First Edition: May 7, 2024
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
KFF Health News:
Amgen Plows Ahead With Costly, Highly Toxic Cancer Dosing Despite FDA Challenge
When doctors began using the drug sotorasib in 2021 with high expectations for its innovative approach to attacking lung cancer, retired medical technician Don Crosslin was an early beneficiary. Crosslin started the drug that July. His tumors shrank, then stabilized. But while the drug has helped keep him alive, its side effects have gradually narrowed the confines of his life, said Crosslin, 76, who lives in Ocala, Florida. (Allen, 5/7)
KFF Health News:
What’s Keeping The US From Allowing Better Sunscreens?
When dermatologist Adewole “Ade” Adamson sees people spritzing sunscreen as if it’s cologne at the pool where he lives in Austin, Texas, he wants to intervene. “My wife says I shouldn’t,” he said, “even though most people rarely use enough sunscreen.” At issue is not just whether people are using enough sunscreen, but what ingredients are in it. (Scaturro, 5/7)
KFF Health News:
Biden Team’s Tightrope: Reining In Rogue Obamacare Agents Without Slowing Enrollment
President Joe Biden counts among his accomplishments the record-high number of people, more than 21 million, who enrolled in Obamacare plans this year. Behind the scenes, however, federal regulators are contending with a problem that affects people’s coverage: rogue brokers who have signed people up for Affordable Care Act plans, or switched them into new ones, without their permission. (Appleby, 5/7)
AP:
Medicare And Social Security Go-Broke Dates Pushed Back
The go-broke dates for Medicare and Social Security have been pushed back as an improving economy has contributed to changed projected depletion dates, according to the annual Social Security and Medicare trustees report Monday. Still, officials warn that policy changes are needed lest the programs become unable to pay full benefits to retiring Americans. Medicare’s go-broke date for its hospital insurance trust fund was pushed back five years to 2036 in the latest report, thanks in part to higher payroll tax income and lower-than-projected expenses from last year. (Hussein and Murphy, 5/6)
The Washington Post:
Social Security And Medicare Finances Look Grim As Overall Debt Piles Up
Neither President Joe Biden nor former president Donald Trump have released proposals to right Social Security’s finances. Biden has signaled a desire to raise taxes on individuals earning more than $400,000 and devote that new revenue to the Social Security Trust Fund. In his past two State of the Union addresses, the president declared absolute opposition to cutting social safety net benefits. Trump has floated cuts to the programs, but quickly backpedaled from that position and insisted he wouldn’t support reducing benefits. (Bogage and Weil, 5/6)
Modern Healthcare:
New Bill Targets Drug Shortages Through Medicare, Medicaid
In a bid to curtail the ongoing problem of drug shortages, the Senate Finance Committee proposed legislation offering incentives to hospitals and other providers to stockpile certain medications. The bill, which would be known as the Drug Shortage Prevention and Mitigation Act, looks to spur manufacturing of drugs at risk of short supply by inducing providers to sign longer-term purchasing arrangements. (McAuliff, 5/6)
CNN:
Genes Known To Increase The Risk Of Alzheimer’s May Actually Be An Inherited Form Of The Disorder, Researchers Say
Alzheimer’s disease may be inherited more often than previously known, according to a new study that paints a clearer picture of a gene long known to be linked to the common form of dementia. (Goodman, 5/6)
The Hill:
Alabama Lawsuit Over Threat Of Prosecution For Abortion Help Can Move Forward, Court Rules
A federal judge on Monday rejected an attempt to toss a suit challenging Alabama’s attorney general’s threat to prosecute those who help with out-of-state travel for abortions, paving the way for the case to move forward. U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson, in a preliminary ruling Monday, said the case brought by the Yellowhammer Fund — a group that supports people who need out-of-state abortions in the Deep South — can continue their lawsuit, which argues Attorney General Steve Marshall’s (R) threats create an illegal chilling effect on the group’s freedom of expression. (Nazzaro, 5/6)
CBS News:
Minnesota Lawmakers Mull Strengthening LGBTQ+, Abortion Rights With Constitutional Amendment
A House Rules Committee on a proposed Equal Rights Amendment moved the legislation forward Monday following discussion and public testimony — with language changes to include pregnancy protections — in a 9-5 vote. The Equal Rights Amendment would put protections in the Constitution providing for equal rights under the law regardless of sex, race, national origin or gender identity. The amendment proposal would also add protections in the constitution for abortion and LGBTQ rights. It also removes language surrounding religion and creed. (Leone, 5/6)
WUSF:
Some Doctors Say Florida's Abortion Ban Exceptions Aren't Enough
Opponents of Florida’s six-week abortion ban say the emergency rules issued by state health officials this week to clarify some medical exceptions don’t go far enough. The rules outline some life-threatening conditions a woman could experience that would allow doctors to perform an abortion after six weeks, including ectopic pregnancy or her water breaking early. (Colombini, 5/6)
CNBC:
Abortion Bans Drive Away Young Talent: New CNBC/Generation Lab Survey
The youngest generation of American workers is prepared to move away from states that pass abortion bans and to turn down job offers in states where bans are already in place, a new survey from CNBC/Generation Lab finds. (Gewirtz, 5/7)
Axios:
Exclusive: Report Urges Sustained U.S. Biodefense Buildup
A new report calls on all levels of government to strengthen U.S. biodefense measures and urges policymakers to codify parts of a national strategy to address an array of biological threats. Threats in the form of infectious disease outbreaks, lab accidents and biology-based weapons are expected to increase in the coming years, according to the report's authors and other experts. (Snyder, 5/7)
CIDRAP:
GAO Report Shows Strategic National Stockpile Challenges During COVID, Mpox
In a new report on the US Strategic National Stockpile (SNS), the Government Accountability Office (GAO) noted that, during recent public health crises such as COVID-19 and mpox, local officials weren't clear on how and from whom to request supplies, and some tribal officials cited a lack of the facilities to receive and store delivered supplies. (Soucheray, 5/6)
CIDRAP:
Substantial Rise In Mpox Cases Prompts NYC Health Alert
Mpox cases in New York City have increased substantially since October 2023, mostly in people who haven’t been vaccinated or have only received one dose, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC Health) said in a May 3 health alert. For most of 2023, the city averaged about 2 to 20 cases per month, but since October, cases have averaged 36 per month, with a peak of 51 in January. Of 256 cases reported since October, 73% were unvaccinated or had only received one dose, and 94% involved men who have sex with men. Most were Black and Hispanic men ages 25 to 44. Most cases were mild, and 10 people were hospitalized. (Schnirring, 5/6)
CIDRAP:
Studies Yield More Clues About H5N1 Avian Flu Susceptibility, Spread In Dairy Cows
Two new preprint studies shed more light on why high H5N1 avian flu viral loads have been seen in the milk of infected dairy cows and what the genetic sequences say about transmission among cattle and to other species, with one suggesting cows could be an influenza mixing vessel. (Schnirring, 5/6)
Stat:
WHO's Farrar: Social Context Is Key To Halting Bird Flu Spread
Jeremy Farrar, now the World Health Organization’s chief scientist, was working in Vietnam 20 years ago when the H5N1 virus started to spread across Asia — at that point in poultry. He recalls there was a reluctance among farmers to cull their chickens because they weren’t being compensated for them. (Branswell, 5/7)
Modern Healthcare:
States Strengthen Defense Against Private Equity Healthcare Deals
States are targeting private equity-backed acquisitions amid the financial fallout from Steward Health Care and Prospect Medical Holdings, threatening to curb corporate investment in healthcare. Over the past two years, more than a dozen states have passed laws bolstering healthcare merger and acquisition notification and financial disclosure requirements, in some cases requiring clearance from state attorneys general when corporate investors are involved. (Kacik, 5/6)
The Wall Street Journal:
The Private-Equity Deal That Flattened A Hospital Chain And Its Landlord
In the spring of 2020, Cerberus Capital Management was faced with a tricky financial situation. It owned a struggling hospital chain that needed $400 million to dig out of a deep financial hole, but Cerberus wanted to sell rather than invest more. With the surging Covid-19 pandemic making the financing more urgent, Cerberus convinced the hospital’s landlord to put up the cash. The transaction didn’t make financial sense and, until recently, was impossible to untangle. (Weil, 5/7)
The Philadelphia Inquirer:
Penn Will Stop Using Greenhouse Gas Desflurane For Anesthesia
Philadelphia-area health systems are phasing out a common anesthesia gas that hangs in the atmosphere for 14 years. Desflurane is the most potent greenhouse gas found in hospitals, which are increasingly engaged in efforts to reduce their carbon footprint. (Gantz, 5/7)
Axios:
America's Most Vulnerable: Rural Hospitals Face Financial Meltdown
Half of America's rural hospitals are running in the financial red, per a recent report from health care consultancy Chartis. Millions of Americans rely on rural hospitals for emergency and other forms of care. (Fitzpatrick and Feng, 5/7)
Texas Community Health News:
Rural Texas ERs Face Growing Mental Health Crisis
Across the state, rural hospitals face a shortage of mental health care providers, with over 60% of rural counties designated as provider shortage areas by the Health Resources and Service Administration. At the same time, the number of people experiencing mental health crises has increased, and these patients are often forced to seek care in the emergency room of rural hospitals, where they face long waits for treatment and use resources that are needed by patients with critical conditions. (Kalinina, 5/7)
USA Today:
Nursing Home Staffing And Spending Questioned By Democratic Lawmakers
Three U.S. senators and two U.S. representatives have called out the corporate spending of three large nursing home companies amid the industry's opposition to the Biden administration's rule to set minimum staffing levels. In letters sent Sunday to executives of three large chains, Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Richard Blumenthal and Reps. Jan Schakowsky and Lloyd Doggett questioned the nursing homes' spending on executive compensation, stock buybacks and dividends as the industry protests a new staffing rule for nursing homes. (Alltucker, 5/6)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
3 In 5 Wisconsin Nursing Homes Need To Hire More Staff Under New Rule
Most nursing homes in Wisconsin will need to hire more nurses or nursing aides to meet minimum staffing requirements newly announced by the federal government, a mandate that some nursing homes worry they will struggle to meet amid staffing challenges exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. ... “This is the most important nursing home reform in decades,” said David Grabowski, a professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School. “We need more staff in nursing homes." (Volpenhein, 5/6)
Crain's Chicago Business:
UChicago Medicine Residents Vote To Form Union
Medical residents and fellows at University of Chicago Medicine voted in favor of forming a union, following in the footsteps of their peers at other academic medical institutions in the city and across the country. Of the more than 1,000 residents, 98% voted to join the Committee of Interns & Residents, or CIR, a division of the Service Employees International Union and the largest group representing physicians in residency and fellowship programs in the country, the union announced today. (Davis, 5/6)
CBS News:
Minnesota Nurses Union Rally Against Proposed Cuts At North Memorial Health
The Minnesota Nurses Association plans to speak out Monday afternoon against proposed cuts to services at North Memorial hospitals and its clinics. North Memorial executives announced cuts that would eliminate outpatient mental health programs and two neonatal intensive care units at North Memorial Health in Robbinsdale, leaving more than 100 employees without a job. (Le, 5/6)
Houston Chronicle:
Embattled Houston Surgeon Warned Of Threats To Transplant Program
Dr. J. Steve Bynon, the Houston transplant surgeon who has been accused of improperly altering patient records, several years ago expressed disappointment over his inability to improve the abdominal transplant division he oversaw and more recently warned of “major threats” to the program, according to his personnel file from UTHealth Houston, obtained by the Houston Chronicle through an open records request. (Gill and MacDonald, 5/6)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Washington U. Hires Epidemiologist For Public Health School
Washington University is launching a new school devoted to public health and has hired a Boston University epidemiologist to lead the charge. The new school will be WashU’s first in almost a century, and will study a subject that has lived at the center of national debate for much of the past four years. It is slated to launch in the fall of 2026. (Merrilees, 5/6)
The Washington Post:
She Worked In Animal Research. Now She’s Blocked From Commenting On It.
An animal rights activists is embroiled in a court fight with the National Institutes of Health for blocking her online comments on NIH research using monkeys. (Weiner, 5/6)
The Columbus Dispatch:
Ohio Doctor Who Said COVID Vaccines Make People Magnetic Gets Medical License Back
The Ohio State Medical Board reinstated the medical license of a doctor who spread conspiracy theories about COVID-19 vaccines, including the false claim that they make people magnetic. The board voted last month to restore Dr. Sherri Tenpenny's license after suspending it last year and fining her $3,000. State officials said Tenpenny refused to cooperate with their investigation after the board received 350 complaints about her. (Bemiller, 5/6)
North Carolina Health News and WRAL-TV:
Former Psych Hospital Staff Allege They Were Told To Falsify Records
Days after her 21st birthday in March 2023, Mo Hatcher found herself short of breath and dizzy, feeling helpless at what she described as minor inconveniences to most people, but major events for her. Hatcher had a history of anxiety, but her panic attacks had become more frequent and intense, at times feeling like a heart attack, she said. Hatcher asked her parents to take her to Brynn Marr Hospital, a psychiatric facility near her home in Jacksonville, so she could gain better control of her anxiety. (Knopf, 5/7)
Politico:
Newsom’s Wife Has Tough Words For State’s Premier Industry
The wife of Gov. Gavin Newsom criticized the tech industry Monday, accusing one of the state’s premier industries of standing in the way of efforts to protect kids from the harmful effects of social media. Jennifer Siebel Newsom, speaking at the Milken Institute Global Conference, took swipes at Silicon Valley, accusing major firms of failing to address social media addiction and mental health problems among young people. (Mason and Korte, 5/6)
The Washington Post:
Ultrasound Technology Is Used In Many Ways. Addiction Is The Next Frontier
The use of the high-frequency sound waves is also being adapted to treat Alzheimer’s disease, tumors and psychiatric disorders. (Ovalle, 5/6)
Reuters:
US FDA Panel To Discuss First Psychedelic-Assisted PTSD Treatment Next Month
The U.S. FDA's panel of independent advisers will on June 4 deliberate whether they should recommend approval for the first MDMA-assisted therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder, Lykos Therapeutics said on Monday. This would be the first FDA panel of outside experts to review a potential new PTSD treatment in 25 years. (5/6)
The Los Angeles Times:
The Longest, Strangest Trip: Some Psychedelic Drug Users Are Stuck With Unwelcome Highs
A.J. took two small hits off a cannabis vape pen, a common ritual with his morning coffee. Moments after exhaling, a transfigured, kaleidoscopic version of the world emerged before his eyes. “Some colors are seeping into the other colors,” the 30-year-old said, gesturing across his art-filled living room in Yorba Linda. (Sheets, 5/6)
Stat:
Pediatric Hypertension Doubles Risk Of Adult Cardiovascular Disease
Children and adolescents diagnosed with high blood pressure have double the risk of major cardiovascular problems as adults, a new study that followed them into their 20s and 30s reports. (Cooney, 5/6)
The Atlantic:
A Fundamental Stage Of Human Reproduction Is Shifting
For a long time, having children has been a young person’s game. Although ancient records are sparse, researchers estimate that, for most of human history, women most typically conceived their first child in their late teens or early 20s and stopped having kids shortly thereafter. But in recent decades, people around the world, especially in wealthy, developed countries, have been starting their families later and later. (Wu, 5/6)
The New York Times:
Lead In Beethoven’s Hair Offers New Clues To Mystery Of His Deafness
Using powerful technologies, scientists found staggering amounts of lead and other toxic substances in the composer’s hair that may have come from wine, or other sources. High doses of lead affect the nervous system, and could have destroyed his hearing. (Kolata, 5/6)