First Edition: Dec. 15, 2023

KFF Health News and Cox Media Group: ‘Until It Is Fixed’: Congress Ramps Up Action On Social Security Clawbacks 
The Senate Finance Committee is ramping up oversight of Social Security’s overpayment problem and plans to meet with the agency every month “until it is fixed.” The Social Security Administration assured lawmakers in the past that it had been addressed, but “what you all found in your reporting is that the problem hadn’t been fixed,” Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said in an interview. (Hilzenrath and Fleischer, 12/15)

KFF Health News: KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Abortion And SCOTUS, Together Again 
The Supreme Court this week agreed to hear a case that could further restrict abortion — even in states where it remains legal. The case to determine the fate of the abortion pill mifepristone is the first major abortion case to come before the court since its overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022. It could also set a precedent for judges to second-guess scientific rulings by the FDA. (12/14)

Modern Healthcare: Physicians Want AI To Reduce Prior Authorization Burdens: AMA
Physicians are excited but cautious about the use of artificial and augmented intelligence in medicine, according to a survey published by the American Medical Association on Thursday. AMA surveyed more than 1,000 doctors for their thoughts on AI, which the advocacy group defines as augmented intelligence. ... The survey revealed the majority of respondents see advantages to AI in healthcare but some are concerned over its potential effect on patient relationships and data privacy. (Turner, 12/14)

Politico: Applesauce Pouches Linked To Lead Poisoning May Have Been Contaminated On Purpose, FDA Foods Chief Says 
Tainted cinnamon applesauce pouches that have sickened scores of children in the U.S. may have been purposefully contaminated with lead, according to FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods Jim Jones. “We’re still in the midst of our investigation. But so far all of the signals we’re getting lead to an intentional act on the part of someone in the supply chain and we’re trying to sort of figure that out,” Jones said in an exclusive interview. “My instinct is they didn’t think this product was going to end up in a country with a robust regulatory process,” Jones said. ... U.S. and Ecuadorian authorities have traced the cinnamon to Negasmart, which supplies Austrofoods, the food manufacturer in Ecuador. (Brown and Hill, 12/14)

Stat: Product Recalls By FDA, CPSC More Than Doubled From 2018-2022
Either American products are getting worse, or scrutiny over their safety is getting tougher. Whichever the case, product recalls by the Food and Drug Administration and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) more than doubled between 2018 and 2022, according to new research published on Wednesday by life sciences software company MasterControl. (Merelli, 12/14)

Bloomberg: House Republicans Threaten To Subpoena FDA In Drug Quality Investigation
House Republicans threatened the US Food and Drug Administration with a subpoena as they intensify scrutiny of the agency’s efforts to deal with quality problems with drugs made in India and China. US House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, along with leaders of subcommittees on health and oversight, sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf demanding answers to questions about the agency’s work conducting inspections of drug facilities abroad. (Griffin, 12/14)

Bloomberg: How Pediatric Cancer Patients Received Tainted Chemo
Methotrexate, a drug used to treat leukemia and other cancers, is commonly prescribed, usually tolerated, often given as an injection. Much of it is manufactured in India. It’s a pale yellow liquid that’s always supposed to be sterile, free from any bacteria. Employees at Naprod Life Sciences were rushing to complete orders for thousands of vials. No one had been in charge of the quality department for months. The methotrexate they were manufacturing was destined for the most vulnerable: leukemia patients, some of them children, in developing countries. (Taggart and Pulla, 12/15)

CBS News: Moderna Vaccine Could Help Patients In Later Stages Of Melanoma
Cambridge-based Moderna has used mRNA technology to develop an experimental melanoma vaccine which is custom-built for each patient based on analysis of their tumor once it's been surgically removed. The vaccine is designed to train the immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells throughout the body. (Marshall, 12/14)

Reuters: US CDC Says There's Urgent Need To Increase Respiratory Vaccine Coverage 
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday issued an alert urging healthcare providers to increase immunization coverage for influenza, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The health regulator said that low vaccination rates, coupled with ongoing increases in respiratory disease activity, could lead to more severe disease and increased healthcare capacity strain in the coming weeks. (12/14)

Reuters: AstraZeneca, Sanofi To Supply 230,000 More RSV Infant Shots To US Market 
The makers of a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) immunization for infants that has been in tight supply will deliver an additional 230,000 doses in January, the White House said on Thursday, after U.S. government officials met with the companies to discuss meeting winter demand. According to a statement from one of the drug's makers - France's Sanofi - the additional supply means the companies will deliver 1.4 million doses of the drug in the U.S. this year, over 25% more shots than they had originally planned. (Hunnicutt and Erman, 12/14)

San Francisco Chronicle: New COVID Variant JN.1 ‘Better At Evading Our Immune Systems,’ CDC Says
Two new immune-evasive coronavirus variants are now responsible for more than half of the COVID-19 cases in the United States, contributing to a wave of infections just ahead of the holidays. ... The JN.1 variant, recently disaggregated from its parent BA.2.86. Accounting for 21.4% of new cases last week — almost triple the estimated 8% reported over Thanksgiving — JN.1 exhibits increased immunity evasion compared with earlier SARS-CoV-2 strains, according to a risk assessment from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Vaziri, 12/14)

The Boston Globe: COVID Vaccines Should Be Inhaled, Says New Boston Study
New research published Wednesday and led by Boston scientists suggests a possible solution. Delivering vaccines directly to the lungs by using a device similar to an asthma inhaler can build up a far larger army of immune cells where it counts: in the breathing passages. That army can intercept and kill COVID-19 virus particles before they make us sick. In the study, detailed in the journal Nature, the team compared immune responses to vaccines delivered to the lungs with immune responses to vaccines delivered as shots to the muscles. (Piore, 12/14)

AP: A Judge Is Considering Wyoming Abortion Laws, Including The First Explicit US Ban On Abortion Pills
Attorneys for both sides in a challenge to Wyoming abortion restrictions that include the nation’s first explicit ban on medication to end pregnancy urged a judge Thursday to uphold or strike down the new laws without holding a trial. A ruling either way would likely be appealed to the Wyoming Supreme Court. Teton County District Judge Melissa Owens in Jackson didn’t immediately rule after the arguments, however, saying the complex constitutional questions in the case would take time to assess. (Gruver, 12/14)

AP: Hypothetical Situations Or Real-Life Medical Tragedies? A Judge Weighs An Idaho Abortion Ban Lawsuit 
An attorney for Idaho asked a judge on Thursday to throw out a lawsuit seeking clarity about the medical exemptions to the state’s broad abortion bans, saying it was based on hypothetical situations rather than current facts. But an attorney for the four women and several physicians who sued says their claims aren’t hypothetical at all, but real-life tragedies happening in doctors’ offices and homes across the state. (Boone, 12/14)

The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer: Ohio Abortion Providers Ask Judge To Permanently Block ‘Heartbeat’ Ban Now That Amendment Is In Effect
As promised, abortion providers who are challenging the “heartbeat” ban filed an amended complaint this week, asking a court to permanently block the state from enforcing the law now that a majority of Ohio voters passed the reproductive rights constitutional amendment. (Hancock, 12/14)

Stat: Abortions Denied Hundreds In Texas Despite Health Risks, Data Show 
A Texas woman’s unsuccessful legal fight for an abortion on medical emergency grounds drew nationwide headlines in recent days, but her plight is hardly a rare occurrence amid vague and highly restrictive state laws in the post-Roe era. Kate Cox is likely one of hundreds, if not thousands, of Texans who’ve faced a similar struggle this year to get an abortion for medical reasons, according to a STAT review of studies and abortion data from other states. (Goldhill, 12/15)

CBS News: Report: Minnesota Sees Spike In Out-Of-State Patients Seeking Abortions
The number of people crossing state lines to Minnesota to get an abortion spiked after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, new data show. The number of out-of-state patients jumped from 9% in 2020 to 30% in 2023 over the same time period, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights. Nationwide, one in five patients are traveling out of state for an abortion. (Cummings, 12/14)

NPR: More People Are Putting Their Hopes Of Parenthood On Ice
Egg freezing, or oocyte preservation, was once considered an experimental procedure. But since the American Society for Reproductive Medicine dropped that designation in 2012, more people than ever are putting their hopes of parenthood on ice. There was a 400 percent increase in the number of people freezing their eggs between 2012 and 2020 according to the Society of Assisted Reproductive Technology. (12/14)

Stat: Spinal Cord Stimulation Reduces Pain In Amputees, Study Finds
For years, Lauren Gavron relied on oxycodone to quiet the pain in her missing lower left limb. But she hated the fog that came with it, preventing her from feeling comfortable enough to drive. When researchers at the University of Pittsburgh delivered electric jolts to her spine in 2021, the Duquesne, Pennsylvania resident was shocked to feel that pain temporarily melt away — and to feel sensation in her prosthetic foot, improving her walk and balance. (Lawrence, 12/14)

Modern Healthcare: HCA Healthcare Breached Terms Of Mission Health Deal: NC AG
HCA Healthcare allegedly breached the terms of the agreement it made with North Carolina when it purchased Mission Health four years ago, according to a lawsuit the state filed Thursday. North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein (D) alleges the for-profit, Nashville, Tennessee-based health system has cut staffing at Mission Health facilities, leading to delays in emergency and cancer care and a decline in quality, according to the complaint filed in Buncombe County Superior Court. (Kacik, 12/14)

Reuters: Ex-Pharma Exec Shkreli Urges US Appeals Court To End Lifetime Ban
Former drug company executive Martin Shkreli on Thursday urged a U.S. appeals court to strike down an order permanently banning him from the pharmaceutical industry. Shkreli's attorney Kimo Peluso told a 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel in New York that the ban, imposed last year over Shkreli's efforts to curb generic drug competitors, was too broad. (Scarcella, 12/14)

Modern Healthcare: WeightWatchers To Prescribe Wegovy, Ozempic Through Clinic
Weight loss company WeightWatchers launched a telehealth service on Thursday, joining a crowded list of virtual care providers that are prescribing glucagon-like peptide-1 agonist medications. The service, called WeightWatchers Clinic, will use clinicians previously employed by Sequence, the telehealth weight loss provider it acquired in March. Clinicians employed by WeightWatchers will prescribe certain patients GLP-1 medications such as Wegovy and Munjaro. They will also prescribe other weight loss drugs for patients not interested or ineligible for GLP-1 medications. (Turner, 12/14)

Stat: FDA Publishes New Database Of Wayward Clinical Trial Sponsors
In a bid toward greater transparency, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration earlier this month launched a dashboard containing preliminary notices sent to companies, universities, and researchers that failed to register clinical trials or report study results. (Silverman, 12/14)

AP: Elf Bar-Maker And Others Blocked From Importing Illegal E-Cigarettes 
U.S. agents recently seized more than 1.4 million illegal e-cigarettes from overseas manufacturers, including the Chinese company behind Elf Bar, a line of fruity disposable vapes that has become the top brand among American teens, officials said Thursday. Officials pegged the value of the e-cigarettes seized at Los Angeles International Airport at $18 million and said they included several related brands, including Elf Bar, Lost Mary, Funky Republic and EB Create, according to the Food and Drug Administration. The agency announced the seizure with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which helped conduct the operation. (Perrone, 12/14)

Reuters: US FDA Warns Chewy, Others Over Selling Unapproved Animal Antibiotics 
Chewy and eight other companies are violating federal law by selling or making unapproved antibiotics and other antimicrobial drugs for animals that could potentially give rise to drug-resistant superbugs, the U.S. health regulator said. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday sent letters to nine companies including e-commerce retailer Chewy warning them against selling the products that it said contained antibiotics such as penicillin and amoxicillin. (12/14)

Kansas City Star: Kansas Gov. Kelly Floats Work Requirements For Medicaid Expansion In Bid To Win GOP Support
Kansas Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly on Thursday offered a Medicaid expansion plan that would ask hospitals to provide funding and includes a work requirement — long a must-have item for many Republicans to support expansion. (Shorman and Ritter, 12/14)

The Texas Tribune: Nearly 1.7 Million Texans Lose Medicaid As State Nears End Of “Unwinding” 
Nearly 1.7 million Texans have lost their health insurance — the largest number of people any state has removed — in the months since Texas began peeling people from Medicaid as part of the post-pandemic “unwinding.” Around 65% of these removals occurred because of procedural reasons, according to the state. (Bohra, 12/14)

The Mercury News: California Deaths From All Causes On Track To Be Lowest Since COVID Pandemic Started
For the first year since COVID-19 upended our lives, the number of deaths from all causes is expected to fall under 300,000 in the Golden State, closer to pre-pandemic normals. The decline is primarily due to fewer COVID deaths — there have been close to 6,000 deaths from the virus so far this year, compared to over 18,000 at this time last year. To date, the virus has killed more than 104,000 Californians. (Blair Rowan, 12/14)

Los Angeles Times: California Moves To Tighten Rules To Protect Countertop Workers
State regulators estimated that as many as 800 of the industry’s more than 4,000 workers could end up with silicosis if California failed to take protective action, and up to 160 were likely to die of the suffocating disease, according to a presentation at Thursday’s meeting of the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board. That would amount to “an industrial disaster” on a scale not seen in nearly a century, Cal/OSHA said in a report laying out the need for the measure. The new, temporary rules adopted by the board are expected to go into effect by the end of this month. (Alpert Reyes, 12/14)

Los Angeles Times: Fentanyl Has Become Los Angeles County's Most Deadly Drug
Fentanyl has continued to tighten its deadly grip on Los Angeles, with the synthetic opioid causing the majority of fatal overdoses countywide in 2022. For the first time in recent years, fentanyl surpassed methamphetamine as the most common drug listed as a cause of overdose deaths, according to a recent report from the L.A. County Department of Public Health. Fentanyl was blamed in almost 60% of all accidental drug or alcohol overdoses in 2022, the report said, and has continued to disproportionately kill Black Angelenos. (Toohey, 12/14)

San Francisco Chronicle: San Francisco Starts Wastewater Surveillance To Tackle Drug Overdose Crisis
San Francisco has begun testing wastewater for traces of fentanyl, xylazine and other illicit drugs in an attempt to better track and address the local drug overdose crisis that has led to a record 752 deaths this year. The new wastewater surveillance program, announced by public health officials Thursday, will also track the presence of cocaine, methamphetamine and amphetamine, as well as naloxone, the overdose-reversing drug often referred to by the brand name Narcan. (Ho, 12/14)

CBS News: Supervised Injection Sites Could Save Lives In Massachusetts, DPH Says
A new DPH report says there were 2,359 opioid-related deaths in the state in 2022, a 3% increase from 2021 and the most-ever recorded in the state. Now the department is recommending that state leaders take steps to open "overdose prevention centers," which would allow people struggling with addiction to use drugs under medical supervision. DPH Commissioner Dr. Robert Goldstein said in a statement that overdose deaths are preventable and Massachusetts should "forge a culture of harm reduction." (Riley, 12/14)

Ohio Capital Journal: Ohio Passes Bill With Gender-Affirming Care Ban And Trans Sports Restrictions
A bill that would block doctors from providing gender-affirming care to trans youth and prevent trans athletes from participating in Ohio women’s sports is going to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk. The Ohio Senate passed House Bill 68 in a 24-8 vote Wednesday afternoon and the Ohio House concurred with the Senate amendments in a 61-27 vote Wednesday night. DeWine now has 10 business days to sign or veto the bill. (Henry, 12/14)

CBS News: Philadelphia Could Become First U.S. City To Ban Medical Deportations
Philadelphia is on the road to becoming the first city in the U.S. to make medical deportations illegal, according to an immigrant advocacy group. In a 14 to 1 vote Thursday, Philadelphia City Council approved a bill that makes it unlawful for a hospital in the city to send a noncitizen to their home country without consent. (Baietto and Burton, 12/14)

The Texas Tribune: Crenshaw’s Psychedelic PTSD Treatment Bill Passes 
Tucked within Congress’ colossal annual defense bill is a priority a vocal group of Texas conservatives has long pushed: Using psychedelics to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. The U.S. House voted Thursday to pass the annual National Defense Authorization Act, which sets the spending caps and policy priorities for the Defense Department. Included in the bill was U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw’s Douglas Mike Day Psychedelic Therapy to Save Lives Act, legislation that will direct the Defense Department to create grants for studying psychedelic treatments for active duty service members. (Choi, 12/14)

USA Today: EPA Begins Process To Potentially Ban Vinyl Chloride, Used In PVC
The U.S. Environmental Agency Thursday took the first step toward potentially restricting or banning the use of five toxic chemicals used to make plastics, adhesives and paints. Among them is a key ingredient in PVC plastic – vinyl chloride – a common material for water and sewer pipes, medical equipment and toys. It’s also a known carcinogen, and exposure to the substance has been linked to numerous health effects. (Le Coz, 12/14)

CBS News: Hundreds Of Young Children Killed Playing With Guns, CDC Reports
Hundreds of young children in the U.S. have been killed playing with guns over the last two decades, according to a study published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The vast majority of cases involved guns that were stored unlocked and loaded. The CDC report's authors say their new findings highlight the rising toll taken by accidental gun deaths that could be preventable. (Tin, 12/14)

Axios: Kids Killed In Gun Accidents Most Often Found Weapon In The Bedroom: CDC
Children and teens involved in unintentional fatal shootings most commonly found the gun inside or on top of a nightstand, under a mattress or pillow, or on top of a bed, according to a new federal study. (Reed, 12/14)

The New York Times: Getting An IUD Hurts. Why Aren’t More Women Offered Relief?
Women are increasingly turning to the intrauterine device, or IUD, as a form of contraception, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published today. Yet it’s widely known that having an IUD inserted can be excruciatingly painful, and few doctors offer effective relief. The anticipation of the pain is “a potential barrier” to expanding access, said Dr. Lauren Zapata, an epidemiologist with the division of reproductive health at the C.D.C. (Gupta, 12/14)

The Washington Post: After An FTC Crackdown, Some Dietitians Now Say Who’s Paying Them 
A month after a new federal crackdown on social media advertising, nutrition influencers have deleted previous sponsored posts and some are now explicitly disclosing the companies that are paying them That pasta recipe? Dietitian Cara Harbstreet of Kansas City says in her video that it’s made in partnership with Barilla. Steph Grasso of Oakton, Va., a registered dietitian with more than 2 million social media followers, now superimposes #Ad on her videos for Orgain protein powders. (Gilbert, Chavkin and Tsui, 12/13)

The Washington Post: Now Healthy Food And Exercise May Qualify For HSA And FSA Funds 
You can now use your pretax dollars to pay for certain types of healthful foods, gym memberships and even fitness trackers. Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Flexible Savings Accounts (FSAs) allow you to set aside money on a pretax basis to pay for “qualified medical expenses,” including medical, dental, prescription and vision bills. But many people don’t realize they may be eligible to spend the funds on a range of other options, including certain meal kits, gym memberships, protein powders, supplements, fitness trackers and even saunas. (O'connor and O'Hagan, 12/13)

NPR: Mosquitos, Ticks May Spread New, Dangerous Viruses, Caution Researchers
Due to globalization and climate change, insects and the diseases they carry are spreading more widely around the world. At a two-day workshop this week at the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine in Washington, D.C., global public health experts warned that countries like the U.S. are not ready for this looming threat. "If we don't do anything, which is basically what we're doing right now, it's going to get worse," Tom Scott, a medical entomologist and professor emeritus at UC Davis, said during the workshop. (Huang, 12/15)