Arizona Mirror: Arizona Senate Repeals 1864 Abortion Ban After Two Republicans Join Democrats
A 160-year-old abortion ban written before Arizona became a state that punishes doctors with prison time is now one step away from being repealed after a pair of Republicans in the state Senate on Wednesday crossed party lines to join Democrats in voting it down. (Gomez, 5/1)

Abortion news from Florida —

South Florida Sun Sentinel: ‘Women Are Scared And Angry:’ The Reality Of The Florida’s New Six-Week Abortion Law Sets In
On Tuesday, the reality of Florida’s new six-week abortion ban hit the radar of pregnant women seeking care. At a Planned Parenthood clinic in West Palm Beach, doctors scrambled to provide abortions for anyone pregnant beyond six weeks. Women crowded into a waiting room, returning for a pill or surgical procedure. ... Yet, even with the scramble, the clinic turned some women away, a glimpse into the future of reproductive care in Florida. (Krischer Goodman, 5/1)

NPR: A 6-Week Abortion Ban Gives A Woman 2 Weeks To End A Pregnancy. Here's Why
Florida's abortion ban after six-weeks gestation is in effect as of May 1. That means the time a person has to decide whether or not to have an abortion in Florida is – at most – two weeks. What? It has to do with how the medical community dates a pregnancy. (Simmons-Duffin, 5/1)

The New York Times: Kamala Harris Looks To Make Trump The Face Of Florida’s Abortion Ban 
On the day that Florida began to enforce its six-week abortion ban, Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a searing attack on former President Donald J. Trump in Jacksonville, calling the measure “another Trump abortion ban” and saying he was forcing women to live a “horrific reality” without access to essential medical care. “As much harm as he has already caused, a second Trump term would be even worse,” Ms. Harris said to about 200 supporters at a convention center in a historically African American neighborhood. (Nehamas, 5/1)

From North Carolina and New Hampshire —

Reuters: US Judge Blocks Some North Carolina Restrictions On Abortion Pill
A federal judge has struck down parts of a North Carolina law restricting patients' access to the abortion pill mifepristone, which has become the subject of legal battles nationwide. Chief U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles on Tuesday struck down the state's requirements that mifepristone be prescribed only by doctors and only in person, as well as a requirement that patients have an in-person follow-up appointment. She said the requirements conflicted with federal law because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) previously considered and rejected them. (Pierson, 5/1)

The Boston Globe: Abortion Data Mandate Up For Debate In New Hampshire
Lawmakers in the New Hampshire House will hold a public hearing Wednesday on a proposal that sparked contentious debate in the Senate over whether health care providers should be required to report certain abortion data to the state. Republican senators approved a version of Senate Bill 461 that would require providers to report the date and place of each abortion they perform, the pregnant patient’s age and state of residence, the abortion method used, any prescriptions written to induce abortion, and the gestational age of the aborted fetus. (Porter, 5/1)

Today marks two years since the Dobbs leak —

AP: Abortion Consumes US Politics, Courts Two Years After SCOTUS Draft Leak 
Two years after a leaked draft of a U.S. Supreme Court opinion signaled that the nation’s abortion landscape was about to shift dramatically, the issue is still consuming the nation’s courts, legislatures and political campaigns — and changing the course of lives. The Supreme Court’s decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case was released officially on June 24, 2022, upending nearly 50 years of abortion being legal nationwide. But the world caught a glimpse of it about six weeks earlier, on May 2, after a news outlet published a leaked draft. (Mulvihill, 5/2)

The Hill: Partisan Gap On Abortion ‘Larger Than Ever:’ Analysis
The divide between Democrats and Republicans on abortion is at its starkest point in years, according to a new survey on the issue that’s poised to play a big role in the 2024 presidential race. There’s a 50-point gap between the two major parties, a figure that is “larger than ever,” according to research from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI). (Mueller, 5/2)

USA Today: Maternal Deaths Are Dropping, But These Moms Still Face High Risk.
The number of women who died during childbirth or within of weeks giving birth dropped sharply in 2022 after staggering increases during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, new data shows. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday estimated 817 women died of maternal causes in the United States in 2022, marking a drop from 1,205 deaths in 2021 and 861 in 2020. (Alltucker, 5/2)

NBC News: Pregnancy-Related Deaths Are Dropping. Here's Why Doctors Aren't Satisfied
The accuracy of NCHS's maternal mortality data, which comes from death certificates, has long been scrutinized. More than a decade ago, the research group noted that many deaths among pregnant women were not being counted because of a problem with medical coding. (Edwards, 5/2)

On menopause, preeclampsia, and maternal mental health —

NPR: Benefits Of Hormone Therapy For Menopause Symptoms Outweigh Risks, Study Finds
The benefits of hormone therapy for the treatment of menopause symptoms outweigh the risks. That's the conclusion of a new study published in the medical journal JAMA. "Among women below the age of 60, we found hormone therapy has low risk of adverse events and [is] safe for treating bothersome hot flashes, night sweats and other menopausal symptoms, " says study author Dr. JoAnn Manson, chief of preventive medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital. This is a departure from the advice many women have been given in the past. (Aubrey, 5/1)

The New York Times: Aspirin Can Prevent A Deadly Pregnancy Complication. Why Aren’t Women Told? 
Baby aspirin is routinely prescribed to people who survive heart attacks. But there’s another vulnerable group who benefit from daily low-dose aspirin: pregnant women at risk of developing pre-eclampsia, life-threatening high blood pressure. But not enough pregnant women are getting the word that low-dose aspirin can help. Now leading experts are hoping to change that. (Rabin, 5/1)

CNN: Why Is A Mother’s Mental Health So Important? A Doctor Explains 
In many countries, up to 1 in 5 new mothers experience a mood or anxiety disorder. Unfortunately, these conditions often go undiagnosed and untreated due to lack of awareness and stigma, and everyone pays the price. (Hetter, 5/1)

NBC News: Two Possible Bird Flu Vaccines Could Be Available Within Weeks, If Needed
The U.S. has two vaccines ready should the strain of bird flu circulating in dairy cows begin spreading easily to people, federal health officials said Wednesday. They could begin shipping doses widely within weeks, if needed. ... At a briefing Wednesday, government health officials said they are preparing for a potential scenario of H5N1 jumping from animal to person — or person to person. (Lovelace Jr., 5/1)

Testing continues on a variety of dairy products —

CIDRAP: FDA Finds No Live H5N1 Avian Flu Virus In Sour Cream Or Cottage Cheese, Will Assess Raw Milk 
In updates today from federal agencies involved in the response to H5N1 avian flu outbreaks in dairy cows, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said egg inoculation tests on cottage cheese and sour cream that tested positive for traces of the virus traces showed no live virus. (Schnirring, 5/1)

The New York Times: Bird Flu Highlights Concerns Around Raw Milk
Raw milk, in the best of times, “is one of the riskiest foods that we have,” said Benjamin Chapman, a professor and food safety specialist at North Carolina State University. But with cases of avian influenza, or bird flu, detected in dairy cows, it could potentially be even riskier now, health experts warn. Nearly all of the dairy milk sold in stores is pasteurized, and testing by the F.D.A. has so far shown that this process inactivates the avian influenza virus H5N1. (Callahan and Blum, 5/1)

Stat: Missing Data Stymies Scientists Tracking Bird Flu Virus Changes 
Another upload of genetic sequence data from the H5N1 bird flu outbreak in dairy cattle has exacerbated the scientific community’s frustration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture after the agency again failed to include basic information needed to track how the virus is changing as it spreads. (Branswell, 5/2)

On the beef supply —

CBS News: Ground Beef Tested Negative For Bird Flu, USDA Says
Tests of ground beef purchased at retail stores have been negative for bird flu so far, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday, after studying meat samples collected from states with herds infected by this year's unprecedented outbreak of the virus in cattle. The results "reaffirm that the meat supply is safe," the department said in a statement published late Wednesday after the testing was completed. (Tin, 5/1)

The Hill: 16,000 Pounds Of Ground Beef Recalled Nationwide Over E. Coli Concerns 
More than 16,000 pounds of raw ground beef are under recall, the USDA announced Wednesday, due to possible E. coli contamination. The recall was issued by Cargill Meat Solutions, a Pennsylvania-based company that distributes meat around the country. The recalled beef was shipped to Walmart stores nationwide, according to the USDA. (Martichoux, 5/1)

Modern Healthcare: Lawmakers Slam UnitedHealth's Andrew Witty At Change Healthcare Hearings
UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty endured withering criticism from lawmakers Wednesday as Congress held a pair of hearings on the Change Healthcare cyberattack and its fallout. The Senate Finance Committee got first crack at the healthcare executive Wednesday morning before Witty headed to the other side of Capitol Hill to testify before a House Energy and Commerce Committee subcommittee in the afternoon. (McAuliff, 5/1)

CBS News: UnitedHealth Data Breach Caused By Lack Of Multifactor Authentication, CEO Says
Hackers breached the computer system of a UnitedHealth Group subsidiary and released ransomware after stealing someone's password, CEO Andrew Witty testified Wednesday on Capitol Hill. The cybercriminals entered through a portal that didn't have multifactor authentication (MFA) enabled. During an hourslong congressional hearing, Witty told lawmakers that the company has not yet determined how many patients and health care professionals were impacted by the cyberattack. (Brooks, 5/1)

CNBC: One-Third Of Americans Could Be Hit By Change Healthcare Cyberattack
UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty on Wednesday told lawmakers that data from an estimated one-third of Americans could have been compromised in the cyberattack on its subsidiary Change Healthcare, and that the company paid a $22 million ransom to hackers. (Capoot, 5/1)

Bloomberg: Hacked Data Remains A Mystery After Change Healthcare Hearing
Witty revealed a lot of new details: Hackers encrypted Change’s systems with ransomware, prompting a total rebuild. They also locked backup filed, delaying restoration. The company paid a $22 million ransom in an attempt to protect patient data that was pilfered by the hackers. (Tarabay, 5/1)

Modern Healthcare: UnitedHealth’s Andrew Witty Leads CEO Compensation In 2023
UnitedHealth Group's Andrew Witty became the highest-paid CEO among the major health insurers last year, but his total compensation paled in comparison to Oscar Health CEO Mark Bertolini. Witty's total 2023 compensation was $23.5 million, up 12.8% from a year earlier, driven by gains in stock and option awards. (Berryman, 5/1)

The Hill: Biden To Announce $3 Billion To Replace Lead Pipes
President Biden will announce Thursday that his administration will be doling out $3 billion in funds to replace lead pipes, which can pose a health hazard. Biden will announce the funds, part of a total of $15 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, during a trip to Wilmington, N.C., to replace these pipes. (Frazin, 5/2)

NBC News: FDA Misses Own Deadline To Propose Ban On Cancer-Linked Formaldehyde From Hair Relaxers
A proposal to ban formaldehyde in hair-straightening products that was scheduled to take place in April has not been released by the Food and Drug Administration, disregarding the agency’s own deadline. The proposal had come after wide-ranging studies found an association between some of the ingredients in hair-smoothing and hair-straightening products, which are used mostly by Black women, and cancer. (Garcia, Lovelace Jr. and Griffith, 5/1)

Roll Call: Navy In Court Over Pearl Harbor Water Contamination 
Not since the dark day at Pearl Harbor that drew America into World War II has there been so much trouble in paradise, as the U.S. naval base on the Hawaiian island of Oahu is sometimes described. A gusher of jet fuel that leaked into the base’s drinking water in November 2021 led to a lawsuit that forced the Navy to admit it was negligent in maintaining the gigantic fuel tanks built into a mountain at the start of the war, in a depot known as the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility. (Magner, 5/1)

On nutrition policy —

The Hill: Potatoes Will Remain Classified As A Vegetable, Not A Grain, Collins Says
Spuds won’t be considered a starch following protests from more than a dozen senators. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she received assurances Wednesday that potatoes will not be reclassified as a grain, a move she feared would give the impression that one of Maine’s key crops is unhealthy. “I am pleased Secretary Vilsack called me personally to tell me that the USDA has no intention of reclassifying potatoes and recognizes that potatoes are, in fact, a vegetable.” (Beitsch, 5/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Would Nutrition Labels On The Front Of Food Packages Make You Eat Healthier? 
Would you still eat your snack if it came with a warning label? As part of the government’s quest to improve American eating habits, the Food and Drug Administration is considering requiring food manufacturers to put new labels on the front of packages. The labels might flag certain health risks, such as high levels of salt, sugar or saturated fat. (Petersen and Newman, 4/30)

On medical research —

The Hill: GOP Wants Research Group Barred From Federal Funding Over COVID Work With Wuhan
A key House committee investigating the origins of COVID-19 wants a scientific research group to be barred from receiving federal funds and criminally investigated over its president’s work with a lab in Wuhan, China. A GOP staff report released Wednesday from the majority in the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic found that EcoHealth Alliance used U.S. taxpayer dollars to facilitate high-risk research on coronaviruses at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), the Chinese lab at the center of the lab leak theory. (Weixel, 5/1)

KFF Health News & Politifact: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Is Wrong About A Ban On NIH Research About Mass Shootings
The National Institutes of Health is the federal government’s main agency for supporting medical research. Is it barred from researching mass shootings? That’s what presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said recently. Kennedy, whose statements about conspiracy theories earned him PolitiFact’s 2023 “Lie of the Year,” is running as an independent third-party candidate against President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic candidate, and the presumptive Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump. (Jacobson, 5/2)

Stat: DEA Reverses Course To Avert Morphine Shortages 
The Drug Enforcement Administration is reversing a regulation that had been expected to create shortages of morphine and other opioid injectables, according to a DEA letter to drugmakers obtained by STAT. (Wilkerson, 5/1)

More on drug shortages and drug costs —

CIDRAP: Scant Drug Ingredients Linked To US Generic-Drug Shortages In First 2 COVID Years 
In the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic, shortages of 11% of generic active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) made by global manufacturers—35% of them from larger facilities in India—were tied to generic-drug unavailability in the United States, according to a research letter posted this week in JAMA. (Van Beusekom, 5/1)

FiercePharma: Emergent BioSolutions To Cut 300 Employees, Shutter 2 Facilities In Restructuring Launched Under New CEO 
Emergent will reduce its current workforce by about 300 employees “across all areas of the company” and will eliminate about 85 job openings, the company said Wednesday. Simultaneously, the company will close its Baltimore-Bayview drug substance manufacturing facility and its Rockville drug product facility, both of which are located in Maryland. The firm’s sites in Winnipeg, Canada, and Lansing, Michigan, will conduct the bulk of operations going forward, while the company “actively explores strategic alternatives for its other sites throughout the year.” (Liu and Kansteiner, 5/1)

Reuters: Healthcare And Drugmaker Groups Seek To Revive Challenge To US Drug-Pricing Law 
Healthcare and drug industry groups on Wednesday urged a U.S. appeals court to revive their challenge to a law requiring manufacturers to negotiate the prices of some drugs with the U.S government's Medicare health insurance program or pay heavy penalties. Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the Global Colon Cancer Association and the National Infusion Center Association (NICA) sued the government last year, claiming the program, a signature initiative of Democratic President Joe Biden, violated the U.S. Constitution by giving too much power to federal regulators and imposing excessive fines on companies that refuse to participate. (Pierson, 5/1)

Bloomberg: Novo Boosts Wegovy Shipments As Lilly Rivalry Pressures Prices 
Novo Nordisk A/S is shipping more introductory doses of its blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy in the US as it grapples with supply constraints and competition from Eli Lilly & Co. Wegovy sales more than doubled to 9.38 billion kroner ($1.35 billion) in the first quarter, but the number fell short of analysts’ estimates due to pricing pressure. In a sign of investors’ focus on the obesity medicine, the stock declined even though quarterly profit surged and the company raised its forecast. (Kresge, 5/2)

In legal updates —

NBC News: Johnson & Johnson To Pay $6.5 Billion To Resolve Nearly All Talc Ovarian Cancer Lawsuits In U.S.
Johnson & Johnson on Wednesday said it plans to pay $6.5 billion over 25 years to settle nearly all of the thousands of lawsuits in the U.S. claiming its talc-based products caused ovarian cancer, pending approval of the claimants. Those cases have for decades caused financial and public relations trouble for J&J, which contends that its now-discontinued talc baby powder and other talc products are safe for consumers. About 99% of the talc-related lawsuits filed against J&J and its subsidiaries stem from ovarian cancer. (Kim Constantino, 5/1)

Bloomberg: Philips Sleep Apnea Deal Leaves Opening For Future Cancer Claims
Royal Philips NV’s $1.1 billion settlement of US lawsuits targeting 5.5 million recalled sleep-apnea devices resolves only current cases and doesn’t set aside monies for potential future cancer claims over the machines. The Dutch company has set aside €982 million ($1.1 billion) to fund a settlement of allegations that the faulty sleep-aiding machines pose a cancer risk because of deteriorating sound-dampening foam. The deal also provides funds to cover doctors’ bills as users monitor their future health. (Feeley and Koc, 5/2)

Carolina Public Press: HCA Pruned Staff At Mission Hospital, Reaped Soaring Profits 
Staff cuts have driven up patient-care profits at Mission Hospital in Asheville after HCA Healthcare acquired the facility, according to a draft report by Mark Hall, director of the health law and policy program at Wake Forest University. (Vitaglione, 5/2)

The Boston Globe: ‘It’s Absolute Chaos’: Brigham Nurses Among Boston Workers Rallying For International Workers’ Day
Hundreds of Brigham and Women’s Hospital nurses and their supporters rallied outside the medical center on Wednesday, calling for better pay, benefits, and staffing levels. Many held signs that read: “If nurses are out here, something is wrong in there,” and “A fair contract means safe patient care.” “It’s absolute chaos,” Kerrie Young, 50, a Brigham nurse for more than 22 years, said about the hospital’s long wait times and staffing levels. “We have a lot of nurses that do pick up time; if that didn’t happen, we’d probably be down 10 nurses a shift.” (Walia, 5/1)

The Colorado Sun: New Medical School Coming To University Of Northern Colorado As State Tries To Solve Workforce Shortages
Colorado will create its third medical college — likely in 2026 — after Gov. Jared Polis on Wednesday signed a bill into law that will expand health care programs at higher education institutions across the state in a bid to overcome workforce shortages that worsened during and after the pandemic. (Breunlin, 5/2)

In other health industry developments —

State House News Service: House Health Care Bill Aims To Contain Costs, Set Rules To Prevent Another Steward Crisis
A sweeping new hospital oversight and industry reform bill is on the move atop Beacon Hill, representing what aides to House Speaker Ron Mariano view as the most significant health care cost control legislation in more than a decade. The Legislature’s Health Care Financing Committee on Tuesday moved to advance a redrafted, 97-page proposal that combines lessons learned from the Steward Health Care crisis, major changes to how state regulators work to contain health care spending, and new tools to deal with facility expansions and closures. (5/1)

Modern Healthcare: Ensign Group Buys 7 Skilled Nursing Facilities In 6 States
Senior living services company Ensign Group acquired seven skilled nursing facilities in six states, as well as a long-term acute care hospital. The deals closed Wednesday, the same day Ensign Group will report first quarter 2024 earnings. San Juan Capistrano, California-based Ensign Group did not disclose the price of the deals, which bring its portfolio of skilled nursing facilities to 310 operations across 14 states. (Eastabrook, 5/1)

The Wall Street Journal: CVS Made A Big Bet On Medicare. It’s Looking Risky. 
Last fall, CVS Health made seniors an enticing offer: If they signed up for the company’s Aetna Medicare plans, they could score free pickleball paddles. The benefit might also fund golf clubs, fishing rods and an array of other equipment appealing to spry retirees. The gambit worked. Enrollment in Aetna’s Medicare products surged this year. But it turned out CVS got more than it bargained for. (Mathews, 5/1)

Houston Chronicle: Another Family Takes Legal Action Against Memorial Hermann Doctor
A growing number of families are pursuing legal action against a Memorial Hermann doctor who has been accused of potentially preventing some patients from receiving liver transplants. On Monday, the family of Jerry Whittington joined a case filed last week on behalf of three other families who are seeking a temporary restraining order and injunction against Dr. J. Steve Bynon, according to a copy of the document provided to the Chronicle. The families are trying to prevent the doctor from destroying or manipulating any records that might be relevant to a potential lawsuit. (Gill, 5/1)

Politico: Appeals Court Orders Youth Climate Suit Dismissed — Again
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit on Wednesday ordered a lower court judge to end a climate change lawsuit filed against the federal government by children for the second time. The appellate court “reluctantly” ruled in 2020 that the case should be dismissed, but the district court judge in Oregon hearing the case allowed the children to file a new version of the suit. The 9th Circuit rebuked that decision in an order issued Wednesday and unequivocally directed the case be dismissed. (Guillen, 5/1)

The Baltimore Sun: Retired State Workers In Maryland Outraged By Drug Plan Switch
Before receiving a heart transplant in 2020, Mark Varner avoided imagining his life too far into the future. Instead, Varner — a professor emeritus at the University of Maryland, College Park, who was diagnosed with multiple organ failure — only allowed himself to think ahead to the next day, to wonder if he’d wake up that morning. (Roberts, 5/1)

WBEZ: Illinois' Weight-Loss Drug Coverage Costs Could Skyrocket 
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office pushed to expand coverage of high-priced weight-loss drugs for state government’s workforce, a quiet maneuver which could cost Illinois taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars starting this summer. (McKinney, 5/2)

NBC News: 'Outbreak' Of Opioid Overdoses In Austin, Texas, Linked To 8 Deaths And Over 50 Emergency Calls
Police in Austin, Texas, said they responded to an "outbreak" of over 50 opioid-related overdose calls from Monday to Tuesday morning that has been linked to as many as eight deaths. Authorities said they started receiving an increase in opioid calls around 9 a.m. Monday. ... EMS usually gets an average of two to three calls a day, White said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon. During the surge, authorities responded to about 51 calls, he said. (Burke, 5/1)

Los Angeles Times: Do Dying People Have A 'Right To Try' Psilocybin Or Magic Mushrooms?
Do dying patients have a “right to try” illegal drugs such as psilocybin and MDMA if they might alleviate end-of-life suffering from anxiety and depression? That question is now before one of the nation’s highest courts, with a Seattle-based palliative care physician appealing a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration decision barring him from prescribing psilocybin to his late-stage cancer patients. (Rector, 5/1)

Minnesota Public Radio: Meet One Of The ‘Cultural Brokers’ Helping Minnesota’s Karen Community Access Health Care 
Minnesota is home to the largest Karen community in the country. Many are refugees from Burma, now called Myanmar, and cultural differences and language barriers make it exceptionally difficult to navigate the American health care system — which is complicated enough on its own. To bridge the gap for Karen immigrants and other groups, health care organizations hire professionals who come from the same communities they are helping to find health care and other services. (Moini and Younger, 5/1)

KFF Health News: ‘Breaking A Promise’: California Deficit Could Halt Raises For Disability Workers
Families of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities say Gov. Gavin Newsom is reneging on a scheduled raise for the workers who care for their loved ones, and advocates warn of potential lawsuits if disability services become harder to get. Citing California’s budget deficit, the Democratic governor wants to save around $613 million in state funds by delaying pay increases for a year for about 150,000 disability care workers. (Sánchez, 5/2)

ABC News: 3 In 4 Americans Feel That Mental Health Takes A Back Seat To Physical Health
Even though one in five Americans lives with a mental illness, many feel it is not adequately addressed, with a new survey from West Health and Gallup suggesting that three in four Americans believe mental health conditions are not identified and treated in the same way as physical health conditions. Roughly 60% of Americans give a poor or failing grade to how mental health conditions are treated, according to the survey. (Rachmale and Kaur, 5/1)

CBS News: 12% Of LGBTQ Youth Attempted Suicide Last Year, Nationwide Survey Says
More than a third of LGBTQ young people, or 39%, seriously considered suicide in the past year, the survey found. That number was even higher for transgender and nonbinary youth at 46%. Of all LGBTQ youth, 12% attempted suicide in the past year. Despite these risks, half of LGBTQ youth who wanted mental health care could not get it, the survey found. (Breen, 5/1)

If you need help —

Dial 988 for 24/7 support from the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. It's free and confidential.

In other health and wellness news —

Stat: Researchers On Aging Grapple With How To Calculate Biological Age 
It’s no secret that a lucky few seem to glide into old age, the years settling gracefully on their bodies, while others appear to have been dragged through time tied to a metaphorical garbage truck. Biologists have been developing numerous ways to measure the rate an individual ages — often called an accelerated or decelerated “biological age” — and trying to translate it into a heightened or reduced risk of the morbidity and mortality that comes with aging. (Chen, 5/2)

KFF Health News: DIY Gel Manicures May Harm Your Health
A fresh set from the comfort of your own home? DIY gel nails have been all the rage on social media, but the practice could cause you to develop a life-changing allergy. In a TikTok video, creator @alina.gene describes developing an acrylate allergy from doing gel nails at home. Now, when exposed to acrylates, the creator feels severe pain. The creator warns viewers not to self-apply nail polish that requires a UV light to cure. (Lofton, 5/2)

AP: Congo Struggles To Contain Its Biggest Mpox Outbreak
Scientists say a new form of the disease detected in a mining town might more easily spread among people. ... An analysis of patients hospitalized between October and January in Kamituga, eastern Congo, suggests recent genetic mutations in mpox are the result of its continued transmission in humans; it’s happening in a town where people have little contact with the wild animals thought to naturally carry the disease. (Cheng and Malkia, 5/2)

Nature: Monkeypox Virus: Dangerous Strain Gains Ability To Spread Through Sex, New Data Suggest
A virulent strain of the monkeypox virus has gained the ability to spread through sexual contact, new data suggest. This has alarmed researchers, who fear a reprise of the worldwide mpox outbreak in 2022. Evidence from past outbreaks indicates that this strain, called clade I, is more lethal than the separate strain that sparked the 2022 outbreak. Clade I has for decades caused small outbreaks, often limited to a few households or communities, in Central Africa. Sexually acquired clade I infections had not been reported before last year. (Kozlov, 4/23)

CIDRAP: Jynneos Estimate Show Strong Protection Against Mpox
A new meta-analysis of 16 studies reveals that, for pre-exposure prophylactic vaccination (PrEP, which is used for disease prevention), the vaccine effectiveness (VE) of one Jynneos dose ranged from 35% to 86%, and VE for  post-exposure prophylactic vaccination ranged from 78% and 89% for one dose. (Soucheray, 5/1)

Also —

University of Florida: New MRNA Cancer Vaccine Triggers Fierce Immune Response To Fight Malignant Brain Tumor 
An mRNA cancer vaccine quickly reprogrammed the immune system to attack the most aggressive type of brain tumor in a first-ever human clinical trial. (5/1)

CIDRAP: Global, US Data Show High Antibiotic Use, Rise In Resistant Infections During COVID 
Two new studies highlight the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on antibiotic use and resistance. In one study, data gathered by researchers from the World Health Organization (WHO) confirms what previous research has shown—globally high rates of antibiotic use in COVID-19 patients despite low rates of suspected bacterial infections. In the other, a team led by researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that rates of hospital-acquired, multidrug-resistant infections at US hospitals remain well above pre-pandemic levels. (Dall, 4/26)

Stat: Congress: Prevent Baby Formula Shortages By Passing A New Bill 
Families in America should never have to scrounge for baby formula. The United States needs a diverse and resilient supply of infant formula. Boosting the ability of smaller companies to compete in this market against the three large formula makers — Abbott, Mead Johnson, and Nestlé Gerber — could help make shortages a thing of the past. (Martha Gershun and Rosa DeLauro, 5/2)

Stat: Bird Flu Should Be Monitored In Wastewater, Pandemic Experts Say
Pandemics start slowly — a few cases here, a few there — until suddenly people are sick or dying everywhere. Early detection by monitoring wastewater can help short-circuit that cycle. (Denis Nash, John Dennehy, Monica Trujillo, and Leopolda Silvera, 5/1)

The Boston Globe: Bird Flu: Why Is The H5N1 Outbreak In Dairy Cows A Big Deal?
On March 25, the US Department of Agriculture announced the discovery of an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, also known as H5N1, in dairy cattle. One week later, the first human case of H5N1 due to cattle exposure was detected. The strain of avian influenza involved in this outbreak has been circulating globally since 2020 and in North America since 2021. Over 90 million birds have died or been culled because of this infection in the United States alone. (Shira Doron, 4/30)

Stat: The Hazards Of Excessive Insurance Claim Denials 
Health care providers are in an acute financial situation. Record-high wages required to attract and retain talent coupled with price inflation not seen since the early 1980s are driving higher costs, while reimbursement and federal policies limit providers’ ability to cover expenses. Adding to this budgetary stranglehold are payment delays and insurance claim denials by payers, which compromise patients’ access to health care and providers’ financial viability. (Michael J. Alkire, 5/1)

Stat: Instead Of More Quality Metrics, Harness Fewer High-Quality Ones 
Ensuring excellent quality and outcomes is the essential goal of medical care. To achieve it, a multitude of quality metrics have been added to clinicians’ work. They include things such as controlling blood sugar for people with diabetes, ensuring that eligible adults are screened for colon and breast cancer, and guaranteeing that children are up to date on their vaccines and are receiving topical fluoride treatments. (Katherine Gergen Barnett and Lara F. Terry, 5/2)