First Edition: Dec. 8, 2023

KFF Health News: Being Black And Pregnant In The Deep South Can Be A Dangerous Combination
O’laysha Davis was a few weeks shy of her due date when in mid-August she decided it was time to switch doctors. Davis had planned to give birth at a small community hospital about 20 minutes from her home in North Charleston, South Carolina. But that changed when her medical team started repeatedly calling her cellphone and pressuring her to come to the hospital and deliver the baby. (Sausser, 12/8)

KFF Health News: Dodging The Medicare Enrollment Deadline Can Be Costly 
Angela M. Du Bois, a retired software tester in Durham, North Carolina, wasn’t looking to replace her UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plan. She wasn’t concerned as the Dec. 7 deadline approached for choosing another of the privately run health insurance alternatives to original Medicare. But then something caught her attention: When she went to her doctor last month, she learned that the doctor and the hospital where she works will not accept her insurance next year. (Jaffe, 12/7)

KFF Health News: Democrats See Opportunity In GOP Threats To Repeal Health Law 
With other GOP presidential candidates following Donald Trump’s lead in calling for an end to the Affordable Care Act, Democrats are jumping on an issue they think will favor them in the 2024 elections. The Biden administration almost immediately rolled out a controversial proposal that could dramatically decrease the price of drugs developed with federally funded research dollars. The drug industry and the business community at large are vehemently opposed to the proposal, but it is likely to be popular with voters. (12/7)

KFF Health News and PolitiFact: Candidates Clashed But Avoided Talk Of Abortion At 4th GOP Primary Debate 
Raised voices and sharp words marked Wednesday night’s fourth Republican presidential primary debate as four candidates argued about everything from their own electability to the continued front-runner status of former President Donald Trump. Abortion was never mentioned. (12/7)

Houston Chronicle: Paxton Warns Houston Hospitals Not To Comply With Abortion Order
Hours after a Texas judge ruled a woman may receive an emergency abortion, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton warned three Houston hospitals that they could still face penalties if they allow the procedure to happen. “We feel it is important for you to understand the potential long-term implications if you permit such an abortion to occur at your facility,” Paxton wrote in a letter Thursday to Houston Methodist, The Woman’s Hospital of Texas and Texas Children’s Hospital. (Goldenstein, 12/7)

The 19th: New Hampshire Republicans Propose 15-Day Abortion Ban
A newly introduced bill in New Hampshire would ban abortion at 15 days of pregnancy, effectively outlawing the procedure entirely — and indicating either a misunderstanding or misrepresentation of how pregnancy and pregnancy dating work. And Democrats in the state believe it could be setting other abortion bans up to look less strict. (Luthra, 12/7)

The 19th: How 15-Week Abortion Bans Became The Center Of Republican Debate
The Republican debate over abortion has centered around one number: 15. Backers of a 15-week federal ban tout it as a compromise measure, even in the face of recent electoral defeat. Anti-abortion advocates hope congressional candidates will embrace this measure, and they’re pushing GOP presidential candidates to promise they would sign such a bill. (Luthra, 12/6)

Side Effects Public Media: After Dobbs, Doctors Say More People Are Turning To Permanent Contraception
Sitting in the living room of her Cleveland home, 30-year-old Grace O’Malley reflects on when she ruled out having kids of her own. O’Malley has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a genetic condition that weakens the body’s connective tissue, and can get much worse postpartum. About three years earlier, when she was in her mid-twenties, her condition worsened. O’Malley’s doctors told her that if she did get pregnant, her uterus could rupture and her child would be more likely to be born prematurely. (Wizner, 12/7)

The 19th: What It Looks Like To Be A Pregnant Trans Man In America
Three days after Roe v. Wade was overturned, Sam Guido gave birth to his first child. His doctors, unsure of what was still legal, didn’t prescribe misoprostol — a drug used in medication abortions — to help with contractions. That was another blow, another way in which Guido felt he wasn’t in control of his labor. (Rummler, 12/7)

The Washington Post: How ‘Detransitioners’ Are Influencing Conservative Transgender Care Laws 
In her teens, Prisha Mosley, 25, transitioned from female to male. Last year, she detransitioned and joined forces with conservative activists fighting to ban the gender-affirming care she had received. Mosley is among more than a dozen detransitioners who have gained prominence this year, suing the doctors and clinics from which they received care in more than half a dozen states, headlining conservative events and starring in documentaries often sponsored by right-wing groups. (Hennessy-Fiske, 12/6)

The Hill: Sanders To Target Diabetes, Weight Loss Drugs Like Ozempic
The Senate Health Committee will hold a hearing next week on the diabetes epidemic in the U.S., committee Chair Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said. Sanders, who earlier this year interrogated drug manufacturers about the high cost of insulin, told The Hill the hearing will focus broadly on the underlying causes of the rise in diabetes, especially in children. (Weixel, 12/7)

Axios: Drug Negotiations Could Save Seniors Hundreds Of Dollars: Study
Medicare negotiations of prescription drug prices could have cut seniors' out-of-pocket costs by nearly a quarter had the program been in effect in 2021, according to an analysis Mathematica provided first to Axios. The research consultancy's analysis offers a glimpse at potential savings enrollees might see as Medicare begins negotiating the prices of certain high-cost drugs. (Reed, 12/8)

Stat: Private Equity Owned Hospitals Target Of New Senate Investigation
The two leaders of the Senate Budget Committee on Thursday launched a bipartisan investigation into private equity ownership of hospitals in the United States, citing concerns that such arrangements are bad for both health care providers and patients. (Trang, 12/7)

Axios: The Era Of Major Health Reform Is Over
The era of massive overhauls of the health care system appears to be over — at least for now. Health care is shaping up to be a prominent 2024 campaign issue, but today's political environment has all but extinguished hopes for sweeping changes to the system. (Owens, 12/8)

The CT Mirror: 11 Years After Sandy Hook, CT Gun Safety Advocates Seek Reforms
Gun safety advocates from Connecticut and across the country came back to Washington, D.C., to push for passage of a trio of reforms nearly 11 years since the Sandy Hook school shooting. They teamed up with most of Connecticut’s congressional delegation to redouble their efforts in passing gun safety legislation that did not make it into federal legislation — the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act — that passed in 2022. (Hagen, 12/7)

The Wall Street Journal: UNLV Shooter Identified As Former Business School Professor Who Sought Position At School
The man suspected of killing three faculty members and wounding a fourth at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, on Wednesday had applied to be a professor at the school but wasn’t hired, law-enforcement officials said. The official identified the suspected attacker as 67-year-old Anthony Polito, a longtime business school professor, who died after a gunfight with university police shortly after the rampage began. He killed three UNLV faculty members, the university said. The university named two of the victims on Thursday as Patricia Navarro-Velez and Cha Jan “Jerry” Chang, who both taught at the Lee Business School on campus, as well as a third faculty member whom the university has yet to identify. (Elinson, 12/7)

Fox News: COVID Vaccination Rates ‘Alarmingly’ Low Among Nursing Home Staff, CDC Says: ‘A Real Danger’
Despite the higher risk that the coronavirus poses to older adults, a surprisingly low share of nursing home staff and residents are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccinations. Only six states are indicating that over 10% of staff members are updated on their vaccines, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Overall updated vaccination rates are higher among residents — but still fall short of the CDC’s recommendations. Only three states have more than 50% of residents with a fully updated vaccination status. (Rudy, 12/7)

Axios: Congress To Require DOD To Review Troops Removed Over COVID-19 Vaccine Rule
Congress may require the Department of Defense to review the reinstatement of former U.S. troops discharged for refusing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, according to a draft of the annual defense bill released earlier this week. The mandate, if passed in the final version of the bill, could see thousands of troops return to the armed services. (Knutson, 12/7)

Reuters: US Urges Makers Of Infant RSV Shots To Meet Winter Demand 
U.S. officials met with manufacturers of the infant and toddler RSV immunization Beyfortus this week seeking to boost access to the shot, the White House said in a statement on Thursday after senior Biden administration officials met with the companies last week. The officials on Tuesday met with representatives of Sanofi, AstraZeneca and Thermo Fisher "and urged them to work expeditiously to meet demand for immunizations this winter season through the commercial market," the White House said in a statement. (12/7)

Reuters: US CDC Issues Health Alert For Subtype Of Mpox Virus In Congo
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a health alert on Thursday to notify clinicians and health departments about a deadly type of the mpox virus spreading in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The CDC said it was alerting about the possibility of a subtype of the mpox virus called Clade I in travelers who have been in DRC. (12/7)

CIDRAP: Study Highlights Complications Of Mpox, Chickenpox Co-Infections
Almost 30% of mpox patients described in a retrospective study from Nigeria were co-infected with chickenpox. The study was published yesterday in The Journal of Infectious Diseases. Previous mpox outbreaks in endemic countries in Africa have involved co-infections with chickenpox, resulting in more severe symptoms and presentation. The authors of the study say the burden of chickenpox is not well-known in Nigeris, as it is not a notifiable disease and the vaccine is not included in the national immunization program. (Soucheray, 12/7)

Fox News: ‘100-Day Cough’: Highly Contagious Infection That Could Fracture Ribs Soars 250% In UK
Health officials in the U.K. are warning the public about a concerning rise in whooping cough after cases soared 250% this year. Between July and November, there were 716 reported cases of pertussis, a bacterial infection of the lungs, which is three times higher than the same period in 2022, the U.K.'s Independent reported, citing the U.K. (Pandolfo, 12/7)

Stat: Medicare Advantage Coverage Denials Need Scrutiny, Senators Say
A bipartisan group of senators is urging the Biden administration to beef up the amount of data it collects from private Medicare plans in order to combat overpayments and improper care denials. (Bannow, 12/8)

Modern Healthcare: CMS, FTC Called On To Stop UnitedHealth Medicare Advantage Ads
The Center for Medicare Advocacy, National Health Law Program, Disability Rights Connecticut and National Disability Rights Network wrote the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Federal Trade Commission and other state and federal agencies Thursday to protest UnitedHealthcare advertisements for Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans appearing in Connecticut. The ads target people with both Medicare and Medicaid and spotlight extra benefits from Medicare Advantage plans that state and federal laws already require, the groups wrote. (Tepper, 12/7)

Bloomberg: Humana Disbands Board’s Executive Committee Amid Cigna Merger Talks
Humana Inc. disbanded the executive committee of the board, a governance change that comes as the company is in talks to combine with Cigna Group. The board voted to amend its bylaws to remove the requirement for an executive committee and disbanded the group, the company said in a filing Thursday. ... It’s unclear what the decision means. A Humana spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. (Tozzi, 12/7)

Modern Healthcare: Humana Details Plans To Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Humana said Thursday it plans to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 54.6% by 2032 and its targets have been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative. The initiative works with companies to improve their environmental sustainability. Humana said its strategies include lowering by 30% the emissions caused by the purchase, transportation and distribution of products used throughout the company. (DeSilva, 12/7)

The New York Times: A Famed Hospital Churns Poor Patients Through Weight-Loss Surgery
Bariatric surgery is a major operation that, for the right patients, can ward off heart disease, diabetes and strokes. Bellevue, which serves a disproportionately poor and obese population, says the operations have saved many lives. But a New York Times investigation found that the bariatric program, led by surgeons with financial incentives to perform more operations, has become a high-speed assembly line that has endangered some patients and compromised urgent care for others. And because most of the hospital’s patients are on Medicaid or uninsured, taxpayers foot the bill. (Silver-Greenberg, Kliff and Ortiz, 12/7)

The Boston Globe: Harvard Morgue Case: Panel Recommends Changes After Arrests
A long-awaited review of Harvard’s anatomical gift program, ordered by the university after its morgue manager was arrested for allegedly stealing and selling body parts, points no fingers and finds no fault. Instead, the panel of outside experts recommends a series of procedural improvements that, taken together, imply that the morgue’s three-person staff often operated without adequate documentation and oversight. For example, the experts found there was no formal procedure for receiving, reviewing, and approving requests to use donors’ bodies. (Freyer and Cotter, 12/7)

NBC News: New Sickle Cell Treatment Sparks Feelings Of Hope And Some Hesitancy Among Black Patients
The Food and Drug Administration must decide by Friday whether to approve a new gene-editing therapy to treat sickle cell disease, a debilitating blood disorder that affects at least 100,000 Americans, most of whom are Black. The treatment, called exa-cel, would be the first approved medicine in the U.S. to use the groundbreaking gene-editing tool CRISPR to alter DNA. The new therapy, from Vertex Pharmaceuticals and CRISPR Therapeutics, is, experts say, a stunning advancement in medicine. (Bellamy, 12/7)

Reuters: Cerevel Options Trading Surge Before AbbVie Deal News Raises Eyebrows
Trading in the options of Cerevel Therapeutics Holdings Inc experienced an unusual surge along with its stock price in the days before Wednesday's announcement that AbbVie would buy the drug developer in a multi-billion dollar deal. AbbVie said after the market close on Wednesday it would buy Cerevel for about $8.7 billion in a bid to replace revenue as its huge-selling arthritis drug Humira faces a raft of new competitors. The announcement came minutes after Reuters reported a deal was near. (Ahmed, 12/8)

Stat: Medtronic Cancels $738 Million Acquisition Of Diabetes Pump Maker
Medtronic is no longer buying EOFlow, a Korean maker of wearable insulin pumps. The news comes three months after Insulet, EOFlow’s rival, filed a lawsuit accusing the company of stealing trade secrets. (Lawrence, 12/7)

The Denver Post: Cannabis Sleep Supplement Maker Faces Liver-Damage Accusations
A maker of cannabis and herb supplements in Adams County just outside Denver recently settled one lawsuit and faces other claims after some people who took its marijuana-infused sleep aids said they developed sudden liver problems. ... The drops, sold under the 1906 brand name, included cannabis and corydalis, a traditional Chinese herbal remedy. Corydalis contains tetrahydropalmatine, or THP, a chemical that can cause liver damage at high doses. The manufacturers recalled the products earlier this year. (Wingerter, 12/7)

Stat: Research Misconduct: Proposed New Rules Face Resistance
Research universities are voicing concerns over some proposed changes to the process for reviewing scientific misconduct allegations, citing worries that new government requirements would hobble their own independent procedures and constitute a huge administrative burden. (Merelli, 12/8)

CBS News: MDHHS Expands Medicaid Coverage To Include Community Health Worker Services 
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) expanded Medicaid coverage for Michigan beneficiaries to include community health worker services (CHW), according to a Thursday press release. The new benefit is scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2024. CHWs are trained public health professionals who address social determinants of health, serving between residents and the health and social resources needed to improve well-being, the press release states. (Dawson, 12/7)

Los Angeles Times: As Budget Deficit Estimate Rises, Newsom Seeks 'Major Changes' To Healthcare Wage Law
With California facing an expected $68-billion budget deficit, Gov. Gavin Newsom is seeking “major reforms” to pull funding from a costly plan next year to begin raising the statewide minimum wage for healthcare workers to $25 an hour. Newsom told The Times last week that his staff has “been working behind the scenes” with Democratic leaders in the Legislature on how to move forward with the minimum wage law in light of state budget concerns. (Luna and Mays, 12/7)

Politico: Legal Weed Takes Effect In Ohio As Lawmakers Scramble To Change Voter-Passed Law 
Ohio is officially the 24th state to have legal, adult-use marijuana. Provisions of a voter-approved legalization law took effect at midnight, including legal possession and home cultivation for anyone at least 21 years old. But Ohio lawmakers are rushing to pass legislation to make changes to the initiative. On Wednesday, the Senate passed legislation to alter potency caps, taxation, home cultivation, and social equity and expungement provisions. (Zhang, 12/7)

AP: Deaths From Tainted Cantaloupe Increase To 3 In U.S. And 5 In Canada 
A salmonella outbreak tied to tainted cantaloupe has now killed eight people — three in the U.S. and five in Canada, health officials reported Thursday. Dozens more illnesses were reported by both countries. In the U.S., at least 230 people have been ill in 38 states and 96 have been hospitalized since mid-November, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Aleccia, 12/7)

AP: Babies Infected With Rare Bacteria Sometimes Found In Infant Formula
The dangerous bacteria that sparked powdered formula recalls and shortages last year has infected two babies this year, killing a Kentucky child and causing brain damage in a Missouri infant. Federal health officials confirmed Thursday that two cases of invasive infections caused by cronobacter sakazakii have been reported in 2023, both in infants who consumed powdered infant formula made by Abbott Nutrition, the company at the center of the 2022 crisis. Food and Drug Administration officials said there was no evidence that the infections were linked to manufacturing and no reason to issue new recalls. (Aleccia, 12/7)

The Colorado Sun: A Common Parasite In Cat Poop Could Be Linked To Frailty In Humans
The parasite Toxoplasma gondii, spread through cat poop, could be linked to frailty in older humans, according to a new study. (Ingold, 12/8)

AP: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Is More Common Than Past Studies Suggest
Health officials on Friday released the first nationally representative estimate of how many U.S. adults have chronic fatigue syndrome: 3.3 million. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s number is larger than previous studies have suggested, and is likely boosted by some of the patients with long COVID. The condition clearly “is not a rare illness,” said the CDC’s Dr. Elizabeth Unger, one of the report’s co-authors. (Stobbe, 12/8)

Stat: Researchers Used Ultrasound To 3D Print Inside A Pig Organ
Imagine getting surgery without ever being cut open. Researchers at Duke University and Harvard Medical School have successfully demonstrated a proof of concept in new research published Thursday in Science using a 3D printer that uses ultrasound to print biomaterials inside an organ. (Balthazar, 12/7)

CBS News: CDC Reports "Alarming" Rise In Drug-Resistant Germs In Ukraine
Hospitals in Ukraine are now battling an "alarming increase" in germs with resistance to the last-ditch antibiotic medications used to treat the infections, a study published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday. Officials are now calling for the "urgent crisis" to be addressed, and warning that the drug-resistant germs are spreading beyond the war-torn country's borders. (Tin, 12/7)

Reuters: WHO Says More Contaminated Medicinal Syrups Found In New Regions 
The World Health Organization on Thursday said several contaminated syrups and suspension medicines had been identified in countries in the WHO regions of the Americas, the Eastern Mediterranean, South-East Asia and the Western Pacific. The affected products were manufactured by Pharmix Laboratories in Pakistan, the WHO said, and were first identified in the Maldives and Pakistan. Some of the tainted products have also been found in Belize, Fiji and Laos. Pharmix was not immediately available for comment. (Rigby and Deshmukh, 12/7)