First Edition: Aug. 22, 2023

KFF Health News: Few Firm Beliefs And Low Trust: Americans Not Sure What’s True In Age Of Health Misinformation 
Around 3 in 10 Americans still believe ivermectin is an effective treatment for covid. What’s more, few place significant trust in any form of news media or official institution to accurately convey information about health topics, from covid treatments and vaccines to reproductive health issues, a new poll from KFF shows. The confusion about what’s true — and who’s telling the truth — is of critical importance to public health, experts in political science said. “Misinformation leads to lives being lost and health problems not being resolved,” Bob Blendon, a professor emeritus of public health at Harvard, said in an interview. Blendon was not associated with the survey. (Tahir, 8/22)

KFF Health News: Life In A Rural ‘Ambulance Desert’ Means Sometimes Help Isn’t On The Way 
Annie Jackson can’t know whether her sister Grena Prude might have survived had an ambulance been more readily available when she went into cardiac arrest on May 10. But Jackson is convinced her sister would have at least had a chance. Prude, 55, died at the steps of Carrollton City Hall, less than a half-mile from her county’s only ambulance station. When someone called 911 to get her help, two ambulances were on duty: One was transporting a patient to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, 45 minutes away, and the other a patient to Columbus, Mississippi, a 30-minute drive. (Sisk, 8/22)

KFF Health News: Doctors Advocate Fresh Efforts To Combat Chagas Disease, A Silent Killer
When Maira Gutiérrez was diagnosed with Chagas disease in 1997, neither she nor her primary care physician had even heard of the malady. She discovered her illness only by chance, after participating in a Red Cross blood drive organized by her employer, Universal Studios. The Red Cross tests donated blood for a range of diseases, including Chagas, which is caused by a parasite and can develop silently for decades before causing symptoms. The test detected Chagas in her body, and an MRI years later, in 2013, confirmed it had reached her heart. (Andalo, 8/22)

CNN: Screen Time Linked With Developmental Delays, Study Finds
Handing your baby a phone or tablet to play with may seem like a harmless solution when you’re busy, but it could quickly affect their development, a new study has found. Having anywhere from one to four hours of screen time per day at age 1 is linked with higher risks of developmental delays in communication, fine motor, problem-solving and personal and social skills by age 2, according to a study of 7,097 children published Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics. (Rogers, 8/21)

Stat: FDA Approves Pfizer's RSV Vaccine Designed To Protect Newborns
The Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved a Pfizer vaccine that aims to protect newborns against RSV by vaccinating pregnant people in the latter part of pregnancy. The vaccine, Abrysvo, has also been approved for use in adults 60 and older to protect them against respiratory syncytial virus. (Branswell, 8/21)

The New York Times: RSV Vaccines: What To Know For Babies, Pregnant Women And Older Adults 
The two adult vaccines, which were created by Pfizer and GSK, are very similar, both in terms of how well they protect against symptomatic R.S.V. infection and in their side effects. They also work the same way biologically — targeting a protein the virus uses to fuse to human cells — and were developed based on the same decade-old scientific discovery, which is why they’ve emerged at the same time. (Smith, 8/21)

Politico: CDC, Pharmacies Try To Speed Up Covid Vaccine Program For The Uninsured 
Just days after warning that pharmacies would not provide free Covid vaccines to the uninsured until October, the Biden administration and retail pharmacies are trying to accelerate the timeline. Biden health officials are now attempting to finalize contracts that would allow pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens to offer the shot to uninsured Americans as early as mid-September, when the government plans to make an updated version of the vaccine available to the broader public. (Cancryn and Lim, 8/21)

Axios: COVID Boosters Still Weeks Away As Cases Surge
As COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations creep up during a summer wave of heightened virus activity, updated vaccines are still likely weeks away. Americans have largely tuned out COVID, but the latest COVID uptick is a reminder that the virus continues to circulate and mutate — though the threat is far below pandemic-era levels. (Millman, 8/22)

AP: Indiana's Near-Total Abortion Ban Set To Take Effect As State Supreme Court Denies Rehearing 
Indiana’s near-total abortion ban is set to take effect within days after the Indiana Supreme Court on Monday denied a rehearing in the case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana. The denial of the rehearing means the ban will take effect once a June 30 ruling upholding the ban is certified, a procedural step expected to take just days, court spokesperson Kathryn Dolan said in an email to news media. (8/21)

NPR: Shh! Don't Say 'Abortion.' Texas Quietly Softens Its Ban On The Procedure
Texas's Republican Governor Greg Abbott addressed a rally earlier this year, celebrating the abortion bans that took effect after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. ... So it may be surprising that just a few weeks ago, Abbott signed a law giving doctors leeway to provide abortions in Texas when a patient's water breaks too early and for ectopic pregnancies. There was considerably less fanfare for that signing. (Simmons-Duffin, 8/22)

The 19th: Why Republicans Are Talking So Much About ‘Late-Term Abortions’
Republican presidential candidates championing abortion restrictions — and contending with voter discontent over the end of federal abortion rights — are rebuffing criticism of their positions by arguing Democrats support abortions “up until the moment of birth.”  Within the Republican Party, the debate isn’t generally about the later stages of pregnancy but rather which restrictions in the first or second trimester they support and whether they would back national restrictions on the procedure. Honing in on abortions in the latter stages of pregnancy shifts the focus to procedures that are either extremely rare or that don’t happen at all — but that are generally less popular with the American public. (Barclay and Luthra, 8/21)

Axios: Abortion's Next Big Litmus Test
Democrats are mobilizing for what they widely view as the next major referendum on abortion rights: this fall's Virginia state legislature elections. Virginia is the lone southern state that hasn't banned or restricted abortion since the Supreme Court struck down federal protection of the procedure and provides another off-year test of its potency as a campaign issue following Ohio's special election this month. (Owens, 8/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Some Americans Take On Side Hustles For Fertility Benefits 
When Courtney Lorenz found out she needed fertility treatments to have a shot at motherhood, the 37-year old software program manager took a second job. Not for the money, but for the benefits.  Lorenz worked 10 hours a week over six months as a cashier at home-improvement retailer Tractor Supply for $16 an hour, for which she received insurance that paid for four rounds of egg retrieval, a procedure that wasn’t covered by her primary health insurance. (Torry, 8/21)

Reuters: Court Revives Alabama Ban On Transgender Youth Treatment, Judge Blocks Georgia Law 
A U.S. appeals court on Monday revived a Republican-backed Alabama law banning the use of puberty blocking drugs and hormones to treat gender dysphoria in transgender minors, a day after a judge blocked a similar Georgia law. A three-judge panel of the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that the families and physicians challenging the law "have not presented any authority that supports the existence of a constitutional right" for parents to treat their children with "transitioning medications subject to medically accepted standards." (Raymond and Pierson, 8/21)

Reuters: Boehringer Latest To Sue US Over Drug Price Negotiation Plan 
Boehringer Ingelheim sued the U.S. government in an attempt to block a program that gives the Medicare health insurance plan the power to negotiate lower drug prices, joining other drugmakers and business groups claiming that it would stifle development of new medicines. In a complaint filed on Friday in federal court in New Haven, Connecticut, the privately-held German drugmaker said the program violates the U.S. Constitution by giving federal regulators too much power to dictate drug prices. (Pierson, 8/21)

Modern Healthcare: Allina Health Minnesota Investigation Targets Debt Practices
Minnesota authorities are investigating Allina Health over reports that the nonprofit provider refused to treat some patients who owed medical debts, state Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) announced Friday. ... Allina Health continues to work with Minnesota authorities about its compliance with state billing and debt collection rules and offers “comprehensive support for patients with financial needs,” the company said in a statement. (Kacik, 8/21)

AP: Virginia Judge Largely Sides With Ex-Patients In Hospital's Effort To Pare Down Lawsuit Abuse Claims
Most of the claims of sexual abuse and other mistreatment made in a lawsuit by dozens of former patients of a Virginia children’s hospital can move forward, a judge has ruled, rejecting arguments that many of the allegations were time-limited under the state’s medical malpractice law. Judge Bradley Cavedo issued the ruling Aug. 14 in favor of most of the dozens of plaintiffs who are suing publicly traded health care company Universal Health Services Inc. and its co-defendants. His decision came two weeks after a hearing on the matter in Richmond Circuit Court, where attorneys for UHS, related corporate entities and the doctor at the center of many of the allegations urged him to whittle down the claims. (Rankin, 8/21)

Politico: Generic Drug Giants Settle Federal Price-Fixing Charges 
Two generic drug giants agreed Monday to settle long-running criminal price-fixing charges with the Justice Department, including the unusual move to sell off the drugs involved. The U.S. arms of Israel-based Teva and India-based Glenmark are paying $225 million and $30 million, respectively, according to court filings. The companies agreed to enter into deferred prosecution agreements, a resolution in which charges are suspended but a company must admit wrongdoing. It can later face charges if it does not follow the terms of the deal. (Sisco, 8/21)

Reuters: Indivior To Pay $30 Million To Settle Health Plans' Suboxone Claims
Indivior has agreed to pay $30 million to settle a class action lawsuit filed in a U.S. court by health plans accusing the drugmaker of illegally suppressing generic competition for its opioid addiction treatment Suboxone. The settlement, disclosed on Saturday in a filing by lawyers for the health plans in federal court in Philadelphia, must still be approved by a judge. Indivior is still facing claims by drug wholesalers that bought Suboxone from the Virginia-based company directly, with a trial scheduled in October. (Pierson, 8/21)

Stat: FDA Advisory Panel To Debate High Blood Pressure Devices
An advisory committee to the Food and Drug Administration will convene on Tuesday to evaluate the benefits of renal denervation, a one-time surgical procedure that works to reduce blood pressure. The promise — and the potential market — is enormous, but the data on how well the procedure works remains contentious. (Lawrence, 8/22)

Reuters: US FDA Puts Gilead Sciences Blood Cancer Drug Studies On Hold
Gilead Sciences said on Monday the U.S. health regulator placed a clinical hold on studies of its blood cancer drug, just a month after the company scrapped a late-stage trial due to efficacy concerns. (8/21)

Stat: Intellia Plays Down Concerns On Accidental Germline Transmission
Earlier this month, Intellia Therapeutics announced it was scrapping plans to include U.S.-based sites in one of its mid-stage CRISPR trials after the Food and Drug Administration requested additional data to support including female patients of childbearing potential. The move left many researchers wondering whether the specter of accidental germline transmission — which haunted early gene therapy trials — had now risen over the field of gene editing. (Molteni, 8/21)

Stat: Diversity In Medical Illustrations Gets Boost From Chidiebere Ibe
Medical illustration is both an art and a science. But it can have a huge cultural impact, too, as medical student and illustrator Chidiebere Ibe discovered when his illustration of a pregnant Black woman and her fetus went viral in 2021. The image was groundbreaking precisely because it shouldn’t have been. People have a wide range of skin colors, and everyone develops medical conditions; it’s common sense that medical illustrations should feature a diverse range of bodies. (Merelli, 8/22)

Stat: Eli Lilly CEO Gives To Mike Pence Presidential Super PAC 
David Ricks, who leads Eli Lilly, made a major early donation to a super PAC in support of former vice president Mike Pence — one of the first big 2024 donations from a major player in the pharmaceutical industry. (Cohrs, 8/22)

Connecticut Public: Board Asks Why CT Didn't Act Sooner In Doctor's Disciplinary Case
A state board that disciplines physicians is asking the Department of Public Health to explain why it didn’t respond sooner to malpractice allegations filed against a doctor in another state. That doctor was the subject of a recent report by The Accountability Project, which found key information was missing about discipline and felony charges from some of the state’s licensing records. (Lloyd, 8/21)

The CT Mirror: Amid Proposed CT Health Insurance Rate Hikes, Residents Fight Back
Frustrated residents, advocates and elected officials demanded Monday that state insurance regulators turn down double-digit rate hikes recommended by insurance companies for 2024 health plans on and off Connecticut’s Affordable Care Act Exchange. Carriers have asked for an average increase of 12.4% on individual health plans and an average hike of 14.8% on small group policies next year. The filings collectively cover about 188,000 people. (Carlesso, 8/21)

Washington State Standard: How Washington State Is Treating Housing As Health Care
Washington state is trying something new when it comes to housing: treating it as health care. Apple Health and Homes is a multi-agency state program launched last year that focuses on providing housing to people with health and behavioral health challenges. What’s unique is that the program taps Medicaid dollars to pay for housing subsidies, tenant services and more. (Demkovich, 8/21)

Crain's New York Business: DocGo New York Migrant Care Contract Scrutinized
Since early May DocGo has provided shelter and services to 4,000 people in 28 hotels, according to city officials. Reports surfaced in late July that migrants had been misled with promises about finding work and mistreated once they arrived at hotels upstate. In addition to the no-bid contract awarded by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, New York City Health + Hospitals system this summer extended an existing migrant services contract with DocGo for $311 million. (Spivak, 8/21)

USA Today: Listeria Outbreak: 3 Dead From Tainted Milkshakes In Tacoma, Wash.
Three people are dead and three others were hospitalized after drinking milkshakes sold at a Washington restaurant that were contaminated with listeria bacteria, health officials said. Investigators linked the outbreak back to Frugals – a restaurant in Tacoma, Washington, about 30 miles from Seattle – after two of the six people hospitalized said they drank the milkshakes before getting sick, the Washington State Department of Health said in a news release Friday. (Guzman, 8/21)

Military.com: Commissaries Bringing Healthier, Fresh Food Closer To Home For Army Soldiers 
Soldiers at 10 Army posts have better access to healthy snacks and fresh deli items as part of a new program that puts commissary kiosks and outposts near their barracks or workspaces, according to the Defense Commissary Agency. Through a partnership with the Army, commissaries have installed kiosks in locations "convenient to soldiers on duty in the middle of the day" and stocked them with items such as sandwiches, salads, sushi, fresh fruit, drinks and other wholesome foods, DeCA officials told Military.com in a recent interview. (Kime, 8/21)

CBS News: Study Finds Virtual Reality Exercises Could Help Ease Back Pain
In a study published in the Archives of Physiotherapy, researchers studied 82 clients with low back pain and/or neck pain who received exercise therapy delivered solely in the metaverse using virtual reality. They found that the treatment was both safe and effective at improving disability from both low back and neck pain. (Marshall, 8/21)