Grist and AP: Warming Planet May Have Overwhelming Impact On Infectious Diseases
All of these factors create conditions ripe for human illness. Diseases old and new are becoming more prevalent and even cropping up in places they’ve never been found before. Researchers have begun piecing together a patchwork of evidence that illuminates the formidable threat climate-driven diseases currently pose to human health — and the scope of the dangers to come. “This is not just something off in the future,” Neil Vora, a physician with the nonprofit Conservation International, said. “Climate change is here. People are suffering and dying right now.” (Teirstein, 7/18)

Reuters: Intensifying Heat Waves Prompt Health Warnings For Europe, US
A global pattern of heat waves scorching parts of Europe, Asia and the United States intensified on Tuesday, with the World Meteorological Organization warning of an increased risk of deaths linked to excessively high temperatures. Americans were facing a medley of extreme weather, from blazing heat from Texas to Southern California to smoke-choked air wafting into the Midwest from Canada's wildfires. Flood warnings were up for Vermont towns that were inundated just last week, while Tropical Storm Calvin was expected to hit the Pacific island state of Hawaii later on Tuesday. (Salgado, 7/18)

Inside Climate News: The World Is Reeling From Record Heat And Flooding. Scientists Say Its The Cost Of Climate Inaction
A strengthening El Niño is pushing temperatures in countries around the world to record highs this month, exacerbating unprecedented heat waves and triggering deadly storms in ways that scientists say wouldn’t be possible without the influence of climate change. (Tigue, 7/18)

Voice of America: Hundreds Of Thousands Of People Dying From Preventable Heat-Related Causes
As global warming intensifies and deadly heatwaves spread across the world, becoming the “new normal,” the World Meteorological Organization is calling on governments to adopt heat action plans to protect “hundreds of thousands of people dying from preventable heat-related causes each year.” (Schlein, 7/18)

NPR: How To Avoid Heat-Related Illnesses
With excessive heat advisories in effect across the U.S., here's how to avoid heat-related illnesses. (Aubrey, 7/18)

The extreme heat is driving political thinking —

Politico: Record Temperatures Kindle Interest In Heat Legislation
With several states experiencing punishing temperatures, some lawmakers want to treat extreme heat the same as other natural disasters. It's just one of several proposals on Capitol Hill in response to rising temperatures and their toll on people. As heat waves intensify, so does the attention on action from Congress. (Alvey, 7/18)

Meanwhile, heat and climate change hit air quality —

Los Angeles Times: Worse Air Quality In L.A. Expected During Heat Wave
The heat wave baking Southern California not only raises the risk of wildfires and heat-related illness but could bring another hardship: bad air quality. The South Coast Air Quality Management District issued an air quality alert for inland areas of the South Coast Air Basin and the Coachella Valley because of elevated levels of ozone likely to cause poor air quality during the afternoon and early evening. The alert took effect Friday at 2 p.m. and continues until Tuesday at 8 p.m. (Lin, 7/18)

The New York Times: Canada Wildfire Smoke Worsens Air Quality In Georgia And North Carolina
Smoke from wildfires in Canada that pushed deep into the United States this week has reached new areas in the South, including in North Carolina and Georgia, that had mostly escaped the toxic drift blowing in from the fires in June, officials said. “Horrific up here!” Merry Miller Weis, a 70-year-old resident in the Western North Carolina mountains, wrote in an email to state climate scientists. “The mountains aren’t even visible. This is the absolute worst since the beginning of the Canadian fires.” (Hauser, 7/18)

Stateline: Workers Lack Protections When Wildfire Smoke Makes The Air Dangerous 
Millions of American workers have breathed in dangerous levels of air pollution this year as smoke from Canada’s record wildfire season blankets cities across the Northeast. Now experts are calling on federal regulators to adopt standards protecting outdoor workers from worsening air quality, potentially modeled after the few states that have such standards, including California and Oregon. (Dewey, 7/18)

Politico: D.C. Sues 25 Companies Over 'Forever Chemical' Pollution
The District of Columbia has sued at least 25 companies over "forever chemical" contamination, following the detection of low levels of multiple PFAS in the district's drinking water. The lawsuit filed Tuesday in the civil division of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia adds the nation's capital to a list of local governments that have sued major companies that manufactured PFAS-containing firefighting foam — despite knowing about the product's environmental and health harms. (Borst, 7/18)

Politico: 'Forever Chemicals' Water Testing Results Add To Pressure For Crackdown
Water testing from coast to coast indicates the widespread presence of "forever chemicals," bolstering calls from advocates who want to see the Biden administration accelerate its crackdown on the compounds. Testing conducted by the Environmental Working Group and released Tuesday shows PFAS cropping up in drinking water across 18 states, with the chemicals appearing both in large metro areas and smaller communities. And while some samples indicated only traces of the compounds, others yielded elevated levels of certain chemicals including some set for regulation under an advancing EPA plan. (Crunden, 7/18)

The Hill: ‘Forever Chemicals’ And Acids Used In Plastic Production Connected To Poor Pregnancy Outcomes: Study
Both cancer-linked “forever chemicals” and certain compounds used in plastic production may be associated with a heightened risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, a new study from the University of California, San Francisco has found. Exposure to these substances — which are all widespread in the San Francisco region — could carry an increased threat of gestational diabetes, life-threatening preeclampsia and pregnancy hypertension in Bay Area individuals, according to the study, published on Wednesday in Environmental Health Perspectives. (Udasin, 7/18)

Also —

The Wall Street Journal: Lots Of Tap Water Contains ‘Forever Chemicals.’ Take These Steps To Reduce Your Risk
Toxic “forever chemicals” are all over your home. But filtering your water can reduce your exposure. (Reddy, 7/18)

AP: Missouri Supreme Court Weighs Fate Of Amendment To Restore Abortion Rights
Whether Missouri voters get a chance weigh in on legalizing abortion is now up to state Supreme Court judges, who on Tuesday heard arguments in a case about Republican infighting that has stalled the amendment’s progress. Judges did not indicate when they might rule on the case, which centers around a proposed amendment to enshrine in the constitution the individual right to make decisions about abortion, childbirth and birth control. Abortion-rights supporters proposed it after the state banned almost all abortions last summer. (Ballentine, 7/18)

St. Louis Public Radio: Missouri Supreme Court Hears Delay On Abortion Rights Case
The state’s highest court heard arguments Tuesday about how much authority state offices have over the initiative ballot petition process. Attorney General Andrew Bailey and Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick are at odds about the amount of power each has over a fiscal note that estimates how much a proposed amendment adding abortion rights to Missouri’s constitution would cost the state. (Kellogg, 7/18)

Worries over patient's medical data relating to abortion —

The Hill: Patients Seeking Abortion, Gender-Affirming Care At Risk Of Increased Surveillance: Report
Patients seeking out-of-state abortions and gender-affirming care are at risk of increased surveillance from law enforcement, according to a new report. The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (STOP) released a report Tuesday detailing the elevated dangers for patients who travel for abortions or gender-affirming care. (Nazarro, 7/18)

In other news on gender issues —

AP: Louisiana Lawmakers Overturn Governor's Veto On Gender-Affirming Care Ban For Transgender Minors 
Louisiana’s Republican-dominated Legislature overturned Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards’ recent veto of a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors on Tuesday. Louisiana, where the ban is scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1, 2024, will join 20 other states that have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care, which includes puberty-blockers, hormone treatment and gender-reassignment surgery. Most of those states face now lawsuits, and in some places the bans have been temporarily blocked by federal judges. (Cline, 7/18)

AP: Kansas' Governor Gets To Defend Birth Certificate Changes In Court, A Judge Rules
A federal judge is considering Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s arguments that a new Kansas law rolling back transgender rights doesn’t bar the state from changing the sex listing on transgender people’s birth certificates. U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree ruled Tuesday that Kelly’s office can defend her administration’s policy of changing birth certificates and accepted its “friend of the court” arguments. The state’s Republican attorney general, Kris Kobach, argues that a law that took effect July 1 prohibits such changes and requires the state to undo previous ones. (Hanna, 7/18)

The Hill: House Republicans Eliminate Funding To LGBTQ Community Centers After Tense Hearing 
House Republicans voted Tuesday to eliminate funding to three LGBTQ community centers during a contentious House Appropriations subcommittee meeting that one member characterized as “political theater.” Tensions boiled over Tuesday after Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) introduced an amendment to the annual funding bill covering the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development to eliminate $3.62 million in funding for three LGBTQ community centers in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. (Migdon, 7/18)

Reuters: J&J Sues In Latest Bid To Halt Medicare Drug Price Negotiations
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) sued the U.S. government on Tuesday, becoming the latest drugmaker seeking to block a program that gives the Medicare government health insurance plan the power to negotiate lower drug prices. The pharmaceutical industry says the drug price negotiation program under President Joe Biden's signature Inflation Reduction Act law will curtail profits and compel drugmakers to curb development of groundbreaking new treatments. (7/18)

The Hill: J&J Joins Legal Fight Against Medicare Drug Price Negotiation
“The IRA breaks the agreement at the heart of the patent and regulatory laws: when companies invest and succeed at developing innovative new treatments, they are awarded time-limited and constitutionally protected rights in their innovation,” J&J said in its release. (Choi, 7/18)

Bloomberg: White House Asks CVS, Walmart For Help Promoting Inflation Reduction Act
Biden administration officials asked executives from major drug and retail chains to counter stiff opposition from the pharmaceutical industry and help promote a law intended to lower drug costs. (Griffin, 7/18)

Meanwhile, news on medical bills for Sen. Dianne Feinstein —

Los Angeles Times: Feinstein Says Late Husband's Trust Not Paying Her Medical Bills
After acute health problems that kept her away from Washington for months earlier this year, Sen. Dianne Feinstein is now engaged in a legal effort to gain more control of the finances from her late husband’s trust. The 90-year-old senator filed a petition asking a court to make her daughter, Katherine Feinstein, a successor trustee of Richard Blum’s trust, arguing that the people serving as trustees “have refused to make distributions to reimburse Senator Feinstein’s medical expenses.” (Oreskes, 7/18)

In news on the Chinese lab at the center of a covid controversy —

The New York Times: Biden Administration Moves To Ban Funding For Wuhan Lab
The Biden administration is taking steps to impose a 10-year ban on funding for the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the Chinese research laboratory at the center of a heated debate over the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a memo made public by a House subcommittee on Tuesday evening and an official familiar with the issue. (Gay Stolberg, 7/18)

Bloomberg: US Suspends Wuhan Institute Of Virology’s Access To Federal Funding 
The Biden administration formally halted the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s access to US funding, citing unanswered safety and security questions for the facility at the center of the Covid lab leak theory. The Department of Health and Human Services notified the institute about the suspension on Monday and told the lab it’s seeking to cut it off permanently, according to a memo obtained by Bloomberg News. An HHS review that started in September raised concern that the facility based in Wuhan, where Covid first emerged, is violating biosafety protocols and isn’t complying with US regulations. (Griffin, 7/18)

Also —

Politico: Chuck Grassley Places Hold On VA Official Set To Oversee Electronic Health Records Upgrade
Citing whistleblower testimony, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is holding up the nominee to the No. 2 position at the VA, he said Tuesday on the Senate floor. Grassley has said that Tanya Bradsher, the VA’s chief of staff, failed to properly oversee a correspondence system that Grassley believes mishandled veterans’ personal health information. (Leonard, 7/18)

Stat: Sanders Adds Drug Shortage Policies To Pandemic Preparedness Bill
Senate health committee Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) added three drug shortage measures to a pandemic-preparedness bill that his committee will consider Thursday. Only one of them, however, would grant the Food and Drug Administration new authorities to tackle the issue. Congress is under pressure to stem drug shortages amid reports of doctors rationing chemotherapies and other essential medicines. (Wilkerson, 7/18)

Politico: NDAA Likely To Include Senate Banking Amendments On Fentanyl, AI
Senators will likely attach a measure to crack down on opioid trafficking and a provision that would require banking regulators to report on their use of artificial intelligence to the National Defense Authorization Act, according to a near-final manager’s agreement viewed Tuesday. (Mueller, 7/18)

Stat: How Medicaid Coverage Policies For Immigrants Impact New Moms
Medicaid is an essential source of maternal and postpartum care for low-income Americans, covering 42% of births in the U.S. People who give birth receive maternity care until at least two months after delivery, or longer depending on state or local policies. But many immigrants don’t have access to this coverage, making them more vulnerable to maternal health problems, as highlighted by a new study of nearly 73,000 postpartum people across 19 states and New York City between 2012 and 2019. (Merelli, 7/18)

AP: Border Patrol Fails To Assess Medical Needs For Children With Preexisting Conditions, Report Says
Border Patrol does not have protocols for assessing medical needs of children with preexisting conditions, according to an independent report made public Tuesday on the death of an 8-year-old girl from Panama who was in federal custody. The girl’s death was “a preventable tragedy that resulted from” failures in “medical and custodial systems for children” within U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agency that includes the Border Patrol, the report found. (Cruz and Gonzalez, 7/19)

The Hill: Democratic Lawmaker Warns Of ‘Gray Tsunami’ Coming For Medicare Benefits
Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.) discussed the U.S.’s rapidly aging population and its potential strain on Medicare during a Tuesday morning event. Sánchez referred to the growing population of Americans more than 65 years old as a “gray tsunami” during The Hill’s More than Memory Loss: Caring for those with Alzheimer’s event, sponsored by Otsuka. Bob Cusack, The Hill’s editor in chief, moderated the event. (Kelly, 7/18)

The Wall Street Journal: Opioid Victims Object To Supreme Court Review Of Purdue Pharma’s $6 Billion Settlement 
Victims of opioid addiction are objecting to the U.S. government’s request to send Purdue Pharma’s pending bankruptcy plan for review before the Supreme Court, which would delay long-awaited disbursements under a $6 billion settlement for addiction victims and state governments. (Saeedy, 7/18)

KFF Health News: Listen To The Latest ‘KFF Health News Minute’
“KFF Health News Minute” brings original health care and health policy reporting from the KFF Health News newsroom to the airwaves each week. (7/18)

Reuters: Teladoc Expands Microsoft Tie-Up To Document Patient Visits With AI 
Teladoc Health is expanding a partnership with Microsoft to use the tech giant's artificial intelligence services to automate clinical documentation on the telehealth platform, lifting its shares 6% in premarket trade. The integration of AI including Microsoft's services with technology from OpenAI, owner of viral chatbot ChatGPT, will help ease the burden on healthcare staff during virtual exams, Teladoc said on Tuesday. (7/18)

Modern Healthcare: Teladoc Health, Microsoft Team Up On Generative AI
Teladoc Health is adding Nuance's voice-enabled generative artificial intelligence solution to help its providers with documentation, the companies said on Tuesday. Under the agreement, Teladoc clinicians will use Nuance’s Dragon Ambient eXperience Express generative AI tools to automatically produce clinical visit notes. Nuance, owned by tech giant Microsoft, said the tool can summarize and enter conversations between clinicians and patients directly into electronic health record systems using OpenAI's GPT-4 generative AI capabilities. (Turner, 7/18)

AI and health data security is becoming a talking point —

Fedscoop: Senators Propose New Bipartisan AI Legislation Focused On National Health Security
New bipartisan legislation proposed by Senators Ed Markey, D-MA, and Ted Budd, R-NC, on Tuesday would push the Department of Health and Human Services to take a more active role in studying the potential biosecurity risks created by artificial intelligence. (Heilweil, 7/18)

In other artificial intelligence news related to health —

ScienceDaily: AI To Predict Your Health Later In Life — All At The Press Of A Button
Thanks to artificial intelligence, we will soon be able to predict our risk of developing serious health conditions later in life, at the press of a button. Abdominal aortic calcification, or AAC, is a calcification which can build up within the walls of the abdominal aorta and predicts your risk of developing cardiovascular disease events such as heart attacks and stroke. It also predicts your risk of falls, fractures and late-life dementia. Conveniently, common bone density machine scans used to detect osteoporosis, can also detect AAC. (7/17)

Modern Healthcare: How A Texas Health System Is Deploying AI For Gun Detection
UMC Health System is the latest healthcare organization to incorporate artificial intelligence into its operations. It’s one of the few to use it to detect guns. The health system in Lubbock, Texas, is adding an AI-based video analytics platform onto its existing security system that will detect, without using facial recognition software, whether someone is carrying a gun, said Jeff Hill, the system's vice president of operations. If the system from ZeroEyes detects a weapon, it will alert someone at ZeroEyes, who will determine whether a real threat exists. If so, UMC security staff at the hospital will be notified, he said. (Perna, 7/18)

Politico: Experts Say The Biden Administration Could Blow Its Biggest Chance To Get Smokers To Quit
Even as the agency prepares to roll out a menthol cigarette ban later this summer, the FDA’s bar for authorizing less-harmful menthol e-cigarettes to help smokers quit is so high that it may be impossible to reach. That’s the upshot of communications from the FDA to Logic, a major e-cigarette maker, and comments from former FDA officials and public health experts, who worry the impact of a menthol cigarette ban may fall far short of its desired effect. The communications are in documents obtained by POLITICO through a Freedom of Information request. (Ellen Foley, 7/18)

San Francisco Chronicle: California’s Early Childhood Services Hit By Drop In Tobacco Tax Haul
For 25 years, some of California’s best-known early childhood services have been funded by an almost ironic source: Taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products. That was the deal voters made when they passed Proposition 10 in 1998, levying a tobacco tax and dedicating the money for programs that would help families with young children. The arrangement was never supposed to last forever. Advocates for youth services have known from the beginning that fewer people would smoke over time, and the funding would fall. (Ibarra, 7/18)

Vaping, smoking's technological young cousin, is also in the news —

The Hill: Vaping Harms Heart And Lungs: American Heart Association
The use of e-cigarettes was found to have a negative impact on the heart and lungs as the American Heart Association (AHA) calls for further research into the issue. “E-cigarettes deliver numerous substances into the body that are potentially harmful, including chemicals and other compounds that are likely not known to or understood by the user,” volunteer chair of the AHA scientific statement writing committee Jason Rose said in a new scientific statement released Monday. (Sforza, 7/18)

Axios: Johnson & Johnson Must Pay California Man $18.8 Million In Baby Powder Lawsuit
Johnson & Johnson was ordered by a California jury on Tuesday to pay $18.8 million to a man who said in a lawsuit that he developed cancer due to exposure to its baby powder, per Reuters. J&J said it will appeal the decision. Why it matters: J&J is seeking to settle lawsuits from cancer survivors and their families who allege the company's talc-based powder caused their illness while denying that this is the case. (Falconer, 7/18)

Bloomberg: J&J Ordered To Pay $18.8 Million Over Man’s Talc-Cancer Claims
Jurors in state court in state court in Oakland concluded Tuesday that J&J’s baby powder helped cause Anthony Hernandez Valadez’s mesothelioma, a specific type of cancer linked to asbestos exposure. Due to Valadez’s failing health, the case was cleared for trial as an exception to a court order putting all litigation on hold after J&J sought to wall off its talc liability in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy. (Feeley, 7/18)

In other news on J&J —

CIDRAP: Agreement Will Expand Access To Key Drug For Resistant TB
An agreement between the Stop TB Partnership and pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson (J&J) will expand access to a key component of the shorter drug regimen for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). Under the agreement, which was announced last week, J&J granted Stop TB Partnership's Global Drug Facility (GDF) licenses that will enable it to "tender, procure, and supply" generic versions of Sirturo (bedaquiline) for most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), including those in which the drug is still under patent. Bedaquiline is part of the 6-month regimens that are recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for treating MDR-TB. (Dall, 7/18)

On a large investment into drug discovery —

The Boston Globe: Flagship Strikes Deal With Pfizer To Jointly Fund And Develop Drug Programs
Flagship Pioneering, a Cambridge firm that creates and funds biotech startups, said Tuesday that it struck a partnership with pharma giant Pfizer to jointly launch drug programs and bankroll new experimental medicines. Under the deal, the two firms will each invest $50 million in 10 drug programs, drawing on technology in the portfolios of the 40-plus startups backed by Flagship. Pfizer, the world’s largest drug company by 2022 revenue, will have the option to acquire each of the jointly funded programs. (Weisman, 7/18)

Reuters: Pfizer, Flagship Pioneering To Invest $100 Mln In Drug Discovery
U.S. drugmaker Pfizer (PFE.N) and venture firm Flagship Pioneering on Tuesday said they would invest $100 million together to develop up to 10 new potential drugs for areas including internal medicine, oncology, infectious diseases and immunology. Flagship, which has incubated biotech companies, most famously Moderna Inc (MRNA.O), and Pfizer will each invest $50 million. Flagship's drug discovery initiative Pioneering Medicines will lead the exploration process. (7/18)

In other industry news —

Reuters: US Judge Rejects $45 Mln Award To CareDx In Natera False Ads Case
A Delaware federal judge on Monday threw out a $45 million damages award for genetic testing company CareDx (CDNA.O) in a false-advertising case against rival Natera (NTRA.O). U.S. District Judge Colm Connolly said the jury award was unjustified because there was no evidence that Natera's allegedly misleading advertisements about its Prospera tests for kidney-transplant patients deceived customers. (Brittain, 7/18)

Reuters: Softbank-Backed Neumora's Depression Drug Cuts Symptoms In Mid-Stage Trial
Softbank-backed Neumora Therapeutics' experimental drug navacaprant has helped reduce symptoms of depression in patients with moderate-to-severe forms of the disorder in a mid-stage trial, the company said on Tuesday. Neumora, whose investors include SoftBank Vision Fund and Amgen (AMGN.O), said it would begin late-stage studies of the drug in some patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). (7/18)

The Wall Street Journal: Noom Picks New CEO As It Moves Into Market For Ozempic
The digital-health platform Noom is choosing a veteran technology executive to lead the company, as it looks to seize on surging interest in weight-loss treatments and wellness among consumers. (Cutter, 7/18)

Politico: University Hospital Is 'Functionally Obsolete,’ State Study Says
University Hospital is “functionally obsolete” and the state would need to pick up the tab for much of the hospital’s proposed $1.8 billion renovation, according to a report commissioned by the Economic Development Authority. (7/18)

Modern Healthcare: Encompass Health, University Of Maryland Launch Joint Venture
Encompass Health and the University of Maryland Medical System will own and operate an inpatient rehabilitation hospital through a joint venture announced Tuesday. Birmingham, Alabama-based Encompass Health has focused on building inpatient rehabilitation hospitals and pursuing joint ventures with health systems in recent years. This is the first venture between the two organizations. Financial terms were not disclosed. (Berryman, 7/18)

Modern Healthcare: Why Dialysis Is Slowly Moving Into The Home For Kidney Care
Efforts to move dialysis care into the home are gaining traction, three years after then-President Donald Trump set a goal of having 80% of newly diagnosed kidney failure patients receive transplants or home dialysis by 2025. Last year, 26.6% of Medicare beneficiaries with end-stage renal disease were receiving dialysis, compared with 13.3% in 2020, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (Eastabrook, 7/18)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Nursing Master's Program At Penn Offers New Entry To The Profession
College graduates could soon learn nursing at the University of Pennsylvania without getting a second bachelor’s degree. The new master’s in professional nursing will train students who already have a bachelor’s degree in other fields and prepare them for the registered nurse licensing exam, or NCLEX. (Gutman, 7/18)

AP: Florida County Reports Its 7th Case Of Locally Contracted Malaria 
A southwest Florida county has document a seventh case of malaria, state authorities said. The Florida Department of Health reported a new locally acquired case of malaria in Sarasota County during the week of July 9-15. That’s in addition to five cases last month and one case in May. (7/19)

NBC News: New Malaria Case In Florida Brings National Total To 8, The First U.S. Acquired Cases In 20 Years
Malaria was considered eliminated from the U.S. by 1951, but the country gets around 2,000 cases annually, nearly all among people who had traveled outside the U.S. Dr. Monica Parise, the director of the CDC’s Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria, said malaria outbreaks in the U.S. have historically been “relatively small and contained.” The outbreak in Sarasota County fits the pattern, she said. (Bendix and Alexander, 7/18)

CIDRAP: Florida Reports More Cases Of Malaria And Dengue
In its latest weekly arbovirus report, the Florida Department of Health confirmed one more local malaria case as well as one more local dengue infection. The report covers mosquito-borne illness activity for the week ending July 15. The malaria case involves a resident of Sarasota County, where the earlier locally acquired cases occurred. The new case lifts the number of local cases for the year to seven. Texas also reported a local malaria case this year, which involved someone from Cameron County. (Schnirring, 7/18)

Health News Florida, WUSF: Health Officials Report A Seventh Case Of Malaria In Sarasota County
In addition, the year's third case of dengue was confirmed in Miami-Dade. Sarasota, Manatee and Miami-Dade counties are under a mosquito-borne illness alert. Health officials have confirmed one new case of locally acquired malaria in north Sarasota County this past week, for a total of seven this year. (Mayer, 7/18)

Meanwhile, on the opioid crisis —

San Francisco Chronicle: Dangerous New Strain Of Fentanyl Discovered In S.F.’s Drug Supply
A dangerous new strain of fentanyl — fluorofentanyl — was found in dozens of overdose deaths in San Francisco last year while a concerning new street drug called xylazine — commonly known as “tranq” — was present in more than a dozen cases, according to a new report from the medical examiner. Fluorofentanyl, which can range from half to five times as powerful as prescribed fentanyl, was found in 45 deaths, while xylazine, a veterinary tranquilizer not intended for human consumption, was identified in 15 cases. Different kinds of fentanyl were found in 12 cases. All tranq cases also contained fentanyl. (Moench, 7/18)

Also —

Salt Lake Tribune: Signs Of Harmful Algal Toxin Found In Virgin River In St. George Following Puppy’s Death
The presence of a harmful algal bloom has been detected in the Virgin River through a part of St. George. The Utah Department of Environmental Quality announced Friday that the presence of a bloom was found in a segment of the Virgin River between the area of the RV Rental Pad senior community and Mall Drive Bridge. (Kessler, 7/18)

Newsweek: Toxic Algal Bloom Covering Florida Lake So Big It Is Visible From Space
A toxic bloom of blue-green algae is blossoming across Lake Okeechobee in Florida, leading to health warnings and the closure of parts of a local marina. The bloom was thought to have spread across 380 square miles of the lake as of June 12. It is Florida's largest freshwater lake, and the 10th-largest natural freshwater lake in the U.S. (Thomson, 7/18)

USA Today: Misdiagnosis Kills, Disables An Alarming Number Of Americans Each Year
For years, the public hasn't known much about the full scope of medical misdiagnoses that happen in the U.S., according to a new report released by the Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute Center for Diagnostic Excellence. Until now, estimates of annual incorrect diagnoses have varied widely, the report says. Now, researchers say an estimated 371,000 patients die and 424,000 are permanently disabled each year because they are incorrectly diagnosed across a range of medical care settings — not just in the family doctor's office. (Thornton, 7/18)

The Hill: Here Are The 10 Fittest And Least Fit Big US Cities 
Arlington, Va. and Washington, D.C. topped a ranking of America’s fittest cities released Tuesday, with Wichita and Oklahoma City taking up the rear among the 100 largest U.S. cities. The 16th annual American Fitness Index is a collaboration between the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the Elevance Health Foundation. The index uses census and city-provided data surrounding 34 fitness indicators to rank the 100 largest U.S. cities. (Roseborough, 7/18)

CIDRAP: Experts Offer Tips To Combat Rampant Online COVID, Other Health Misinformation
The US medical and public health communities should work together to combat online health misinformation through sustainable investments in media monitoring and counter messaging, according to a Harvard Medical School–led research team. Their report, published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine, describes how to address untruths such as the social media rumors that undermined trust in science during the COVID-19 pandemic. (7/18)

KFF Health News: Once The New Over-The-Counter Birth Control Pill Is Available, What About Cost And Coverage?
Last week, the FDA approved Opill, the first daily oral contraceptive that will be available for sale over the counter in stores as well as online. Reproductive health advocates hailed the groundbreaking approval as a step that can help millions of people avoid pregnancy, which is unintended nearly half the time in the United States. They long have argued that eliminating the often-time-consuming step of requiring people to get a prescription before they can get birth control pills would expand access and give people more control over their contraceptive decisions. (Andrews, 7/19)

North Carolina Health News: Medicaid Unwinding Numbers Show More Kicked Off Of Program Than Anticipated
North Carolina began kicking Medicaid participants off the rolls last month for the first time in more than three years, initiating a purge that experts fear will leave an untold number of residents without health insurance — even if they remain eligible for the program. People enrolled in Medicaid had been protected by a federal provision that prevented states from discontinuing coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic. That meant that anyone who was deemed eligible for the combined state- and federally funded program starting in March 2020 remained on the program, ballooning North Carolina’s overall enrollment. (Baxley, 7/19)

In other news from across the country —

Los Angeles Times: California Will Cap Hundreds Of Orphaned Oil Wells 
California state regulators announced on Tuesday their plans to cap orphaned oil wells across the state, including wells in a South Central residential neighborhood near USC that caused health complaints from residents for years. The effort is part of a new push to close problem sites that have posed health risks to communities across the state, oftentimes disadvantaged neighborhoods in close proximity to oil drill sites. California Gov. Gavin Newsom earmarked $100 million in the state budget to address the issue. (Solis and Martinez, 7/18)

Colorado Sun: Coloradans Increasingly Worried About Cost Of Living, Housing And Homelessness
Cost of living and housing affordability are the top concerns of Coloradans this year, according to a poll released by the Colorado Health Foundation. In an open-ended question asking participants what they thought the most important issue facing Colorado is right now, 16% answered cost of living and 15% answered housing affordability. Other issues in the top five were government and politics, public safety and crime, and homelessness. (Yamasaki, 7/18)

The CT Mirror: CT Doctors Say Non-Compete Agreements Limit Health Care Access
Non-compete agreements in job contracts are reducing health care access and affordability, a group of physicians, surgeons and lawyers told U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., at a roundtable conversation in New Britain Tuesday. In Connecticut, two major health systems — Hartford HealthCare and Yale New Haven Health — own most of the state’s hospitals and many of its physician practices, and health care professionals who work for one system under non-compete agreements are limited if they want to find a new position with another provider. (Phillips, 7/19)

MPR News: Minneapolis Behavioral Crisis Response Team Says Its Success Is Despite Lack Of Support From City
The Minneapolis City Council will vote on a new contract this week for the city's behavioral crisis response (BCR) team — that's a group of mental health workers who respond to some 911 mental health crisis calls instead of police. The team received a pat on the back from the U.S. Department of Justice last month in its investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department. Mental health workers have responded to 12,000 calls since December 2021. (Wurzer and Brown, 7/18)

Bay Area News Group: San Jose's Main Water Utility Failed To Report E. Coli Sample
San Jose Water failed to report and conduct a formal investigation into an E. coli sample discovered at one of its wells, according to San Jose City Councilmember Rosemary Kamei. In an emailed communication sent out Tuesday afternoon, Kamei said the bacteria was detected on May 5 from a routine sample at one of the water utility company’s groundwater sites. The well was immediately taken offline while a follow-up sample was drawn and the water was not delivered to any resident’s homes, Kamei said. (Greschler, 7/18)

AP: Western North Carolina Tribe To Vote On Broader Legalization Of Adult Use Of Marijuana 
Members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians will vote in September on whether they want to legalize marijuana possession and sales on tribal lands for anyone 21 and older — not just for those seeking it for medical use that the North Carolina tribe had already authorized. The Tribal Council agreed last week to place the question on the ballot during the tribe’s Sept. 7 general election. (7/18)

Associated Press: Second Alzheimer's Drug In Pipeline Can Slow The Disease By A Few Months But With Safety Risk
Another experimental Alzheimer’s drug can modestly slow patients’ inevitable worsening — by about four to seven months, researchers reported Monday. (Neergaard, 7/17)

ScienceDaily: Third Alzheimer's Drug Represents 'Opening Chapter In New Era' 
With yet a third new Alzheimer's drug expected to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the field is beginning to show progress in the fight to slow the disease. (University of California - San Francisco, 7/17)

ScienceDaily: Researchers Develop AI Model To Better Predict Which Drugs May Cause Birth Defects
Data scientists have created an artificial intelligence model that may more accurately predict which existing medicines, not currently classified as harmful, may in fact lead to congenital disabilities. (The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine, 7/17)

CIDRAP: Only 1 In 5 US Nursing Home Residents Given Monoclonal Antibodies, Antivirals For COVID 
A new study published in JAMA finds that fewer than one in five US nursing home residents received evidenced-based treatment with monoclonal antibodies or oral antiviral drugs for COVID-19, despite being at high risk for poor outcomes. The rate had improved to one in four by late 2022. (Van Beusekom, 7/17)

CIDRAP: COVID-19 Vaccine Tied To Reduced Deaths In Seniors With Dementia 
For the first time, researchers have calculated excess deaths among US dementia patients during the pandemic, and they found a reduction in excess mortality among long-term care residents after COVID-19 vaccines were made available. (Soucheray, 7/17)

CIDRAP: Agreement Will Expand Access To Key Drug For Resistant TB 
An agreement between the Stop TB Partnership and pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson (J&J) will expand access to a key component of the shorter drug regimen for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). (Dall, 7/18)

USA Today: Fentanyl Crisis Isn't Slowing. We Must Ramp Up Opioid Addiction Fight
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that close to a million people have died from opiate overdoses since 1999. That is so many deaths, it has contributed to a decline of the national life expectancy age. (Dr. Thomas K. Lew, 7/18)

Los Angeles Times: Why The First Over-The-Counter Birth Control Pill Is A Hollow Victory 
Last week, the Food and Drug Administration made the progesterone-based Opill (norgestrel) the first hormonal contraceptive approved for over-the-counter sale. Many advocates are celebrating the decision as another landmark triumph for reproductive rights. But in a country with countless obstacles to abortion access — including total or near-total abortion bans in 16 states — the advent of a nonprescription birth control pill is a hollow victory. (Christine Henneberg, 7/19)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Over-The-Counter Birth Control Pill Is ‘Small Victory’ 
Last Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration made it as easy to get the birth control pill Opill as a bottle of Tylenol. Going forward, Opill will be available over the counter, without a prescription. (Kathryn Kolbert, 7/18)

Houston Chronicle: You’re Not Tripping. Crenshaw And AOC Unite On Psychedelics
What can’t psychedelic drugs do? Research suggests they can help with depression, anxiety and addiction. Anecdotal experience suggests they can help you pretend to enjoy an outdoor-camping-slash-music festival. (7/15)

The New York Times: Over-The-Counter Birth Control Pills Are Coming. What Next? 
Amid so much discouraging news about reproductive health access in the wake of Roe v. Wade’s demise, the announcement by the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday that it was approving Opill, a daily oral contraceptive, for over-the-counter sale to people of all ages, felt like a breath of fresh air. (Daniel Grossman, 7/19)

The Atlantic: America Is Failing To Protect Workers From Extreme Heat 
This summer, the climate crisis has brought intense heat and toxic wildfire smoke to much of the country. These conditions are threats to us all, but they are particularly lethal to those who work outside, in the nation’s fields or construction sites, and even to some who work indoors. (David Michaels, 7/18)

Newsweek: It's American Workers Who Are Paying The Price For Climate Change 
As smoke from Canadian wildfires continues to endanger public health and cause hardship for tens of millions of people of all ages from New York to Missouri, we are painfully reminded of Maria Alvarez, a home care worker in Santa Paula, California. Several years ago, during the devastating Thomas Fire, Maria kept her disabled son, who depended on a ventilator, alive by manually pressing on his chest and lifting his head while the raging wildfire engulfed her community with smoke and left her without power for days. (Ben Jealous and Mary Kay Henry, 7/18)

USA Today: Abortion Ban Killed My Great-Great-Grandmother. Could It Happen To Me?
Republican lawmakers in my home state of Arizona have tried to impose a Civil War-era law that bans most abortions. Doctors would face criminal penalties for performing the procedure, even if the pregnancy were the result of rape or incest. It frightens me what would happen if they succeeded. (Sophia Rick Yudell, 7/19)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: The HPV Vaccine Should Be Required For All School-Aged Children
The HPV vaccine is, in short, a life-saver. By preventing several types of cancer, it can save thousands of U.S. lives each year. But too many children aren’t getting it. (Eddy Bresnitz, 7/18)