First Edition: April 5, 2024

KFF Health News: Dietary Choices Are Linked To Higher Rates Of Preeclampsia Among Latinas
For pregnant Latinas, food choices could reduce the risk of preeclampsia, a dangerous type of high blood pressure, and a diet based on cultural food preferences, rather than on U.S. government benchmarks, is more likely to help ward off the illness, a new study shows. Researchers at the USC Keck School of Medicine found that a combination of solid fats, refined grains, and cheese was linked to higher rates of preeclampsia among a group of low-income Latinas in Los Angeles. (Sánchez, 4/5)

KFF Health News: More Kids Are Dying Of Drug Overdoses. Could Pediatricians Do More To Help?
A 17-year-old boy with shaggy blond hair stepped onto the scale at Tri-River Family Health Center in Uxbridge, Massachusetts. After he was weighed, he headed for an exam room decorated with decals of planets and cartoon characters. A nurse checked his blood pressure. A pediatrician asked about school, home life, and his friendships. This seemed like a routine teen checkup, the kind that happens in thousands of pediatric practices across the U.S. every day — until the doctor popped his next question. (Bebinger, 4/5)

KFF Health News: Florida Limits Abortion — For Now
The Florida Supreme Court handed down dual abortion rulings this week. One said voters will be allowed to decide in November whether to create a state right to abortion. The other ruling, though, allows a 15-week ban to take effect immediately — before an even more sweeping, six-week ban replaces it in May. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden is doubling down on his administration’s health care accomplishments as he kicks off his general election campaign. (Rovner, 4/4)

The Boston Globe: Amylyx To Pull ALS Drug From Market, Lay Off Staff
Four weeks after it reported that its controversial and costly drug for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis failed to provide any benefit to patients in a large clinical trial, Cambridge biotech Amylyx Pharmaceuticals said Thursday it will pull the medicine from the market in the US and Canada. In addition, the company said it plans to lay off 70 percent of its workforce to preserve its cash into 2026. Amylyx had 384 employees as of December 31. (Saltzman, 4/4)

The Hill: Manufacturer To Pull Controversial ALS Drug Off The Market After Failed Clinical Trial
The move comes after the company announced last month that a trial of more than 650 people showed Relyvrio failed to outperform a placebo in slowing the progression of ALS, and it showed no benefit to patients. The drug also failed to show improvement on any secondary endpoints in the trial, such as muscle strength. Patients already receiving the drug who wish to continue will be able to enroll in a program to receive it for free, the company said. (Weixel, 4/4)

The Washington Post: Amylyx Will Remove ALS Drug From The Market After Failed Trial
“While this is a difficult moment for the ALS community, we reached this path forward in partnership with the stakeholders who will be impacted and in line with our steadfast commitment to people living with ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases,” Joshua Cohen and Justin Klee, the company’s two CEOs, said in a statement. (Gilbert, 4/4)

Reuters: Tennessee Court Weighs Blocking Abortion Ban During Pregnancy Complications
A Tennessee state court on Thursday weighed a bid by a group of doctors and women to block officials from enforcing the state's near-total ban on abortion in instances when dangerous pregnancy complications arise. Lawyers for seven women who were denied abortions following pregnancy complications and two doctors told the three-judge panel in Tennessee's Twelfth Judicial District Court in Nashville that a medical exception in the state's abortion ban was so vague that physicians were turning away patients seeking emergency care. (Raymond, 4/4)

AP: Lawsuit Challenging Indiana Abortion Ban Survives A State Challenge
The Indiana Court of Appeals gave an incremental win Thursday to a group of residents suing the state over its near-total abortion ban, arguing that it violates a state law protecting religious freedom. The three-judge panel’s ruling agreed with a lower court that plaintiffs with a religious objection to the ban should be exempt from it. But the written decision had no immediate effect and may be challenged in the state Supreme Court within the next 45 days. (Volmert, 4/5)

AP: Wisconsin Doctor Who Sued To Protect Abortion Access Joins Congressional Race
A doctor who performs abortions became the first Democratic candidate in Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District on Thursday, entering the race for the seat opened up by the surprise retirement of Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher. Dr. Kristin Lyerly, an obstetrician and gynecologist, launched her candidacy two weeks before Gallagher’s expected departure date. Because of the timing of his resignation, there will be no special election. (Bauer, 4/4)

MPR News: For Many Minnesota Women, Postpartum Depression’s Grip Is Real, But Care Can Be Elusive
Baby A’saan’s meal time is right around 5 p.m. Cassidy Romaine, his mom, settles on their couch to breastfeed surrounded by plants — greenery that Romaine, an aspiring gardener and herbalist, says helps keep her sane. At five months postpartum, Romaine’s been doing well managing a new baby and her own mental health. Her last two pregnancies were much harder, including one where she went into premature labor and lost her baby girl a few days after birth. (Miles, 4/4)

The Hill: More Than 1 In 8 New Mothers Report Mistreatment During Childbirth: Study
As the U.S. grapples with a maternal health crisis, a new study shows more than 1 out of 8 new moms are shouted at, scolded or ignored by a healthcare provider during their deliveries. The study published in JAMA Network Open Thursday used data from the 2020 Postpartum Assessment of Health Survey, a large-scale data collection effort on the health and well-being of postpartum people conducted by Columbia University. (O’Connell-Domenech, 4/4)

Reuters: CVS Caremark To Cover Perrigo's Opill In US At Zero Cost For Plan Sponsors
CVS Caremark, the pharmacy benefit management subsidiary of CVS Health Corp will add Perrigo's birth control pill to its preventive services oral contraceptives list and make it available at no cost for many plan sponsors, according to a pharmacy update on March 28. The U.S. FDA in July approved over-the-counter use of Perrigo's drug Opill, making it the first oral contraceptive in the country which can be purchased without prescription. (4/4)

Reuters: Bird Flu Dairy Cow Outbreak Widens In Ohio, Kansas, New Mexico
Bird flu has infected a dairy herd in Ohio for the first time and was detected in additional herds in Kansas and New Mexico, according to the U.S. government, expanding an outbreak in cows that has raised concerns about possible risks to humans. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has confirmed infections in herds across six states since it first reported cases in Texas and Kansas on March 25. (Polansek, 4/4)

Reuters: Wider Bird Flu Spread Raises Concern For Humans, Animal Health Body Says
The spread of bird flu to an increasing number of species and its widening geographic reach have raised the risks of humans being infected by the virus, the head of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said on Thursday. Monique Eloit's comments come after the U.S. government reported cases of the disease in dairy cows in several states and a person in Texas, which she said would only be a strong concern if there had been a transmission between cows, something the U.S. authorities are still investigating. (De La Hamaide, 4/4)

Stat: Avian Flu Expert Fouchier Not Convinced Threat To People Has Abated
News that H5N1 avian influenza has breached another mammalian species — this time dairy cows — has taken the flu science community aback. Though cows previously had been seen to be susceptible to human flu viruses, and could be experimentally infected with H5 in a lab, the absence of cow involvement until now in H5’s nearly 30-year history lulled scientists into thinking the species was outside the virus’s remit. Further elevating the concern this discovery has triggered is the fact that a dairy farm worker in Texas was infected with H5N1, though the unnamed individual’s only symptom was conjunctivitis. (Branswell, 4/5)

Reuters: Scientists Investigate Thousands Of Dead Antarctic Penguins For Bird Flu
Has bird flu already killed hundreds, if not thousands of penguins in Antarctica? That's what researchers are seeking to find out after a scientific expedition last month found at least 532 dead Adelie penguins, with thousands more thought to have died, according to a statement from Federation University Australia. While the researchers suspect the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus killed the penguins, the field tests were inconclusive, the university said. (Spring, 4/4)

Modern Healthcare: Medicare Advantage Prior Authorization Standards Set For 2025
Regulators will enhance Medicare Advantage marketing, prior authorization and network adequacy standards for 2025, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said in a final rule Thursday. The agency set fixed compensation for agents and brokers to prohibit them from steering patients to plans that don't best suit their health needs. But CMS increased the pay cap for initial enrollments into plans by $100, versus the $31 proposed in November. (Berryman and Tepper, 4/4)

Modern Healthcare: Higher Fines Compel Most Hospitals To Disclose Prices
A year after federal regulators doubled down on price transparency requirements, most hospitals are complying with the law despite their insistence that the data isn't useful for patients. Researchers estimate at least three-quarters of hospitals have posted prices they negotiated with commercial insurers. That’s about a three-fold increase since 2021, when some hospitals argued the associated cost to compile the data, as well as its possible benefit to competitors, outweighed potential penalties. (Kacik, 4/4)

Modern Healthcare: Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Edward Markey Target Private Equity 
Federal lawmakers are pushing for more oversight of private equity investment in the healthcare industry, citing the ongoing financial struggles of Steward Health Care hospitals. The national for-profit system has been selling and closing hospitals since last year, this week shuttering New England Sinai Hospital in Stoughton, Massachusetts. Lawmakers worry more facilities will close as Steward’s outstanding rent and vendor payments pile up. (Kacik, 4/4)

The Hill: Border Patrol Must Care For Migrant Children It Locks Up, Federal Judge Rules
When the federal government locks migrants up, it’s responsible for them — regardless of whether they’ve been formally processed, a federal judge found Wednesday. As migrant crossings over the border between Mexico and Southern California have overwhelmed local detention facilities, thousands of people have been left to camp in the desert, often for days. (Elbein, 4/4)

CIDRAP: FDA Approves New Antibiotic For Multiple Bacterial Infections
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday approved the novel antibiotic Zevtera (ceftobiprole medocaril sodium for injection) for treating serious bacterial infections in adults and children. The approval of the cephalosporin antibiotic is for three indications: (1) Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB), including right-sided infective endocarditis, in adults; (2) acute bacterial skin and skin-structure infection (ABSSSI) in adults; (3) and community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP) in adults and children as young as 3 months. (Dall, 4/4)

Politico: FDA Says Regulatory Solution Is Needed For Hemp-Derived Products
Top FDA officials working on cannabis policy said Thursday that regulatory uncertainty for hemp-derived products is a problem, but argued that only Congress can create a new regulatory pathway to fix the issue. “[CBD and Delta-8 regulation] are two problems that are the consequence of the 2018 Farm Bill,” said FDA Senior Science Advisor and Cannabis Products Committee Lead Patrick Cournoyer. “Both of those problems need a solution.” (Fertig, 4/4)

The Wall Street Journal: FDA To Drop Ban On Sperm Donations From Gay And Bisexual Men
The Food and Drug Administration is making plans to significantly expand the number of gay and bisexual men who could donate sperm anonymously. Longstanding agency rules ban anonymous sperm donations by men who acknowledged having sex with other men during the previous five years, to reduce the risk of spreading pathogens including HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. (Essley Whyte and Dockser Marcus, 4/4)

Axios: Eclipse 2024: Why Hospitals Are On High Alert
The public's massive enthusiasm for the upcoming total solar eclipse may only be matched by the anxiety felt by hundreds of hospitals in the path of totality. Why it matters: With millions of people flocking to big cities and small towns to witness Monday's eclipse, hospitals are on high alert for increased traffic accidents, the potential for mass casualty events and, of course, eye damage. (Goldman, 4/5)

Newsweek: Junk Food Warning Issued To Lonely People
A new study has found that women who feel lonely are more likely to have food cravings.The study from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Health studied 93 women and asked them questions about their support system and feelings of loneliness. They were then shown a variety of pictures, some with food that varied between sweet and savory. MRI scans recorded during the study found that regions of the brain linked to food cravings were activated when shown these pictures. (White, 4/4)

The Washington Post: How Flotation Therapy May Help Anxiety And Eating Disorder
Flotation therapy — which involves floating in a tank of warm, salt-saturated water — is a popular and often expensive form of relaxation. Now, a small but growing body of research suggests it may also reduce symptoms of a variety of mental health conditions. ... “It calms the mind, sharpens our sense of the body and helps us live in the moment — all of which can break the cycle of negative thoughts,” said Sahib Khalsa, principal investigator and clinical director at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research in Tulsa, a hub of float therapy research. (Zimmerman, 4/4)

Newsweek: Warning Issued Over Prostate Cancer 'Surge'
Annual worldwide cases of prostate cancer are projected to double by 2040, according to new research from The Lancet Commission on the disease. However, some countries are expected to see a more dramatic increase than others. Other than skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men in the United States, the American Cancer Society reports. Roughly one in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime, with nearly 300,000 new cases diagnosed each year in the U.S. alone. (Dewan, 4/4)

USA Today: Most Common Cancer Types, 2022 Rates And Mortality Released: New Study
The release of 2022 cancer data gives the latest look into which types of cancer are most prevalent around the world as population growth expects to drive global cases as much as 77% by 2050. There were nearly 20 million new cancer cases and 9.7 million deaths from cancer in 2022, said the study published Thursday in the journal CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, part of the American Cancer Society Journals. (Crowley, 4/4)

CIDRAP: Among Fully Vaccinated, Study Shows Paxlovid Does Not Shorten Symptoms
A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that, for those fully vaccinated against COVID-19 but having at least one risk factor for severe COVID, the antiviral drug Paxlovid did little to reduce symptom duration, but experts caution the findings might not apply to older patients. ... A total of 654 participants took Paxlovid, and 634 participants took the placebo. The study was conducted from July 2021 to July 2022. (Soucheray, 4/4)

CNN: CPAP Replacement Works Well For The Overweight, Not Obese, Study Finds
An implant for obstructive sleep apnea — a serious sleep malady in which breathing stops for 10 seconds to two minutes many times an hour each night — works best in people who are overweight but not severely obese, a new study found. To qualify for the device, called a hypoglossal nerve stimulator, a person over 18 diagnosed with moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea must be unable to adapt or refuse to wear a continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, machine, the gold standard treatment for obstructive sleep apnea. (LaMotte, 4/4)

Modern Healthcare: Mergers, Private Equity Deals Keep Law Firms Busy: Survey
Healthcare consolidation is expected to remain strong in the coming months, given likely cuts in interest rates, health systems’ ongoing pursuit of financial stability and expansion opportunities, and the growing influence of private equity in care delivery. Private equity firms are increasingly acquiring physician practices and healthcare staffing firms, while hospitals are exploring mergers to reduce costs through economies of scale. (Hartnett, 4/4)

Reuters: Boehringer To Lay Off Salespeople As Humira Biosimilar Sales Lag
Boehringer Ingelheim on Thursday said it will lay off some of its salesforce due to poor U.S. sales of its biosimilar version of AbbVie’s (ABBV.N) blockbuster arthritis treatment Humira.The German drugmaker said it planned to reduce its customer-facing teams in favor of a hybrid in-person and virtual sales model by June 30, in large part because pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) had kept branded Humira on their lists of medicines for reimbursement. (Wingrove, 4/5)

Modern Healthcare: Marshfield Clinic Health System Layoffs Hit Hundreds Of Workers
Marshfield Clinic Health System will lay off around 360 employees it had furloughed earlier this year, a spokesperson said. The nonprofit health system in January put about 3% of its workforce on temporary, non-paid leave as it manages rising labor and supply costs, among other financial challenges. Those employees will be laid off and given severance in early May, the spokesperson for the 11-hospital system said in a statement. (Kacik, 4/4)

Reuters: AstraZeneca's Imfinzi Shows Promise In Treating Aggressive Lung Cancer
AstraZeneca said on Friday its blockbuster cancer drug Imfinzi helped improve overall and progression-free survival in patients with limited-stage small cell lung cancer. The drug demonstrated "statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement" in the dual primary goals of overall survival and progression-free survival in patients for whom the disease had not worsened following concurrent chemoradiotherapy in a late-stage trial, according to AstraZeneca. (4/5)

The New York Times: New York Has A Budget Trick To Try On The Federal Government
Facing increased Medicaid enrollment and a cash crunch across New York’s health care system, Democrats in Albany hope to employ a maneuver that they say will allow the state to generate billions of dollars a year essentially out of thin air. The proposal takes advantage of a loophole in the Medicaid reimbursement process that allows states to bill the federal government for billions of dollars. (Ashford, 4/5)

Arizona Republic: Arizona Legislature OKs Major Reforms For Assisted Living Facilities
Arizona seniors residing in assisted living facilities could soon have better protections and standards enshrined in state law. Proposed legislation to increase the Arizona Department of Health Service's ability to regulate assisted living facilities passed the Legislature on Thursday, after a final 59-0 vote in the House of Representatives. It now heads to Gov. Katie Hobbs' desk, where her signature to make it law is likely. (Jayaraman, 4/4)

Colorado Sun: Colorado Jails Scramble To Find Funds To Continue A New Opioid Treatment Program
Colorado jail leaders are scrambling to find funding to maintain a new state-mandated program that provides medication and therapy to people in jail who are addicted to opioids. Jail leaders knew a one-time federal grant would help them launch a program to treat people’s addiction with medications such as methadone, naltrexone and buprenorphine during the initiative’s inaugural year. (Flowers, 4/5)

Colorado Sun: Faith Winter, A Top Democrat In The Colorado Senate, Is Seeking Treatment For Substance Abuse
Assistant Senate Majority Leader Faith Winter, the No. 3 Democrat in the Colorado Senate, is seeking medical treatment for substance abuse, she told The Colorado Sun on Thursday. Winter is specifically seeking assistance with alcoholism. (Paul, 4/4)