First Edition: February 24, 2023

KHN: One Texas Judge Will Decide Fate Of Abortion Pill Used By Millions Of American Women
Federal judges in Texas have delivered time and again for abortion opponents. They upheld a state law that allows for $10,000 bounties to be placed on anyone who helps a woman get an abortion; ruled that someone opposed to abortion based on religious beliefs can block a federal program from providing birth control to teens; and determined that emergency room doctors must equally weigh the life of a pregnant woman and her embryo or fetus. (Varney, 2/24)

KHN: California Dangles Bonuses For Nursing Homes That Add Staff
California is revamping how it rewards nursing homes to get them to improve patient care. Rather than limit bonuses to top-performing facilities, the state will hand out additional Medicaid payments next year to nursing homes — even low-rated ones — that hire additional workers, reduce staff turnover, or improve quality of care. Facilities will be scored on their performance so facilities that do more will earn larger bonuses. And to ensure an acceptable level of care, the state will sanction facilities that fail to meet clinical and quality standards for patients. (Young, 2/24)

KHN: Montana Seeks To Insulate Nursing Homes From Future Financial Crises
Wes Thompson, administrator of Valley View Home in the northeastern Montana town of Glasgow, believes the only reasons his skilled nursing facility has avoided the fate of the 11 nursing homes that closed in the state last year are local tax levies and luck. (Larson, 2/24)

KHN: Senators Have Mental Health Crises, Too
Both Republicans and Democrats in Congress reacted with compassion to the news that Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) has checked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for treatment of clinical depression. The reaction is a far cry from what it would have been 20 or even 10 years ago, as more politicians from both parties are willing to admit they are humans with human frailties. (Rovner, 2/23)

The Hill: Republicans In New Poll List Fentanyl, Other Opioids As Top Public Health Threat
Republicans listed fentanyl and opioids as the top public health threat plaguing the U.S. in a new Axios-Ipsos survey, as both parties in Congress seek to spotlight the country’s overdose crisis. The new poll, published on Thursday, found that 37 percent of Republican respondents list fentanyl and other opioid drugs as the top public health threat, compared to 17 percent of Democrats. (Oshin, 2/23)

AP: What Will Happen If Medication Abortion Challenge Succeeds?
Medication abortions in the United States usually involve two different drugs. In the latest effort to limit abortion access, opponents of the procedure are seeking to ban one of those medications. If they succeed, only one of the pills would be available, but women would still be able to get abortions. Here’s a look at medications, efforts to curtail them and how clinics are responding. (Tanner, 2/23)

The 19th: Abortion Rights Support Was Growing Even Before Dobbs, Report Shows
Americans have become more supportive of abortion rights over time, and it’s not necessarily tied to the Supreme Court case last summer that overturned federal abortion rights, according to a new study. The nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) released a report Thursday that shows support for abortion legality in all or most cases has risen since 2010, with a notable increase beginning in 2020. (Mithani and Rodriguez, 2/23)

Politico: Senators Revive 'Forever Chemicals' Research Bill
The "Federal PFAS Research Evaluation Act" would require multiple agencies — including EPA, the National Science Foundation, the Defense Department and National Institutes of Health — to work with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to produce four consensus reports identifying research needed to understand the health impacts of PFAS contamination. It was introduced by Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.). (Borst, 2/23)

Politico: Mark Ruffalo Joins Activists To Slam Biden Admin Over 'forever Chemical' Delays
During a press conference on Thursday afternoon, members of the Environmental Working Group joined with other activists to ramp up pressure on regulators over PFAS, calling for the release of long-awaited drinking standards and other promised rules. Actor Mark Ruffalo was among those who spoke passionately during the event, calling on President Joe Biden to accelerate measures cracking down on the toxic substances. (Crunden, 2/23)

The New York Times: After Long Delay, Moderna Pays N.I.H. For Covid Vaccine Technique
As Moderna racked up tens of billions of dollars in sales of its coronavirus vaccine, the company held off on paying for the rights to a chemical technique that scientists said it had borrowed from government-funded research and used in its wildly successful shot. But Moderna and the government have now reached an agreement. The company said on Thursday that it had made a $400 million payment for the technique that will be shared by the National Institutes of Health and two American universities where the method was invented. (Mueller, 2/23)

Reuters: Senator Warren Urges U.S. Patent Office To Scrutinize Merck's Keytruda
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren sent the nation's top patent regulator a letter urging close scrutiny of Merck & Co's requests for new patents on its blockbuster cancer treatment Keytruda, saying further efforts to protect the drug could be an abuse of the system. (Erman, 2/23)

Stat: Lawmakers Call For Scrutiny Of Merck's 'Abuse' Of Patent System
A group of lawmakers is urging the Biden administration to scrutinize any effort by Merck to win added patent protection for its blockbuster Keytruda cancer treatment over concerns the company may abuse the U.S. patent system. (Silverman, 2/23)

The Hill: Progressives Call On FDA To Take Further Action On Cold And Flu Medicines Shortage
A group of progressive lawmakers have asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to further its efforts to address the shortage of over-the-counter flu and cold medicines, proposing a number of updated measures to improve accessibility. In a letter to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, six Democratic House members stated that despite improvements that have been made in the shortages of ibuprofen and acetaminophen, concerns still remain. (Choi, 2/23)

Politico: EPA Faces Suit Over Widely Used Carcinogen's Risk Value
A Texas-based multinational company is contesting EPA's recent decision to stand by a 2016 determination that dramatically darkened the agency's appraisal of the cancer risk posed by a widely used organic chemical compound. (Reilly, 2/23)

Fierce Healthcare: CMS Wants More Data Before Rethinking Alzheimer's Drug Coverage
CMS said in a statement that it "regrets" that the coverage decision could not be broader, but data on these drugs do not do enough to answer the agency's key questions. "After careful review of the request and supporting documentation, we are making this decision because, as of the date of this letter, there is not yet evidence meeting the criteria for reconsideration," CMS said. (Minemyer, 2/23)

Axios: Medicaid For Food Pilot Programs Draw Mixed Reviews
Advocates, analysts and policymakers are giving mixed reviews to the Biden administration's move to let states use Medicaid funds for food. Some are glad that Medicaid will be available as an additional tool to address food insecurity and diet-related health conditions, but others see expanding programs like SNAP as the priority ahead of a looming hunger cliff. (Horn-Muller, 2/24)

AP: US Ending Extra Help For Groceries That Started During COVID
Nearly 30 million Americans who got extra government help with grocery bills during the pandemic will soon see that aid shrink — and there’s a big push to make sure they’re not surprised. Officials in 32 states and other jurisdictions have been using texts, voicemails, snail mail, flyers and social media posts — all in multiple languages — to let recipients know that their extra food stamps end after February’s payments. (Aleccia, 2/23)

The Washington Post: Wild Swings In Weather Can Take A Health Toll
Lily Pien, an allergist at the Cleveland Clinic, drove to work earlier this week in snow and hail. The next day it was 65 degrees and sunny. This weather whiplash had her bracing for an influx of patients seeking relief for their suddenly suffering noses. “My schedule is filled up,” she said. “As the weather changes, so does my patient load and their nasal symptoms.” (Cimons, 2/23)

Politico: 27 States Earn F For Lead In School Drinking Water
While a number of states have significantly reduced child lead exposure through infrastructure upgrades and water treatment efforts in recent years, major exposure risks remain. Released Thursday by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) Education Fund along with the Environment America Research & Policy Center, the new analysis found that children are still widely at risk when they consume drinking water at school, due largely to policy gaps. (Crunden, 2/23)

CNN: Sleep This Way To Add Years To Your Life
Want to live longer? Then prioritize sleep in your life: Following five good sleep habits added nearly five years to a man’s life expectancy and almost 2.5 years to a woman’s life, a new study found. “If people have all these ideal sleep behaviors, they are more likely to live longer,” said study coauthor Dr. Frank Qian, a clinical fellow in medicine at Harvard Medical School and internal medicine resident physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. (LaMotte, 2/24)

Reuters: Flu Experts Gather With H5N1 Risk On The Agenda
The world's leading experts on influenza met this week to discuss the threat posed to humans by a strain of H5N1 avian flu that has caused record numbers of bird deaths around the world in recent months. The group of scientists, regulators and vaccine manufacturers meets twice a year to decide which strain of seasonal flu to include in the vaccine for the upcoming winter season, in this case for the northern hemisphere. (Rigby, 2/24)

Fierce Healthcare: Google, Microsoft Execs Say Bias Must Be Addressed To Expand AI
As new generative AI models like ChatGPT gain popularity, some experts are saying that to ensure such tools work in healthcare, implicit racial biases baked into health data must be accounted for. Officials with Google and Microsoft discussed the use of AI in healthcare during the Healthcare Datapalooza event held Thursday in Arlington, Virginia. There is a lot of excitement around the potential for AI models like ChatGPT—a chatbot that crunches massive data sets to generate text, video and code—for healthcare use cases. (King, 2/23)

CIDRAP: Study Links Acid Suppressants To Colonization With Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria
A new study suggests that medications used to control heartburn and other gastrointestinal issues may increase the risk of acquiring multidrug-resistant bacteria in hospital patients. The study, published today in JAMA Network Open, found that hospitalized patients using proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) had a nearly 50% increased risk of acquiring extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)- or carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales, with a slightly higher risk among patients who used PPIs twice a day. (Dall, 2/23)

CIDRAP: California Animal Law May Have Led To Less Drug Resistance In Human E Coli Infections
A California law that banned the routine use of medically important antibiotics for disease prevention in food-animal production was associated with a reduction in one type of antibiotic-resistant infection in people, researchers reported yesterday in Environmental Health Perspectives. (Dall, 2/23)

CIDRAP: Celebrity Tweets Swayed US Public Opinion Toward Pandemic Efforts, Study Suggests
US celebrity Twitter posts—especially those from politicians and news anchors—likely influenced the increasingly negative US public attitudes toward efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published this week in BMJ Health & Care Informatics. (Van Beusekom, 2/23)

CIDRAP: Long COVID May Double Risk Of New Heart Conditions
COVID-19 survivors with persistent symptoms are at more than double the risk of new-onset cardiovascular symptoms, suggests a meta-analysis to be presented Mar 6 at the American College of Cardiology (ACC)/World Congress of Cardiology Annual Scientific Session in New Orleans. (Van Beusekom, 2/23)

AP: Insurer Humana Lays Out Employer-Sponsored Coverage Exit
The health insurer Humana will stop providing employer-sponsored commercial coverage as it focuses on bigger parts of its business, like Medicare Advantage. The insurer said Thursday it will leave the business over the next 18 to 24 months. It includes medical coverage provided through private companies and for federal government employees. (Murphy, 2/23)

The Wall Street Journal: Waning Covid Fears Push Test Maker Lucira To File For Bankruptcy
Lucira Health Inc., a publicly traded maker of at-home Covid-19 testing kits, has filed for bankruptcy, saying an easing of pandemic restrictions has lowered demand for its products. Lucira, which lists $145.9 million in assets and $84.7 million in debt, said Wednesday it will look for a buyer while continuing to serve customers during chapter 11 proceedings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. (Yerak, 2/23)

Reuters: Biotech Firms Redx Pharma And Jounce Therapeutics To Merge In $425 Mln Deal
British biotech firm Redx Pharma plc and U.S.-based Jounce Therapeutics Inc will merge to create a $425 million entity specialised in treating cancer and fibrotic disease. (2/23)

The Wall Street Journal: Israel-Based Healthcare Investor AMoon Expands To Boston, Is Raising Growth Fund
AMoon Fund, an Israel-based venture investor that has backed high-profile U.S. healthcare companies such as Ultima Genomics Inc., has opened a Boston office and raised $340 million toward its second growth fund. (Gormley, 2/23)

The Wall Street Journal: Wall Street Backs New Class Of Psychedelic Drugs
Transcend Therapeutics Inc. raised $40 million from venture-capital investors in January to develop a post-traumatic stress disorder treatment that its 29-year-old CEO Blake Mandell says would require about half the amount of therapy as MDMA, or ecstasy, a popular hallucinogen. Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Lusaris Therapeutics Inc. have announced capital raises of about $100 million since November for similar products addressing depression.  (Wirz, 2/23)

Reuters: U.S. FDA Approves Sanofi's Bleeding Disorder Therapy
U.S. health regulators have approved Sanofi SA's therapy to treat a type of inherited bleeding disorder known as hemophilia A, the French drugmaker said on Thursday, and expects to launch it in the United States in April. With the Food and Drug Administration's approval, Sanofi's replacement therapy – brand named Altuviiio – enters a market dominated by rivals like Shire, Bayer AG and Novo Nordisk which sell factor replacement therapies that have been the standard treatment for decades. (Roy and Mandowara, 2/23)

Reuters: Ransomware Gang Leaked Los Angeles Student Health Records Online
Health records for about 2,000 current and former Los Angeles school students have been published to the dark web following a ransomware attack last year, the school district said in a statement on Wednesday.vThe "assessment records," which could include mental health, attendance, disciplinary and academic results, were stolen in a September 2022 cyber attack, Jack Kelanic, a senior IT administrator for the district, told Reuters after an education news site posted redacted copies of purported student mental health records online. (Smalley, 2/23)

Reuters: First Zantac Cancer Risk Trial In California Postponed By Months
The first scheduled trial over claims that GSK Plc's (GSK.L) heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer, which had been set to begin Monday, has been postponed, likely by several months. (Pierson, 2/23)

Politico: Adams’ Mental Health Agenda To Focus On Harm Reduction And Nontraditional Approaches
Mayor Eric Adams is poised to roll out a wide-ranging mental health plan that would triple the capacity of so-called clubhouses for people with severe mental illness, launch a virtual mental health care platform for teens and bolster harm reduction services in neighborhoods like the South Bronx and upper Manhattan. (Kaufman, 2/23)

Politico: Only Half Of NYC Toddlers Received Timely Services For Developmental Delays, Report Says
Just half of New York City children under age three received timely early intervention services for developmental delays, according to a new analysis. (Touré, 2/23)

AP: Indiana House Advances Bill That Could Out Trans Students
Indiana House Republicans advanced a bill Thursday that would require public school teachers to tell parents about students’ social transitions and pronoun changes — a bill that some worry would erode student-teacher trust and force children to come out to their parents prematurely. Republicans — who say the bill expands parents’ ability to decide how their children are raised — pushed ahead with the bill while all Democrats voted against it. (Rodgers, 2/23)

AP: Utah Lawmakers Punt On Magic Mushroom Therapy Proposal
A pilot program in Utah that would have allowed thousands of patients to consume psychedelic mushrooms for therapeutic use failed to advance in the state Senate on Wednesday, effectively ending its chances of passage as lawmakers prepare to adjourn for the year next week. The Senate’s health and human services committee neither advanced nor rejected the measure, with Republican leaders proposing more time to examine the issue. (Metz, 2/23)

Politico: Air Quality Worries Spur Push To Freeze N.M. Oil, Gas Permits
A Western environmental group is seeking a freeze on new oil and gas production and processing permits in New Mexico after EPA recently objected to the use of one common feature in the state's handling of emission limits. Should state regulators grant the group's request, it could at least temporarily chill booming energy development in the state, which ranks near the top nationally in both oil and gas production. (Reilly, 2/23)