First Edition: Aug. 17, 2023

KFF Health News: Doctors Hesitate To Ask About Patients’ Immigration Status Despite New Florida Law
Fearful of risking their jobs, jeopardizing state funding for their institutions, and further politicizing health care, Florida hospital leaders have been reluctant to speak out against a new law that requires them to ask about patients’ immigration status. While Florida joins Kansas, Texas, Mississippi, and a handful of other states in proposing crackdowns on immigrants lacking legal residency, no other state has mandated that hospitals question patients about their citizenship. (Chang, 8/17)

KFF Health News: Community With High Medical Debt Questions Its Hospitals’ Charity Spending 
As 41% of American adults face medical debt, residents of this southern Colorado city contend their local nonprofit hospitals aren’t providing enough charity care to justify the millions in tax breaks they receive. The two hospitals in Pueblo, Parkview Medical Center and Centura St. Mary-Corwin, do not pay most federal or state taxes. In exchange for the tax break, they are required to spend money to improve the health of their communities, including providing free care to those who can’t afford their medical bills. Although the hospitals report tens of millions in annual community benefit spending, the vast majority of that is not spent on the types of things advocates and researchers contend actually create community benefits, such as charity care. (Hawryluk, 8/17)

NPR: Court Rules To Restrict Mifepristone But No Changes Until Supreme Court Rules
A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that mifepristone, one of two pills used in medication abortions, should not be prescribed past seven weeks of pregnancy or via telemedicine. However, a previous stay by the Supreme Court means this won't go into effect right away. The pills will remain on the market in states where abortion is legal and available by telemedicine and mail for the time being. (Simmons-Duffin and Webber, 8/16)

Politico: Abortion Pill Ruling Sets Up Supreme Court Showdown 
The showdown at the Supreme Court, which could affect how millions of people end their pregnancies, is likely to come just months before a presidential election in which Democrats plan to make abortion rights a pillar of their campaign. One of the judges on the three-judge panel, Judge James Ho, wanted to go even further than rolling back access to the drug. He agreed with the most extreme position of the challengers that the FDA’s original approval should be stripped altogether, a move that would take the drug off the market entirely. But Ho, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, was overruled by his two colleagues — also Republican appointees — who said it’s too late for anti-abortion groups to challenge the original agency approval declaring the drugs safe and effective more than two decades ago. (Ollstein, 8/16)

Reuters: What Does The US Abortion Pill Ruling Mean For Patients? 
If the ruling is upheld, doctors could still prescribe the abortion pill, but with restrictions. Patients would no longer be able to obtain the medication through a telehealth visit, and it could not be sent by mail. Instead, patients would need to visit a doctor in person to be administered mifepristone, again to be administered misoprostol and a third time for follow-up. The drug would also be approved only for use in the first seven weeks of pregnancy, rather than 10 weeks. (Pierson, 8/16)

Colorado Sun: What Does Science Say About Abortion Pill Reversal?
Colorado’s Medical Board on Thursday will attempt to decide something no other regulatory body in the country has: whether a controversial treatment to try to “reverse” the effects of an abortion pill is something doctors should be providing. The evidence for the practice is spotty. Federal authorities have not approved it. No clinical trials — the most rigorous type of research — have validated its safety or its efficacy in humans. As a result, the nation’s leading organization for OB-GYN doctors says that the idea of abortion reversal “is not supported by science.” (Ingold, 8/17)

AP: Common Arthritis Drug Could Boost Effectiveness Of Morning-After Pill, Study Finds 
Taking a common arthritis drug together with the morning-after pill Plan B could boost the contraceptive’s effectiveness, according to new research published Wednesday. Levonorgestrel, often called Plan B, is the most widely available type of emergency contraception. It works by preventing or delaying ovulation. Scientists estimate that it is about 95% effective when taken within a day after unprotected sex, dropping to 58% or lower within three days. The new study, published by the medical journal Lancet, suggests levonorgestrel can remain highly effective up to three days after unprotected sex when it is taken with piroxicam, an anti-inflammatory pain medication typically prescribed for arthritis. (Cheng, 8/16)

The Washington Post: Cancers Among Younger Americans Are On The Rise, New Study Shows 
Most cancers in the United States are found in people age 65 and older, but a new study shows a concerning trend: Cancer among younger Americans, particularly women, is on the rise, with gastrointestinal, endocrine and breast cancers climbing at the fastest rates. A study published Wednesday in JAMA Network Open showed that while cancers among older adults have declined, cancers among people younger than 50 have increased slightly overall, with the largest increases among those age 30 to 39. (Bever, 8/16)

NBC News: Cancer Drug Shortage: Price Gouging Of Chemo Drugs Hits Some Hospitals Hard
NBC News spoke to seven hospitals and cancer clinics in the U.S. that said they are being asked to pay five to 10 times more for vital cancer drugs, putting patients at risk of losing access to the lifesaving treatments if the providers are unable to cover the marked-up cost. The culprits behind the price gouging, they say, are so-called gray market vendors who exploit drug shortages by buying desperately needed medications from distributors or pharmacies and then selling them to hospitals or clinics at inflated prices. ( Lovelace Jr., Klingbaum and Kopf, 8/17)

USA Today: Pig Kidney Functions In Brain-Dead Man For Over A Month
Doctors in New York have managed to keep a brain-dead man in a state of sort of suspended animation for more than a month after removing his kidneys and replacing them with one from a pig. Dr. Robert Montgomery, who directs the NYU Langone Transplant Institute, said he hopes that by showing the kidney can function successfully in a brain-dead person, it will clear the way for the Food and Drug Administration to approve clinical trials in living people. (Weintraub, 8/16)

Modern Healthcare: Organ Transplant System Faces Major Changes Under New Policy
The national system for allocating and distributing human organs for transplantation is on the verge of a transformation that advocates have sought for years. After an outcry from providers and patients and a major congressional investigation, lawmakers overwhelmingly passed the Securing the U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network Act of 2023 in July. President Joe Biden, who requested an overhaul in his fiscal 2024 budget proposal, is expected to sign the bill, which would end the United Network for Organ Sharing's nearly four-decade monopoly over the system and enable other organizations to participate. (Berryman, 8/16)

Axios: Axios-Ipsos Poll: COVID Uptick Isn't Changing Public's Habits
The summertime rise in COVID cases and hospitalizations is making some Americans rethink if the pandemic is over, but it isn't persuading them to start wearing masks again or test for the virus, according to the latest Axios-Ipsos American Health Index. (Bettelheim, 8/17)

Modern Healthcare: The Joint Commission Acquires National Quality Forum
The Joint Commission has acquired the National Quality Forum, with the goal of consolidating quality measures and integrating more industry voices into the development of standards. Putting the healthcare improvement organization under the umbrella of the commission should reduce the burden on health systems by eliminating unaligned, competing measures and creating more streamlined and consistent clinical performance measurement, according to the groups. (Devereaux, 8/16)

Stat: Health CEOs Hauled In $4 Billion As Inflation Pinched Workers
The health care industry didn’t just provide a safe haven for jittery stock investors in 2022, a year defined by inflation and higher interest rates. It also provided a stable stream of wealth for top executives, who collectively pocketed billions of dollars in what was otherwise a rough patch for the economy. (Herman, Parker, Feuerstein, Lawrence and Ravindranath, 8/17)

NBC News: Few Patients May Qualify To Get New Alzheimer’s Drugs, Study Suggests
The first Alzheimer’s drugs meant to slow the progression of the fatal disease may only be available to a tiny fraction of patients, a study published Wednesday in the journal Neurology suggests. The drugs, Eisai’s Leqembi and Biogen’s Aduhelm, are approved for older adults with mild cognitive impairment or early-stage Alzheimer’s disease but, according to the study, less than 1 in 10 patients at this point in the disease may be prescribed them. (Lovelace Jr., 8/16)

The Wall Street Journal: Ozempic Without A Prescription: Dozens Of Websites Selling Knock-Off Weight Loss Drugs
Spend enough time searching for Ozempic, Wegovy or Mounjaro, and you’ll find dozens of websites selling knock-off versions of the popular drugs without a prescription. These websites are part of a robust online marketplace for what have been called weight-loss miracles, selling raw ingredients that cost far less than the brand-name drugs. They market to customers on social media, emphasizing discounts and “pharmaceutical grade” quality while stating that their products are “for research purposes” only. (Winkler and O'Brien, 8/16)

Axios: Telehealth Didn't Drive Up ADHD Prescriptions At Large Health Centers: Study
While the surge in prescriptions for ADHD drugs during the pandemic has often been attributed to expanded telehealth access, new research finds there has been little difference in prescribing rates for in-person or virtual care at large health centers since 2020. (Dreher, 8/17)

Stat: FDA Approves First Treatment For Ultra-Rare Bone Disease 
U.S. regulators on Wednesday approved the first treatment for an ultra-rare disease that causes people to grow bone where it otherwise shouldn’t be, extending an option to patients who have been advocating for access to the medicine. (Joseph and Garde, 8/16)

Reuters: American Red Cross Spars With US Justice Dept Over Scope Of Antitrust Law
The dispute is unfolding in a lawsuit against the Red Cross, the country's largest supplier of blood, by blood-testing company Verax Biomedical. Verax's Feb. 14 complaint in Boston federal court alleges that the Red Cross is using its dominance in the market for blood platelets to squelch competition for anti-contamination services. The Red Cross has asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing that it acts as an "instrumentality" of the U.S. government. (Scarcella, 8/16)

Stat: In A Rare Move, FDA Threatens To Fine A Company For Failing To Report Clinical Trial Results 
For only the fifth time, the Food and Drug Administration recently threatened to fine a company or clinical trial investigator for failing to post study results on a federal government database. And transparency advocates say this is the latest proof that the agency needs to step up enforcement. (Silverman, 8/16)

PBS NewsHour: This New Oklahoma Executive Order Narrowly Defines ‘Woman’
The order, which along with government agencies applies to schools and state institutions, stipulates definitions for certain terms, like “man,” “boy,” “woman,” “girl,” “father,” and “mother.” The narrow definitions in the so-called “Women’s Bill of Rights” exclude trans and nonbinary people or anyone whose gender does not fit into the binary categories of woman or man. The order’s language does not make room for those with chromosomal variations, like intersex people. (Kemp, 8/16)

Modern Healthcare: PBM Law In Oklahoma Is Unconstitutional, Federal Court Rules
An Oklahoma law aiming to regulate pharmacy benefit managers’ retail networks and pharmacist contracts is unconstitutional, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit ruled. The three-judge panel on Tuesday invalidated four provisions of an Oklahoma law targeting PBMs, third-party intermediaries that negotiate drug prices on behalf of insurers. (Tepper, 8/16)

CBS News: 150,000 Bay Area Residents To Have Medi-Cal Eligibility Reconsidered
About 15.5 million Californians—including over 150,000 people across the Bay Area—will have their Medi-Cal eligibility reconsidered. As of June, 21% of Medi-Cal recipients in California—or approximately 225,000 people—have lost coverage as a result of the redetermination process, in which needs for the health coverage are reassessed, according to the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS). (8/16)

AP: Maui Wildfire Survivors Are Confronting Huge Mental Health Hurdles 
The evacuation center at the South Maui Community Park Gymnasium is now Anne Landon’s safe space. She has a cot and access to food, water, showers, books and even puzzles that bring people together to pass the evening hours. But all it took was a strong wind gust for her to be immediately transported back to the terrifying moment a deadly fire overtook her senior apartment complex in Lahaina last week. “It’s a trigger,” she said. “The wind was so horrible during that fire.” (Rush, 8/17)

The New York Times: NJ Court Sides With Catholic School That Fired Unmarried Pregnant Teacher 
The New Jersey Supreme Court sided on Monday with a Catholic elementary school that fired an unmarried art teacher who was pregnant, ending a long legal battle that had drawn national attention at a time of fierce debate over religious freedom and the separation of church and state. [The woman's lawyer] noted that the decision would affect not only religious schools, but “all different types of religious entities that employ people,” including hospitals. (Nolan, 8/16)

Fox News: New York State Department Releases Guidance After 3 Dead From Flesh-Eating Bacteria In New York, Connecticut
The New York State Health Department released guidance for residents to identify a flesh-eating bacterium that has claimed the lives of one New York resident and two Connecticut residents over the summer. The state Department of Public Health said that there are three people known to have been infected with the Vibrio vulnificus bacteria. Vibriosis is a rare but potentially fatal bacterial infection that can cause skin breakdown and ulcers and is found in raw shellfish or seawater, health officials said. (Rumpf-Whitten, 8/16)

AP: A Marijuana Legalization Question Will Be On Ohio’s Fall Ballot After Lawmakers Failed To Act On It 
A proposal to legalize recreational adult use of marijuana in Ohio was cleared Wednesday to appear on statewide ballots this fall after the Republican-led state Legislature failed to act on it. The measure would allow adults 21 and over to buy and possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis and to grow plants at home. A 10% tax would be imposed on purchases, to be spent on administrative costs, addiction treatment programs, municipalities with dispensaries and social equity and jobs programs. (Smyth, 8/16)

CBS News: Teenage Smokers Have Different Brains Than Non-Smoking Teens, Study Suggests
A research team led by the universities of Cambridge and Warwick in Britain and Fudan University in China found that teens who started smoking cigarettes by 14 years of age had significantly less grey matter in a section of the brain's left frontal lobe. Tuesday's findings, published in the scientific journal Nature Communications, indicate that adolescents with less grey matter on the left frontal lobe have less cognitive function and therefore are more inclined to break rules and develop bad habits such as smoking. (Lyons, 8/16) 

The Washington Post: CDC: New Strain Of E. Coli Is Behind Outbreaks Traced To Lettuce
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that a relatively new strain of E. coli is responsible for multiple outbreaks of foodborne illness in recent years, including those related to romaine lettuce and other leafy greens. (Reiley, 8/16)

Stat: The Latest Recall Of Philips Ventilators Reveals One Death, Two Injuries
In March, Philips recalled more than 73,000 ventilators that absorbed dust and dirt into breathing tubes. This week, the Food and Drug Administration reported that the issue has been associated with at least one death and two injuries. (Lawrence, 8/16)

Fox News: Researchers Use Artificial Intelligence To Help Diagnose Autism, Study Says
Researchers are proposing using artificial intelligence technology to help diagnose autism spectrum disorder. In a recent article published in Scientific Reports, researchers from Brazil, France and Germany reportedly used magnetic resonance imaging to train a machine learning algorithm. The work – in which the "quantitative diagnostic method" is proposed – was based on brain imaging data for 500 people, with more than 240 that had been diagnosed with autism. (Musto, 8/16)

Stat: Schizophrenia Gene Found To Be Linked To Cells' Energy Dysfunction
The heritable nature of schizophrenia has been known for about a century. But researchers are still trying to learn how genes that have been linked to an increased risk of the disease actually lead to schizophrenia. (Cueto, 8/16)

CBS News: Pain After A Heart Attack May Predict Likelihood Of Death Within Years Following, Study Finds
Experiencing pain a year after having a heart attack is common, but new research says it may also be a clue in predicting a patient's long-term survival. According to a study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Heart Association, people who had moderate or extreme pain were more likely to die within the next 8 years compared with adults who did not have any post-heart attack pain. (Moniuszko, 8/16)

CIDRAP: Meta-Analysis Estimates 1 In 3 Men Worldwide Have Genital HPV Infection 
A new meta-analysis published in The Lancet Global Health finds that nearly one in three men around the world have one or more types of genital human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, and about one in five have at least one kind of high-risk HPV (HR-HPV). (8/16)

Axios: NFL Announces More Steps To Reduce Head Injuries
The NFL is expanding use of the padded softshell caps that players have been wearing for the duration of preseason practices, as well as regular season contact practices, amid signs they're cutting down on concussions. Player safety has been under increased scrutiny, and the Guardian Caps worn by offensive and defensive linemen, tight ends and linebackers resulted in 52% fewer concussions up to the second preseason game this year, compared to an average of the same period over the previous three preseasons. (Reed, 8/16)