First Edition: Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024

KFF Health News: Ex-Eye Bank Workers Say Pressure, Lax Oversight Led To Errors
William Lopez remembers clearly the day in June 2017 when he says he was asked to call the spouse of a college friend who had just died and ask for her eyes. The spouse hadn’t responded to calls from other employees at the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank, he said. As Lopez recalled, his supervisor thought a friend’s personal number would have more success. Lopez refused. “I went for a walk,” he said. (Beck and Bichell, 11/20)

KFF Health News: Listen: A Tussle With A Rattlesnake Can Take A Bite Out Of Your Wallet
This spring, a San Diego toddler spent two days in a pediatric intensive care unit after a rattlesnake bit his hand in his family’s backyard. The bills that followed were staggering, with the lifesaving antivenom the 2-year-old needed accounting for more than two-thirds of the total cost — $213,000. Why is antivenom so expensive? One explanation is the markup hospitals add to balance overhead costs and make money. Another explanation is a lack of meaningful competition. There are only two rattlesnake antivenoms approved by the Food and Drug Administration. (Fortiér, 11/20)

KFF Health News: FTC, Indiana Residents Pressure State To Block Hospital Merger
Indiana residents and federal officials are urging state health regulators to stop two rival hospitals in Terre Haute from merging. The deal, if approved, would leave residents with a hospital monopoly. Union Health, a nonprofit whose main hospital is licensed as a 341-bed facility, would buy the county’s only other acute care hospital, the 278-bed Terre Haute Regional Hospital, owned by for-profit chain HCA Healthcare and located 5 miles south across the city’s downtown area. Union says the merger to create one larger nonprofit health system would improve the area’s poor public health rankings. (Liss, 11/19)

Roll Call: Trump Taps Dr. Oz To Serve As Medicare, Medicaid Administrator 
President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday announced his intent to nominate Mehmet Oz — better known by his television moniker “Dr. Oz” — to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. If confirmed, Oz would oversee a sprawling federal agency that manages health care coverage for nearly half of Americans through Medicaid, Medicare, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and other programs. Oz is a heart surgeon who found commercial success through “The Dr. Oz Show,” a daytime talk show that focused on health and wellness. The show ended in 2022 when he decided to run as a Republican for Senate in Pennsylvania — a race he lost to Democratic Sen. John Fetterman.  (Hellmann and Cohen, 11/19)

NBC News: Trump Picks Mehmet Oz To Run Medicare And Medicaid Agency
"He is an eminent Physician, Heart Surgeon, Inventor, and World-Class Communicator, who has been at the forefront of healthy living for decades," Donald Trump said in a statement, adding that Oz would work alongside Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist whom Trump wants to head the Department of Health and Human Services. (Richards and Lovelace Jr., 11/19)

Politico: Trump Picks Dr. Oz To Be CMS Administrator 
Oz has been a major supporter of Medicare Advantage, the Medicare-approved private option that has grown in popularity but has come under intense scrutiny for care denials and alleged overbilling. During his Senate campaign, Oz pushed a “Medicare Advantage for All” plan that would expand the program. “These plans are popular among seniors, consistently provide quality care and have a needed incentive to keep costs low,” Oz said in an AARP candidate questionnaire. In August, he posted a YouTube video to his nearly 2 million subscribers on “the benefits of enrolling” in Medicare Advantage. (Leonard and King, 11/19)

The Wall Street Journal: How Science Lost America’s Trust And Surrendered Health Policy To Skeptics
The rise of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from fringe figure to the prospective head of U.S. health policy was fueled by skepticism and distrust of the medical establishment—views that went viral in the Covid-19 pandemic. People once dismissed for their disbelief in conventional medicine are now celebrating a new champion in Washington. Scientists, meanwhile, are trying to figure how they could have managed the pandemic without setting off a populist movement they say threatens longstanding public-health measures. (Whyte, 11/19)

The Hill: US House Passes Major Veterans Care Act
The House on Monday passed a massive bill that will fund a range of veterans care services and increase opportunities for retired service members in the workforce and education. The Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act, known as the Dole Act, passed on a bipartisan 389-9 vote. The bill is a win for Republicans who have pointed to issues with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and have called to allow veterans to access more care at home. Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.), chair of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said a big provision is that the VA will no longer “get to decide where veterans should get their health care. ”The bill is a win for Republicans who have pointed to issues with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and have called to allow veterans to access more care at home. Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.), chair of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said a big provision is that the VA will no longer “get to decide where veterans should get their health care.” (Dress, 11/18)

AP: House Republicans Signal Support For Proposal To Ban Bathroom Access For 1st Transgender Member
A resolution proposed Monday by GOP Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina would prohibit any lawmakers and House employees from “using single-sex facilities other than those corresponding to their biological sex.” Mace said the bill is aimed specifically at Democrat Sarah McBride — the first transgender person to be elected to Congress who was elected to the House this month from Delaware. (Amiri, 11/19)

The 19th: Congress Has Always Been Hostile To Women Trying To Use The Bathroom
The first woman entered Congress in 1917. It would take 45 years for the seat of legislative power in the United States to give women their own bathroom. Now, bathroom access for women on the Hill could be restricted yet again — but not because of men. South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican who in 2021 stated that she supported transgender equality, has introduced a bill that would ban transgender women from accessing women’s restrooms and facilities in the U.S. Capitol. (Rummler, 11/19)

The Hill: Donald Trump Urges Senate To Halt Judicial Confirmations Before Inauguration
President-elect Trump on Tuesday called for the Senate to stop confirming judges before he is sworn into office, amid a frantic effort from Democrats to confirm President Biden’s nominees. “The Democrats are trying to stack the Courts with Radical Left Judges on their way out the door. Republican Senators need to Show Up and Hold the Line — No more Judges confirmed before Inauguration Day!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told colleagues on the Senate floor Monday to confirm as many judicial nominees as they can before the new year, which could mean weekend and Christmas recess votes for the upper chamber. (Gangitano, 11/19)

Fox News: Pro-Life Groups Cautious On RFK Jr. Nomination After Evolving Abortion Views
The nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has rankled some abortion opponents, who are concerned about his past statements expressing a liberal position on reproductive rights. Kennedy, a former Democrat who ran for president as an independent before backing Trump, has said in multiple interviews that while he's "personally pro-life," he does not believe it's the government's role to interfere with a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy. As recently as May, he said a woman should be able to have an abortion when she's full term, although he later walked that statement back and announced support for some restrictions on abortion. (Pandolfo, 11/19)

ProPublica: Texas Lawmakers Push For More Exceptions To Strict Abortion Ban 
Weeks after ProPublica reported on the deaths of two pregnant women whose miscarriages went untreated in Texas, state lawmakers have filed bills that would create new exceptions to the state’s strict abortion laws, broadening doctors’ ability to intervene when their patients face health risks. ... Democratic State Rep. Donna Howard, who filed the bill in the Texas House, said ProPublica’s recent reporting adds to evidence that the current legislation is a threat to the safety of pregnant women in Texas and increases the urgency to make changes. “This is my reaction,” she said. “It’s one of extreme sadness and disbelief that we are at a point where we are allowing women to die because we haven’t been able to clarify the law,” she said. (Jaramillo, Surana, Presser and Branstetter, 11/20)

AP: Health Advocates In Africa Worry Trump Will Reimpose Abortion 'Gag Rule' Governing US Aid 
Women's health advocates in Africa are worried that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will again invoke the so-called global gag rule, a policy that cuts off U.S. government funding for groups that offer abortion-related services. (Mutsaka, 11/19)

Stateline: Abortion Bans Could Reverse Decline In Teen Births, Experts Warn
In the year after Texas began implementing its six-week abortion ban, teen fertility rates in the state rose for the first time in 15 years, according to a study released earlier this year by the University of Houston. Overall, the increase in teen fertility in Texas was slight: only 0.39%. But the University of Houston researchers said the change was significant, because it reversed a 15-year trend and because the national teen fertility rate declined during the same period. They also noted that the increases were larger for Hispanic teens (1.2%) and Black teens (0.5%), while the rate for white teens declined by 0.5%. (Hassanein, 11/20)

NBC News: California Child Tests Positive For Bird Flu With No Known Exposure To Infected Animals
California health officials on Tuesday reported a possible case of bird flu in a child with mild symptoms. The child lives in Alameda County, part of the San Francisco Bay Area, and tested positive for the virus despite having no known contact with an infected animal. Officials with the California Department of Public Health said in a news release that they are investigating whether the child could have been exposed to wild birds. It's considered a “possible” case until the positive test is confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Burke, 11/19)

CIDRAP: Studies Describe High Health Toll, Costs Of RSV Infections
A new study published today in JAMA Network Open shows 1 in 20 US adults were hospitalized within 28 days of a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection during the during the 2016 to 2022 RSV seasons. A second study, published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases estimates the cost of RSV infections and hospitalizations in US infants to be $1.6 billion annually, with infants 3 months and younger accounting for 43% of the costs. (Soucheray, 11/19)

The Boston Globe: Pew Survey: 60 Percent Of Americans Say They Likely Won’t Get Updated COVID-19 Vaccine
Sixty percent of Americans say they probably won’t get an updated COVID-19 vaccine to protect themselves against the virus heading into the winter months when risk of contraction is higher, with more Democrats showing a willingness to receive another dose than Republicans, the Pew Research Center said Tuesday. Another 24 percent said they probably will get an updated vaccine, while 15 percent said they had already done so, according to an October survey. (Andersen, 11/19)

Modern Healthcare: Change Healthcare Breach: Clearinghouse Platform Restored
Change Healthcare’s vital clearinghouse platform has been restored after a cyberattack on the UnitedHealth Group subsidiary caused unprecedented billing and payment disruptions for providers nationwide, the company announced on its status webpage. This is a big step for the technology company after its systems were taken offline following a February ransomware attack that caused widespread disruptions throughout the healthcare system. (Berryman, 11/19)

CNBC: CVS, UnitedHealth, Cigna Sue To Block FTC Case Over Insulin Prices
CVS Health, UnitedHealth Group and Cigna sued the Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday, claiming that the agency’s case against drug supply chain middlemen over high insulin prices in the U.S. is unconstitutional. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, is the latest move in a bitter legal fight between the three largest pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, in the U.S. and the FTC. (Constantino, 11/19)

Crain's Cleveland Business: Ex-MetroHealth CEO Dr. Akram Boutros Refiles Lawsuit
Ex-MetroHealth CEO Dr. Akram Boutros has filed a lawsuit against the health system one week after the Ohio Auditor of the State’s office released a report saying his actions involving the bonuses he paid himself were not criminal. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, Nov. 19, in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, accuses MetroHealth of breach of contract, promissory estoppel and defamation. It alleges that MetroHealth’s Board of Trustees “unjustly fired” Boutros from his position and “publicly defamed” him with “baseless accusations that he received unearned incentive compensation without the Board of Trustees’ knowledge.” (Bennett, 11/19)

Modern Healthcare: Oak Street Health Co-Founder Mike Pykosz To Leave CVS Health
Mike Pykosz is no longer president of healthcare delivery at CVS Health. Pykosz, who co-founded Oak Street Health and was CEO when it was acquired by CVS in 2023, has decided to leave the company and will be replaced by Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sreekanth Chaguturu, according to a Tuesday news release. Chaguturu will continue his role as chief medical officer at CVS, the release said. (Hudson, 11/19)

Modern Healthcare: Medicare Advantage Markets See Competition Shifts In 2023: AMA
Competition among Medicare Advantage insurers has accelerated slightly on a local level over the past six years, according to the American Medical Association's annual report on the industry. The average number of insurers selling Medicare Advantage plans in a single metropolitan area increased between 2017, when the AMA started tracking market share, and 2023. Individual companies' average market share also decreased. Nearly every market, however, was still considered "highly concentrated" according to Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department standards. (Tepper, 11/19)

WLRN Public Media: Baptist Health Plans To Open A Cancer Center In Key West
After more than a year without a dedicated cancer treatment center in Key West, cancer care is expected to return to the Lower Keys. GenesisCare cancer treatment center closed in August 2023, when its parent company filed for bankruptcy. Since then, Lower Keys cancer patients have had to find alternative treatment locations, in some cases driving three hours, over 100 miles away. Now, Baptist Health is planning to expand its cancer care and open a treatment center at the site of the former GenesisCare center, on North Roosevelt Boulevard. (Cooper, 11/19)

KPBS: Kaiser Mental Health Workers’ Strike Hits Fifth Week Amid Allegations Of Patient Care Violations 
The strike by Kaiser Permanente mental health workers is in its fifth week. On Friday, the union filed a complaint with the California Department of Public Health alleging patient care violations due to understaffing. Elizabeth Meza, a hospice clinical social worker with Kaiser San Diego for 14 years, said she is concerned about the impact the strike is having on patients and their families. (de Marco, 11/19)

Houston Chronicle: Houston Nurses Say Workplace Violence Is On The Rise, Causing Burnout
Ivette Palomeque has endured plenty of threats as a registered nurse in Houston, but she’s still shaken by the memory of a family threatening to shoot her and her colleagues at a local hospital. The incident happened years ago at a hospital where Palomeque no longer works. A patient died, and the grieving family was so upset and angry that they threatened to come back to the hospital with guns, Palomeque said. Fortunately, they never did. “It was scary because they had to actually put the unit on lockdown,” said Palomeque, a critical care nurse. (MacDonald, 11/19)

Houston Chronicle: How Houston Hospitals Are Working To Prevent Workplace Violence
Nurses and other health care workers have seen an increase in threats and violence against them in recent years, and the state of Texas is now requiring hospitals to do more to keep employees safe .Many hospitals in the Texas Medical Center had workplace violence prevention plans in place long before Texas legislatures passed a 2023 law, Senate Bill 240, that required all health care providers to adopt one by Sept. 1. (MacDonald, 11/19)

Houston Chronicle: Ken Paxton Sues Memorial Hermann Over Off-Duty Police Gun Law
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against the Memorial Hermann Health System for allegedly prohibiting off-duty police officers from carrying their firearms at the organization's facilities, according to court records. The suit, which was filed Tuesday, claimed that, in at least 10 instances, law enforcement officers were barred from carrying their service weapons at Memorial Hermann locations in and around Houston. Paxton is seeking $1,000 in civil penalties for each violation, in addition to associated legal fees. (Lomax V, 11/19)

Modern Healthcare: Dexcom Invests $75M Into Oura Smart Rings
Smart ring company Oura announced it received $75 million in funding from glucose monitoring and diagnostics company Dexcom. The strategic investment brings Oura’s valuation to more than $5 billion and allows the companies to begin integrating data between Dexcom’s continuous glucose monitoring products and Oura’s smart ring and application. (Turner, 11/19)

Stat: IVC Filters Offer A Case Study In Safety Data, Risky Medical Devices
Tonya Brand was horrified to find a piece of metal poking out of her inner thigh while relaxing at her house in Georgia in 2011. She had no idea what it could be. It was only after extensive imaging that her doctors realized what had happened: A medical device that had been implanted in her two years earlier to catch blood clots had broken and was now migrating to different parts of her body. (Lawrence, 11/20)

CNN: Survivor Of Suicide Attempt Receives Innovative Face Transplant: ‘It Was Just A Miracle’ 
Derek Pfaff remembers being under a lot of stress throughout college. He remembers coming home from school during spring break in March 2014. But he does not remember the night that forever changed his life. (Howard, 11/19)

NBC News: Biden Unlikely To Ban Menthol Cigarettes, Despite Urging From Health Officials
The U.S. surgeon general said Tuesday that a federal ban on menthol cigarettes would be one of the most effective ways to slash tobacco-related illnesses and deaths among Black people — even as the clock winds down on the Biden administration’s ability to do anything about it. The long-standing promise of a ban on menthol cigarettes, which has been years in the making, is unlikely to move forward before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January. (Edwards and Alba, 11/19)

NBC News: Gays Vape At Significantly Higher Rates, Surgeon General's Report Finds
As vaping’s popularity endures, a report issued by the surgeon general’s office Tuesday shows that LGBTQ Americans are among those helping to keep smoke shops in business. The surgeon general’s 837-page report on tobacco use found that 37.8% of gay, lesbian and bisexual U.S. adults have tried electronic cigarettes, compared with just 16.5% of their straight counterparts. Electronic cigarettes, also known as e-cigarettes, include e-cigars, e-pipes, e-hookahs, vaping pens and hookah pens. (Lavietes, 11/19)

The Mercury News: Study: Air Pollution Tied To Higher Rates Of Head, Neck Cancer
It’s no secret that air pollution is tied to lung disease and cancer, but a new study sheds light on the significant role of pollution when it comes to head and neck cancer. Mass General Brigham researchers have found that air pollution is linked to higher rates of head and neck aerodigestive cancer. “While there has been substantial research investigating the effects of air pollutants on lung disease, few studies have focused on air pollution exposure as a risk factor for the upper airway, including the development of head and neck cancer,” said study senior author Stella Lee. (Sobey, 11/19)

NPR: The FDA Says It Found A 'Mold-Like' Substance At A Tom's Of Maine Plant
Personal care brand Tom's of Maine received a warning from the Food and Drug Administration earlier this month after the agency found disease-causing bacteria and mold-like and powdery substances in their products and facilities. In a letter to Tom's that was published Tuesday, a FDA inspector identified several types of bacteria in the water supply at its facility in Sanford, Maine, including Paracoccus yeei; Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which can lead to blood, lung and urinary tract infections; and Ralstonia insidiosa, which can lead to sepsis. The brand used the water in its products and to rinse equipment, the FDA said. (Archie, 11/20)

AP: The World Food Prize Foundation Announces Changes To Expand International Reach
An Iowa-based group that strives to alleviate world hunger and awards an annual prize honoring individuals for their efforts to improve food availability, on Tuesday announced a leadership change as the group works to expand its international focus. Mashal Husain, chief operating officer of The World Food Prize Foundation, will become president, replacing Terry Branstad, the former U.S. ambassador to China and Iowa governor, who will retire, the organization announced in a news release. The food prize was founded by Normal Borlaug, an Iowa native awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his part in the “Green Revolution,” which dramatically increased agricultural production and reduced the threat of starvation in much of the world. (McFetridge, 11/19)