First Edition: Feb. 3, 2023

KHN: As Long-Term Care Staffing Crisis Worsens, Immigrants Can Bridge The Gaps
When Margarette Nerette arrived in the United States from Haiti, she sought safety and a new start. The former human rights activist feared for her life in the political turmoil following the military coup that overthrew President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 1991. Leaving her two small children with her sister in Port-au-Prince, Nerette, then 29, came to Miami a few years later on a three-month visa and never went back. In time, she was granted political asylum. She eventually studied to become a nursing assistant, passed her certification exam, and got a job in a nursing home. The work was hard and didn’t pay a lot, she said, but “as an immigrant, those are the jobs that are open to you.” (Andrews, 2/3)

KHN: Montana Lawmakers Seek More Information About Governor’s HEART Fund 
A fund championed by Gov. Greg Gianforte to fill gaps in Montana’s substance use and behavioral health treatment programs has spent $5.2 million since last year as the state waits for an additional $19 million in federal funding. Now, the Republican governor wants to put more state money into the Healing and Ending Addiction Through Recovery and Treatment initiative, but lawmakers and mental health advocates are asking for more accountability and clarity on how the money is spent. (Larson, 2/3)

KHN: Au Revoir, Public Health Emergency 
The public health emergency in effect since the start of the covid-19 pandemic will end on May 11, the Biden administration announced this week. The end of the so-called PHE will bring about a raft of policy changes affecting patients, health care providers, and states. But Republicans in Congress, along with some Democrats, have been agitating for an end to the “emergency” designation for months. (2/2)

Fierce Healthcare: White House Unveils New Cancer Programs On Moonshot Anniversary
On the anniversary of the revived Cancer Moonshot, the Biden administration unveiled partnerships directed at cancer care and prevention such as providing clinical and patient navigation support to families facing childhood cancer and boosting access to screenings and early detection. The 13 initiatives announced Thursday are part of the White House's overarching effort to reduce cancer death rates and improve the experience for families surviving cancer. (Landi, 2/2)

Axios: White House Announces New Cancer Initiatives On Moonshot Anniversary
Families with kids fighting cancer in the U.S. will soon have clinical and patient navigation support to help them find optimal care, connecting with research trials and more portable, shareable health records under a partnership being launched by the National Cancer Institute. (Reed, 2/2)

The Hill: Bill Clinton Joins Biden, Harris To Mark 30th Anniversary Of Family And Medical Leave Act
The Biden administration on Thursday marked the 30th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) by urging expansion of the provisions guaranteed by the law and inviting former President Clinton, who signed it in 1993, to speak at the White House. President Biden was also joined by Vice President Harris to commemorate the signing of the FMLA in the White House’s East Room. The law requires certain employers to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave if employees are sick, have a new child in their household or are taking care of a sick family member, without the risk of the staffer losing their job. Biden on Thursday issued a memorandum calling on the heads of federal agencies to “support access to leave without pay for Federal employees” so that they can bond with new children or take care of their own health or the health of their family members. (Choi, 2/2)

The Hill: Biden Task Force Unites More Than 600 Migrant Children With Parents 
The Biden administration has united more than 600 children who were separated from their families under former President Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy, officials announced Thursday. Thursday marked the two-year anniversary of Biden’s Family Reunification Task Force that he established to reunite children with their families who were separated under the previous administration. The task force, which is housed under the Department of Homeland Security, said nearly 1,000 children still remain separated from their families, according to a press release. (Sforza, 2/2)

Reuters: Close To 1,000 Migrant Children Separated By Trump Yet To Be Reunited With Parents
Nearly 1,000 migrant children separated at the U.S.-Mexico border by the administration of former President Donald Trump have yet to be reunited with their parents despite a two-year effort by President Joe Biden. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said on Thursday of the 998 children still separated, 148 were in the process of reunification. ... DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters on Thursday that there was still work to be done to fully address wounds inflicted by the policy. "That's what informs our efforts to extend behavioral health services as a component of reunification," he said. (Hesson, 2/2)

The Wall Street Journal: Social Security, Medicare Cuts Sidelined In Debt-Ceiling Talks
Republicans are backing away from proposals to reduce spending on Social Security and Medicare as they enter talks with Democrats over raising the nation’s borrowing limit, sidelining for now a politically perilous fight over how to best firm up the finances of the popular benefit programs. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) has said he wants to slash federal spending in exchange for voting to raise the debt ceiling, but in recent days he stressed publicly and privately that he isn’t seeking cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Democrats for weeks have pressed Republicans to provide more specifics of what they plan to cut, while warning against entitlement-eligibility changes some GOP lawmakers had sought to tie to a debt-limit deal. (Wise, 2/2)

Stat: From Industry ‘Greed’ To Workforce Shortages, Sanders And Cassidy Lay Out Health Committee Agenda
The Senate finally made long-expected committee assignments official on Thursday, kickstarting a new session for the top health committee under an unlikely pair: Vermont Independent and drug-pricing firebrand Bernie Sanders, and Louisiana Republican and doctor Bill Cassidy. (Owermohle, 2/2)

NBC News: Heating Up: Bipartisan Duo Manchin And Cruz Pitch Bill To Defend Gas Stoves
A new bipartisan duo is diving in to defend gas stoves. Senate Energy Committee Chairman Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, the new ranking member of the Commerce Committee, are teaming up on legislation Thursday that would bar the Consumer Product Safety Commission from using federal funding to ban new or existing gas stoves, according to a copy of the bill first shared with NBC News. (Wong and Richards, 2/2)

Bloomberg: Gas Stoves In Florida Would Be Tax Exempt With DeSantis Proposal
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis waded into the debate over gas stoves and government regulation on Thursday, proposing a permanent tax exemption for the appliances. DeSantis used a news conference about rural internet access to criticize a federal regulator’s suggestion that gas stoves might need to be banned because they emit harmful indoor air pollutants. (Smith, 2/2)

The Hill: Senate Democrats Press Maker Of Abortion Pill To Add Miscarriage Management To Label
A group of Senate Democrats is calling on Danco Laboratories, one of the manufacturers of the abortion pill mifepristone, to update the drug’s labeling to make it easier for patients to access the drug to help reduce complications from a miscarriage. The Democrats, led by Sens. Mazie Hirono (Hawaii), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Maggie Hassan (N.H.), urged the company to submit an application to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to add miscarriage management to the medication’s label, which currently only includes medication abortion. (Weixel, 2/2)

AP: Nebraska Lawmakers Put Off Vote On 'Heartbeat' Abortion Ban
The Nebraska Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee took nearly eight hours of testimony Wednesday before adjourning without a vote on whether to advance a bill that would outlaw abortion at a point before many women know they’re pregnant. Hundreds of people crowded the halls of the state Capitol for a committee hearing on a so-called heartbeat bill. (Beck, 2/2)

ProPublica: Lawmakers Pledge to Fight for Comprehensive Action on Stillbirths
A growing number of lawmakers across the country are calling for action following a ProPublica investigation that revealed the failures of federal agencies and health care providers to reduce the country’s stillbirth rate. More than 20,000 pregnancies in the U.S. annually end in stillbirth — the death of an expected child at 20 weeks or more — an alarming figure that exceeds infant mortality and is 15 times the number of babies who died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, in 2020. As many as 1 in 4 stillbirths may be preventable, experts say; the figure is even higher as a baby’s due date draws closer. (Eldeib, 2/2)

The Hill: Democratic Senators Form Caucus For Gun Violence Prevention 
A group of eight Democratic senators formed the Gun Violence Prevention Caucus on Thursday, with the goal of promoting “commonsense solutions” to America’s abnormally high levels of gun violence. “We wake every day to headlines of another mass shooting in this country,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), a member of the newly formed caucus, said in a statement. “We can’t allow this to continue.”  (Shapero, 2/2)

The Washington Post: Mom Describes Potomac Avenue Metro Shooting Suspect’s Downward Spiral
When Isaiah Trotman visited his family in Ohio this past Christmas, his mother said, she noticed her 31-year-old son seemed unusually subdued. Fearing the change in his demeanor might indicate deeper problems, she said, she pleaded with him to move out of D.C. to be near her. “I saw a depression,” Althea Trotman said Thursday, a day after her son, an Auburn University graduate with a career in IT, was charged with targeting commuters and killing a rail worker in a shooting at the Potomac Avenue Metro station in Southeast Washington. “I knew it was real.” Police said Thursday they were working to determine the motive behind the chilling daylight attack, which renewed safety concerns regarding D.C.’s public transit systems and the neighborhood east of Capitol Hill where the shooting occurred. (Hermann, 2/2)

CBS News: FDA Faults Company Behind Recalled Eye Drops For Multiple Violations, Bans Imports
The FDA cited multiple violations of manufacturing regulations by the company, including a "lack of appropriate microbial testing" and a "lack of proper controls concerning tamper-evident packaging." (Tin, 2/2)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. County Bacterial Infections Possibly Tied To Eye Drops
Los Angeles County has reported four cases of an extensively drug-resistant bacterial infection that has caused blindness, hospitalization and one death nationwide. Nationally, 55 cases of this rare strain of bacteria have been identified in 12 states, prompting federal health officials to advise people to stop using over-the-counter eye drops that could be linked to the outbreak. (Lin II and Money, 2/2)

NPR: New Treatment To Prevent Serious RSV Symptoms In Infants May Be Approved Soon
Cheryl Meany, a high school teacher from Camillus, N.Y., was excited when she learned she was carrying twins in 2014. But her joy quickly turned to worry as doctors flagged several health concerns, including possible brain lesions. So she needed a moment to process when her husband, a respiratory therapist, proposed enrolling the soon-to-be-born babies in an experimental study for an unrelated illness. (Mento, 2/2)

San Francisco Chronicle: “Put Your Mask On,” Bay Area Health Official Urges As Cases Hit Another Plateau
The decline in California’s COVID-19 infections has slowed substantially, with the state’s health department reporting 2,434 average cases per day — or about 6 per 100,000 residents — as of Thursday. That marks a small improvement over the 2,715 cases per day, or 7 per 100,000 residents, reported a week ago. Other metrics also show signs of plateauing. (Vaziri, 2/2)

CIDRAP: VA Drug Formulary May Have Limited Dispensing Of The Futile COVID Treatment Ivermectin 
Dispensing of the unproven COVID-19 treatment "potentially harmed patients while resulting in wasteful insurer spending," the authors wrote. They noted that the VA has a national formulary that may reduce prescribing of ineffective drugs; in September 2021, the VA developed national criteria that restricted ivermectin prescribing to parasitic infections but allowed decisions to be made on a case-by-case basis per local facility policy. (Van Beusekom, 2/2)

CIDRAP: WHO Continues Global Polio Emergency As Breach Noted At Dutch Vaccine Facility 
In the Eurosurveillance report, Dutch researchers described a wild poliovirus type 3 detection in November 2022 as part of surveillance surrounding a polio lab in Bilthoven. One sewage sample was positive for infectious virus, which was genetically similar to vaccine stocks used at the facility. In addition, the study authors found slight mutation differences that hinted at human shedding. The investigators, using national and international protocols, conducted serologic testing and found that one employee likely had recently been infected. The fully vaccinated, asymptomatic employee's stool samples were positive for WPV3. (Schnirring, 2/2)

CIDRAP: US Experiencing Nationwide Shortage Of Tests For Chronic Wasting Disease 
The United States is experiencing a nationwide shortage of test kits for identifying chronic wasting disease (CWD) in cervids such as deer, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) said in a news release, noting that the backlog is causing "significant delays." The TWRA said it has a backlog of about 2,180 samples that cannot be processed until new tests arrive. The test manufacturer, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc, expects more test kits to become available by the end of the month. Before the shortage, the TWRA's testing turnaround time for deer samples submitted by hunters was 8 to 12 days. (Wappes, 2/2)

CBS News: Employees Had Nowhere To Wash Hands At Ice Cream Factory Behind Listeria Outbreak, FDA Says
Employees at Big Olaf Creamery, the Florida-based creamery behind a multistate listeria outbreak last year, had nowhere to wash their hands before they entered the production room, according to an investigation conducted by the Food and Drug Administration. The outbreak killed at least one person and hospitalized 27 others across 11 states. (Howard, 2/2)

USA Today: Blood Pressure Medicine Recalled Due To Potential Cancer Risk: FDA
A pharmaceutical company is recalling a blood pressure medication due to a potential cancer risk, the FDA announced this week. Aurobindo Pharma USA is recalling two lots of quinapril and hydrochlorothiazide tablets due to levels of nitrosamine. The tablets are commonly prescribed for the treatment of hypertension to lower blood pressure. (Neysa Alund, 2/2)

Modern Healthcare: Alabama Hospitals Warn Closures Imminent Without Funding Boost
Alabama hospital operators and the state hospital association called for more federal funding to mitigate ongoing operating losses during a news conference Thursday. Alabama needs a “significant infusion” of American Rescue Plan Act dollars to prevent service cuts and closures, Dr. Donald Williamson, president of the Alabama Hospital Association, said during a telephone briefing with reporters. (Kacik, 2/2)

Modern Healthcare: Medical Interpreters See Higher Demand During COVID-19 Pandemic
For patients who speak more common languages such as Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin or Vietnamese, finding medical interpreters to facilitate communication with providers is typically achievable. Looking for professionals to translate in lesser-known languages like Tigrinya, Pashto, Krahn or Ojibwe becomes tricky. (Devereaux, 2/2)

Houston Chronicle: Texas Sees Shortage Of Spanish-Speaking Nurses, Doctors Post-COVID
Alba Jiménez wishes she could avoid what she calls “the robot.” During a recent uterine cancer screening at the University of Houston Family Care Center, the 40-year-old Honduran native, who speaks only Spanish, directed questions to a translator on an iPad instead of the doctor: Did everything on her ultrasound look normal? Would she be OK? (Gill and Romero, 2/2)

Stat: As FTC Takes On Health Data Leaks, Breaches Go Beyond GoodRx
The Federal Trade Commission took aim at prescription drug coupon site GoodRx this week in an early attempt to crack down on the unfettered sharing of consumers’ health data for advertising. It was the first time the agency had gone after such a health data violation. But with the vast amounts of patient information now being mined and shared online, it’ll be far from the last. (Ravindranath, 2/3)

Stat: Top ALS Advocacy Group Roiled By Infighting Over Money, Priorities
A blistering battle has broken out between the ALS Association and more than a dozen of its state and local chapters, which are resisting a move by the national headquarters to dismantle their offices and run operations around the U.S. (Silverman and Joseph, 2/3)

The CT Mirror: Lamont Unveils Plan To Cancel Billions In CT Medical Debt
Gov. Ned Lamont unveiled plans Thursday to use $20 million in federal pandemic aid to potentially cancel billions of dollars in medical debt for thousands of Connecticut residents. Lamont’s plan involves working with one of the nonprofit organizations that have been negotiating with hospitals to purchase medical debt at extreme discounts. Those charities then cancel the debt. (Phaneuf and Carlesso, 2/2)

AP: Decisions Loom For Pandemic-Era Medicaid Enrollees 
Some Kentuckians who signed up for Medicaid during the COVID-19 pandemic will soon have to shop around to maintain health insurance coverage, Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday. The Democratic governor said his administration intends to help people through the transition. “This is a big job,” Beshear said at his weekly news conference. “And it’s one we’ve been planning on for many months and it’s one that we will continue to refine our planning.” (Schreiner, 2/2)

Missouri Independent: 200,000 Missourians Estimated To Lose Medicaid As Eligibility Renewals Resume
The director of Missouri’s Medicaid program said he expects “about 200,000” Medicaid enrollees to lose coverage over the course of a year as a result of the state resuming annual eligibility renewals after a three-year pause. (Bates, 2/2)

AP: Doctor, GOP Governor Clash Over Private Medicaid Discussion
Mississippi’s Republican Gov. Tate Reeves said in a private conversation that expanding Medicaid to people working low-wage jobs would be in the best interest of the state, but that he refuses to support the policy for political reasons, a former chancellor of the University of Mississippi said Thursday. Dr. Dan Jones is a physician who led the University of Mississippi Medical Center before serving as chancellor of the university from 2009 to 2015. During a news conference organized by Democratic state lawmakers on Thursday, Jones said that Reeves acknowledged in a private conversation with him in 2013 or 2014 that expanding Medicaid would benefit Mississippi’s economy, and provide health care to more residents of a state bedeviled by poor health outcomes. (Goldberg, 2/2)

Stat: Majority Of Americans Support Banning All Tobacco Products: Survey
A majority of Americans support banning all tobacco products, according to a new poll published by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The survey, which was published Thursday in the peer-reviewed journal Preventing Chronic Disease, asked 6,455 people nationwide: “To what extent would you support a policy to prohibit the sale of all tobacco products?” A little over 57% of respondents said they would support such a policy. (Florko, 2/2)

Stat: New Report Highlights Lack Of Investment In Addiction Cures
There are about as many Americans living with addiction as there are Americans living with cancer — but you wouldn’t know it based on the world of venture capital. In the past decade, investment firms have poured roughly 270 times more money into developing cancer drugs than addiction cures, according to a new report from BIO, the biotechnology industry trade group. (Facher, 2/2)

AP: Ky. Attorney General Launches Initiative To Fight Fentanyl 
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron has launched an initiative to fight fentanyl. ... “Operation Fight Fentanyl is our newest effort to attack the opioid epidemic by engaging with communities across the Commonwealth to hear how they’ve been impacted by this deadly drug and what steps we can take to beat it,” Cameron said. (2/3)

Los Angeles Times: Some Pharmacies In Mexico Passing Off Fentanyl, Meth As Legitimate Pharmaceuticals
If you walk down the right side street, the offers are plentiful, even in broad daylight. Young men in plain T-shirts draw near and call out their wares: Pills. Cocaine. Guns. But if you wave them away and go just a few feet farther, you can walk into a pharmacy where you might get something just as dangerous. You just won’t know it. (Blakinger and Sheets, 2/2)

The Boston Globe: Frigid Temperatures Pose Threat To Homeless Residents, Boston Officials Warn
Dangerously cold conditions expected in Massachusetts have prompted school districts across the state to cancel classes for Friday and officials to increase outreach to vulnerable populations, particularly residents who live on the streets. The National Weather Service in Norton has issued a windchill warning for Massachusetts for Friday, when a frigid air mass is expected to move into Southern New England, and last into Saturday. (Stoico and Cutler, 2/2)

The Washington Post: Smartphone App May Help Detect Stroke Symptoms, Research Shows 
Smartphone technology can detect heart irregularities and listen to a cough to help flag potential health problems. Soon, it may be able to help identify symptoms of a stroke. Stroke experts said they hope this technology could help educate people about the signs of a stroke and encourage them to seek emergency medical care more quickly. (Bever, 2/2)

The Washington Post: Lower Your Risk For Dementia By Spending Time In Nature
Spending time in nature — even as little as two hours a week — has been linked to several health benefits. It seems to support healthy aging and has been associated with, among other things, improved cognitive function, blood pressure, mental health and sleep. Now, a study of nearly 62 million Medicare beneficiaries suggests that nature may also help protect against the risk of developing certain neurodegenerative disorders. The results revealed that older adults who lived in a Zip code with more green space had a lower rate of hospitalization for Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias such as vascular dementia and Lewy body dementia. (Kim, 2/2)

The Washington Post: Harvard Is Shutting Down Project That Studied Social Media Misinformation
Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government said Thursday that it will shut down a prominent research center that studied online misinformation next year, marking the latest turning point for the study of social media’s impact on American society and politics. Since 2019, the Technology and Social Change Project has published research into the spread of coronavirus hoaxes and the online incitement techniques that preceded the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. It will wind down due to a school policy that requires a faculty member lead such an undertaking, Nancy Gibbs, the director of the Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy, said in an internal email shared with The Washington Post. (Harwell and Menn, 2/2)