First Edition: Dec. 11, 2023

KFF Health News: Biology, Anatomy, And Finance? More Med Students Want Business Degrees Too 
Jasen Gundersen never considered a career in business when he entered medical school nearly three decades ago to become a rural primary care doctor. But, today, he isn’t working in rural America and he doesn’t do primary care. In fact, he no longer practices medicine at all. As CEO of CardioOne, which provides back-office support to cardiologists, Gundersen is part of a growing trend: physicians and medical school students earning advanced business degrees to work the business side of the booming health care industry. (Liss, 12/11)

KFF Health News: Watch: She Had A Home And A Good-Paying Job. Then Illness And Debt Upended It All. 
Sharon Woodward used to travel the country as a medical technician. She made good money and prided herself on her skills. But in her mid-40s, Woodward retired after being diagnosed with a debilitating form of arthritis. Her condition required expensive drugs and regular medical care, which left her with more than $20,000 in medical debts. (Levey and Norman, 12/11)

KFF Health News: Journalists Delve Into Gun Violence, Medicaid's 'Unwinding,' Opioid Lawsuits, And More 
KFF Health News senior correspondent Liz Szabo described how being a victim of gun violence affects kids’ health in the long term on Spectrum News 1’s “LA Times Today” show on Dec. 6. ... KFF Health News Midwest correspondent Samantha Liss discussed Missouri’s Medicaid “unwinding” on KCUR’s “Kansas City Today” on Dec. 5. (12/9)

The Wall Street Journal: Cigna Calls Off Humana Pursuit, Plans Big Stock Buyback 
Cigna Group abandoned its pursuit of a tie-up with Humana after shareholders balked at a deal that would have created a roughly $140 billion giant in the health-insurance industry. The companies couldn’t come to agreement on price and other financial terms, according to people familiar with the matter. In the near term, Cigna is turning its focus toward smaller, so-called bolt-on, acquisitions. (Thomas, 12/10)

The New York Times: New Sickle Cell Therapies Will Be Out Of Reach Where They Are Needed Most 
The Food and Drug Administration’s approval on Friday of two groundbreaking gene therapy treatments for sickle cell disease has brought a rare moment of hope and celebration to people with the agonizing blood disorder. But there is no clear path for the new therapies — one-time treatments so effective in clinical trials that they have been hailed as cures — to reach the countries where the vast majority of people with sickle cell live. Shortly after the approval their manufacturers announced sticker prices in the millions of dollars: $3.1 million for Lyfgenia, made by Bluebird Bio, and $2.2 million for Casgevy, made by Vertex Pharmaceuticals. *Robbins and Nolen, 12/8)

Axios: New Sickle Cell Gene Therapies Pose Cost And Access Questions
The approvals of Casgevy and Lyfgenia mark a milestone in the treatment of a debilitating disease that affects an estimated 100,000 Americans, mostly of African descent, and 20 million people around the world. ... Until now, they've have had to turn to bone marrow transplants. But the new therapies edit genes directly in a patient's body and expand the kinds of diseases and conditions researchers can target to other blood disorders, certain cancers and infectious diseases. (Bettelheim, 12/9)

Stat: Experts At ASH Cautiously Optimistic About Sickle Cell Gene Therapies
News of the Food and Drug Administration’s historic approval of the first gene therapies for sickle cell disease sparked discussion, debate, and, above all, measured optimism at this year’s meeting of the American Society of Hematology. (Wosen, 12/9)

NBC News: Supreme Court Justices Discuss Whether To Hear Abortion Pill Showdown
Supreme Court justices were scheduled on Friday to discuss whether to take up a high-stakes legal fight that could result in a definitive decision on federal approval of the drug most commonly used for medication abortion. ... The court later on Friday announced it was hearing one new case but the abortion cases were not mentioned. The court could next act on Monday or later next week. (Hurley, 12/8)

NPR: Arizona, New Mexico, And Wyoming Supreme Courts Hear Abortion Ban Lawsuits
The future of reproductive rights for a wide swath of the Mountain West may be decided next week, as three state Supreme Courts hear arguments in cases that will determine abortion access in the region. Here's what to know. (Davis-Young, Fordham, Merzbach, 12/11)

Reuters: Democrats, Biden Campaign Condemn Blocking Of Emergency Abortion For Texas Woman 
Top Democratic leaders and advocacy groups on Saturday condemned the Texas Supreme Court's decision to temporarily block a pregnant woman from obtaining an emergency abortion. ... The top Democrat in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, said on Saturday, "MAGA Republicans in Texas and throughout the country are risking the lives of mothers," using an acronym for Republican former President Donald Trump's slogan "make America great again." Democratic U.S. President Joe Biden's 2024 campaign called Cox's story "horrifying" and "heartbreaking." (Singh, 12/9)

Fox News: Red State AGs Move To Block Abortion Ballot Language Pro-Life Group Says Is 'Deceptive,' Goes Farther Than Roe
After a successful abortion ballot measure in Ohio that enshrined abortion access into the state’s constitution, attorney generals in red states are making moves to address ambiguities and euphemisms in upcoming abortion measures in their states to avoid deceptive language, an issue that pro-life groups say was critical in the Ohio vote. In Arkansas, Attorney General Tim Griffin recently rejected a proposed abortion ballot that he said had a deceptive title and misleading text. (Mark Miller, 12/11)

AP: It's Taking Longer To Get An Abortion In The US. Doctors Fear Riskier, More Complex Procedures
A woman whose fetus was unlikely to survive called more than a dozen abortion clinics before finding one that would take her, only to be put on weekslong waiting lists. A teen waited seven weeks for an abortion because it took her mother that long to get her an appointment. Others seeking the procedure faced waits because they struggled to travel hundreds of miles for care. Such obstacles have grown more common since Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022, doctors and researchers say, causing delays that can lead to abortions that are more complex, costly and in some cases riskier — especially as pregnancies get further along. (Ungar, 12/9)

Bloomberg: UNLV Shooting: Biden Calls Gun Violence An Epidemic
President Joe Biden applauded the courage of law enforcement officers who responded to the deadly shooting on Wednesday at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and again called for restrictions on assault weapons. Biden, speaking just miles from the campus on Friday, called gun violence an “epidemic” and said “we need Congress to step up.” (Jamrisko, 12/8)

Wyoming Public Radio: Stigmas Are Stopping Firearm Owners From Seeking Mental Health Resources
Ashley Hlebinsky sat cross-legged on a wooden stage in a community center in Laramie. Two men sat next to her. “So my next question is for Devin. And then I promise I'll open it up. But I'm fascinated…You guys are getting my selfishness. Like, ‘Tell me more’,” laughed Hlebinsky as she asked the question. “So I'm kind of just wondering if you have advice for how to talk to somebody that wants to do it but is worried about the legal liability of [safe storage]. ”She was leading a town hall between two firearm owners who have been open about their own mental health struggles. Hlebinsky is having them share what they’ve done with their handguns when hard times hit. (Kudelska, 12/8)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: BJC Reinstates Employee Mask Requirement In Response To Uptick In Virus Cases
BJC HealthCare will reinstate a mask requirement for employees, effective Wednesday, in response to rising virus cases in the community. The health system said in a statement Saturday that it will institute temporary, heightened mask requirements from time to time, when infection rates are particularly high, and will loosen the requirements when appropriate. Beginning Wednesday, employees will be required to wear masks in patient care areas. (Merrilees, 12/9)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Hospitalizations Rise With COVID, Flu And RSV Increase
California hospitals are seeing increased strain heading into the winter holiday season, with more than three-quarters of inpatient beds occupied and nearly 67% of intensive care beds in use, according to figures released Friday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But for the first time in three years, the surge is not solely attributed to COVID-19, as various viral and bacterial infections, including influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, contribute to the burden on the state’s health care system. (Vaziri, 12/8)

Los Angeles Times: Riverside County Confirms 2 Flu-Related Deaths; L.A. County Reports 1 
With flu season in full swing, Riverside County public health officials are urging residents to get their vaccines and to take other precautions against respiratory viruses after reporting the county’s first two flu-related deaths this winter. The deaths include a 73-year-old man and a 79-year-old woman from mid- and western Riverside County, respectively. Both had underlying health issues and died at local hospitals, according to county officials. No further information was immediately provided. (Vega, 12/9)

CBS News: 1-Year-Old Minnesota Boy Dies After RSV Infection
Respiratory viruses are back with a vengeance. Tragically, the health department is reporting Minnesota's first RSV death of the season. It hits older folks and young kids the hardest. The number of people going to the hospital for RSV is rising rapidly. (Ali, 12/8)

The New York Times: R.S.V. Vaccine Is Slow To Reach Its Target: Older Americans 
So far, only about 15 percent of Americans over 60 have received one of the two new R.S.V. shots, which the Food and Drug Administration approved in May and are the first-ever vaccines against the disease. Just 16 percent more said they definitely planned to, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. By contrast, more than 62 percent of adults over 65 have received the recommended flu shot this fall, and a third have gotten the updated Covid-19 vaccine. (Span, 12/9)

PBS NewsHour: How Uninsured Adults Can Still Get Vaccinated Against COVID
One in six Americans have received their updated COVID vaccine so far this year, and federal data show people with little to no health insurance are far less likely to have that level of protection against severe COVID illness or death. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16 percent of U.S. adults overall had received the updated COVID vaccine as of Nov. 25. ... To address that gap, in September the CDC launched the Bridge Access Program, a $1 billion effort to deliver free COVID vaccine doses to adults who are uninsured or underinsured. (Santhanam, 12/8)

CIDRAP: Experimental Drug That Alters Gut Microbiome Shows Promise For Long-COVID Relief
A randomized controlled trial in Hong Kong finds that the synbiotic drug SIM01 relieves multiple symptoms of long COVID, or post-acute COVID-19 syndrome (PACS). SIM01 contains strains of anaerobic Bifidobacterium bacteria (which are probiotics) and soluble fibers (prebiotics) to alter the gut microbiome and possibly modify immune response. (Van Beusekom, 12/8)

Fox News: Deadly Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever Outbreak In California Likely Came From Mexico, CDC Says
The total of five reported cases all involved affected people who had recently traveled to or lived in the city of Tecate in Mexico. All five of the patients had been in Tecate within two weeks of becoming ill. They were all diagnosed in southern California hospitals between July and December 2023. (Rudy, 12/10)

Los Angeles Times: 31 Pharmacies In Mexico Are Shut As Authorities Crack Down On Fentanyl-Tainted Pills
Mexican authorities raided dozens of pharmacies in Ensenada and seized thousands of boxes of pills as part of a broader effort to crack down on drugstores suspected of selling counterfeit and fentanyl-tainted medications. The joint effort by the Mexican navy and federal health authorities is at least the third such operation this year. (Sheets, Blakinger and Mejia, 12/10)

Stat: MedPAC Advises Minor Medicare Pay Raise For Doctors In 2025
On Thursday, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission reviewed Medicare performance data and concluded that despite doctors’ protests that their pay hasn’t kept up with inflation over the last 20 years, doctors shouldn’t get more than a minor raise for 2025. On the other hand, the committee admitted hospitals could use a larger increase in payment rates. (Trang, 12/8)

San Francisco Chronicle: Rift Between Adventist And Blue Shield Could Hit California Patients
Thousands of Californians may have to pay out-of-network medical costs to go to their nearest hospital after contract negotiations between Adventist Health and Blue Shield of California — a major health care provider and health insurer in the state, respectively — fell through last week. Adventist Health and Blue Shield had been in talks to reach a new contract for about 11 months, but failed to come to an agreement about reimbursement rates before the previous contract expired Dec. 1. (Ho, 12/8)

State House News: MassHealth Will Start Covering Doula Services
Pregnant and postpartum MassHealth members are slated to gain access to doula coverage this spring as state officials aim to tackle worsening maternal health outcomes. Doula coverage will be offered during labor and delivery, as well as for visits throughout pregnancy and the postpartum period, the Executive Office of Health and Human Services announced Friday. (Kuznitz, 12/8)

AP: Some Seattle Cancer Center Patients Are Receiving Threatening Emails After Last Month's Data Breach
Some patients of a Seattle-based cancer center received threatening emails following a data breach last month. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center officials said a Nov. 19 hack hit a portion of the health care system’s clinical network, possibly leaking patient data. This week, some former and current patients received threatening emails claiming names, Social Security numbers, medical history and other data of more than 800,000 patients had been compromised, The Seattle Times reported. (12/9)

AP: Breast Cancer Survivors May Not Need Annual Mammograms: UK Study
Annual mammograms are recommended indefinitely for breast cancer survivors in many countries, including the U.S., but a large British study finds that less frequent screening is just as good. Yearly screening is meant to monitor whether cancer has come back. All that testing causes anxiety for patients and costs money. (Johnson, 12/8)

Los Angeles Daily News: First Lady Jill Biden Visits Cedars-Sinai To See Research On Women’s Health
First Lady Jill Biden toured the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center and Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Friday, Dec. 8, as part of the White House’s initiative on women’s health research. ... “Research on women’s health has been underfunded for decades and many conditions that mostly and only affect women, or affect women differently,  have received limited attention — like those debilitating migraines and undiagnosed heart attacks,” Dr. Biden said. (Grigoryants, 12/9)

The Baltimore Sun: Johns Hopkins University Names New CEO Of Hopkins Medicine And Dean Of School Of Medicine 
Johns Hopkins University Friday announced that Dr. Theodore L. DeWeese, who has been interim dean for the School of Medicine and interim CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine since 2022, will take over the positions on a permanent basis. DeWeese, who joined Johns Hopkins hospital as a radiation oncology resident in 1991, was appointed to the leadership roles on a temporary basis following the retirement of Paul B. Rothman. (Roberts, 12/10)

Charlotte Ledger: Charlotte Hospitals Say No To Charity That Would Erase Medical Debt
Earlier this year, Trinity Moravian Church in Winston-Salem received national attention for doing something extraordinary: It erased nearly $3.3 million in medical debt for 3,355 local families living below the poverty line. The tiny church, with an average attendance of about 75 on Sundays, did it by raising $15,000 and partnering with RIP Medical Debt, a national nonprofit that buys unpaid medical debt and forgives it. (Crouch, 12/11)

Stat: Colorado Board Leaves Vertex Drug Off A List Of Unaffordable Medicines
In a win for Vertex Pharmaceuticals, a Colorado state board voted not to place the company’s best-selling cystic fibrosis medication on a list of drugs for which payment limits will be set for most residents, including those whose insurance is covered by a government agency or a commercial health plan. (Silverman, 12/8)

Stat: First Published Case Of Lymphoma Linked To CAR-T Therapy Is Examined 
Researchers on Saturday presented an unusual case of a T cell lymphoma marked with a CAR, the key synthetic protein in CAR-T therapy, in an online abstract for the American Society of Hematology annual meeting. It is the first published case of the rare blood cancer that’s associated with a commercial CAR-T product, the Janssen/Legend Biotech drug Carvykti, or cilta-cel in this case. But researchers are still untangling how much — if it all — the therapy contributed to the development of the blood cancer. (Chen, 12/9)

Reuters: Ozempic Side Effects Lawsuit Can Move Forward 
A Louisiana federal judge on Friday largely rejected Novo Nordisk’s bid to dismiss one of the earliest lawsuits brought against the pharmaceutical company over side effects of its blockbuster drug Ozempic. U.S. District Judge James Cain Jr said plaintiff Jaclyn Bjorklund had provided enough support at this point in the case for her claim that Novo failed to warn her doctors about the risk of gastroparesis, a slowdown in the emptying of the stomach into the small intestine, associated with the drug. (Jones, 12/8)

CBS News: Attorney General Dana Nessel Warns Consumers Of Medical Brace Scams
Attorney General Dana Nessel is warning people about medical brace scams. ... "While there is only one confirmed Michigan resident who was targeted by this latest scam, it is critical that we alert other residents who may have also been targeted by similar operators," Nessel said. "The scam of mailing or prescribing unneeded durable medical equipment costs Medicare tens of millions of dollars every year, sometimes disqualifying patients for these devices when they really need them." (Dawson, 12/9) 

Houston Chronicle: Texas Named Worst State For Mental Health Care, New Report Says
Texas has less than one mental health facility for every 100,000 people, according to an analysis of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration data. ... That lack of facilities resulted in Texas being ranked as the worst state to seek mental health support, according to a new list by MentalHealthRehabs.com, a national directory of mental health providers. (Ikramuddin, 12/8)

CBS News: New York Partners With Robotics Company To Pair Seniors With AI Companions - CBS New York
 Seniors in New York have a new tool for dealing with loneliness. The state Office for the Aging is partnering with Intuition Robotics to combat senior isolation. Officials say hundreds of free artificial intelligence companions have been distributed to seniors, and 150 devices are still available. (12/8)

CBS News: Minnesota Launches Task Force Focused On Problems Facing Rural EMS
Minnesota's emergency services providers say they're facing a crisis of their own, prompting the state legislature to form a task force focused on solutions. It had its first meeting on Friday. The EMS woes are particularly troubling in rural parts of the state, said to Rep. John Huot, an EMT for 30 years and the co-chair of the panel. He sounded the alarm that some communities can wait as long as 90 minutes to get the care they need. "We need to fix a system that's on collapse," he said in a news conference. (Cummings, 12/8)

CIDRAP: Kentucky Reports First Case Of Chronic Wasting Disease 
The first case of chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been detected in Kentucky, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR) announced in a news release yesterday. CWD has now been confirmed in 32 US states. ... While no human cases have been identified, health officials urge people to avoid eating the meat of infected animals and to take precautions when field dressing or butchering cervids. (Van Beusekom, 12/8)

The Washington Post: Toy Magnets Linked To Seven Deaths And 2,400 Hospitalizations
Federal safety regulators have warned consumers to stop using high-powered magnetic-ball toy sets that have been linked to seven deaths and hundreds of injuries. The Consumer Product Safety Commission flagged six children’s products that do not comply with U.S. safety regulations because they contain magnets small enough to go down a child’s throat. The agency pointed to seven deaths — including five in the United States — involving people who ingested the tiny magnets, as well as an estimated 2,400 emergency hospitalizations from 2017 through 2021. (Gregg, 12/8)

CIDRAP: US Salmonella Cantaloupe Outbreak Doubles As CDC Confirms New Death 
The number of cases in an ongoing Salmonella outbreak tied to whole and cut-up cantaloupe has more than doubled—to 230 cases—a third death has been reported. Almost 100 people have been hospitalized, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said [Friday] in an update. Since the CDC's previous update on November 30, 113 more illnesses have been confirmed, and 4 more states are affected, bringing the total to 38 states. At least 96 people have been hospitalized, including 35 new case-patients. The new outbreak-related death was in Oregon; the previous two were in Minnesota. (Wappes, 12/8)