First Edition: Aug. 26, 2024

EDITORS' NOTE: Today we're introducing Healthbeat, a newsroom partnership between KFF Health News and Civic News Company that produces reporting on public health and the systems of prevention that communities rely on to stay healthy.

KFF Health News: The New Covid Vaccine Is Out. Why You Might Not Want To Rush To Get It
The FDA has approved an updated covid shot for everyone 6 months old and up, which renews a now-annual quandary for Americans: Get the shot now, with the latest covid outbreak sweeping the country, or hold it in reserve for the winter wave? The new vaccine should provide some protection to everyone. But many healthy people who have already been vaccinated or have immunity because they’ve been exposed to covid enough times may want to wait a few months. (Allen, Fawcett and Grapevine, 8/26)

KFF Health News: For Pharma, Trump Vs. Harris Is A Showdown Between Two Industry Foes
Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have a rare point of agreement in their otherwise bitter and divisive contest: It’s up to the government to cut high U.S. drug prices. Harris cast the tie-breaking Senate vote in 2022 for legislation that allows Medicare to negotiate drug prices for its more than 60 million beneficiaries. ... As president, Trump would likely retain Medicare price negotiations unless the pharmaceutical industry can come up with something more compelling that they’d put on the table, people close to him say. (Armour, 8/26)

KFF Health News: Her Life Was At Risk. She Needed An Abortion. Insurance Refused To Pay
Ashley and Kyle were newlyweds in early 2022 and thrilled to be expecting their first child. But bleeding had plagued Ashley from the beginning of her pregnancy, and in July, at seven weeks, she began miscarrying. The couple’s heartbreak came a few weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the federal right to abortion. In Wisconsin, their home state, an 1849 law had sprung back into effect, halting abortion care except when a pregnant woman faced death. (Varney, 8/26)

KFF Health News: Turning 26 And Struggling To Find Health Insurance? Tell Us About It
A hard-won provision of the Affordable Care Act allows young adults to stay on their family’s health insurance until age 26. But after that, those without employer-sponsored insurance face an array of complicated choices, including whether to shop on the insurance plan exchange, apply for Medicaid, or roll the dice and go uninsured. ... Whatever your story, we want to hear from you for a project we are doing with The New York Times. (Rosenthal, 8/26)

KFF Health News: Journalists Talk Shooting's Toll On Children And State Handling Of Opioid Settlement Funds
KFF Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media in the last two weeks to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances. (8/24)

Reuters: Exclusive: WHO Says Partners Can Start Talks To Buy Mpox Vaccines Before Its Approval
The World Health Organization said on Friday its partners such as Gavi and UNICEF can start buying mpox vaccines before they are approved by the U.N. health agency, to get inoculations to Africa faster as the continent battles an escalating outbreak of the virus. Traditionally, organisations like Gavi, which helps lower-income countries buy vaccines, can only start purchasing shots once they have approval from the WHO. But the rules have been relaxed in this instance to get talks moving, as the WHO's approval is due in a few weeks. (Rigby, 8/23)

Reuters: WHO Boss Calls For $135 Mln To Stop Mpox Outbreak
The head of the World Health Organization called for global concerted action to control a new mpox outbreak, announcing a response plan that will require at least $135 million over the next six months. "Let me be clear: this new mpox outbreak can be controlled and can be stopped," Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a speech to WHO member states on Friday, later posted on social media platform X. (8/23)

The Washington Post: Eastern Equine Encephalitis In Mass. Compels Parks To Close At Night
A rare but deadly disease spread by mosquitoes has nearly a dozen Massachusetts communities on alert, prompting some towns to close parks after dusk, restrict outdoor activities and reschedule public events. ... Ten communities are now designated at high or critical risk for the virus, health officials said Saturday. (Kaur, 8/25)

AP: Government Announces More Free COVID-19 Tests Can Be Ordered Through Mail
On the heels of a summer wave of COVID-19 cases, Americans will be able to get free virus test kits mailed to their homes, starting in late September. U.S. households will be able to order up to four COVID-19 nasal swab tests when the federal program reopens, according to the website, COVIDtests.gov. The U.S. Health and Human Services agency that oversees the testing has not announced an exact date for ordering to begin. (Seitz, 8/23)

The Hill: COVID Spread Mitigation In Schools Urged By Health Experts
Health experts are urging school staff and families to take active steps to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 amid rising infections as school districts stick to their previous plans to combat the virus similarly to how they would the flu or strep throat. Weekly deaths from COVID-19 have steadily risen in the United States since mid-June, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID Data Tracker. (Lonas and O’Connell-Domenech, 8/25)

The Wall Street Journal: Kamala Harris Says Republicans Are 'Out Of Their Minds' On Abortion
Vice President Kamala Harris had a sharp line about Republicans who back abortion restrictions: “They are out of their minds.” Harris blamed former President Donald Trump for appointing three justices to the Supreme Court that overturned Roe v. Wade. She said she has heard harrowing stories from families in states with restrictive laws and argued that Republicans will continue to work to block access. “Why exactly is it that they don’t trust women?” she said. (Lucey, 8/23)

Politico: Trump’s Pledge To Be ‘Great For Women And Their Reproductive Rights’ Angers Advocates
Donald Trump attempted to strike a new tone on the issue of abortion this week, saying he would be “great for women and their reproductive rights” — to the frustration of anti-abortion advocates. The former president invoked the phrase in a post on Truth Social on Friday, reflecting his campaign’s frenzied attempt to reset the narrative in the race against Vice President Kamala Harris and present more moderately on the issue of abortion, which has plagued Republicans electorally since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022. (Piper, 8/24)

AP: Trump Would Veto Legislation Establishing A Federal Abortion Ban, Vance Says
Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance says Donald Trump would not support a national abortion ban if elected president and would veto such legislation if it landed on his desk. “I can absolutely commit that,” Vance said when asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” whether he could commit to Trump not imposing such a ban. “Donald Trump’s view is that we want the individual states and their individual cultures and their unique political sensibilities to make these decisions because we don’t want to have a nonstop federal conflict over this issue.” (Colvin, 8/25)

The Hill: Elizabeth Warren On Trump-Vance Pledge To Veto Abortion Ban: ‘American Women Are Not Stupid’
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Sunday pushed back against Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) ... “American women are not stupid, and we are not going to trust the futures of our daughters and granddaughters to two men who have openly bragged about blocking access to abortion for women all across this country,” Warren said in an interview on NBC News’s “Meet the Press,” when asked about Vance, the GOP vice presidential nominee, saying he thinks Trump would veto a ban. (Fortinsky, 8/25)

The New York Times: Abortion Rights, On Winning Streak, Face Biggest Test In November
Ballot measures on abortion rights have succeeded beyond what even their proponents imagined when the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago. ... Now the strategy — and an unbroken winning streak — faces its biggest test ever, with 10 states asking voters whether to establish a right to abortion in their constitutions. On Friday, Nebraska became the final state to certify — it will be the only state with two measures, one sponsored by abortion rights supporters and the other by opponents. (Zernike, 8/23)

The Hill: Nebraska Voters To Decide On Two Competing Abortion Initiatives
Nebraska voters will see two competing questions about abortion on the ballot in November after activists on both sides of the issue met the signature requirements needed, the state’s top election official said Friday. Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen (R) said this year is the first time rival initiatives will appear on the same ballot. (Weixel, 8/23)

AP: Judge Declines To Order New York To Include ‘Abortion’ In Description Of Ballot Measure
A New York judge said Friday he won’t force state election officials to tell voters that a proposed antidiscrimination amendment to the state’s constitution would protect abortion rights, dealing a blow to Democrats who pushed for the change. The decision from Judge David A. Weinstein came in a lawsuit over the language that voters will see on ballots this November explaining what the proposed Equal Rights Amendment would do if passed. (Hill and Izaguirre, 8/24)

Reuters: NY Crisis Pregnancy Centers Can Speak About 'Abortion Pill Reversal,' Judge Rules
U.S. District Judge John Sinatra in Buffalo, New York, wrote in a preliminary order, opens new tab late on Thursday that the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment guarantee of free speech protects the right of Gianna's House, Options Care Center and the National Institute for Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) to "speak freely" about abortion pill reversal and "to say that it is safe and effective for a pregnant woman to use in consultation with her doctor." (Pierson, 8/23)

The Hill: Kamala Harris, Tim Walz Lean Into Erasing Medical Debt
The economic plan Harris released last week called for Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), to work with states to erase medical debt for millions of Americans “to help them avoid accumulating such debt in the future, because no one should go bankrupt just because they had the misfortune of becoming sick or hurt.” (Weixel, 8/24)

The New York Times: RFK Jr. Endorses Trump And Suspends Independent Bid For President
In his speech on Friday, Mr. Kennedy said Mr. Trump had offered him a role in a second Trump administration, dealing with health care and food and drug policy. He later said was “choosing to believe” that “this time” Mr. Trump would honor his word — an apparent reference to an incident from Mr. Trump’s transition to the White House in 2017, when Mr. Kennedy said Mr. Trump had proposed that he chair a commission on vaccine safety, only to have the campaign distance itself from such a claim hours later. (8/23)

The New York Times: Judge Blocks E.P.A. From Using Civil Rights Law In Pollution Case
A federal court in Louisiana has dealt a serious blow to the Biden administration’s effort to protect communities heavily affected by toxic industrial pollution. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana ruled on Wednesday that the Environmental Protection Agency is barred from using the federal civil rights law to prevent Louisiana from granting permits for numerous polluting facilities in minority and low-income communities. (Friedman, 8/23)

Stat: U.S. Agency Slaps Down A J&J Plan To Switch Payments For 340B Hospitals 
A U.S. government agency said that a planned move by Johnson & Johnson to alter payment methods for some hospitals participating in a controversial drug discount program was “inconsistent” with federal law and requires approval before the company can proceed. (Silverman, 8/23)

Stat: AI In Medicine: A National Registry Could Help Increase Transparency
The use of artificial intelligence in hospitals is ramping up so fast — and with such little transparency — that it is impossible to track how any given product is impacting the cost or quality of care. Whether AI is monitored at all is entirely up to individual health systems. (Ross, 8/23)

The Wall Street Journal: Exclusive | FDA Widens Probe Of Ecstasy-Based Drug Studies
The Food and Drug Administration is ramping up its investigation of the clinical trials that tested an Ecstasy-based therapy, after the agency earlier rejected the application for its approval. FDA investigators this week interviewed four people about the clinical trials sponsored by company Lykos Therapeutics, people familiar with the matter said. Investigators asked about whether side effects went unreported. (Essley Whyte, 8/23)

Reuters: US FDA Classifies Recall Of Inari's Catheter Devices As 'Most Serious'
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday classified a recall of Inari Medical's (NARI.O) ClotTriever catheter that helps capture and remove large clot from big vessels as "most serious". The affected products include all devices and lot numbers with labeled dates prior to Aug. 1, 2024, whose use might cause serious adverse health consequences, including device entrapment, vessel damage, and/or blockage of lung arteries and death, the FDA said. (8/24)

USA Today: Great Value Apple Juice Sold At Walmart Recalled Over Arsenic
A voluntary recall for 9,535 of the eight-ounce Great Value Apple Juice sold at Walmart stores in a six-pack with PET plastic bottles (UPC 0-78742-29655-5) has been issued, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In the recall number F-1746-2024 issued on Aug. 15, the federal agency said that the apple juice “contains inorganic arsenic above the action level set in industry guidance.”  On Aug. 23, the recall was upgraded to Class II, which is defined by the FDA as a product that "may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences or where the probability of serious adverse health consequences is remote.”  (Forbes, 8/24)

Newsweek: Parasite Warning: 'Profuse' Diarrhea Cases Spiking In Yellowstone
Health officials have launched an investigation into an outbreak of a diarrhea-causing parasite in Yellowstone County. City-County Public Health Department RiverStone Health have reported 26 confirmed cases so far this year—nearly triple the caseload in 2023—with 29 additional suspected infections. (Dewan, 8/23)

The New York Times: Why Are Extreme Heat-Related Deaths So Hard To Track?
Researchers estimate that heat kills more people than any other extreme weather event, and the number of heat-related deaths reported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has steadily risen in recent years. In 2023, the agency reported that heat played a role in approximately 2,300 deaths, though this number may be revised as more records are processed. But some researchers say the actual number is far higher. ... The C.D.C. relies on death certificates reported by local authorities for its tally, but the way these certificates are completed varies from place to place. (Selig, 8/23)

AP: Wearable Tech Sensors Can Read Your Sweat. Privacy Advocates Are Concerned
As the world experiences more record high temperatures, employers are exploring wearable technologies to keep workers safe. New devices collect biometric data to estimate core body temperature - an elevated one is a symptom of heat exhaustion - and prompt workers to take cool-down breaks. ... But there are concerns about how the medical information collected on employees will be safeguarded. Some labor groups worry managers could use it to penalize people for taking needed breaks. (Bussewitz, 8/24)

Newsweek: Ozempic Works Differently Than Previously Thought
Weight loss drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro seem to directly impact metabolism, not just appetite, according to a new study. It was previously thought these drugs — collectively called glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) analogs — worked by making people feel fuller so they eat less. But the results of a recent clinical trial suggest it's not as simple as that. People who took GLP-1 daily for 24 weeks experienced both weight loss and an increased metabolism. (Willmoth, 8/23)

CIDRAP: Study Reveals How Microbiota-Based Treatment May Help Prevent Recurrent C Diff
Analysis of data from a phase 3 clinical trial provides some clues as to how a microbiota-based treatment helps prevent recurrent Clostridioides difficile (rCDI) infection, researchers reported yesterday in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. For the study, researchers analyzed stool samples from participants in PUNCH CD3, a randomized clinical trial that found the fecal microbiota-based live biotherapeutic Rebyota (RBL) was clinically superior to placebo in preventing rCDI. (Dall, 8/23)

CNN: Human Brains Contain Surprising Levels Of Plastic, Study Says
Human brain samples collected at autopsy in early 2024 contained more tiny shards of plastic than samples collected eight years prior, according to a preprint posted online in May. A preprint is a study which has not yet been peer-reviewed and published in a journal. (LaMotte, 8/25)

CIDRAP: Unvaccinated Survivors Of Severe COVID Saw Rise In Mental Illness In Year After, Study Suggests
A study of nearly 19 million adults in England reveals a higher rate of mental illness among survivors of COVID-19 hospitalization—particularly among the unvaccinated—for up to a year. A team led by University of Bristol investigators evaluated the incidence of mental illness in patients before and after COVID-19 diagnosis within the past year. ... The research was published this week in JAMA Psychiatry. (Van Beusekom, 8/23)

The Wall Street Journal: Exclusive | J&J Takes Aim At Hospital Drug-Discount Program
Johnson & Johnson is opening a new front in the pharmaceutical industry’s fight against lucrative drug discounts for hospitals. Johnson & Johnson told certain hospitals around the U.S. Friday, in a letter reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, they will have to pay full price for two drugs that the company has sold at a discount under the drug-savings program and can apply later for a rebate. (Evans and Loftus, 8/23)

Reuters: Ozempic On Wall Street's List For 2027 Medicare Drug Negotiations
Now that the U.S. government has negotiated prices for some Medicare program drugs effective in 2026, Wall Street analysts are betting on a 2027 list that will include Novo Nordisk's blockbuster (NOVOb.CO) Ozempic for diabetes and have a limited impact on Big Pharma. Other possible 2027 candidates include Pfizer's (PFE.N) cancer drugs Ibrance and Xtandi, GSK's (GSK.L) asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ... according to five analysts as well as researchers and company executives. (Erman, 8/23)

Modern Healthcare: Johns Hopkins, CareFirst Join Accelerator Targeting AI
Johns Hopkins University is working with insurer CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield and venture capital firm TechStars to create an early-stage artificial intelligence startup accelerator, the organizations said Friday. The 13-week accelerator program will be called Techstars AI Health Baltimore powered by Johns Hopkins and CareFirst. The university and companies aim to provide capital and guidance for entrepreneurs focused on improving care with AI. (Turner, 8/23)

Modern Healthcare: UNC Health Launches 'Transparent' PBM For Employers
As pressures mount against the largest pharmacy benefit managers, a new disruptor is entering the field: UNC Health. The University of North Carolina-affiliated health system announced a plan this month to launch UNC Health Pharmacy Solutions, a "transparent" PBM for employers seeking an alternative to CVS Health subsidiary CVS Caremark, Cigna division Express Scripts and UnitedHealth Group unit OptumRx, which dominate the market. (Berryman, 8/23)

Modern Healthcare: Some Nursing Homes' Infection Control Staffing Falls Short: HHS
Many for-profit nursing homes may not be following federal rules requiring infection control workers, according to a government audit. ... Some for-profit nursing homes have failed to designate a person responsible for their infection prevention and control programs, while others tapped people for the role who had not completed specialized training, according to a report the Health and Human Services Department Office of Inspector General published this week. (Devereaux, 8/23)

Modern Healthcare: In-Home Care For Homebound Seniors Challenges Providers, Insurers
Around 8 million Medicare-eligible adults have two or more chronic conditions and functional impairments that make it hard for them to leave their homes to seek care, according to healthcare research and advisory firm ATI Advisory. However, providing regular, home-based primary care to manage these complex patients can be difficult and unprofitable for providers through traditional fee-for-service Medicare. That is why some home-based primary care practices are trying to negotiate value-based contracts with Medicare Advantage carriers. (Eastabrook, 8/23)

ProPublica: Therapists Are Leaving Health Insurance Networks. Here's Why
Although federal law requires insurers to provide the same access to mental and physical health care, these companies have been caught, time and again, shortchanging customers with mental illness — restricting coverage and delaying or denying treatment. These patients — whose disorders can be chronic and costly — are bad for business, industry insiders told ProPublica. (Waldman, Miller, Blau and Eldeib, 8/25)

Modern Healthcare: Medically Home CEO Graham Barnes On Reducing In-Home Care Costs
The new CEO of hospital-at-home technology company Medically Home, Graham Barnes, is focused on reducing the cost of home-based care and extending it to more health systems. Boston-based Medically Home provides the technology platform and some staffing that helps about 20 health systems to extend hospital-level care to patients where they live. (Eastabrook, 8/22)