First Edition: Dec. 5, 2022

KHN: Much Of The CDC Is Working Remotely. That Could Make Changing The Agency Difficult. 
Earlier this year, top leadership at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began a monumental task: turning the sprawling, labyrinthine organization known for its highly specialized, academically focused scientific research into a sleek, flexible public health response agency primed to serve the American public. It’s an attempt to keep the CDC from repeating the mistakes it made while responding to covid-19. But agency veterans, outside public health officials, and workplace organization experts said the current workplace structure could be a major barrier to that goal. Like directors before her, agency head Dr. Rochelle Walensky spends a considerable amount of time away from the CDC’s headquarters in Atlanta. The agency has also embraced a workplace flexibility program that has allowed most of its scientists to stay remote. (Whitehead, 12/5)

KHN: Assisted Living Facilities Pressed To Address Growing Needs Of Older, Sicker Residents
Assisted living communities too often fail to meet the needs of older adults and should focus more on residents’ medical and mental health concerns, according to a recent report by a diverse panel of experts. It’s a clarion call for change inspired by the altered profile of the population that assisted living now serves. (Graham, 12/5)

KHN: Journalists Discuss Medicaid Rules, Opioid Settlement Funds, And The Public Health Workforce
KHN correspondent Sam Whitehead discussed Georgia’s push for Medicaid work requirements on WABE’s “All Things Considered” on Nov. 28. ... KHN correspondent Aneri Pattani discussed how states are distributing opioid settlement funds on NPR’s “All Things Considered” on Nov. 24. ... KHN Midwest correspondent Lauren Weber discussed how public health workers have lost their jobs as CDC Foundation contracts dry up on NPR’s “All Things Considered” on Nov. 23. (12/3)

NBC News: Flu Hospitalization Rate Nearly Doubled During Thanksgiving Week, CDC Reports
The number of people hospitalized with flu nearly doubled during Thanksgiving week — 19,593 compared to 11,378 people admitted to the hospital the week prior. Of the people hospitalized with flu, most were aged 65 or older. (Edwards, 12/2)

Axios: Worst Flu Outbreak In More Than A Decade Spikes Hospitalizations
Public health experts say that masking and other pandemic precautions largely kept influenza at bay over the past two years and disrupted its seasonal spread. But the return to pre-pandemic life has left us "immunologically naïve" and more susceptible to infections. (Bettelheim, 12/5)

Bloomberg: Flu Hospital Admissions Skyrocket, Worst Since 2009 Season
This year’s outbreak is so far most severe for adults ages 65 and older, who are being admitted at the highest rates seen this early in the season since at least 2009, according to CDC data. Small children are also being hit harder than other age groups, with hospitalization rates climbing to 28.4 per 100,000 children ages 4 and under. (Muller and John Milton, 12/2)

AP: New Mexico Issues Public Health Order Amid RSV Case Surge
New Mexico health officials are mandating hospitals revert to a “hub-and-spoke” model to ensure patients get the care they need amid an alarming rise in respiratory infections among children. The New Mexico Department of Health announced the public health emergency order Thursday as hospitals continue to be stretched thin by pediatric cases of respiratory syncytial virus, known as RSV. It calls for hospitals to work cooperatively to manage their resources and transport patients to where they can get the most appropriate level of care. (12/2)

The Washington Post: Covid Hospitalizations Rising Post-Thanksgiving After An Autumn Lull 
A post-Thanksgiving uptick in covid-19 patients at U.S. hospitals is arriving even as health systems contend with waves of feverish, coughing people stricken with RSV and influenza infections. Covid hospitalizations last week reached their highest level in three months, with more than 35,000 patients being treated, according to Washington Post data tracking. National hospitalizations had stagnated throughout fall but started rising in the days leading up to Thanksgiving. All but a few states reported per capita increases in the past week. (Nirappil and Dupree, 12/4)

CIDRAP: 42% Of US Adults Likely Have Had COVID, But Almost Half Of Them Say They Didn't
Serologic testing of US adults finds that nearly 42% have SARS-CoV-2 antibodies indicating previous infection, but about 44% of them said they never had COVID-19, according to a study published today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. (Van Beusekom, 12/2)

CIDRAP: 11% Of COVID-19 Survivors Have Residual Lung Damage, Study Finds
A new study in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine reveals about an 11% incidence of residual lung damage—known as interstitial lung disease—after COVID-19 hospitalization. Interstitial lung disease is a broad category of lung damage and disease defined by fibrotic scarring. The damage is often irreversible. (12/2)

Reuters: Drop In COVID Alertness Could Create Deadly New Variant, WHO Says
Lapses in strategies to tackle COVID-19 this year continue to create the perfect conditions for a deadly new variant to emerge, as parts of China witness a rise in infections, the head of the World Health Organization said on Friday. The comments by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus mark a change in tone just months after he said that the world has never been in a better position to end the pandemic. (Satija, 12/2)

NBC News: New Coronavirus Variants Made Monoclonal Antibody Drugs Ineffective
Over the last two years, the FDA authorized six monoclonal antibody treatments for Covid, but omicron’s many subvariants rendered the drugs less effective so the FDA gradually revoked each of those authorizations. Bebtelovimab, made by Eli Lilly, was the last one standing. (Bendix, 12/3)

San Francisco Chronicle: Virus Can Live On Certain Groceries “For Several Days,” Report Finds
The SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 can live on some groceries for days, according to new laboratory tests by the U.K.’s Food Standards Agency. The research, conducted at the University of Southampton, was commissioned by the FSA as a follow-up to a 2020 study measuring the risk of surface transmission. (Vaziri and Kawahara, 12/2)

Politico: Defense Bill Could Roll Back Covid Vaccine Policy, Top Dem Says
Final defense legislation set to be unveiled next week could undo the Pentagon’s policy of kicking out troops for not taking the Covid vaccine, the Democratic chair of the House Armed Services Committee said Saturday. Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said a rollback of the policy is on the table for a compromise version of the National Defense Authorization Act, but hasn’t been decided yet. (O'Brien and Bender, 12/3)

AP: Keep COVID Military Vaccine Mandate, Defense Chief Says 
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he wants to keep the military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate in place to protect the health of the troops, as Republican governors and lawmakers press to rescind it. This past week more than 20 Republican governors sent a letter to President Joe Biden asking that the administration remove the mandate, saying it has hurt the U.S. National Guard’s ability to recruit troops. Those troops are activated by governors to respond to natural disasters or unrest. (Copp, 12/4)

NBC News: Why So Few People Over 65 Gotten New Covid Booster Shots, Despite Their Risk
Around 85% of Covid deaths in the last four weeks were among people ages 65 and up, according to an NBC News analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But just 31% of that group has gotten updated booster shots. (Bendix, 12/2)

The Wall Street Journal: Billions In Covid Aid Went To Hospitals That Didn’t Need It
When Covid-19 struck, the U.S. government gave hospitals tens of billions of dollars to help them cope with the strains of the pandemic.Many of the hospitals didn’t need it.The aid enriched some well-off systems, while failing to meet the needs of many that were struggling, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of federal financial-disclosure reports. (Evans, Whyte and McGinty, 12/4)

Reuters: United States To End Mpox Emergency Declaration 
Mpox is expected to no longer be considered a public health emergency in the United States from Feb. 1, 2023, the U.S. health department said on Friday. The months-long declaration was meant to tackle the largest-ever outbreak of cases in the country. The move signals that the crisis, which led to a spate of cases mostly among men who have sex with men, has come under control and would no longer require an emergency status meant to shore up funding and tools to fight the disease. (12/2)

The Washington Post: Biden Administration Poised To Lift Monkeypox Emergency Declaration
“Given the low number of cases today, HHS does not expect that it needs to renew the emergency declaration when it ends on January 31, 2023,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “But we won’t take our foot off the gas — we will continue to monitor the case trends closely and encourage all at-risk individuals to get a free vaccine.” (Nirappil, 12/2)

AP: Indiana Judge Won't Block Probe Over 10-Year-Old's Abortion
Indiana’s Republican attorney general can keep investigating an Indianapolis doctor who spoke publicly about providing an abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim from neighboring Ohio, a judge ruled Friday. An attempt to block a probe by Attorney General Todd Rokita’s office was rejected by Marion County Judge Heather Welch. (Davies, 12/2)

Reuters: Judge Blocks Indiana Abortion Ban On Religious Freedom Grounds
A second Indiana judge on Friday blocked the state from enforcing its law banning most abortions after Jewish, Muslim and other non-Christian women challenged it in a lawsuit. Marion County Superior Court Judge Heather Welch issued a preliminary injunction against the Republican-backed law, which prohibits abortions with limited exceptions for rape, incest, lethal fetal abnormalities or a serious health risk to the mother. The plaintiffs have argued that the measure infringes on religious freedom protected by another state law. (12/2)

NPR: Male Birth Control Research Is Starting To Make Progress
"We would like to create a menu of options for men similar to what women have available to them," says Stephanie Page, a researcher and endocrinologist at the University of Washington. (Barber and Muraskin, 12/4)

The Wall Street Journal: CVS Tries Out Remote System To Help Fill Prescriptions 
CVS has equipped roughly 8,000 of its more than 9,000 U.S. drugstores with technology that allows pharmacists to review and enter prescription information remotely while still meeting patient-privacy requirements. About 400 of CVS’s 30,000 pharmacists are currently helping prepare prescriptions either at central locations, from their homes or in stores other than where medications will be dispensed, the company said. (Terlep, 12/4)

The Wall Street Journal: Why You Can’t Find Wegovy, The Weight-Loss Drug 
Novo Nordisk A/S flubbed the launch of its buzzy new weight-loss drug Wegovy, missing out on hundreds of millions of dollars in sales and squandering a head start before a rival could begin selling a competing product. (Loftus and Roland, 12/4)

Stat: UnitedHealth Is Keeping More Profits, As Your Doctor
Next year, UnitedHealth Group — one of the largest health care companies on the planet — expects to make a lot more money in a relatively simple way: by funneling more of the insurance premiums it collects from workers and taxpayers toward itself. (Herman, 12/5)

Stat: Medical Malpractice Lawsuits Hit Hospitals After Pandemic Delay
Carlos David Castro Rojas was a healthy 27-year-old engineering student when he fell off a ladder hanging Christmas lights in 2017, breaking his leg and injuring his knee. What was supposed to be a relatively routine surgery at a Baylor Scott & White Health hospital in Dallas ultimately ended with Rojas sustaining a severe brain injury. (Bannow, 12/5)

AP: Ex-Children's Hospital Doctor Charged With Sex Crimes 
A former medical director of a Virginia hospital that serves vulnerable children has been charged with four felony sex crimes in connection with abuse that authorities say happened at the facility years ago. A grand jury indicted Dr. Daniel N. Davidow of Richmond, a former longtime employee of the Cumberland Hospital for Children and Adolescents, last month, court records show. The records were unsealed Thursday, a local prosecutor announced Friday. (Rankin, 12/2)

The Texas Tribune: Texas Man Arrested For Threatening Boston Doctor
A Texas man was arrested Friday on a federal charge that he left a threatening voicemail message for one Boston doctor who provides care to transgender people, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Massachusetts. The man, Matthew Jordan Lindner, 38, of the Hill Country town of Comfort, was charged with one count of transmitting interstate threats. Comfort is in Kendall County, about 50 miles northwest of San Antonio. (Martinez, 12/3)

Columbus Dispatch: Fourth Site Exposed To Measles Announced By Columbus Public Health
Columbus Public Health indicated Saturday that it is investigating a confirmed case of measles in a person who visited a Northland store Thursday, the fourth such public exposure announced as cases continue to spread throughout the area. (Behrens, 12/4)

ABC News: Poison Center Reports For Child Marijuana Use Rose 245% In Last 20 Years: Study
Between 2000 and 2020, reports to poison centers for child and teen marijuana use increased by 245%, according to a new study from the Oregon Health and Science University. (Manickam, 12/5)

CNN: Pain Relief From Marijuana May Come From Believing It Helps, Study Says
Some people suffering pain from cancer and other chronic diseases turn to marijuana to ease their suffering, but much of that relief may come from simply believing weed will help, a new study found. (LaMotte, 12/2)

The Wall Street Journal: A Military Wife’s Descent Into Meth Addiction—And Her Agonizing Journey Back 
Lauren St. Pierre had the adorable toddler, the successful husband and a new house by the Army base where he worked. Surgeries bestowed the hourglass figure she had always wanted. On a summer day in 2010, Lauren discovered something she wanted more. (Phillips, 12/3)

The Washington Post: Drugs Killed 8 Friends, One By One, In A Tragedy Seen Across The U.S.
Oct. 2, 2013, was not the day the drug epidemic reached Greenville. But beginning with Jackson’s death that day, a group of at least 16 young men and women who grew up together in this small eastern North Carolina city would succumb to overdoses of opioids and other drugs over nine years. More of their peers became addicted or overdosed but managed to survive. (Bernstein and Smith, 12/2)

The New York Times: How Hospitals Respond When Mentally Ill People Come In From The Streets
The most famous homeless person in New York in 1987 went by the name Billie Boggs. For a time, she lived on the sidewalk at 65th Street and Second Avenue, where she lay on an air vent for warmth and screamed racial epithets at passers-by. She was observed barefoot in winter and sometimes twirled an umbrella to keep people at a distance. Ms. Boggs, whose real name was Joyce Brown, was taken to Bellevue after Mayor Ed Koch announced a plan to clear the sidewalks of homeless people with severe mental illness. Her initial treatment involved a shot of Haldol, an antipsychotic drug. When she demanded to be released, she emerged as a test case exploring the limits of involuntary psychiatric hospitalizations. (Goldstein, 12/2)

Fox News: Warnings About Skin-Whitening Creams After Woman Suffers Vision Loss Likely Linked To Excess Mercury: Report
Health experts recommend being wary of skin-whitening creams after a Minnesota woman apparently developed peripheral visual loss that may be permanent — likely from exposure of excess levels of mercury in her beauty creams, according to a report. (Sudhakar, 12/2)

Stat: Researchers Need A Better Way To Measure Skin Tone
There’s a growing consensus among physicians and government regulators that pulse oximeters measure oxygen levels less accurately in patients with darker skin and need to be fixed. There’s another problem, however, that needs to be fixed first. Much of the work and research to understand the devices’ shortcomings and devise solutions is focused on race. But the issue with pulse oximeters is not one of race — it’s very clearly one of skin tone. (McFarling, 12/5)