First Edition: Jan. 17, 2023

KHN: Will Your Smartphone Be The Next Doctor’s Office? 
The same devices used to take selfies and type out tweets are being repurposed and commercialized for quick access to information needed for monitoring a patient’s health. A fingertip pressed against a phone’s camera lens can measure a heart rate. The microphone, kept by the bedside, can screen for sleep apnea. Even the speaker is being tapped, to monitor breathing using sonar technology. In the best of this new world, the data is conveyed remotely to a medical professional for the convenience and comfort of the patient or, in some cases, to support a clinician without the need for costly hardware. (Norman, 1/17)

KHN: Rural Seniors Benefit From Pandemic-Driven Remote Fitness Boom 
Eight women, all 73 or older, paced the fellowship hall at Malmo Evangelical Free Church to a rendition of Daniel O’Donnell’s “Rivers of Babylon” as they warmed up for an hourlong fitness class. The women, who live near or on the eastern shore of Mille Lacs Lake, had a variety of reasons for showing up despite fresh snow and slippery roads. One came to reduce the effects of osteoporosis; another, to maintain mobility after a stroke. (Saint Louis, 1/17)

NPR: More People Than Ever Buy Insurance On Healthcare.Gov
The Affordable Care Act health insurance marketplaces just hit a record: Nearly 16 million people signed up for the insurance also known as Obamacare. That is about a million more people than signed up for ACA health insurance last year, and enrollment was still open on Healthcare.gov and in most state marketplaces through this past Sunday. (Simmons-Duffin, 1/13)

Fierce Healthcare: HHS: Uninsured Rates Decline For Younger Americans
More Americans in key demographics that have been historically uninsured saw coverage gains from 2019 through 2021, a new federal report finds. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a report Friday detailing gains in coverage from 2019 through 2021. Officials attributed a decline in the uninsured rate from 11.1% in 2019 to 10.5% in 2021 due to expansions in Medicaid and other gains via the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA's) marketplace. (King, 1/13)

NBC News: Starting Tuesday, All U.S. Military Veterans In Suicidal Crisis Will Be Eligible For Free Care At Any VA Or Private Facility
Beginning Tuesday, U.S. military veterans who find themselves in suicidal crisis will be eligible for free emergency medical care at any Department of Veterans Affairs facility or any private facility. Unlike for most other medical benefits, veterans do not have to be enrolled in the VA system to be eligible. More than 18 million veterans in the U.S. could be eligible. (Kube, 1/13)

The Washington Post: Study Finds Insufficient Mental Health Care Access For Many In Military 
Military members and their families have unique mental health needs. But a study shows that up to 35 percent of military recipients don’t have access to adequate psychiatric care despite government insurance that covers such services. Published in JAMA Network Open, the study looked at 39,487 U.S. Zip codes with at least one beneficiary of Tricare, the Defense Department health-care program that covers uniformed service members, retirees and their families. Researchers combined data from a variety of federal sources with community information. (Blakemore, 1/16)

Politico: Airplane Lavatories Deliver New Hope For The CDC’s Variant Hunt 
As Covid-19 cases explode in China and new viral threats loom, the Biden administration is ramping up surveillance of biological samples from international passengers arriving at U.S. airports to scan for new virus variants and other hazards to Americans’ health. (Mahr, 1/16)

NPR: U.S. Airport Screening For COVID Variants Expanded
It's early morning at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C.,and Ana Valdez is already hard at work at one of the international gates. "Hello everybody. Welcome," she shouts with a big smile as arriving travelers flood through two large swinging doors. "Do you like to help the CDC to find new variants for COVID?" Valdez works for a year-old program that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently expanded to try to spot new variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, coming into the country. The most recent expansion was prompted by China's abrupt decision to abandon its zero-COVID policy. (Stein, 1/14)

CIDRAP: Almost A Fourth Of Air Passengers Screened From China Had COVID-19, Report Reveals 
Italian officials who screened 556 airline passengers from two Chinese provinces in late December found that almost a quarter of them tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, with one flight having 42% of passengers infected, according to a report yesterday in Eurosurveillance. (Wappes, 1/13)

The Washington Post: Covid During Pregnancy Increases Risk Of Maternal Death 
Pregnant people infected with the coronavirus have a seven times higher risk of dying compared with pregnant individuals who are not infected, a finding that arrives amid renewed calls for vaccination of those who are expecting a baby. Researchers, whose findings were published Monday in the journal BMJ Global Health, pooled patient data from more than 13,000 pregnant individuals included in 12 studies from 12 countries, including the United States. Along with a higher death rate, infected pregnant people had a greater risk of being admitted to an intensive care unit, needing a ventilator or developing pneumonia if they have a coronavirus infection. (Malhi, 1/16)

The Hill: Meta-Study Highlights COVID Dangers During Pregnancy
A new scientific review published Monday found that a COVID-19 infection at any time during a pregnancy increases the risk of maternal mortality, severe maternal morbidities and adverse newborn outcomes. (Sforza, 1/16)

The Wall Street Journal: Exercise Helps Blunt The Effects Of Covid-19, Study Suggests 
People who exercise regularly had lower rates of hospitalization and death from Covid-19 in a study published recently in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. ... This latest study goes a step further and suggests that even people whose age or health conditions make them higher-risk have better outcomes if they are regular exercisers. (Janin, 1/16)

Fox News: CDC Identifies Possible 'Safety Concern' For Certain People Receiving COVID Vaccines
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that a preliminary COVID-19 vaccine "safety signal" has been identified and is investigating whether the Bivalent Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine creates an increased risk of ischemic stroke in people 65 and older. In the Friday statement, the CDC said that the preliminary signal hasn't been identified with the Bivalent Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. (Sabes, 1/13)

The Atlantic: Let's Call XBB.1.5 The 'Kraken' Coronavirus Subvariant
A new subvariant of SARS-CoV-2 is rapidly taking over in the U.S.—the most transmissible that has ever been detected. It’s called XBB.1.5, in reference to its status as a hybrid of two prior strains of Omicron, BA.2.10.1 and BA.2.75. It’s also called “Kraken.” Not by everyone, though. The nickname Kraken was ginned up by an informal group of scientists on Twitter and has caught on at some—but only some—major news outlets. (Engber, 1/13)

ABC News: Several Celebrities Test Positive For COVID After Golden Globes
In the wake of the Golden Globes last week, several celebrities said they have tested positive for COVID-19. At least four stars, including Jamie Lee Curtis and Michelle Pfeiffer, revealed they contracted the virus following the awards show. (Kekatos, 1/16)

San Francisco Chronicle: Virus Spread Among Animals “Much Wider Than Previously Thought”
The coronavirus has been detected in nearly 400 domestic pets, including cats and dogs, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It has also been detected in captive zoo animals such as tigers, lions, gorillas, snow leopards, and otters. But experts say transmission among wild species is also common, even though federal officials have so far only detected the virus that causes COVID-19 in three so far —mink, mule deer, and white-tailed deer. (Vaziri, 1/13)

The Washington Post: For Long Covid Fatigue, A Strategy Called "Pacing" Helps, But At A Cost 
What is it like to live with the chronic fatigue of long covid? It feels like dragging your body through wet cement, says Judy Schaefer, 58, a once avid hiker who lives in Seattle. It’s knowing that simple tasks, like showering or cooking dinner, will be exhausting, says Alyssa Minor, 36, a physiotherapist in Calgary. It’s trying to exercise and instead, landing in the ER, says Harry Leeming, 31, of London. (Morris, 1/16)

Axios: The Symbolic End Of Operation Warp Speed
The departure of COVID chief science officer David Kessler, announced Friday by the White House, marks the unofficial end of the "Operation Warp Speed" era and the extraordinary all-of-government response to the pandemic. (Owens, 1/14)

CIDRAP: Trial Finds That Fluvoxamine Doesn't Speed COVID Recovery
The antidepressant fluvoxamine doesn't shorten the duration of COVID-19 symptoms in mildly to moderately ill adults, according to a randomized clinical trial (RCT) published yesterday in JAMA. (Van Beusekom, 1/13)

CIDRAP: Convalescent Plasma May Cut Risk Of Death In Immune-Impaired COVID Patients
A Mayo Clinic–led meta-analysis suggests that transfusion of COVID-19 convalescent plasma improves survival in hospitalized, infected patients who have impaired immune systems. The antibody-rich plasma, donated by COVID-19 survivors, may help prevent the reinfections to which these high-risk patients are susceptible, the researchers said. The study was published yesterday in JAMA Network Open. (Van Beusekom, 1/13)

FiercePharma: Martha Stewart Stars In A 'Kill COVID-19' Spot For Pfizer
Pfizer’s new COVID-19 booster ad starring Martha Stewart is both rather odd and strangely compelling to watch in a definitive departure from its previous conservative vaccine commercials. The 30-second spot, “Unwelcome Guest,” features Stewart in her beautifully perfect kitchen calmly sharpening a massive Samurai sword. (Coey, 1/13)

CIDRAP: US Flu Activity Declines Further 
Flu activity continues in the United States, but markers continue to decline across most of the country, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its weekly update, which covers the week ending Jan 7. The percentage of outpatient visits for flulike illness dropped from 5.4% to 4% last week. Twenty-three jurisdictions reported high (21) or very high (2) flu activity, another indicator of clinic visits for flu, down from 39 in the previous reporting week. Sites still reporting very high flu activity include New York City and New Mexico. (Schnirring, 1/13)

Reuters: Walgreens Removes Purchase Limits On Children's Fever Medicines 
Pharmacy chain Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. said on Monday it has removed online-only purchase limits for its over-the-counter pediatric fever-reducing products, as supply conditions improve. (1/16)

Houston Chronicle: Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher Named Whip Of The Pro-Choice Caucus
U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, D-Houston, who also represents part of Fort Bend County, has been named Whip of the Pro-Choice Caucus. The caucus is “a coalition of Members in the U.S. House of Representatives who are working to preserve, protect, and advance policies that ensure reproductive autonomy,” Fletcher said in a statement Friday. (Goodman, 1/13)

AP: Bill Would Force Period Tracking Apps To Follow Privacy Laws
When the Supreme Court last June stripped away constitutional protections for abortion, concerns grew over the use of period tracking apps because they aren’t protected by federal privacy laws. Privacy experts have said they fear pregnancies could be surveilled and the data shared with police or sold to vigilantes. Some Washington state lawmakers want to change that and have introduced a bill related to how consumer data is shared, KUOW reported. (1/16)

San Francisco Chronicle: UC Health Doctors Want Stronger Protections In Contracts With Faith-Based Hospitals
As the University of California’s health system renews contracts with hundreds of outside hospitals and clinics — many with religious affiliations — some of its doctors and faculty want stronger language to ensure that physicians can perform the treatments they deem appropriate, including abortions for women or hysterectomies for transgender patients. (Sciacca, 1/15)

USA Today: 2022 'Shkreli Awards' Rank Worst Health Care 'Profiteering' Cases
The Lown Institute, a health care policy think tank, each year ranks the 10 worst instances of “profiteering and dysfunction” in the health-care industry. It calls its rankings the “Shkreli Awards,” named after the former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli, who rose to notoriety in 2015 when he raised the price of a life-saving medication by roughly 4,000%. Shkreli was nicknamed “Pharma Bro” by the public. He was convicted of securities fraud in 2017, and was released last year. (Mayorquin, 1/14)

The Washington Post: Why Nurses Are Striking And Quitting In Droves
This flu season, Benny Matthew — a nurse at the Montefiore Medical Center emergency room in the Bronx — has often been responsible for 15 to 20 patients at a time. By 3 p.m. most days, the emergency room is often exploding with patients, Matthew said. Hospital gurneys stand inches apart. When beds run out, patients squeeze into tightly packed chairs. When the chairs run out, patients must stand. Wait times to see a doctor can be up to six hours. At the same time, the hospital is advertising more than 700 nursing positions. (Gurley, 1/14)

Becker's Hospital Review: After Preliminary Denial, Hospital Where Nurse Called 911 Gains Full Accreditation
Silverdale, Wash.-based St. Michael Medical Center — which gained media attention after a nurse called 911 from its overcrowded, short-staffed emergency department — has been accredited by The Joint Commission after a preliminary denial. (1/13)

Los Angeles Times: Routine-Care Needs Pack MLK Emergency Department
In the emergency department at MLK Community Hospital, masked patients lay in wheeled stretchers lining the hallways. Others slumped in chairs where nurses attended to them. Amid the crush of people on a recent day in December, only the sickest or most severely injured got one of the 29 rooms. (Alpert Reyes, 1/15)

Becker's Hospital Review: Health Systems Integrate Automated Medication Instructions Into Epic, Meditech EHRs
Health systems in Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are using artificial intelligence to automatically transcribe medical instructions into their Epic and Meditech EHRs. The health systems employing the SmartRenewal software from health IT company DrFirst include Butler (Pa.) Health System and Gainesville-based Northeast Georgia Health System, a company spokesperson told Becker's. (Bruce, 1/13)

USA Today: FDA Rule Lifted On Animal Testing For Drugs; Substitutes Not Ready
For generations people have associated the terms "lab rat" and "guinea pig" with scientific research. Animal testing remains a standard and has been required for drug approval. Just before Christmas, though, Congress ended the requirement that all new drugs  must be tested in two species – usually mice and a "higher order" mammal like rabbits or primates – before being tried in people. (Weintraub, 1/15)

The New York Times: Medicare Begins To Rein In Drug Costs For Older Americans
Steve Lubin spent a lot last year on insulin to control his Type 2 diabetes. A retired nurse in Philadelphia, Mr. Lubin relies on Medicare for health coverage, including a Part D plan to cover drug expenses. Yet his out-of-pocket costs kept mounting, including a deductible of $480, monthly supplies of two forms of insulin, and higher prices once he entered the “coverage gap.” His total insulin tab in 2022: $1,582. (Span, 1/14)

ABC News: Blood Test Could Help Predict Which Patients With Colon Cancer Need Chemotherapy After Surgery: Study
A blood test under study may soon be able to help many patients with colon cancer decide whether they need chemotherapy after surgery, or if they can safely skip it. The results, which oncologists described as promising, were published in the journal Nature Medicine. (Nasser, 1/16)

Stat: Liquid Biopsy May Be Better Way To Decide Who Gets Chemo 
They’re far too small to be seen by even the most sophisticated medical imaging device. But bits of tumor DNA adrift in a patient’s blood are an important bellwether for whether cancer will return — and, as a new study shows, can predict which treatments are likely to work. (Wosen, 1/16)

The Hill: Study Suggests US Freshwater Fish Highly Contaminated With ‘Forever Chemicals’
Eating just one serving of freshwater fish each year could have the same effect as drinking water heavily polluted with “forever chemicals” for an entire month, a new study finds. The equivalent month-long amount of water would be contaminated at levels 2,400 times greater than what’s recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) drinking water health advisories, according to the study, published Tuesday in Environmental Research. (Udasin, 1/17)

AP: Fentanyl Fuels Record Homeless Deaths In Seattle Area
A record 310 homeless people died in the Seattle area last year, highlighting the region’s struggle to house the thousands of people living on its streets. The 310 deaths in King County surpassed the previous record of 195 homeless deaths set in 2018, the Seattle Times reported, and marked a 65% jump over 2021. (1/17)

The Boston Globe: Fatal R.I. Overdoses Remained High In 2022. Here’s What Two Organizations Want To Do About It
It’s too soon to say whether 2022 will be the deadliest year on record for accidental drug overdoses in Rhode Island. Determining causes of death takes time, and the data lags by months. But the early picture does not look good. For nearly every month in 2022 for which there is full data — January to June — the number of people who fatally overdosed in Rhode Island is higher than the same month of 2021. Only February was lower, and only slightly. (Amaral, 1/13)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Dangerous Mix Of Fentanyl And Animal Tranquilizer Detected In Few Seizures In San Diego
The medication xylazine is used to sedate horses and cattle. But when mixed with opioids and injected by humans, it can cause people to black out for hours and leave festering wounds that can result in amputations. The withdrawal symptoms are said to be worse than those from heroin or methadone. When the animal sedative is cut into fentanyl and heroin and sold on the street, it’s commonly referred to as “tranq” or “tranq dope.” (Riggins, 1/16)

AP: 2nd Colorado Library Closes Due To Meth Contamination 
For the second time in a month, a Colorado library has closed its doors to clean up methamphetamine contamination. Officials in the Denver suburb of Englewood shut down the city library last week within a couple of hours of getting test results Wednesday showing that the contamination in the facility’s restrooms exceeded state thresholds, city spokesman Chris Harguth said. (Slevin and Peipert, 1/17)

Stat: The Addiction Crisis Is Causing A Spike In Endocarditis Cases. Hospitals Are Struggling To Respond
Increased injection drug use has led to a spike in cases of the life-threatening heart condition endocarditis, with cases rapidly accelerating since the onset of Covid-19. The increased case count is one of the lesser-known side effects of the deadly addiction epidemic. (Facher, 1/17)

CBS News: Alcohol-Related Liver Disease Rising Among Young People
Jessica Dueñas was leading a double life. Named Kentucky's teacher of the year in 2019, she had also developed a heavy drinking problem. "The day that I won my award, I was in withdrawals," she said. "I could not wait to go home so that I could drink." (Chen, 1/16)

The Boston Globe: He Collapsed From Cardiac Arrest. The Next Four Minutes Would Determine If He Would Live
Massachusetts doesn’t track statewide cardiac arrest survival rates, but some municipalities do, and their data shows that survival varies widely. In Boston, 11.2 percent of people who experienced a cardiac arrest in 2021 survived, but in Worcester, one recent study found those rates were between 3 and 4 percent. (Bartlett, 1/14)

Reuters: Davos 2023: Climate Change Leads To More Malaria, Tuberculosis Up In A Recession 
Climate change is increasing malaria infections, the executive director of the world's biggest health fund said in Davos on Monday. Huge surges in malaria infections followed recent floods in Pakistan and cyclones in Mozambique in 2021, said Peter Sands, the executive director of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. (de Kretser, 1/16)

CIDRAP: BARDA Funds Development, Production Of Ebola Sudan And Marburg Vaccines 
The Sabin Vaccine Institute announced yesterday that it has been awarded a multiyear contract from the US government to advance the development and production of vaccine candidates for the Ebola Sudan and Marburg viruses. Under the agreement, the US Department of Health and Human Services' Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) will initially invest approximately $35 million to produce up to 100,000 doses of Sabin's Ebola Sudan virus vaccine (ChAd3-SUDV). (Dall, 1/13)

The Washington Post: ‘The Last Of Us’ Zombie Fungus Is Real, And It’s Found In Health Supplements
The zombie apocalypse depicted in the popular video game series and newly adapted HBO series “The Last of Us” derives from a mutation to a type of fungus called cordyceps. Surprise! Cordyceps is real, and some 600 variations of it can be found around the world, primarily in Southeast Asia. (Hume, 1/15)