First Edition: April 18, 2023

KFF Health News: Social Media Is Fueling Enthusiasm For New Weight Loss Drugs. Are Regulators Watching? 
Suzette Zuena is her own best advertisement for weight loss. Zuena, the “founder/visionary” of LH Spa & Rejuvenation in Livingston and Madison, New Jersey, has dropped 30 pounds. Her husband has lost 42 pounds. “We go out a lot,” Zuena said of the pair’s social routine. “People saw us basically shrinking.” They would ask how the couple did it. Her response: Point people to her spa and a relatively new type of medication — GLP-1 agonists, a class of drug that’s become a weight loss phenomenon. (Tahir and Norman, 4/18)

KFF Health News: As Pandemic Emergencies End, People Battling Long Covid Feel ‘Swept Under The Rug’ 
Lost careers. Broken marriages. Dismissed and disbelieved by family and friends. These are some of the emotional and financial struggles long covid patients face years after their infection. Physically, they are debilitated and in pain: unable to walk up the stairs, focus on a project, or hold down a job. Facing the end of the federal public health emergency in May, many people experiencing lingering effects of the virus say they feel angry and abandoned by policymakers eager to move on. “Patients are losing hope,” said Shelby Hedgecock, a self-described long covid survivor from Knoxville, Tennessee, who now advocates for patients like herself. “We feel swept under the rug.” (Fortier, 4/18)

The New York Times: McCarthy Proposes One-Year Debt Ceiling Increase Tied To Spending Cuts 
Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Monday proposed a one-year debt ceiling increase paired with a set of spending cuts and policy changes, backing down substantially from earlier demands but making clear that Republicans would not raise the borrowing limit to avert a catastrophic debt default without conditions. ... The bill Mr. McCarthy says he is planning to put forward would freeze spending at last fiscal year’s levels, rescind tens of billions of dollars in unspent pandemic relief funds, enact stricter work requirements on food stamp and Medicaid recipients, expand domestic mining and fossil fuel production, and roll back federal regulations Republicans view as overly burdensome. (Edmondson and Tankersley, 4/17)

The Wall Street Journal: Kevin McCarthy Says House GOP Plans To Vote On Debt Limit, Spending Cuts 
Mr. McCarthy also said the House Republican plan would require the federal government to rescind money approved for responding to the Covid-19 pandemic that hasn’t been spent. And he said that able-bodied Americans without children or other dependents should have to work to receive government benefits. While House Republicans broadly support work requirements for programs such as Medicaid, which offers health insurance to low-income Americans, and food stamps, other cuts are expected to face opposition from more moderate Republicans. House Republican leaders held a call on Sunday with members to emphasize the importance of sticking together in the fiscal talks. (Duehren, 4/17)

Reuters: US House Speaker McCarthy Pitches Budget Cuts For Debt Limit Vote
Democrats reacted with swift opposition to McCarthy's framework. "Today House Republicans have made their priorities crystal clear: keep Wall Street happy and take away health care and food assistance from working Americans," said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden in a statement. (Cowan and Jackson, 4/17)

Reuters: Republican States Could Be Hit Hardest By McCarthy's Proposed Spending Cuts 
The spending-cut proposals unveiled by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Monday could fall hardest on people in Republican-leaning states, a Reuters analysis of federal spending data found. (Sullivan, 4/17)

Modern Healthcare: ACA Insurers Must Include Mental Health Providers In Plans: CMS
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will require insurers on the Affordable Care Act exchanges to include substance abuse and mental health providers in their plans, among other things. The final rule, announced Monday, softens CMS' proposed limits to the number of plan options exchange insurers can offer, and abandons agency proposals to standardize how carriers promote their drug formularies and differentiate between similar plans in a given market. It also decreases the fees insurers must pay to market their products on federal and state-based exchanges. (Tepper and Turner, 4/17)

The Wall Street Journal: Covid Emerged As Chinese Lab Faced Biosafety Issues, Senate Republican Study Finds
A Chinese laboratory conducting advanced coronavirus research faced a series of biosafety problems in November 2019 that drew the attention of top Beijing officials and coincided with the Covid pandemic’s emergence, according to a new report being released by Senate Republicans on the pandemic’s origins. The report, released Monday by a Republican member of the Senate Health Committee, a final version of which was viewed by The Wall Street Journal, charts a confluence of unexplained events in that month and concludes the pandemic more likely began from a lab accident than naturally, via an animal infecting humans. (Strobel and Gordon, 4/17)

Bloomberg: Covid Origins Report From Ex-Republican Staff Pushes Lab Leak Theory
As US lawmakers continue to seek answers about how the Covid-19 pandemic first began, former Republican staffers are releasing details from their own investigations, putting pressure on the Biden administration to declassify sensitive intelligence. (Griffin and Muller, 4/17)

San Francisco Chronicle: New COVID Variant XBB.1.16 Hits US, Causing Previously Rare Symptom
A new COVID-19 subvariant “threatens to shatter” hopes to stave off a new coronavirus surge in the U.S. before next winter, and some experts worry it could be linked to the rise of a previously rare pandemic symptom. XBB.1.16, which reached reportable levels in the U.S. last week, could be behind an uptick of conjunctivitis, especially in children, reports from India suggest, alongside the more common symptoms of fever, cough and fatigue. (Vaziri, 4/17)

NPR: COVID During Pregnancy Can Affect Brain Development In Baby Boys, Study Says
Boys born to mothers who got COVID-19 while pregnant appear nearly twice as likely as other boys to be diagnosed with subtle delays in brain development. That's the conclusion of a study of more than 18,000 children born at eight hospitals in Eastern Massachusetts. Nearly 900 of the children were born to mothers who had COVID during their pregnancy. (Hamilton, 4/18)

CIDRAP: Experimental Metabolic Drug Cuts Fatigue In Long-COVID Patients 
The investigational metabolic modulator AXA1125 was associated with significantly less physical and cognitive fatigue compared with a placebo in long-COVID patients, according to a small randomized, controlled phase 2 pilot study trial led by researchers from the University of Oxford and AXA1125 maker Axcella Therapeutics, which also funded the study. (Van Beusekom, 4/17)

CIDRAP: COVID Vaccines Saved At Least 1 Million Lives In Europe, Experts Estimate 
COVID-19 vaccination directly saved at least 1,004,927 lives across Europe from December 2020 to March 2023, according to new research presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) annual meeting this week in Copenhagen, Denmark. (Soucheray, 4/17)

USA Today: How US Births During COVID Differed In Red, Blue States
The COVID-19 pandemic led to the biggest one-year drop in U.S. births in nearly 50 years. But a new study shows not every state was equally affected. Researchers found some states experienced steep decreases in fertility while other saw little change, according to the report published last week in the peer-reviewed journal Human Reproductions. (Rodriguez, 4/17)

The Washington Post: Overdose Deaths Of Older Americans Quadrupled In Past 20 Years
Overdose fatalities among older Americans climbed in recent years, with 6,702 U.S. residents 65 and older succumbing in 2021, according to research published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry. Using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researchers reported that the rate of fatal overdoses for the age group quadrupled — rising from 3 deaths per 100,000 people in 2002 to 12 deaths per 100,000 people in 2021. Data indicates that 83 percent were accidental, 13 percent were intentional (suicide), 4 percent were undetermined and 0.07 percent (five deaths) were homicides. (Searing, 4/17)

Politico: Abortion Pill Manufacturer To Pay $765K To U.S. To Settle Suit Over Incorrect Labeling 
Just days before the Biden administration asked the Supreme Court to preserve access to a key abortion medication, the Justice Department issued a routine, but little-noticed announcement that the manufacturer of the drug — Danco Laboratories — had settled claims it violated customs laws. ... Under the settlement dated March 31 and released last week, Danco agreed to pay $765,000 to the U.S. to resolve allegations that, from 2011 to 2019, the company failed to both properly label imports of the drug as originating in China and pay customs duties on imports lacking those labels. (Haberkorn and Gerstein, 4/17)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Nevada Senate Approves Abortion Protections In Constitution
An amendment to the Nevada Constitution guaranteeing abortion rights in the state is one step closer to coming before voters after the state Senate voted to advance a joint resolution Monday. Senators voted 13-8 on party lines to send Senate Joint Resolution 7 to the Assembly, but not before a contentious floor debate. (Avery, 4/17)

AP: Federal Judge Halts Colorado Ban On 'Abortion Pill Reversal' 
A judge has temporarily halted enforcement of a Colorado ban on what experts consider unproven treatments to reverse medical abortions at a religious clinic that alleged in a lawsuit that the newly signed law violated its Constitutional rights. Judge Daniel Domenico, who noted that Colorado is the only state to ban the treatment, issued the temporary restraining order over the weekend after Bella Health and Wellness argued that barring them from prescribing the so-called “abortion pill reversal” treatment violates their First Amendment right to free speech and religious exercise. (Bedayn, 4/17)

AP: Lawsuit Seeking To Revoke West Virginia Abortion Ban Dropped
An abortion provider on Monday dropped a two-month-old federal lawsuit seeking to overturn West Virginia’s near-total ban. The Women’s Health Center of West Virginia said in a court filing that its primary physician determined he will be unable to resume providing abortion care in the state “due to intervening professional obligations.” Another physician who provided abortion care at West Virginia’s only abortion clinic prior to the passage of a law last year is no longer available, the filing said. (Raby, 4/17)

Stat: In One Town, Abortion Debate Seemed To Override Everything Else
Zoe Poplin first smelled something in 2020, around 2 a.m., as she got home from a late shift at the hospital. It was mild at first. Then it got stronger, thicker, pouring into people’s homes. The pastor at a nearby Presbyterian church wondered if an animal had died in the ductwork. Some speculated the fumes were industrial. Others reported gas leaks — but again and again, the fire department would come out and set them straight. Oh, no, they’d say. That’s just the landfill. (Boodman, 4/18)

AP: Montana Governor Supports Transgender Minor Health Care Ban 
Montana’s Republican governor indicated Monday he would sign a bill to ban gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, but he suggested changes to make it clear that public funds could not be used to pay for surgery or hormone treatments for youth diagnosed with gender dysphoria. “I share your profound commitment to protect Montana children from invasive medical treatments that can permanently alter their healthy, developing bodies,” Gov. Greg Gianforte wrote in a letter to the legislative leaders offering his amendments. (Hanson, 4/17)

The Washington Post: Anti-Trans Bills Have Doubled Since 2022. Our Map Shows Where States Stand
On Thursday, members of the Montana legislature held a contentious hours-long hearing on a bill to define sex in state law as male or female. In Nebraska, legislators resumed debate on, then voted to advance a bill that would ban gender-affirming care for minors, following a weeks-long filibuster by the bill’s opponents. Two days earlier, the Missouri House approved restrictions on trans girls’ participation in sports and on gender-affirming care for minors. The same day, North Dakota’s governor signed into law a measure to ban trans girls from joining female sports teams in grades K-12 and in college. The near-daily flurry of simultaneous hearings and votes is the result of a tsunami of anti-trans bills that have been making their way through dozens of states legislatures since January. (Kirkpatrick and Branigin, 4/17)

NBC News: A Person Has Died In Fungal Outbreak At A Michigan Paper Mill That Infected Nearly 100 Workers
A person has died of a fungal infection after an outbreak at a Michigan paper mill that is likely to have infected nearly 100 people, public health officials announced. A contractor who worked at the Escanaba Billerud Paper Mill died of blastomycosis "recently," Public Health Delta & Menominee Counties said Friday. The health department began investigating an outbreak at the mill last month after sick employees, ailing from pneumonialike symptoms, tested positive for a fungal infection called blastomycosis. (Madhani, 4/17)

The New York Times: Tracking The Chemicals In The East Palestine, Ohio, Train Derailment And Fire 
While tiny East Palestine has drawn considerable attention for the inferno and its potential health consequences, communities nationwide are regularly grappling with the health and safety implications of the surge in chemical manufacturing and transportation. (Tabuchi, 4/17)

AP: Why Are Teen Girls In Crisis? It's Not Just Social Media 
Anxiety over academics. Post-lockdown malaise. Social media angst. Study after study says American youth are in crisis, facing unprecedented mental health challenges that are burdening teen girls in particular. Among the most glaring data: A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report showed almost 60% of U.S. girls reported persistent sadness and hopelessness. Rates are up in boys, too, but about half as many are affected. Adults offer theories about what is going on, but what do teens themselves say? Is social media the root of their woes? Are their male peers somehow immune, or part of the problem? (Tanner and Wang, 4/17)

CBS News: 13-Year-Old Ohio Boy Dies After Attempting The TikTok "Benadryl Challenge," His Parents Say
The parents of a 13-year-old boy who died doing the TikTok "Benadryl Challenge" are warning other parents about the dangerous social media trend. Jacob Stevens died after nearly a week on a ventilator after consuming 12 to 14 pills of the over-the-counter antihistamine in an attempt to induce hallucinations, his family told ABC6.com. (Martinez, 4/17)

AP: Taraji P. Henson Partners With HBCUs On Mental Wellness
Alabama State University is partnering on a new project to make free mental health resources more widely available to students at historically Black colleges and universities. The “She Care Wellness Pods” will give students access to therapy sessions, workshops, yoga and quiet spaces. Actress Taraji P. Henson’s Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation is partnering with the Kate Spade Foundation to place the pods on HBCU campuses. Alabama State is the first to participate in the program. (4/17)

The Washington Post: A Crisis In Men’s Health Is Getting Worse
In the United States, life expectancy in 2021 was 79.1 years for women and 73.2 years for men. That 5.9-year difference is the largest gap in a quarter-century. (The data aren’t parsed to include differences among nonbinary and trans people.)“Men are advantaged in every aspect of our society, yet we have worse health outcomes for most of the things that will kill you,” said Derek Griffith, director of Georgetown University’s Center for Men’s Health Equity in the Racial Justice Institute. “We tend not to prioritize men’s health, but it needs unique attention, and it has implications for the rest of the family. It means other members of the family, including women and children, also suffer.” (Parker-Pope and Gilbert, 4/17)

CNN: Most US Adults And A Third Of Children Use Dietary Supplements, Survey Finds
Most American adults and more than a third of children use dietary supplements, according to a new study from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and those numbers have remained steady or been on the rise. (Christensen, 4/18)

CNN: Refined Carbs And Meat Driving Global Rise In Type 2 Diabetes, Study Says
Gobbling up too many refined wheat and rice products, along with eating too few whole grains, is fueling the growth of new cases of type 2 diabetes worldwide, according to a new study that models data through 2018. (LaMotte, 4/17)

Stat: Why Do Some Blood Stem Cells Go Rogue? Study Finds A Key 
Long before leukemia forms, patients often have a population of blood or hematopoietic stem cells, all copies of one another that seem perfectly healthy except for harboring key mutations often also found in malignant cells. Hematologists call this CHIP — clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential — because these cells progress into cancer in about 1% of patients each year. (Chen, 4/17)

Stat: Study Faults Large U.S. Funders Of Clinical Research On Transparency
Amid ongoing concern over clinical trial transparency, a new analysis finds that only 37% of the 14 largest public and philanthropic organizations that fund clinical research in the U.S. have implemented the best disclosure practices recommended by the World Health Organization. (Silverman, 4/17)

Stat: What Do Clinical Trial Delays Mean? More Than You Think
Frank David was just starting an independent research program on cell signaling in cancer and kidney development at a lab in Boston when he realized he’d rather be doing something else. “I figured out I was more interested in how science turned into medicine than I was in actually making and discovering new science,” he recalled. The problem was, he wasn’t sure what to do instead. (Goode, 4/17)

Modern Healthcare: Medical Device Supply Chain Problems Plague Hospitals
Scripps Health has about eight times more medical devices and supplies on backorder than the integrated nonprofit health system had in 2019. San Diego, California-based Scripps has been managing shortages in ligatures and oxygenators that stop bleeding, catheters used in heart surgery and urology and custom procedure trays and surgical packs, among other things. (Kacik, 4/17)

Modern Healthcare: HIMSS 2023: Epic, Microsoft Bring OpenAI's GPT-4 To EHRs
Epic Systems is working with Microsoft to integrate generative AI technology into its electronic health record software for the first time, the companies said Monday. The announcement was made in conjunction with the first day of the HIMSS conference, which is being held in Chicago this week. (Turner, 4/17)

Reuters: US Supreme Court Rebuffs Novartis Bid To Revive MS Drug Gilenya Patent 
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp's bid to revive a key patent on its blockbuster multiple sclerosis drug Gilenya that was invalidated amid a legal dispute with China's HEC Pharm Co Ltd. (Brittain, 4/17)

The Washington Post: Amid ADHD Med Shortage, Parents Fear Sending Unmedicated Kids To School
Annie Artiga Garner feels a pit in her stomach every time a teacher approaches at school pickup for her twin 9-year-old boys, both in fourth grade and both diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Like a lot of kids with ADHD (62 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) the twins take medication to help control the symptoms of the neurodevelopmental disorder. The medications target some of the symptoms of ADHD, including lack of attention, hyperactivity, impulsive behavior and executive dysfunction. (Spinner, 4/17)

CIDRAP: Genomic Study Links Antibiotic Resistance To Diet, Geography, Demographics 
A large genomic study of the gut microbiome suggests that antibiotic use is not the only factor contributing to the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the population. The authors of the study, which was presented at this week's European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) in Copenhagen, Denmark, say the findings indicate that other medications, along with geography, demographics, and diet, also play a role. (Dall, 4/17)

Reuters: Spanish Hospital Pioneers New Lung Transplant Approach
A Spanish hospital has carried out a lung transplant using a pioneering technique with a robot and a new access route that no longer requires cutting through bone, experts said on Monday. (4/17)