First Edition: Dec.15, 2022

KHN: Mass Shootings Reopen The Debate Over Whether Crime Scene Photos Prompt Change Or Trauma
John Lites was one of the first police officers to respond to a 911 call from Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, on June 17, 2015, when a white gunman murdered nine Black people attending a Bible study. Lites arrived at the scene only minutes after the first emergency call was placed. He held one of the victim’s hands as the man died. Lites then stood guard inside the fellowship hall all night — remaining even through a bomb threat — to prevent people who didn’t need to be there from entering the room. “I didn’t want anyone else to see it,” Lites said. “I was totally traumatized.” (Sausser, 12/15)

KHN: Squeezed By Temp Nurse Costs, Hospital Systems Create Their Own Staffing Agencies
Like many nurses these days, Alex Scala got a big pay hike when she switched jobs recently. Scala also received a welcome mix of assignments when she joined Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Health Network. She signed on with a newly created team that works shifts in various units within the system’s 14 hospitals. (Miller, 12/15)

AP: Biden Administration Proposes Crackdown On Scam Medicare Ads
The Biden administration on Wednesday proposed a ban on misleading ads for Medicare Advantage plans that have targeted older Americans and, in some cases, convinced them to sign up for plans that don’t cover their doctors or prescriptions. The rule, proposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, would ban ads that market Medicare Advantage plans with confusing words, imagery or logos. The new regulation would also prohibit ads that don’t specifically mention a health insurance plan by name. (Seitz, 12/14)

CNBC: Biden Administration Makes At-Home Covid Tests Available For Free Again This Winter
The Biden administration is making rapid Covid tests available for free again this winter through a limited round of ordering. Households can now order a total of four rapid Covid tests for free at CovidTests.gov. Orders will start shipping next week, just days before families gather for the Christmas holiday, and deliveries will continue in the following weeks, according to the White House. (Kimball, 12/15)

USA Today: Detect Inc. COVID Tests Recalled For Potential False Negative Results
The company that made the test kits, Detect, Inc., has recalled three lots of the Detect COVID-19 Test. A total of 11,102 tests shipped to customers from July 26 to August 26 have been recalled. There are over 20 versions of at-home COVID test kits approved by the FDA. Impacted lots from Detect include HB264, HY263 and HY264. (Martin, 12/14)

CNN: White House Warns Of Possible Covid-19 Winter Surge: 'This Is Not One Disease In Isolation' 
For Americans across the country preparing to gather and socialize with family and friends during the end-of-year holiday season, the White House has a clear warning: Covid-19 is not over, and you had better protect yourself. (Lee, 12/15)

CNBC: Omicron BQ, XBB Subvariants Are A Serious Threat To Boosters And Knock Out Antibody Treatments, Study Finds
The omicron subvariants that have become dominant in recent months present a serious threat to the effectiveness of the new boosters, render antibody treatments ineffective and could cause a surge of breakthrough infections, according to a new study. (Kimball, 12/14)

CNBC: U.S. Hospitals Report Rise In Severe Strep A Infections In Kids After 15 Deaths In U.K.
Several children’s hospitals in the U.S. have detected increases in invasive group A strep infections, a severe and sometimes life-threatening illness that occurs when bacteria spread to areas of the body that are normally germ-free, such as the bloodstream. Children’s hospitals in Arizona, Colorado, Texas and Washington told NBC News they are seeing higher-than-average numbers of cases this season compared to past years. (Bendix, 12/15)

Roll Call: Post-Pandemic, CDC Faces ‘Uphill Battle’ For Backing In New Congress
Three years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's flaws have never been more public or politicized, and the agency’s director wants to seize this moment to overhaul the agency, making it more nimble and responsive to public health emergencies. But there's one major problem — she needs Congress' help. And she is losing key allies. (Cohen, 12/15)

NBC News: Two Years After Covid Vaccines Came Out, Researchers Push For New Options
The U.S. is currently recording around 430 Covid deaths per day, on average, according to NBC News’ tally. That includes many people who received at least two Covid shots: Six in 10 adults who died of Covid in August were vaccinated or boosted, according to a report by KFF, a nonprofit health think tank. And for the most part, vaccinated people don’t avoid infections or reinfections anymore. (Bendix, 12/14)

AP: US Deaths Fell This Year, But Not To Pre-COVID Levels 
The number of U.S. deaths dropped this year, but there are still more than there were before the coronavirus hit. Preliminary data — through the first 11 months of the year — indicates 2022 will see fewer deaths than the previous two COVID-19 pandemic years. Current reports suggest deaths may be down about 3% from 2020 and about 7% vs. 2021. (Stobbe, 12/14)

CIDRAP: Global COVID Activity Remains Stable, But Deaths On The Rise
Global COVID-19 cases remained steady last week for the third week in a row, though deaths rose and infection levels in the Americas, especially the United States, continued to rise, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today in its latest snapshot of the pandemic. (Schnirring, 12/14)

The Hill: Fauci Responds To DeSantis’s Call For COVID-19 Vaccine Investigation
Outgoing White House medical adviser Anthony Fauci said Wednesday that he “doesn’t have a clue” what Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis hopes to accomplish by calling for a state grand jury investigation into alleged “crimes” related to COVID-19 vaccines.  “I don’t have a clue … what he’s asking for. I mean, we have a vaccine that, unequivocally, is highly effective and safe and has saved literally millions of lives,” Fauci, who is also the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), told CNN’s Kate Bolduc. (Mueller, 12/14)  

CIDRAP: More US Teens Hospitalized For Mental Illness During Pandemic 
Yesterday in JAMA Network Open, a study of adolescents admitted to eight children's hospitals for mental illness before and during the COVID-19 pandemic reveals a steep increase in the monthly proportion of hospitalizations tied to psychological issues after the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 in the United States but not in France. (Van Beusekom, 12/14)

The Hill: On Sandy Hook’s Anniversary, ATF Director Calls Number Of Shootings In US ‘Wholly Un-American’ 
Steve Dettelbach, the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), in marking the 10th anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy on Wednesday, called the amount of gun violence in the United States “un-American” and vowed to keep up the work of the Biden administration in preventing gun violence. “It is wholly unlawful and it is wholly un-American for this level of firearm violence to be going on. So, what I say to … people out there who are railing against this, keep using your voices, we’re with you on this. We have to do better,” he said in an interview with The Hill at ATF headquarters. (Gangitano, 12/14)

NBC News: 10 Years After Sandy Hook, Biden Says Americans Should Have 'Societal Guilt' Over Gun Violence
Marking a decade since the Sandy Hook school massacre, President Joe Biden said Wednesday the United States must do more to tackle the nation's gun violence epidemic and people should have "societal guilt" for taking too long to address it. Biden said in a statement that 10 years ago, on Dec. 14, 2012, "the unthinkable happened," when 20 young children and six educators were killed at the elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. Survivors "still carry the wounds of that day," he said. (Shabad, 12/14)

NBC News: 10 Years After Sandy Hook Shooting, Gun Safety Movement Highlights Major Wins
As killing sprees have become more frequent and public support for tougher firearm laws has grown, the apparent invincibility of the gun lobby on Capitol Hill has shown cracks. Congress passed the first federal gun safety law in 30 years in June to tighten background checks and offer "red flag" grants for states that allow families and police to try to keep guns out of the hands of potentially dangerous people before they commit violence. On the state level, 525 “significant gun safety laws” have been adopted in the decade since Sandy Hook, according to a new report by the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, the advocacy group led by former Rep. Gabby Giffords, D-Ariz., who survived a shooting in January 2011. (Kapur, 12/13)

The Guardian: Sandy Hook’s Tragic Legacy On Gun Safety Takes A New Turn 10 Years On 
“For most of the decade before Sandy Hook, the gun lobby got whatever they wanted,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) told the Guardian. “For the 10 years after Sandy Hook, it was slow progress on behalf of the gun safety movement, but it was largely just gridlock … This summer, we showed that we now are more powerful.” (Greve, 12/14)

The Washington Post: Antiabortion Movement Seeks To Jail People For ‘Trafficking’ Illegal Pills 
The largest antiabortion organization in Texas has created a team of advocates assigned to investigate citizens who might be distributing abortion pills illegally. Students for Life of America, a leading national antiabortion group, is making plans to systematically test the water Erin Brockovich-style in several large U.S. cities, searching for contaminants they say result from medication abortion. (Kitchener, 12/14)

AP: Montana Justices Weigh If Some Nurses Can Provide Abortions
Advanced practice registered nurses in Montana should be allowed to provide abortions based on a state Supreme Court ruling that guarantees residents the right to get a legal abortion from a health care provider of the patient’s choice, an attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights argued Wednesday. (Hanson, 12/15)

AP: Tennesseans Misunderstand Abortion Law, Want Exceptions 
Most registered voters in Tennessee want exceptions for rape or incest in the state’s sweeping abortion ban, but they largely don’t know the specifics of what’s in the law as it stands today, according to new Vanderbilt University polling. The disconnect comes in a state that votes consistently for Republicans and has one of the strictest abortion bans in the country. Three out of four people polled think that abortion should be legal if the pregnancy results from rape or incest, an exception that doesn’t exist in current law. But fewer than 1 in 5 were able to pick which of the statements Vanderbilt provided that most closely described the current abortion law’s requirements, according to Vanderbilt pollsters. (Mattise, 12/14)

The Washington Post: Blind And Disabled Veterans Can’t Access VA Websites, Report Says 
Despite the fact that 27 percent of all veterans have a service-connected disability — and more than 1 million veterans are blind or have low vision — only 8 percent of VA’s public-facing websites and 6 percent of its internal sites are fully compliant with federal accessibility law, according to the report released Wednesday. (Morris, 12/14)

The Washington Post: For New NCI Director, Work Turns Personal: She Is Diagnosed With Cancer 
Last summer, when Boston cancer surgeon Monica M. Bertagnolli heard she might be selected to lead the National Cancer Institute, she asked a friend whether she would be able to do the job. It was a disarming display of humility from an accomplished professional who has removed gastrointestinal tumors as big as pumpkins and herded not only Black Angus cattle on a Wyoming ranch but also thousands of strong-minded oncologists conducting clinical trials. Bertagnolli said her friend gave her a vote of confidence, adding, “You are kind of annoying — you never take no for an answer.” (McGinley, 12/14)

Modern Healthcare: Moody's: More Healthcare Organizations At Risk Of Credit Downgrades
Twenty-five North American entities across the hospital, pharmaceutical, medical device and healthcare services sectors have been downgraded this year to B3- or lower, according to Moody’s Investor Services. A report from Moody’s called it “a material deterioration in the sector’s credit quality.” Besides economic factors, legislation like the No Surprises Act and opioids-related litigation are also creating more risk. (Hudson, 12/14)

Stat: Health Companies Are Hiring Their First Chief Health Equity Officers
A string of high-profile health companies like Teladoc and CVSHealth have hired their first chief health equity officers this year as the industry grapples with troubling health disparities. But the people in these prominent positions — and the ones hiring them — say they’re still defining the role, and in some cases, fighting for buy-in and resources from others in their organizations. (Ravindranath, 12/15)

Crain's Detroit Business: Blue Cross Blue Shield Of Michigan Unveils Big Push That Lets Physicians Take On Risk, Reap Rewards
Six physician groups have inked full-risk reimbursement deals with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan for the care of patients under its Medicare Advantage PPO and Blue Care Network Medicare Advantage plans, the state's largest health insurer said Wednesday. A full-risk arrangement puts financial liability on the physicians' organization in exchange for a larger potential reimbursement for high-quality care. (Walsh, 12/14)

CNN: Only 14% Of Diagnosed Cancers In The US Are Detected By Screening, Report Says
A small proportion – 14.1% – of all diagnosed cancers in the United States are detected by screening with a recommended screening test, according to a new report. The remaining diagnosed cancers tend to be found when someone has symptoms or seeks imaging or medical care for other reasons, suggests the report, posted online Wednesday by researchers at the nonprofit research organization NORC at the University of Chicago. (Howard, 12/14)

USA Today: Parkinson's Disease More Common Than Previously Thought, Study Shows
Parkinson's disease strikes nearly 90,000 older Americans a year, 30,000 more than was previously estimated, according to a study published Thursday. Incidence rates differed across the country. States with higher rates of older residents saw more diagnoses of the disease, whose risk typically increases with age, but so did some "Rust Belt" states in the Northeast and Midwest that have a history of heavy industry manufacturing. (Weintraub, 12/15)

The Washington Post: Does Exercise Really Help Aging Brains? New Study Raises Questions
Exercise and mindfulness training did not improve older people’s brain health in a surprising new study published this week in JAMA. The experiment, which enrolled more than 580 older men and women, looked into whether starting a program of exercise, mindfulness — or both — enhanced older people’s abilities to think and remember or altered the structure of their brains. (Reynolds, 12/14)

AP: Report: TikTok Boosts Posts About Eating Disorders, Suicide
TikTok’s algorithms are promoting videos about self-harm and eating disorders to vulnerable teens, according to a report published Wednesday that highlights concerns about social media and its impact on youth mental health. Researchers at the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate created TikTok accounts for fictional teen personas in the U.S., United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. The researchers operating the accounts then “liked” videos about self-harm and eating disorders to see how TikTok’s algorithm would respond. (Klepper, 12/15)

CNN: Suicide Prevention: Signs, Risk Factors And How To Help
Suicide is a leading cause of death among children and adults, but spotting risk factors and warning signs isn’t easy. Nearly 46,000 people in the United States died by suicide in 2020, which is about one death every 11 minutes, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Rogers, 12/15)

AP: Health Officials Revise Tool To Track Severe Obesity In Kids
U.S. health officials have revised a tool to track the rising cases of severe obesity among children who were previously off the charts. Updated growth charts released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now extend to a body mass index of 60 — up from previous charts that stopped at a BMI of 37, with additional categories to track obesity in kids ages 2 to 19. (Aleccia, 12/15)

PBS NewsHour: Loneliness Can Affect Physical And Mental Health. An Expert Shares Ways To Combat It This Holiday Season
A 2021 study from Morning Consult found that 58 percent of Americans are lonely. Some are lonely by circumstance and others by choice, but Dr. Jeremy Nobel, who teaches a class on loneliness at Harvard, says societal expectations play a role in loneliness during the holiday season. (Rasnic, Kuhn and Ellis, 12/14)

The Wall Street Journal: The Tragic Rise Of Fentanyl, Mapped
In just a few years, illicit fentanyl has pushed America’s drug fatalities to a record, reaching into every corner and demographic group in the country. (Rust and Kamp, 12/14)

AP: Rate Of Opioid-Related Deaths Drops 1.5% In 1st 9 Months 
Opioid-related overdose deaths in Massachusetts declined by 1.5% in the first nine months of this year compared to the same time last year, according to preliminary data released Wednesday. The state had 1,696 confirmed and estimated opioid-related overdose deaths in the first nine months of 2022, which is about 25 fewer deaths than during the same time in 2021, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health said. The department noted that the number of opioid-related overdose deaths in 2021 — 2,301 — was a 9.4% increase over 2020. (12/14)

Stat: Despite Disclosure Rules, Prisons Hide Causes Of Deaths Behind Bars
It’s virtually impossible to get information from states and correctional facilities about why people die in prison. For more than two years, STAT endeavored to document the number of incarcerated people who died due to complications from hepatitis C, part of a broad investigation into prisons’ failures to prevent avoidable death and suffering related to the condition. Prison systems fought our attempts at every turn. (Florko, 12/15)

Stat: Getting Hepatitis C Treatment Opens New Doors For The Incarcerated
For the prisoners who receive it, hepatitis C treatment is more than a cure. It offers a second chance, an opportunity to live long enough to get out of prison and become a productive member of the community. (Florko, 12/15)

The Washington Post: Born After 2008? You’Ll Never Be Able To Buy Cigarettes In New Zealand.
New Zealand passed into law Tuesday a ban on the sale of tobacco products to anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 2009, furthering an ambitious plan to create a smoke-free nation that could pave the way for similar policies elsewhere in the world. New Zealand already prohibits the sale of tobacco products to those under 18, but the new amendments to the law effectively set a moving age limit that will permanently outlaw tobacco sales to the country’s youngest and future generations. Those born before 2009, who are 18 or older, will still be permitted to purchase tobacco. (Wu, 12/14)

Bloomberg: Ebola Virus: Two Vaccines Show Lasting Immune Response In Study 
Two shots that protect against Ebola virus yielded immune responses lasting for at least a year, according to a study suggesting they might keep the virus at bay for the long-term. (John Milton, 12/14)

Reuters: J&J And Merck Ebola Vaccines Produce Lasting Antibodies In Children And Adults: Studies 
Ebola vaccines developed by Johnson & Johnson and Merck & Co produced virus-fighting antibodies and appear to be safe in children and adults, according to data from two studies published on Wednesday. Both companies' vaccines produced antibodies 14 days after the first of two shots and were detectable at varying levels in both children and adults for one year, data from the studies conducted in Western Africa showed. (Srinivasan and Leo, 12/14)