First Edition: Dec. 14, 2023

KFF Health News: Rift Over When To Use N95s Puts Health Workers At Risk Again 
Three years after more than 3,600 health workers died of covid-19, occupational safety experts warn that those on the front lines may once again be at risk if the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention takes its committee’s advice on infection control guidelines in health care settings, including hospitals, nursing homes, and jails. In early November, the committee released a controversial set of recommendations the CDC is considering, which would update those established some 16 years ago. (Maxmen, 12/14)

KFF Health News: An Arm And A Leg: When Hospitals Sue Patients (Part 1)
Some hospitals sue patients over unpaid medical bills in bulk, sometimes by the hundreds of thousands. The defendants are often already facing financial hardship or even bankruptcy .Judgments against patients in these suits can derail someone’s life but, according to experts, they don’t bring hospitals much money. So why do hospitals do it? (12/14)

Reuters: U.S. Healthcare Spending Rises To $4.5 Trillion In 2022
The estimated healthcare spending per person in the United States stood at about $13,493 in 2022. Personal healthcare spending on hospital care, dental, clinical and physician services slowed down in the year, while non-personal expenses accelerated, driven by a turnaround in the net cost of insurance. Medicaid spending surged 9.6%, reaching $805.7 billion, and private health insurance spending grew 5.9%, totaling $1.3 trillion. Medicare spending rose 5.9% to $944.3 billion. (12/13)

Modern Healthcare: Lobbying Spending Focused On PBM Reform In 2023
If enough evidence didn't already exist that pharmacy benefit managers are the target of the year on Capitol Hill, taking the old advice to follow the money confirms it: Legislation about the drug supply middlemen has been the most heavily lobbied in 2023. According to federal data compiled by OpenSecrets, seven of the 11 most-lobbied bills during the first three quarters largely focus on curbing PBM business practices and promoting lower prescription drug prices. (McAuliff, 12/13)

The Hill: Biden To Tout Efforts To Lower Prescription Drug Costs In NIH Visit
President Biden will travel to the National Institutes of Health in Maryland on Thursday to deliver remarks highlighting how a signature piece of legislation is capping prescription drug costs. Biden will make the short trip to Bethesda to announce that dozens of pharmaceutical companies will be required to pay rebates to Medicare because they raised drug prices faster than the rate of inflation. (Samuels, 12/14)

AP: New York Removes Medical Debt From Credit Reports
Unpaid medical debt will no longer appear in New York residents’ credit reports under a bill signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday. The law prohibits credit agencies from collecting information about or reporting medical debt. The law also bans hospitals and health care providers in the state from reporting such debt to the agencies. New York is the second state after Colorado to enact such a law. A similar nationwide measure is being considered by the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. (Khan, 12/13)

The New York Times: Supreme Court Will Hear Challenge To Abortion Pill Access 
The Supreme Court announced on Wednesday that it would decide on the availability of a commonly used abortion pill, the first major case involving abortion on its docket since it overturned the constitutional right to the procedure more than a year ago. The Biden administration had asked the justices to intervene after a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit favored curbing distribution of the drug, mifepristone, appearing skeptical of the Food and Drug Administration’s regulation of the pill in recent years. In its ruling, the panel said that the pill would remain legal, but with significant restrictions on patients’ access, including prohibiting the medication from being sent by mail or prescribed by telemedicine. (VanSickle, 12/13)

Axios: Supreme Court Abortion Pill Case Puts FDA Drug Review Power At Risk
The Supreme Court's decision to review the availability of a commonly used abortion pill doesn't just open another chapter in the nation's abortion wars — it's also a direct challenge to the Food and Drug Administration's power to regulate drugs. (Bettelheim, 12/14)

Reuters: New Mexico Top Court Appears Set To Block Local Ordinances That Limit Abortion Pill 
The New Mexico Supreme Court, based on arguments it heard on Wednesday, appeared poised to block several local ordinances in the state that aim to restrict distribution of the abortion pill. However, the high court appeared unlikely to rule that the state's constitution includes a right to abortion, as the state's Attorney General Raul Torrez, a Democrat, had urged, leaning instead toward deciding the case on narrower legal grounds. (Pierson, 12/13)

CBS News: Use Of Plan B "Morning After" Pills Doubles, Teen Sex Rates Decline In CDC Survey
The share of American women who say they have ever used emergency contraception after having sex has more than doubled since the so-called "morning after" or Plan B brand pills were approved to be sold without a prescription, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday. The increase is among dozens of trends tracked in two reports now released from the CDC's National Survey of Family Growth, examining survey results through 2019 on sex and birth control among teens as well as all women ages 15 to 44 years old. (Tin, 12/14)

The Washington Post: Pregnant Women Take A Leading Role In New Legal Battles Over Abortion
The burst of lawsuits that put pregnant women front and center reflects a shift in approach by the abortion rights movement, which has long brought challenges through claims by clinics and doctors who remain affected by abortion restrictions beyond the narrow window during which patients would be seeking to end their pregnancies. The strategy behind the new, high-profile lawsuits has both legal and political implications for the fate of abortion access in the ever-evolving aftermath of the fall of Roe v. Wade, according to experts tracking the cases. They enable advocacy groups to chip away at the new laws by highlighting particular circumstances that jeopardize the health of the mother — while compelling the courts, as well as the country, to reckon with some of the most harrowing consequences of abortion bans. (Kitchener, 12/13)

AP: Some 2024 GOP Hopefuls Call For 'Compassion' In Texas Abortion Case But Don't Say Law Should Change
Some of the Republicans seeking their party’s 2024 presidential nomination have said the case of a Texas woman whose health deteriorated as she unsuccessfully sought an abortion should be handled with “compassion,” but they did not criticize the state’s law. It’s the latest indication that the candidates see the politics surrounding abortion as a delicate — and fraught — issue for the GOP after the Supreme Court’s reversal of constitutional protections for the procedure helped power Democrats to unexpectedly strong performances in the 2022 midterms. (Kinnard, Fernando and price, 12/13)

The Hill: House Passes Bill Allowing Schools To Serve Whole Milk 
The House has passed a bill allowing whole milk to be served in school cafeterias for the first time since 2012. The Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, which permits the National School Lunch Program to serve whole milk, passed 330-99 in the House on Wednesday afternoon. It now heads to the Senate. Regulations have stipulated which kinds of milk can be offered in school cafeterias since 2012 when then-First Lady Michelle Obama moved to only permit low-fat milk variations. (Polus, 12/13)

CIDRAP: WHO Advisers Recommend Sticking With Monovalent COVID XBB.1.5 Vaccines 
The World Health Organization (WHO) technical advisory group on COVID-19 vaccine composition met last week to review the latest SARS-CoV-2 genetic changes and assess if any vaccine changes are needed, and today the group recommended sticking with the current monovalent XBB.1.5 antigen. (Schnirring, 12/13)

CIDRAP: Study: 4% Of US Collegiate Athletes Developed Long COVID
A study across 18 US universities reveals that about 4% of student athletes who tested positive for COVID-19 from spring 2020 to spring 2021 developed long COVID. The study is published in BMC Infectious Diseases. Researchers based their findings on survey results from 6,923 student athletes in spring 2020 and 7,651 in 2020-2021. In spring 2020, 678 (9.8%) of athletes tested positive for COVID-19, as did 1,943 (25.4%) in the 2020-2021 school year. Of the student athletes who tested positive for COVID-19, 171 (25.2%) had symptoms in spring 2020, and 1,082 (55.7%) were symptomatic in 2020-2021. (Soucheray, 12/13)

Reuters: Scientists See Risk Of Lost Opportunity For Long COVID Research In China
With more than a full year past since China eased restrictions and let COVID-19 sweep its households, scientists are worried a unique opportunity may be slipping away to study long COVID from possibly hundreds of millions of infections in that country. Global disease experts say little is known about China's experience with long-term COVID effects, which in Britain, Canada, the U.S. and elsewhere are thought to have afflicted millions with debilitating fatigue, brain fog and other symptoms that persist for months or even years. (Silver, 12/13)

CBS News: Corewell Health Limits Number Of Visitors At 3 Metro Detroit Pediatric Units Amid Rise In Respiratory Illnesses
Corewell Health announced they will limit the number of visitors to pediatric units at three hospitals in Metro Detroit due to the rise of pediatric respiratory illnesses. Effective immediately, only two visitors will be allowed at the bedside during the day and one visitor overnight at Corewell Health's Beaumont Hospitals in Dearborn, Royal Oak, and Troy, according to a press release. (Dawson, 12/13)

CIDRAP: Pneumococcal Disease In Kids Plunges 72% Over 20 Years After Vaccine Rollout 
The rate of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) in children plummeted 72% from 2002 to 2021 and continued to fall after the 7-valent (7-strain) pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) was replaced by the 13-valent version (PCV13), a Yale University–led team reports today in Pediatrics. (Van Beusekom, 12/13)

Modern Healthcare: What Hospital Recruitment, Retention Looked Like In 2023
Tuition reimbursement is a top program offered this year by health systems seeking to recruit and retain employees, according to a recent survey by Aon, an insurer and consulting firm. The survey of more than 1,400 hospitals and 160 health systems found that an increasing number of employers tailored their pay structures and organizational goals to meet employees’ needs in 2023. (Devereaux, 12/13)

Los Angeles Times: Doctors At L.A. County-Run Facilities Set Dec. 27 Strike Date
Physicians and dentists working at Los Angeles County-run hospitals, clinics and other county facilities have made plans to go on strike shortly after Christmas to protest what their union describes as inadequate benefits and dire vacancies. The Union of American Physicians and Dentists said Wednesday that it had set a Dec. 27 date for a walkout after more than two years of negotiations had failed to address concerns among doctors, dentists and other county employees who recently authorized a strike. (Alpert Reyes, 12/13)

Stat: Why Health Records Don't Always Know When Patients Are Dead
Health professor Neil Wenger was deep into a years-long study on seriously ill primary care patients when he uncovered a different but persistent issue: Many patients who were targeted for follow-up interventions had actually died, and their hospitals did not know about it. (Ravindranath, 12/14)

CNBC: How Doctors Are Using Google's New AI Models For Health Care
Google on Wednesday announced MedLM, a suite of new health-care-specific artificial intelligence models designed to help clinicians and researchers carry out complex studies, summarize doctor-patient interactions and more. The move marks Google’s latest attempt to monetize health-care industry AI tools, as competition for market share remains fierce between competitors like Amazon and Microsoft. (Capoot, 12/13)

Fox News: ChatGPT Spreads Inaccuracies To Drug Information Questions, Study Finds
In a study led by Long Island University (LIU) in Brooklyn, New York, nearly 75% of drug-related, pharmacist-reviewed responses from the generative AI chatbot were found to be incomplete or wrong. In some cases, ChatGPT, which was developed by OpenAI in San Francisco and released in late 2022, provided "inaccurate responses that could endanger patients," the American Society of Health System Pharmacists (ASHP), headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, stated in a press release. (Stabile, 12/14)

CNN: Poison Centers See Nearly 1,500% Increase In Calls Related To Injected Weight-Loss Drugs As People Accidentally Overdose
Poison control centers across the US say they are seeing a steep increase in calls related to semaglutide, an injected medication used for diabetes and weight loss, with some people reporting symptoms related to accidental overdoses. Some have even needed to be hospitalized for severe nausea, vomiting and stomach pain, but their cases seem to have resolved after they were given intravenous fluids and medications to control nausea. (Goodman, 12/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Diet Company Medifast, Once An Ozempic Skeptic, Embraces Weight Loss Drugs With LifeMD Telehealth Deal
Medifast, the weight-loss company that uses coaches and low-calorie shakes and bars to help customers slim down, is diving into the Ozempic and Wegovy market. The company is investing $20 million in LifeMD, a telehealth company that provides access to doctors and nurse practitioners who can prescribe the drugs.  The move is an about-face for Medifast, a roughly $800 million market-cap company whose chairman and chief executive, Dan Chard, has previously said he was confident in its nondrug approach to weight loss and expressed concerns about the medications. (Petersen, 12/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Oprah Winfrey Says She Uses A Weight Loss Drug 
Oprah Winfrey, the media mogul and world’s most famous dieter, said in an interview published Wednesday that she is taking weight-loss medication as a “maintenance tool.” Winfrey didn’t disclose which drug she is taking, but her acknowledgment introduces star wattage to the debate about weight-loss medications that have rocked the pharmaceutical, food and diet industries since their widespread adoption. (Schwartzel, 12/13)

The Hill: Ohio Senate Approves Restrictions On Gender-Affirming Care, Transgender Athletes
The Ohio Senate passed legislation Wednesday to prevent doctors from administering gender-affirming health care to transgender minors and bar trans student athletes from competing on sports teams consistent with their gender identity. Ohio’s House Bill 68 passed the state’s Republican-controlled Senate in a 24-8 vote largely along party lines. One Republican — state Sen. Nathan Manning — voted with all Democrats against the measure, which will need to clear a final House vote before it is sent to Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, who has so far declined to say whether he will sign it. (Migdon, 12/13)

NPR: Report: Access To Mental Health Treatment Is Poor In The U.S.
Roughly two-thirds of Americans with a diagnosed mental health condition were unable to access treatment in 2021, though they had health insurance. And only a third of insured people who visited an emergency department or hospital during a mental health crisis, received follow-up care within a month of being discharged. These are among the findings of a new report by the actuary firm Milliman, released Wednesday. The mental health advocacy group, Inseparable, commissioned the report and also released an accompanying brief offering policy solutions to address the gaps in mental health care. (Chatterjee, 12/13)

CBS News: Students Say Their New York School's Cellphone Ban Helped Improve Their Mental Health 
At Newburgh Free Academy in New York, cell phones are locked away for the entire school day, including lunch. Students like Tyson Hill and Monique May say it is a relief after constantly being on their phones during the COVID-19 lockdown, when screen time among adolescents more than doubled, according to a study last year in the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics. "I blame my darkest moments because of my phone," Tyson told CBS News. (Oliver, 12/13)

Tampa Bay Times: As Dangerous Kratom Products Go Unregulated, Lobbyists Write The Laws
Upstart companies around the country sell crushed kratom leaf, providing no clear dosing instructions or warnings about potential dangers. They don’t have to. As medical examiners log an increasing number of overdoses involving kratom across Florida and elsewhere, the industry has largely operated without government constraints or safety measures that could help protect consumers. (Wilson and Ogozalek, 12/13)

Military.com: Air Force Issues Smartwatches And Rings To 1,000 First Sergeants To Manage Their Health
The Air Force has distributed wearable smart devices to more than 1,000 first sergeants in an attempt to help some of the most overworked and stressed enlisted members keep track of their health and wellness. Chief Master Sgt. John Alsvig, the Air Force first sergeant special duty manager, told Military.com in an emailed statement that the First Sergeant Academy early this year began passing out both a smartwatch and a smart ring to each graduate in hopes they'd use them to monitor their vital statistics. (Novelly, 12/13)

Texas Community Health News: Stigma, Language Complicate Treating Hispanics With Alzheimer’s Disease
Hispanics are almost twice as likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease than white Americans, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. But experts say that cultural factors likely mean that the disease is even more prevalent among Hispanics than these numbers suggest. (Alcorta, 12/14)

CBS News: Michigan Health Officials Seeking Detroiters To Get Tested For Lead, Mercury, PFAS In Statewide Project 
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services says it is seeking residents in some Detroit neighborhoods to participate in a statewide project investigating certain chemicals in blood and urine. The department says the Michigan Chemical Exposure Monitoring (MiChEM) project team will be in Detroit from Jan. 10-12, 2024 to collect data on lead, mercury, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). (Booth-Singleton, 12/13)

Reuters: Farmworkers, Environmentalists Urge EPA To Pull Approval For Glyphosate 
Farmworker and environmental advocacy groups on Wednesday asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to immediately suspend and cancel the federal government's approval for the herbicide glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer. In a petition filed with the EPA, six groups including the Center for Food Safety and the Farmworker Association of Florida asked for immediate action that would make selling or using the chemical illegal until the EPA thoroughly analyzes glyphosate's health and environmental risks. (Mindock, 12/13)

San Francisco Chronicle: Lead Poisoning Outbreak In Applesauce Pouches Spreads To 31 States, Including California
A lead poisoning outbreak tied to contaminated cinnamon applesauce pouches has spread to nine additional states, including California, U.S. health officials said on Tuesday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has received reports of at least 128 “adverse events” linked to the recalled products, pulled from shelves in late October and early November, in 31 states. The affected individuals, predominantly children age 6 or younger, exhibit symptoms associated with acute lead poisoning. (Vaziri, 12/13)

Axios: Americans' Physical Health Has Deteriorated Since The Pandemic: Gallup
Americans' physical and mental health are suffering more than before the pandemic, new data shows. More Americans reported diabetes diagnoses, less regular healthy eating, high cholesterol and lower confidence this year, compared with before the pandemic, according to Gallup survey data released Thursday. (Rubin, 12/14)

AP: In Hypochondria Paradox, Swedish Study Finds A Higher Death Rate In Those Who Fear Serious Illness
A large Swedish study has uncovered a paradox about people diagnosed with an excessive fear of serious illness: They tend to die earlier than people who aren’t hypervigilant about health concerns. Hypochondriasis, now called illness anxiety disorder, is a rare condition with symptoms that go beyond average health worries. People with the disorder are unable to shake their fears despite normal physical exams and lab tests. Some may change doctors repeatedly. Others may avoid medical care. (Johnson, 12/13)

Reuters: Ban Flavoured Vapes, WHO Says, Urging Tobacco-Style Controls
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday urged governments to treat e-cigarettes similarly to tobacco and ban all flavours, threatening cigarette companies' bets on smoking alternatives. Some researchers, campaigners and governments see e-cigarettes, or vapes, as a key tool in reducing the death and disease caused by smoking. But the U.N. agency said "urgent measures" were needed to control them. (12/14)

Stat: Male Birth Control Pill Enters Phase 1 Trial In U.K.
From several types of hormonal pills to implants, IUDs, and vaginal rings, women have a lot of birth control choices that are both non-surgical and reversible. Men have just one: Condoms, which are 87% effective in preventing pregnancy, and thus less reliable than many other methods. Attempts to change the status quo have been scarce and unsuccessful. In 2016, a trial for a hormonal male birth control pill was halted after men reported side effects including acne and mood swings — though such side effects are also experienced by women on various hormonal contraceptives. (Merelli, 12/13)