin, 11/7)
Reuters:
Bayer Weighs Break-Up Options As Management Job Cuts Loom
Bayer is considering spinning off its consumer health or crop science divisions, it said on Wednesday, as new CEO Bill Anderson gave his initial thoughts on how to revive the diversified German company's battered share price. Management is looking into separating either the non-prescription medicines business or the agriculture business from the rest of the group which includes pharmaceuticals, but not at the same time, Bayer said in a statement. (Burger, 11/8)
Reuters:
Bayer Says Judge Gave Roundup Jury Secret Message Before $175 Mln Verdict
Bayer is seeking to overturn a recent $175 million verdict in favor of a man who alleged that the company's Roundup weed killer caused his cancer, saying that the trial judge gave the jury a secret instruction that may have swayed their verdict. (Pierson, 11/7)
News Service of Florida:
Nursing Home Association Warns Feds That Staffing Proposal Is Unattainable
Objecting to a “one size fits all” model, Florida’s largest nursing home industry group is opposing a federal proposal that would set staffing standards. Emmett Reed, chief executive officer of the Florida Health Care Association, sent a letter last week to the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that warned most nursing homes could not meet the proposed standards. (11/7)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. County Physicians Weigh Possible Strike
Physicians and dentists who work for hospitals and clinics run by Los Angeles County and who care for patients in its jails and juvenile facilities are weighing a possible strike over what union officials argue are inadequate benefits that have hampered employee retention and led to alarming levels of vacancies. The Union of American Physicians and Dentists said its members will begin voting Tuesday on whether to authorize a strike after more than two years of negotiations with the county failed to address their concerns. (Alpert Reyes, 11/7)
CNN:
Breast Implants Play A Crucial Role In Innovative Procedure To Save Life Of Man With Severe Lung Damage
When 34-year-old Davey Bauer’s lungs stopped working, doctors turned to an unusual tool to help keep him alive: large breast implants. Experts say it was an innovative solution to give Bauer’s body time to fight off a nasty infection so it could accept a lifesaving double lung transplant. It may be the first instance of a potential transplant practice that could save people with infectious disease who probably would not have survived just years ago. (Christensen, 11/8)
The Washington Post:
D.C. Council Urges Mayor Muriel Bowser To Declare Emergency On Opioids
The D.C. Council passed a measure Tuesday urging Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) to declare a public health emergency over the escalating opioid crisis, which is on pace to kill more than 400 D.C. residents for the fourth year in a row. The resolution comes at a time when advocates are pushing for the D.C. government to combat substance use disorder with the same vigor officials have shown in addressing the crime wave, which is the subject of new legislation. (Portnoy and Flynn, 11/7)
The Boston Globe:
Momentum Builds For Safe Consumption Sites In Massachusetts
“How many more people need to die before we take action?” said McGovern, a city councilor and former mayor. “Every one of those people was a 10-year-old kid once, who dreamed of playing second base for the Red Sox or becoming a doctor or a lawyer.” Frustrated by the opioid crisis, McGovern is among a growing number of public officials in Massachusetts embracing the creation of supervised consumption sites, which a multitude of studies have shown to save lives, reduce the spread of infectious diseases, and improve access to treatment. (Serres, 11/7)
The Hill:
Marijuana Use Increases Risk Of Heart Attacks, New Studies Suggest
Two new studies suggest that regular use of marijuana could be linked to a higher risk of heart failure or heart attack, especially among older people. The preliminary findings of the studies, which have yet to be published, will be presented next week at the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Scientific Sessions 2023 in Philadelphia. (Fortinsky, 11/6)
Axios:
Walmart Sensory-Friendly Hours Start Friday At Stores Nationwide
Walmart stores nationwide will lower the lights, turn off the radio and change their TV walls to a static image for daily "sensory-friendly hours," the retailer announced Tuesday. Walmart's hours, which start Friday, appear to be the biggest shopping program yet for people with sensory processing issues, which include autism, ADHD and PTSD. (Tyko, 11/7)
The Washington Post:
Nutrition Guidelines May Soon Warn Against Ultraprocessed Foods
For decades, the federal government’s dietary guidelines have urged people to eat plenty of foods rich in vitamins, minerals, fiber, and protein — while warning us to steer clear of foods high in sodium, sugar, and saturated fat. But now, the scientific experts who shape the way we eat might start warning consumers against eating too many ultra-processed foods. (O'Connor, 11/7)