First Edition: Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024

KFF Health News: UCSF Favors Pricey Doctoral Program For Nurse-Midwives Amid Maternal Care Crisis
One of California’s two programs for training nurse-midwives has stopped admitting students while it revamps its curriculum to offer only doctoral degrees, a move that’s drawn howls of protest from alumni, health policy experts, and faculty who accuse the University of California of putting profits above public health needs. UC-San Francisco’s renowned nursing school will graduate its final class of certified nurse-midwives next spring. (Cohen, 9/3)

KFF Health News: Watch: Tips On Finding A Good Nursing Home
Finding a nursing home for yourself or a parent can be daunting. Many facilities are understaffed and the worker shortages have gotten worse since the start of the pandemic. KFF Health News senior correspondent Jordan Rau shares tips about finding nearby homes, evaluating staffing levels, what to look for when visiting, and more. (Rau and Norman, 9/3)

Des Moines Register: Mpox Is Detected In An Iowa Prison. Here's What You Need To Know
Mpox, a highly contagious viral disease known for causing severe rashes and pustules, has been detected in an Iowa prison. "We're actively managing the situation with robust health measures," Iowa Department of Corrections Chief of Staff Paul Cornelius said in a statement provided Monday to the Des Moines Register and first reported on KCCI-TV. "Affected individuals are receiving care, and enhanced sanitation and isolation protocols are in place to prevent further spread." It is not yet known how many prisoners are infected. (Werner, 9/2)

Reuters: Emergent Bio's Smallpox Vaccine Gets US Approval For Mpox 
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted expanded approval to Emergent BioSolutions' smallpox vaccine for use in people at high risk of mpox infection. The FDA clearance, announced late on Thursday by the company, makes the vaccine the second approved shot against mpox in the U.S. after Bavarian Nordic's Jynneos. Emergent's vaccine, called ACAM2000, however, cannot be administered to those with weakened immune systems, including people with HIV. It found limited use during the 2022 mpox outbreak in the United States, despite being part of the country's stockpile. (Santhosh, 8/30)

Reuters: WHO Invites Makers Of Mpox Tests For Emergency Review In Push For Rapid Access 
The World Health Organization on Thursday sought to speed up the access to diagnostic tests for mpox by asking manufacturers to submit their products for an emergency review. The agency has been in discussions with manufacturers about the need for effective diagnostics, particularly in low-income groups. (8/29)

Bloomberg: Australia's Mpox Resurgence Has Lessons For World Trying To Fight New Strain
Australia’s success in virtually eliminating mpox within six months of an outbreak in 2022 is now being overshadowed by a sudden and alarming resurgence, highlighting the challenges ahead as the world braces for a potentially more dangerous strain. (Gale, 9/3)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Vaccines Are Now Pricey Without Insurance As CDC Access Program Expires 
As updated coronavirus vaccines hit U.S. pharmacy shelves, adults without health insurance are discovering the shots are no longer free, instead costing up to $200. The federal Bridge Access Program covering the cost of coronavirus vaccines for uninsured and underinsured people ran out of funding. Now, Americans with low incomes are weighing whether they can afford to shore up immunity against an unpredictable virus that is no longer a public health emergency but continues to cause long-term complications and hospitalizations and kill tens of thousands of people a year. (Nirappil, 9/3)

CNN: Updated Novavax Covid-19 Vaccines Could Be Available As Early As This Week
The US Food and Drug Administration on Friday authorized an updated version of the protein-based Novavax Covid-19 vaccine for use in people 12 and up. Doses could be available by the end of [this] week. Novavax’s vaccine is based on protein technology, which takes longer to manufacture than mRNA vaccines like those made by Pfizer and BioNTech and Moderna. Protein-based vaccines work by getting the body’s immune system to recognize small modified pieces of the virus it’s targeting. In this case, that means pieces of the coronavirus spike protein. (Hassan, 8/30)

CIDRAP: COVID Still On The Rise In Parts Of US
Wastewater SARS-CoV-2 detections are still at the very high level and are highest in the South. Though levels are dropping in the West, they are rising in the South, Midwest, and Northeast, the CDC said. (Schnirring, 8/30)

Los Angeles Times: More Contagious COVID Strain ‘Just Getting Started’ Amid California Wave
The summer surge of the coronavirus subvariants nicknamed FLiRT has given way to ever more contagious strains, a key reason behind the current high levels of COVID in California and nationwide. And doctors and scientists are keeping an eye on yet another subvariant — XEC — that could surpass the latest hyperinfectious subvariant, KP.3.1.1, now thought to be the most common nationwide. XEC was first detected in Germany and has since seized the attention of doctors and scientists worldwide. (Lin II, 8/30)

CNBC: Weight Loss Drugs Cut Covid-19 Deaths, Study Finds
People taking the key component of blockbuster weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy were less likely to die of Covid-19 or suffer adverse effects from the virus, researchers found in a new study. (Reid, 9/2)

Reuters: Bird Flu Infects California Dairy Cows, Widening US Outbreak 
Cows at three dairy farms in California, the top U.S. milk-producing state, tested positive for bird flu, the state's agriculture department said on Friday. The infections expand a U.S. outbreak of the H5N1 virus in dairy cattle to a 14th state. More than 190 herds have been infected nationally since March, along with 13 dairy and poultry farm workers, according to federal data. (Polansek, 8/31)

The Colorado Sun: Colorado Farmworkers Continue To Tend To Sick Cows Amid Bird Flu
In early August, farmworkers gathered under a pavilion at a park here for a picnic to celebrate Farmworker Appreciation Day. One sign that this year was different from the others was the menu: Beef fajitas, tortillas, pico de gallo, chips, beans — but no chicken. Farms in Colorado had culled millions of chickens in recent months to stem the transmission of bird flu. Organizers filled out the spread with hot dogs. (Bichell, 9/2)

CNN: Illinois, Wisconsin Report Their First West Nile Virus Deaths Of 2024 
Two deaths from West Nile virus have been reported in Wisconsin and one in Illinois, the first such deaths in those states this year, according to the state health departments. (8/29)

CBS News: New Hampshire Man Fighting For Life After Testing Positive For 3 Mosquito Viruses, Including EEE
Doctors at Exeter Hospital say Joe Casey, 54, has tested positive for three different antibodies, including EEE. "He was positive for EEE, for West Nile, and St. Louis Encephalitis, but the CDC, the infectious disease doctors don't know which one is making him this sick," a relative said. Last week, 41-year-old Steven Perry of Hampstead, N.H., died after contracting EEE. (Burton, 9/2)

Sahan Journal: Measles Outbreak Affects At Least 30 In Minnesota, Closes Somali Religious School
A measles outbreak that began in May in Minnesota has spread to 30 people, primarily infecting children in the Somali community. One dugsi, or Islamic religious school, has voluntarily closed in order to curtail the spread, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. About a third of the patients have required hospitalization, a state spokesperson said. All but one were unvaccinated. (Eldred, 9/2)

The Washington Post: Mass Polio Vaccination To Begin In Gaza Amid Pause In War With Israel
The World Health Organization and its partners are gearing up for an ambitious mass vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip after an 11-month-old boy contracted the Palestinian enclave’s first case of polio in 25 years. “All his limbs are now paralyzed,” the boy’s mother, Nevin Abu al-Jidyan, said in a telephone interview this week from her tent in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. “The left side is more rigid. He is even unable to bend over. I cannot even help him sit.” The campaign was scheduled to begin Sunday and will roll out in phases, with both Israel and Hamas agreeing to brief “humanitarian pauses” to allow the vaccinations to take place. (Sun and Harb, 8/31)

Reuters: Cuba Faces Uphill Battle As Oropouche Virus Spreads
Cuban health authorities launched small-scale fumigation efforts in Havana on Friday to fight the spread of the Oropouche virus, but a rainy Caribbean summer, fuel shortages and growing roadside trash heaps are complicating those efforts, workers and officials said. More than 500 cases of the virus have been registered since May when the disease was first detected in far-eastern Cuba, health officials said this week. (8/30)

USA Today: Americans Without Health Insurance Rose Under Trump, Fell Under Biden
At the end of the first two years of Joe Biden’s presidency, 3.3 million more U.S. residents had health insurance than did so in 2019, according to a Capital & Main analysis of U.S. Census data conducted with the support of Thomas Data Consulting. That increase led to a 1.2% decline in the national uninsured rate and the lowest rate of residents without health insurance in U.S. history. By contrast, Donald Trump oversaw an increase of 2.3 million uninsured people during the first three years of his presidency and a 0.6% increase in the national uninsured rate. (Lindenfeld, 9/3)

Los Angeles Times: Trump Says He'll Vote To Uphold Florida Abortion Ban After Conflicting Message 
Former President Trump said he will vote no on a Florida ballot measure that would repeal the state’s six-week abortion ban, a day after he seemed to indicate he would vote in favor of the measure. Trump has said he thinks Florida’s ban is a mistake and said in an interview with Fox News Channel on Friday, “I think six weeks, you need more time.” But then he said, “at the same time, the Democrats are radical,” and he repeated false claims he has frequently made about late-term abortions. (Price, 8/31)

The 19th: Trump Says He Wants IVF Covered By Insurance Or Government
Former President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he would ensure the government or insurance companies would fully pay for people’s IVF treatments, without providing details on how. He also indicated he would vote for a Florida ballot measure that would overturn a six-week abortion ban, though his campaign later said that he has not yet disclosed how he would vote on the measure. (Padilla, 8/29)

Los Angeles Times: Trump Laments Acceptance Of Transgender People During Moms For Liberty Event
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump lamented the growing acceptance of transgender Americans during an appearance at the annual gathering of Moms for Liberty, a national group that has spearheaded efforts to bar discussion of LGBTQ+ identity and structural racism in K-12 classrooms. Trump said transgender women should not be allowed to play in women’s sports and said access to gender-affirming healthcare should be restricted. (Swenson, Balingit and Weissert, 8/31)

Politico: New York Democrats Fear Abortion-Rights Amendment Is Faltering 
Democrats are squabbling over an effort to guarantee abortion rights in New York — a fight that is threatening to upend the party’s plans to win control of the House. Democratic consultants for swing seat candidates are increasingly anxious that a well-organized campaign by conservatives to sink a proposed state constitutional amendment on abortion could hurt the party’s candidates in battleground seats. (Reisman, 9/3)

Modern Healthcare: Iranian Hackers Are Targeting Healthcare, FBI Warns
The federal government warned that a group of Iranian cyber actors have conducted a number of attacks against U.S.-based entities, including healthcare organizations. The FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Defense Cyber Crime Center Department said in an advisory the actors are attempting to work with ransomware affiliates to lock networks and find ways to extort victims. (Turner, 8/30)

Fierce Healthcare: HHS Will No Longer Appeal Court's Hospital Web Tracker Decision
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is dropping its appeal of a June U.S. District Court ruling that vacated the government's restriction of third-party online tracking technologies on hospital webpages. The white flag came 10 days after the administration had filed its appeal to the Fifth Circuit. The case had been brought in late 2023 by the American Hospital Association (AHA) the Texas Hospital Association, Texas Health Resources and United Regional Health Care System, which had argued that HHS’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) overstepped its authority with guidance it had issued in 2022. (Muoio, 8/29)

Modern Healthcare: Remote Patient Monitoring Isn't Cheap. Here's How Hospitals Deal
Health systems have embraced remote patient monitoring but they're still trying to determine how to establish the programs. Remote patient monitoring programs allow hospitals to provide additional care to patients, reach underserved areas and improve outcomes among chronic disease populations. But despite the promise, leaders are grappling with how to get a return on investment due to reimbursement uncertainty from commercial payers and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (Perna, 8/30)

The New York Times: How A Leading Chain Of Psychiatric Hospitals Traps Patients
Acadia Healthcare is one of America’s largest chains of psychiatric hospitals. Since the pandemic exacerbated a national mental health crisis, the company’s revenue has soared. Its stock price has more than doubled. But a New York Times investigation found that some of that success was built on a disturbing practice: Acadia has lured patients into its facilities and held them against their will, even when detaining them was not medically necessary. (Silver-Greenberg and Thomas, 9/1)

Stat: HCA And UnitedHealth Resolve Contract Disputes In Four States
HCA Healthcare and UnitedHealthcare reached agreements just hours before their contracts were scheduled to expire on Sunday, capping a monthslong dispute that threatened in-network access to 38 hospitals across four states. (Bannow, 9/1)

The Boston Globe: Steward Signals Deal To Sell Two More Mass. Hospitals
Steward Health Care has reached agreements to transfer operations of the last two of its hospitals in Massachusetts that were up for sale, St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton and Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, to Boston Medical Center, the company and Governor Maura Healey’s office confirmed late Friday. (Weisman and Bartlett, 8/30)

The Boston Globe: At Shuttering Carney, Nashoba Hospitals, A Sense Of Loss
On Friday, the last full day of operations at Carney Hospital in Dorchester, Benjamin Amado sat on a bench just outside the front door and took stock of what will be lost. A patient access coordinator, Amado scheduled appointments, sorted insurance claims, and made the diverse and historically underserved patients of the area feel at home. He knew regulars by name and saw some just this week, as they came to say goodbye. (Weisman and Kohli, 8/30)

Modern Healthcare: CareTrust REIT Acquires 2 Skilled Nursing Facilities For $62M
A real estate investment trust with nearly 300 properties throughout the United States announced the acquisition of two skilled nursing facilities. CareTrust REIT said Thursday it acquired the two nursing homes this month for about $62.1 million. The names and exact locations of the facilities were not disclosed. (DeSilva, 8/30)

Stat: Multiple Sclerosis Pill Succeeds In Key Trial, Sanofi Says 
Sanofi said an oral treatment for multiple sclerosis, tolebrutinib, met its key goal in a Phase 3 study, potentially clearing the way for  regulatory approval, although in two other studies, patients earlier in the disease failed to see a benefit. A top company executive said he believes that the positive result would help build confidence among investors in the company’s research and development efforts. (Herper, 9/2)

Stat: Abbott's MitraClip Shows Some Benefit In Heart Failure Patients
A study meant to serve as a tie-breaker between two major trials of a heart clip made by Abbott may end up stimulating more debate among cardiologists. Results of the RESHAPE-HF 2 trial, presented at the European Society of Cardiology meeting and published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Saturday, showed that the clip improved health status and lowered hospitalizations due to heart failure, but did not reduce the number of deaths. (Lawrence, 8/31)

The Mercury News: How Shadowy Middlemen Profit At The Expense Of Independent Pharmacies And Patients
For more than a decade, independent pharmacist Jay Patel has built a close and enduring relationship with his customers, who come to him for help in sickness and in health. But now there are interlopers: Drug middlemen, companies known as pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) that influence which medicines can be bought, where to buy them and at what cost. Patel and other independent pharmacists say their businesses are threatened by the growing influence of these companies, tied to huge health care conglomerates. (Krieger, 9/1)

Reuters: Drug Distributors Strike $300 Mln Opioid Settlement With US Health Plans 
The three largest U.S. drug distributors have agreed to pay $300 million to resolve claims by health insurers and benefit plans that they helped fuel the deadly U.S. opioid epidemic, according to court papers filed on Friday. The proposed class action settlement with McKesson Corp, Cencora Inc, and Cardinal Health Inc was disclosed in a filing, opens new tab in federal court in Cleveland, Ohio, and requires a judge's approval. Those companies had previously agreed to pay $21 billion to resolve claims by state and local governments accusing them of having lax controls that allowed massive amounts of addictive painkillers to be diverted into illegal channels. (Raymond, 8/30)

The Washington Post: In Oregon, Hard Drugs Illegal Again As First-In-Nation Experiment Ends 
As of Sunday, it is, once again, illegal to possess small amounts of hard drugs in Oregon. A first-in-the-nation law decriminalizing drugs expired, as communities across America struggle to curb fentanyl use and overdose deaths. Sunday marks the end of an experiment that drug-reform advocates called a pioneering and progressive measure to better help people. Oregon legislators reassessed Measure 110 this year and decided to again make it a misdemeanor to possess a minor amount of drugs — essentially anything besides marijuana. Selling and manufacturing illicit drugs was and is still illegal in Oregon. (Brasch, 9/1)

CQ-Roll Call: CDC Sees Link Between Overdoses, Other Mental Health Disorders
Treating and screening for non-substance-related mental health disorders could help drive down overdoses, a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found. The study, published Thursday, found that of the 63,424 people who died from drug overdoses across 43 states and Washington, D.C. in 2022, 22 percent had a separate mental health disorder. (DeGroot, 9/2)

AP: Giving Up Pets To Seek Rehab Can Worsen Trauma. A Colorado Group Intends To End That 
People seeking treatment for substance abuse don't have to give up their pets thanks to the work of volunteers in a Colorado-based organization. (Peipert, 9/1)

CNN: California Passes Bill Banning Food With Red Dye No. 40, Other Chemicals In Schools
The California Legislature has passed a bill with bipartisan support banning the use of red dye No. 40 and five other chemicals in foods served at public schools. On Thursday, the Golden State became the first in the country to pass a bill that, if signed into law, would forbid the use of the ingredients found in some popular cereals, ice creams, drinks, candy, ice pops, cheese-flavored chips, jellies and more, according to the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit environmental health organization that cosponsored the law with Consumer Reports. (Rogers, 8/30)

North Carolina Health News: This Was The Year Advanced Practice Nurses Thought They’d Get Full Practice Authority In NC. They Were Wrong.
Every so often, Megan Conner, a nurse anesthetist in Greenville said she sees a patient who’s driven for hours to come for a screening colonoscopy but who instead has to be sent to the emergency department. It frustrates Conner that so many patients, who have to travel sometimes hours for care in eastern North Carolina, end up not getting it because of common ailments they can’t get treated closer to home. That’s why Conner is a big believer in the Safe, Accessible, Value-directed and Excellent Health Care Act (SAVE Act), which would give advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) like her full practice authority. (Duah-Mensah, 8/29)

CNN: NIH Cancels ‘Havana Syndrome’ Research, Citing Unethical Coercion Of Participants 
The National Institutes of Health said Friday that it is stopping its research of what’s commonly known as Havana syndrome, a mysterious illness experienced by a number of spies, soldiers and diplomats who have reported sudden debilitating symptoms of unknown origin. The NIH said it would end the work “out of an abundance of caution” after an internal investigation found that people had been coerced into to being part of the research. The coercion, the agency specified, was not on its own part, but the NIH did not elaborate as to who may have forced the participation. However, it noted that voluntary consent is a fundamental pillar of the ethical conduct of research. (Christensen, 9/1)

Reuters: Smokers Under 30 Need Photo IDs To Buy Tobacco Products, US FDA Says
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has mandated more people show photo identification when buying tobacco products, as the health regulator raised the age verification requirement by three years. As part of a rule finalized by the agency on Thursday, the FDA now requires retailers to verify the age of anyone under 30 when they buy tobacco products, from under 27 previously. The FDA also said retailers cannot sell tobacco products via vending machine in places where individuals under 21 are present or permitted to enter, from 18 years previously. (8/30)

USA Today: Expect More Illnesses In Listeria Outbreak Tied To Boar's Head Deli Meat, Food Safety Attorney Says
A prominent food safety lawyer says more illnesses can be expected and Congress should investigate Boar's Head after deli meat produced in one of the company's plants was linked to an ongoing multistate listeria outbreak. The outbreak has led to at least 57 hospitalizations and nine deaths in 18 states since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention initially reported it on July 19. The CDC on Aug. 28 reported six new deaths connected to the outbreak including the first deaths in New Mexico, New York, South Carolina (2), and Tennessee. (Snider, 9/1)

Fox Business: Boar's Head Plant Had Dozens Of Violations, Dubbed 'Listeria Factory' By Lawyer 
The Virginia plant where Boar's Head produced its tainted products had dozens of health and safety violations, prompting a lawyer to liken it to a "listeria factory." The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service published a 74-page PDF earlier this month detailing the numerous violations that were found at the Jarrett, Virginia, plant from January 2022 through Aug. 1, 2024. The report included that "multiple instances of meat were found around the department on the floor," and "standing water containing a brown mud/dirt like substance." (Rousselle, 8/31)

NBC News: Simple Blood Test Could Predict A Person’s Heart Disease Risk 30 Years Out, Study Finds
A new approach to a routine blood test could predict a person’s 30-year risk of heart disease, research published Saturday in the New England Journal of Medicine found. Doctors have long assessed their patients’ risk for cardiovascular disease by using a blood test to look at cholesterol levels, focusing particularly on LDL or “bad” cholesterol. But limiting blood testing to just cholesterol misses important — and usually silent — risk factors, experts say. (Sullivan, 8/31)