First Edition: Aug. 18, 2022

KHN: Some Rural Hospitals Are In Such Bad Shape, Local Governments Are Practically Giving Them Away
Kyle Kopec gets a kick out of leading tours through the run-down hospitals his boss is snapping up, pointing out what he calls relics of poor management left by a revolving door of operators. But there’s a point to exposing their state of disrepair — the company he works for, Braden Health, is buying buildings worth millions of dollars for next to nothing. At a hospital in this rural community about a 90-minute drive northwest from Nashville, the X-ray machine is beyond repair. (Farmer, 8/18)

KHN: Upended: How Medical Debt Changed Their Lives 
Some lost their homes. Some emptied their retirement accounts. Some struggled to feed and clothe their families. Medical debt now touches more than 100 million people in America, as the U.S. health care system pushes patients into debt on a mass scale. Debtors are from all walks of life and all corners of the country. Here are their stories ― how they got into debt, what they’ve given up for it, and how they’re living with the burden. (Levey and Pattani, 8/18)

KHN: Her Brother Landed In A Nursing Home. She Was Sued Over His Bill. 
Lucille Brooks was stunned to discover a nursing home in Monroe County, New York, was suing her. She had never been a patient there. Nor had her husband. “I thought this was crazy,” she said, figuring it had to be a mistake. The bill was for care her brother, James Lawson, received in summer 2019. He’d been hospitalized for complications from a diabetes medication. The hospital released him to the county-run nursing home, where Brooks had visited him a few times. No one ever talked to her about billing, she said. And she was never asked to sign anything. (Levey, 8/18)

KHN: Sleepless Nights Over Her Children’s Future As Debts Pile Up 
Jeni Rae Peters’ budget has always been tight. But Peters, a single mom and mental health counselor, has worked to provide opportunities for her children, including two girls she adopted and a succession of foster children. One of her daughters had been homeless. Then two years ago, Peters was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. (Levey, 8/18)

KHN: Haunted For 13 Years By Debt From Childbirth, Then Rescued By A Nonprofit
Two months ahead of her due date with her second daughter, Terri Logan felt weighed down by stress. She was a high school math teacher in Union City, Georgia, and was ending her relationship with the baby’s father. One day the baby stopped moving. Logan went to the hospital, where her blood pressure spiked, her head throbbed, and she blacked out. Hours later, her daughter was born by cesarean section, weighing only 3 pounds. Logan had health insurance through work, but she was responsible for out-of-pocket charges. She and her baby were in a health crisis, so the issue of money didn’t come up: “That conversation just wasn’t had in that moment.” (Noguchi, 8/18)

The Washington Post: CDC, Under Fire, Lays Out Plan To Become More Nimble And Accountable 
The nation’s top public health official acknowledged Wednesday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had failed to respond effectively to the coronavirus pandemic, and announced plans for extensive changes, including faster release of scientific findings and easier-to-understand guidance. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told senior leaders she was committed to a long-sought revamp of CDC culture based on an internal review that called for a more nimble and better-trained workforce and incentives that would reward actions over publication — moves that allies said were necessary and critics said could not come quickly enough. (Sun and Diamond, 8/17)

The Wall Street Journal: CDC Director Outlines Restructuring Plans After Agency’s Covid-19 Response Fell Short 
The changes will include elevating the laboratory division to report to the CDC’s director and restructuring the communications office, according to a CDC official with knowledge of the plans. Dr. Walensky wants to shift the CDC’s culture from highly academic to focus more on preparedness and response, the official said. Dr. Walensky also wants additional funding and more authority for the CDC on matters including mandating data collection from states, changes that would require action from lawmakers, the official said. (Abbott, 8/17)

The Hill: CDC Director Announces Agency Overhaul, Says It Must ‘Do Better’ After COVID-19 Review 
The review, led by Jim Macrae, an official in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), included findings such as that the CDC should “share scientific findings and data faster,” according to a top-line summary released by the CDC, and “be transparent about the agency’s current level of understanding.” The CDC said Wednesday that it is taking a number of steps to change its culture and prioritize direct public health impact over a more academic mindset.   (Sullivan, 8/17)

The New York Times: CVS, Walgreens And Walmart Must Pay $650.5 Million In Ohio Opioids Case 
A federal judge on Wednesday ordered three of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains — CVS, Walgreens and Walmart — to pay $650.5 million to two Ohio counties, ruling that the companies must be held accountable for their part in fueling the opioid epidemic. The decision is a companion piece to a November jury verdict that found the companies had continued to dispense mass quantities of prescription painkillers over the years while ignoring flagrant signs that the pills were being abused. (Hoffman, 8/17)

The Hill: Walmart, CVS And Walgreens Ordered To Pay $650 Million To Ohio Counties For Opioid Crisis
When reached for comment, all three companies said they intended to appeal the ruling. In a statement, Walmart accused the plaintiffs of seeking “deep pockets” to sue and said the trial was riddled with “remarkable legal and factual mistakes.” “Instead of addressing the real causes of the opioid crisis, like pill mill doctors, illegal drugs and regulators asleep at the switch, plaintiffs’ lawyers wrongly claimed that pharmacists must second-guess doctors in a way the law never intended and many federal and state health regulators say interferes with the doctor-patient relationship,” Walmart said. (Choi, 8/17)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: GOP Legislators Object To Evers Plan For $31M Opioid Settlement Money
The Legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance has delayed the Evers administration's spending plan for $31 million in settlement funds to combat the state's opioid epidemic. Earlier this month, the state Department of Health Services submitted a proposal to the committee recommending how the state should use the money awarded from a legal settlement with pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors. (Hess, 8/17)

AP: Judge Reinstates North Carolina’s 20-Week Abortion Ban
Abortions in North Carolina are no longer legal after 20 weeks of pregnancy, a federal judge ruled Wednesday, eroding protections in one of the South’s few remaining safe havens for reproductive freedom. U.S. District Judge William Osteen reinstated an unenforced 20-week abortion ban, with exceptions for urgent medical emergencies, after he said the June U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade erased the legal foundation for his 2019 ruling that placed an injunction on the 1973 state law. (Schoenbaum, 8/17)

The Washington Post: South Carolina Supreme Court Temporarily Blocks 6-Week Abortion Ban
The South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday temporarily blocked the state’s near-total abortion ban, which barred patients from terminating a pregnancy at around six weeks, after a fetal heartbeat can be detected. The ban took effect shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court decided Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. (Shepherd, 8/17)

AP: Planned Parenthood To Spend Record $50M In Midterm Elections
Planned Parenthood, the nation’s leading reproductive health care provider and abortion rights advocacy organization, plans to spend a record $50 million ahead of November’s midterm elections, pouring money into contests where access to abortion will be on the ballot. The effort, which breaks the group’s previous $45 million spending record set in 2020, comes about two months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that created a constitutional right to have an abortion. It will be waged by the organization’s political and advocacy arms and will focus on governor’s offices, U.S. Senate seats and legislative races in nine states where abortion rights could be restricted or expanded depending on the outcome at the ballot. (Slodysko, 8/17)

The Washington Post: Planned Parenthood To Spend Record $50 Million On Midterm Elections 
Jenny Lawson, executive director of Planned Parenthood Votes, said Planned Parenthood will focus initially on nine states — Georgia, Nevada, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Arizona, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Michigan and Wisconsin — where gubernatorial or down-ballot races could determine abortion access in the state or federally. For example, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan currently have Democratic governors who have prevented their Republican-led state legislatures from enacting statewide abortion restrictions. (Wang, 8/17)

The Hill: Tim Kaine’s Role On Abortion Bill Sparks Progressive Concerns 
Progressive Democrats are expressing growing concern about having Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) as the face in the Senate of restoring abortion rights, particularly after voters in Kansas struck down a proposed constitutional amendment that would have eliminated abortions in the state.  They see Kaine, who personally opposes abortion, as too much of a centrist on the issue, and they argue the legislation he’s backing, which he says would codify the Roe v. Wade decision, doesn’t go nearly far enough.  (Parnes, 8/17)

AP: Medical Groups, 20 States Weigh In On Idaho Abortion Lawsuit
A legal battle over abortion rights pitting one of the reddest states in the nation against the U.S. government has dozens of states and major medical associations seeking to weigh in. Twenty states, Washington, D.C., the American College of Emergency Physicians, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and others are among those to have filed “friend of the court” briefs as of Wednesday, siding with the federal government’s claims that Idaho’s near-total abortion ban violates federal health care law. (Boone, 8/17)

AP: Nevada Gov Vows To Codify Order Protecting Patients Into Law 
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak said Wednesday that if he wins re-election he would seek to codify in law next legislative session an order he signed that protects in-state abortion providers and out-of-state patients. “Governors are the last line of defense in protecting reproductive freedoms,” he said. “The buck stops with us.” (Stern, 8/18)

AP: Court: Parentless Girl, 16, Not 'Mature' Enough For Abortion 
An appellate court has upheld a lower court ruling that a parentless 16-year-old girl in the Florida Panhandle was not “sufficiently mature” to end her pregnancy while seeking a waiver from a state law that requires minors to get parental consent for an abortion. The teen, known as Jane Doe 22-B in court papers, had told the lower court that she wasn’t ready to have a baby, didn’t have a job and the father was unable to assist her. She was pursuing a GED and living with a relative. The teen also told the lower court that her appointed guardian was “fine” with her decision to have an abortion. (8/16)

CBS News: Monkeypox Vaccine Maker Can't Keep Up With Demand As Case Numbers Swell
Danish biotech company Bavarian Nordic A/S, the only producer of an FDA-approved monkeypox vaccine, said it is struggling to meet demand for its shots amid the rise in cases of the disease. Increased demand may force the company to expand its limited manufacturing capacity by outsourcing some of its production, including to facilities in the U.S. Currently, the vaccine is only manufactured at Bavarian Nordic's Danish facility. (Cerullo, 8/17)

The Hill: New York Democrats Urge White House To Invoke Defense Production Act For Vaccines To Treat Monkeypox 
A group of Democratic members of Congress from New York on Wednesday called on President Biden to invoke the Defense Production Act to enhance the production of vaccines for monkeypox. In a letter to Biden, the lawmakers, led by New York Democratic Reps. Jerry Nadler and Ritchie Torres, said ,”It is clear that vaccine demand is quickly outpacing supply throughout the country.” (Choi, 8/17)

The Hill: Monkeypox Response Continues To Face Hurdles After New Federal Guidance 
State and local health authorities are facing new obstacles in responding to monkeypox after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized dividing Jynneos vaccine doses into fifths to expand the available supply, with many authorities unsure about how to immediately adopt the new strategy. (Choi, 8/17)

NBC News: Sex Between Men, Not Skin Contact, Is Fueling Monkeypox, New Research Suggests
In recent weeks, a growing body of scientific evidence — including a trio of studies published in peer-reviewed journals, as well as reports from national, regional and global health authorities — has suggested that experts may have framed monkeypox’s typical transmission route precisely backward. (Ryan, 8/17)

CIDRAP: WHO: Monkeypox Cases Rose 20% In Past Week 
For the second week in row, monkeypox cases increased by about 20%, with most case increases seen in Europe and North America, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). According to the WHO, more than 35,000 cases of monkeypox have now been reported from 92 countries and territories, with 12 deaths. (Soucheray, 8/17)

Los Angeles Times: Second Dose Of Monkeypox Vaccine Now Available In Los Angeles
With a new shipment of monkeypox vaccines expected Wednesday, Los Angeles County public health officials will begin administering second doses for the first time and again open registration for first shots to those considered high risk. (Toohey, 8/17)

Becker's Hospital Review: NYC Health + Hospitals To Monitor Polio, Monkeypox Via Wastewater Surveillance
Next week, NYC Health + Hospitals will expand its wastewater surveillance program to test for polio and monkeypox, alongside COVID-19 and flu,, the New York City-based system said  Aug. 15. (Carbajal, 8/17)

NBC News: New Covid Boosters Expected Soon For Everyone Over Age 12
White House Covid coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha said on Wednesday that the newly updated Covid boosters will be available to teens and adults "in a few short weeks." "I believe it’s going to be available and every American over the age of 12 will be eligible for it," Jha told NBC News' Lester Holt. (Lovelace Jr., 8/17)

Politico: COVID Can Impair Brain Function, Large Study Suggests 
Patients recovering from coronavirus infection suffer from increased rates of neurological and psychological problems, according to a wide-ranging observational study published Thursday. Researchers from Oxford University combed through more than a million patient files and discovered that, two years after infection, patients who had recovered from COVID-19 were at a higher risk of psychosis, dementia and "brain fog" when compared with patients who recovered from other respiratory diseases. (Martuscelli, 8/18)

Stat: Risk Of 'Brain Fog' Stays Elevated Two Years After Covid, Study Finds 
On variants, the risk of neuropsychiatric diagnoses rose, from 10% higher for anxiety to 38% for brain fog — after the Delta variant emerged than after the alpha version. Similar risks continued with Omicron, even though that variant has milder effects during the acute phase of infection. (Cooney, 8/17)

CIDRAP: Study: 56% Of Omicron-Infected Adults Didn't Know They Were Contagious
An observational study of 210 adults in California with detectable SARS-CoV-2 antibodies during an Omicron variant wave shows that 56% didn't know they had been infected, fueling concerns about asymptomatic transmission, according to a report today in JAMA Network Open. Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center led the study of adult employees and patients of the hospital in Los Angeles County who had at least two SARS-CoV-2 antibody tests 1 month or more apart. (Van Beusekom, 8/17)

Los Angeles Times: California Officials Warn Of Misleading COVID Test Results 
The risk of inaccurate results seems to be higher among symptomatic people infected with the latest dominant Omicron subvariant, BA.5, compared with earlier versions. This, experts say, further illustrates the importance of follow-up testing. “If your first home antigen test is negative, we recommend repeating it in 24 to 48 hours,” Dr. Ralph Gonzales, a UC San Francisco associate dean, said during a recent campus town hall. (Lin II and Money, 8/17)

San Francisco Chronicle: Ivermectin Among Drugs That Failed To Help COVID-19 Patients, Large Study Finds
Three generic drugs failed to prevent severe COVID-19 outcomes, according to a study published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. They include the antimalarial ivermectin; fluvoxamine, which is used to treat depression; and metformin, which is used in diabetes patients. (Beamish and Vaziri, 8/17)

The Boston Globe: Right-Wing Groups Hit Boston Children’s With Barrage Of Threats Over Trans Health Program
The hospital, which in 2007 established the nation’s first pediatric and adolescent transgender health program, issued a statement late Tuesday saying that it “has been the target of a large volume of hostile internet activity, phone calls, and harassing emails including threats of violence toward our clinicians and staff.” “We are deeply concerned by these attacks on our clinicians and staff fueled by misinformation and a lack of understanding and respect for our transgender community,” the statement said. (Freyer and Lazar, 8/17)

Becker's Hospital Review: With Workplace Violence On The Rise, Some Health Systems Are Hiring Experts To Address It
Amid increased calls to address workplace violence, some health systems are hiring personnel specifically to focus on the issue. The directors often oversee areas of the organization related to safety and security.  Take Chicago-based UI Health, which is recruiting for a director of hospital safety and workplace violence prevention. (Gooch and Schoonover, 8/17)

Modern Healthcare: New Jersey Hospital, Anesthesia Group Sue Over Staffing
Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center, an RWJBarnabas Health hospital in Livingston, New Jersey, alleges that American Anesthesiology of New Jersey “chronically” understaffed the facility, forcing delayed and canceled surgeries and blaming it on industry-wide workforce shortages. The hospital's lawsuit in state court accuses North American Partners in Anesthesia, the private equity-owned parent company of American Anesthesiology, of prioritizing profits over patient care. (Christ, 8/17)

The Boston Globe: Bluebird Bio’s First Gene Therapy For Rare Blood Disease Wins FDA Approval
Bluebird won approval for Zynteglo in Europe in 2019 but eventually shuttered its commercial operations there when payers refused to cover its previous $1.8 million price tag. The therapy treats the severe form of a disease called beta thalassemia, where a genetic mutation in the beta-globin gene impairs the ability of blood cells to carry oxygen throughout the body. People with the condition require regular blood transfusions once or twice a month, and chelation therapies to reduce high levels of iron caused by the transfusions. (Cross, 8/17)

The Wall Street Journal: Moderna Names New CFO After Hasty Departure Of Predecessor
Moderna Inc. named a new finance chief roughly three months after the Covid-19 vaccine maker’s previous hire for the role departed abruptly due to an internal investigation under way at a prior employer. The Cambridge, Mass.-based biotechnology company on Wednesday said James Mock will start as its chief financial officer, effective Sept. 6, and David Meline, who has been filling in as CFO, will retire on the same day. (Williams-Alvarez, 8/17)

The New York Times: New Method Improves Speed And Cost Of Birth Defect Testing 
After 10 years of effort, medical researchers at Columbia University have developed a very fast and cheap way to detect the extra or missing chromosomes that most often cause miscarriages or severe birth defects. The method, described Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, takes less than two hours using a palm-size device and costs $200 per use. With current testing procedures, women can end up paying $1,000 to $2,000, often out of pocket. (Kolata, 8/17)

Fox News: West Nile Virus Detected In 2 New York City Residents As Infected Mosquito Population Soars
The New York City Health Department announced Tuesday that the West Nile virus was found in two people as the infected mosquito population reaches a new record. Two human cases were reported as the city's five boroughs deal with 1,068 mosquito pools that have tested positive for the virus, according to the city's health department. Compared to last year, NYC had a West Nile virus pool of 779. (Nieto, 8/17)

AP: 2 Deaths In Florida Linked To Raw Oysters From Louisiana
A restaurant customer in Fort Lauderdale has died of a bacterial infection after eating raw oysters. A Pensacola man died the same way this month. Both cases involved oysters from Louisiana. Gary Oreal, who manages the Rustic Inn, told the South Florida SunSentinel that the man who died had worked years ago at the restaurant famous for garlic crabs. (8/17)

The Washington Post: CDC Reports ‘Fast-Moving’ E. Coli Outbreak In Michigan And Ohio
A “fast-moving” E. coli outbreak in Michigan and Ohio has left 29 people ill and nine of them hospitalized, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday. In an urgent public announcement aimed at finding the source of the outbreak, the CDC said no deaths had occurred. No food source has been identified, the CDC said, meaning the number of people falling sick could increase. So far, 15 people in Michigan and 14 people in Ohio have been infected, the CDC said. (Jeong, 8/18)

NBC News: 'Brain-Eating Amoeba' Suspected In Child's Death In Nebraska Officials Say
A child died in Nebraska this week of a suspected infection of Naegleria fowleri, also known as the “brain-eating amoeba,” health officials said Wednesday. Tests were conducted to make sure, but if confirmed it would be the first such death in the history of the state, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services said. (Helsel, 8/18)