First Edition: Jan. 22, 2024

KFF Health News: Federal Lawmakers Take First Steps Toward Oversight Of $50 Billion In Opioid Settlements 
Some members of Congress are demanding federal oversight of billions of dollars in opioid settlements, which state and local governments began spending over the past two years — with some using it to plug budget holes rather than fight the addiction crisis. This month, Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) and Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) introduced legislation that would write into law approved uses for the funds so they reach people most affected by the crisis. (Pattani, 1/22)

KFF Health News: What The Health Care Sector Was Selling At The J.P. Morgan Confab 
Every year, thousands of bankers, venture capitalists, private equity investors, and other moneybags flock to San Francisco’s Union Square to pursue deals. Scores of security guards keep the homeless, the snoops, and the patent-stealers at bay, while the dealmakers pack into the cramped Westin St. Francis hotel and its surrounds to meet with cash-hungry executives from biotech and other health care companies. After a few years of pandemic slack, the 2024 J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference regained its full vigor, drawing 8,304 attendees in early January to talk science, medicine, and, especially, money. (Castle Work and Allen, 1/22)

KFF Health News: Rising Suicide Rate Among Hispanics Worries Community Leaders
A group from teens to seniors gathered in an office inside a grocery store, where Spanish-language food signs cater to the large Hispanic population in this northwestern Georgia city dominated by the carpet industry. The conversation, moderated by community leader America Gruner, focused on mental health and suicide. The Tuesday night meetings draw about a dozen people, who sit on makeshift furniture and tell their often emotional stories. Gruner formed the support group in 2019 after three Latinos ages 17 to 22 died by suicide here over a two-week period. (Miller and Castle Work, 1/22)

KFF Health News: Watch: Older Americans Say They Feel Stuck In Medicare Advantage Plans 
As enrollment in private Medicare Advantage plans grows, so do concerns about how well the coverage works, including from people who say they are stuck in the private plans as their health declines. KFF Health News’ Sarah Jane Tribble explains. (Tribble, 1/22)

KFF Health News: Montana’s Effort To Expand Religious Exemptions To Vaccines Prompts Political Standoff 
Montana lawmakers are in a standoff with the state’s health department over a package of sweeping changes to child care licensing rules that includes a disputed provision to allow religious exemptions to routine vaccinations for children and workers. Both Republican and Democratic legislators on the Children, Families, Health, and Human Services Interim Committee voted Jan. 18 to renew their informal objection to the proposed child care licensing rules, which the committee has blocked since November. The vote prevents the state’s Department of Public Health and Human Services from adopting the rules until at least March, when committee members say they will debate a formal objection that could delay the rules’ adoption until spring 2025. (Volz, 1/19)

KFF Health News: Journalist Talks Distribution Of Opioid Funds — And The Companies Angling For A Piece 
KFF Health News senior correspondent Aneri Pattani discussed how business interests are positioning themselves and their wares to get a piece of the opioid settlement funds on “Marketplace” on Jan. 15. Pattani also discussed how state and local governments across the country are using settlement money on Illinois Public Media’s “The 21st Show” on Jan. 11. (1/20)

Modern Healthcare: Sickle Cell Gene Therapy To Be Covered By Blue Cross Insurers
Blue Cross Blue Shield insurers have become the first carriers to cover multimillion-dollar new gene therapies for sickle cell disease, and other insurers and Medicaid agencies are moving to follow suit. Blue Cross' Synergie Medication Collective has inked risk-sharing agreements with drugmaker BlueBird Bio to offer its $3.1 million Lyfgenia gene therapy treatment for sickle cell disease to some self-insured employers, as well as competitor Vertex Pharmaceuticals' $2.2 million Casgevy treatment. (Tepper, 1/19)

Becker's Hospital Review: CDC Urges More Blood Testing For PFAS Chemicals
The CDC on Jan. 18 issued updated guidance for clinicians regarding exposure to per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, urging them to consider a patient's individual history and possible exposure to the chemicals and to order blood tests as needed to detect both recent and past exposures. These chemicals, also called PFAS, are found in drinking water and used in everything from non-stick cooking pans, to shampoo and dental floss. But exposure to high concentrations can cause chronic health conditions like high cholesterol, kidney and testicular cancer, pregnancy-induced hypertension, decreased vaccine response and more. (Hollowell, 1/19)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Number Of Georgians Dropped From Medicaid Nears 500,000
Georgia has dropped at least 488,000 from Medicaid, the government health insurance for the poor, as part of a federally mandated project to ensure those covered by the program qualify to remain on it. Georgia began the process of redetermination with 2.8 million Medicaid recipients, which account for a quarter of the state’s population. (Hart, 1/22)

The New York Times: At Least 72 Deaths In U.S. Are Connected To Severe Winter Weather
At least 72 people across the United States have died from weather-related causes after more than a week of frigid winter storms and brutally cold temperatures, according to reports from state officials, police departments, medical examiners and news outlets. The number is likely to grow as the authorities scramble to assess the death toll from the bitter chill, frozen roads and high winds, especially in parts of the country unused to extended bouts of a deep freeze. (Fortin and Edmonds, 1/21)

Axios: Roe V. Wade Anniversary Reheats Abortion Wars
Roe v. Wade may be history but Monday's anniversary of the 1973 decision is providing a potent rallying point for both sides in the abortion wars. Amid a showdown over funding the government, House Republican leaders brought up a pair of symbolic bills they said would protect pregnant women's rights but that Democrats contend would further erode abortion access. (Knight, 1/19)

The 19th: March For Life 2024: Abortion Rally In D.C. Had No Mention Of National Bans
At this year’s March For Life, the country’s largest annual anti-abortion rally, little was said about federal bans on the procedure, yet another sign of the growing political quagmire abortion opponents now face. (Luthra, 1/19)

San Francisco Chronicle: ‘Pro-Life Is The Future’: Thousands In S.F. Rally Against Abortion
Civic Center Plaza was a sea of umbrellas Saturday afternoon as thousands of people took to San Francisco’s streets to peacefully protest abortion and seize on the movement’s gains since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the right to the procedure. The 20th annual Walk for Life West Coast began with a rally at Civic Center and continued with a march down Market Street to the Embarcadero, prompting street closures and bus reroutes. (Echeverria, 1/20)

AP: US Government Rejects Complaint That Woman Was Improperly Denied An Emergency Abortion In Oklahoma
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says an Oklahoma hospital did not violate federal law when doctors told a woman with a nonviable pregnancy to wait in the parking lot until her condition worsened enough to qualify for an abortion under the state’s strict ban. Jaci Statton, 26, was among several women last year who challenged abortion restrictions that went into effect in Republican-led states after the Supreme Court revoked the nationwide right to abortion in 2022. Rather than join a lawsuit, Statton filed a complaint with the Department of Health and Human Services under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA. (Kruesi, 1/19)

The 19th: How Doctors Are Impacted As Abortion Rights Return To The Supreme Court
Less than two years ago, the Supreme Court eliminated the federal right to an abortion, a decision that the court’s conservative majority suggested would remove them from further litigation of abortion rights.  ”The Court’s decision properly leaves the question of abortion for the people and their elected representatives in the democratic process,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in a concurring opinion. But this term, the court is now set to hear two cases that could further undercut access to the procedure. (Luthra, 1/19)

NPR: Why Is Harris Going To Wisconsin To Talk About Abortion
Vice President Harris is kicking off a tour on Monday ... to draw attention to new restrictions on abortion, an issue that Democrats hope will fire up voters for the presidential election in November. ... "She is going to connect the dots for people," a White House official told NPR, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of the tour. "She is going to make a clear connection between Roe being overturned, these extreme bans being put into effect by extremists across the country, and what harm those bans have caused for women." (Shivaram, 1/22)

AP: Ohio To Become The 2nd State To Restrict Gender-Affirming Care For Adults
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced proposals this month that transgender advocates say could block access to gender-affirming care provided by independent clinics and general practitioners, leaving thousands of adults scrambling for treatment and facing health risks. Ashton Colby, 31, fears the clinic where he gets the testosterone he has taken since age 19 would no longer offer it. The transgender Columbus man believes he could eventually be treated by another provider that would meet the new requirements. But even a few months’ wait could leave Colby experiencing a menstrual cycle for the first time in many years. (Mulvihill, 1/20)

CIDRAP: US Respiratory Illness Levels Still High But Showing Some Signs Of Reprieve 
Illnesses from three main respiratory viruses remain high across the nation, but, for a second week, some indicators that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tracks, such as hospitalizations and SARS-CoV-2 wastewater levels, showed declines. In its latest updates for COVID-19, flu, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), the CDC said rapid increases seen in the weeks leading up to the winter holidays have slowed, with decreases noted for COVID-19 and continuing declines in RSV activity in some regions. Overall, flu activity shows stable or declining trends, but the CDC said it is closely watching for a second spike that sometimes occurs after the winter holidays. (Schnirring, 1/19)

The New York Times: California And Oregon Ease Covid Isolation Rules, Breaking With C.D.C. 
From the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, it has been doctor’s orders in this country: If you test positive, stay away from other people, even if you aren’t coughing or feverish. In recent months, however, that rule has been relaxed in two of the unlikeliest places. Oregon and California, among the most cautious of states early in the pandemic, have surprised health officials elsewhere by breaking with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and telling infected workers and schoolchildren that as long as they have no symptoms, they are generally free to go about their lives. (Hubler and Hassan, 1/21)

Reuters: WHO Chief Worried About Missing Deadline For Pandemic Accord 
The head of the World Health Organization on Monday voiced concern that countries may miss a May deadline to finish negotiations and adopt a legally binding pandemic treaty. "I must say I'm concerned that member states may not meet that commitment," said Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in an address to the global health agency's Executive Board. "In my view, a failure to deliver the pandemic agreement and the IHR (International Health Regulations) amendments will be a missed opportunity for which future generations may not forgive us," he said. (1/22)

CIDRAP: Wastewater Tracking Useful For Norovirus Activity
Wastewater monitoring of norovirus can be a useful monitoring system and can provide an earlier signal than other surveillance methods, researchers from the University of Michigan reported yesterday in PLOS Water. ... Current surveillance relies on syndromic surveillance, such as school and emergency department data on gastrointestinal illnesses, which sometimes isn't specific to norovirus and isn't easily available to the public. (Schnirring, 1/19)

CNN: Superbug Crisis Threatens To Kill 10 Million Per Year By 2050. Scientists May Have A Solution 
Cynthia Horton’s earaches are the stuff of nightmares. “I can wake up from my sleep in horrible pain, like I’m having a root canal with no anesthesia,” she said. “When I sit up, my ear is often weeping with infection, even oozing blood.” Already weakened by a lifelong battle with lupus, Horton’s immune system was devastated by rounds of radiation and chemotherapy after a 2003 surgery for a cancerous tumor in her ear. (LaMotte, 1/21)

Medical Xpress: Who Is Most Efficient In Health Care? Study Finds, Surprisingly, It's The VA
Private-sector hospitals, clinics, and insurers are bloated, bureaucratic nightmares compared to efficiently run Veterans Health Administration facilities that put care over profits, a new study reveals. The study, by researchers at Hunter College of the City University of New York, Harvard Medical School, the Veterans Health Administration, and the University of Washington, points fingers at profit-driven private facilities and insurers, where a whopping 30% of staff are stuck in the tangled web of paperwork, while the VHA shines with a lean 22.5% administrative staff. That means nearly 900,000 fewer paper pushers would be needed if private hospitals, clinics, and insurers took a page from the VHA's playbook. The research is published in the journal JAMA Network Open. (1/19)

Becker's Hospital Review: ED Boarding At Crisis Levels, Mass General Says
Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital is requesting permission from the state to add more than 90 inpatient beds amid what it says is an "unprecedented capacity crisis." The hospital's emergency department has experienced critical levels of overcrowding nearly every day for the past six months, Massachusetts General said in a Jan. 19 news release. The hospital boards between 50 to 80 ED patients every night who are waiting for a hospital bed to open. On Jan. 11, Massachusetts General had 103 patients boarding in the ED, representing one of the most crowded days in the hospital's more than 200-year history. (Bean, 1/19)

The New York Times: New York Is Planning to Shutter a Major Brooklyn Teaching Hospital
The state is planning to drastically shrink or even close University Hospital at Downstate in Brooklyn, the only state-run medical hospital in New York City. A number of concerns — too few patients, annual operating deficits of about $100 million and a deteriorating hospital building — have led to the proposal, which hospital administrators shared with doctors this week. It is unclear how the plan will affect access to medical care for residents of central Brooklyn and beyond. The hospital, in East Flatbush, is directly across the street from another public hospital, the city-run Kings County Hospital, so the change would not mean a swath of the city suddenly lost access to a nearby hospital. (Goldstein, 1/20)

The New York Times: Medical Helicopter Crash Kills 3 Crew Members In Oklahoma
Three crew members died in a medical helicopter crash in Oklahoma on Saturday after transporting a patient, according to the company that runs the service. The company, Air Evac Lifeteam, said on social media that the crew members lost contact with the company’s control center around 11:23 p.m. local time while they were returning to their base in Weatherford, Okla., about 70 miles west of Oklahoma City. (Carballo, 1/21)

The New York Times: Berish Strauch, Path Breaker In Reconstructive Surgery, Dies At 90 
Berish Strauch, a plastic surgeon whose pioneering procedures and devices to reattach or replace vital body parts included one of the first toe-to-thumb transplants, a device to reverse vasectomies and, perhaps most notably, the first inflatable prosthetic penis, died on Dec. 24 in Greenwich, Conn. He was 90. Beginning in the late 1960s, Dr. Strauch was at the forefront of a revolution in plastic surgery, in particular microsurgery, in which doctors use microscopes and precision instruments to sew together minuscule blood vessels, nerves and ligaments, some thinner than a human hair, said Dr. June K. Wu, an associate professor of surgery at Columbia University who completed her residency under Dr. Strauch. (Risen, 1/21)

Bloomberg: American Healthcare REIT Said To Seek $700 Million In IPO
American Healthcare REIT Inc. is seeking to raise about $700 million in an initial public offering, according to people familiar with the situation. The Irvine, California-based senior housing and assisted living property owner could start gauging investor interest in the listing as soon as next week, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. The company is a non-traded REIT, which is required to make regular filings and only infrequently trades over the counter. (Or, 1/19)

The Mercury News: Data Shows Nursing Home Closure Often Linked To Care Issues
While staffing and reimbursement issues have certainly contributed to closures in some cases, especially for smaller, rural facilities, experts say the debate often omits some important facts and nuance: specifically, that many facilities that close are poor quality, have high staff turnover and are located in areas where multiple other homes and alternatives exist, making it difficult to fill empty beds. Others turn into assisted living facilities, which are more loosely regulated. A handful were kicked off of the Medicare program for low quality. (Hellmann, 1/19)

CBS News: Risk Of Wildfire Smoke In Long-Term Care Facilities Is Worse Than You'd Think 
Every year, wildfires across the western U.S. and Canada send plumes of smoke into the sky. When that smoke blows into southwestern Idaho's Treasure Valley, it blankets Boise-area residents in dirty air. They include seniors living in long-term care facilities, many of whom are considered an at-risk population for smoke exposure because of respiratory or cardiac diseases. "An astonishing amount of smoke gets inside these facilities," said Luke Montrose, an environmental toxicologist and researcher at Colorado State University. Data from monitors Montrose installed in four Idaho long-term care facilities in 2020 showed that large amounts of smoke pollution recorded outside during wildfire season seeped into the facilities. One building let in 50% of the particulate matter outside; another, 100%. In some cases, Montrose said, "it was no better to be inside than to be outside during those smoke events." (Mohr, 1/22)

Reuters: Exclusive: US FDA Finds New Manufacturing Lapses At Eli Lilly Plant 
U.S. inspectors recently uncovered new manufacturing problems at an Eli Lilly plant that has been under scrutiny by federal investigators, according to government records obtained by Reuters. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspection in July at Lilly's Branchburg, New Jersey, plant detected eight separate deficiencies. They included problems in tracking manufacturing process and quality controls, as well as lapses in its calibration of equipment and failure to properly maintain facilities and equipment, the inspection report shows. (Taylor and Fick, 1/19)

ABC News: Cancer Vaccine With Minimal Side Effects Nearing Phase 3 Clinical Trials
Dr. Thomas Wagner, founder of the biotech company Orbis Health Solutions and cancer researcher, has made it his life's mission to find a way to treat cancer without the dreaded side effects that, for some, can become worse than the cancer itself or may even lead to an earlier death. ... Wagner's TLPO cancer vaccine has been tested in hundreds of patients with advanced forms of melanoma in Phase 2 clinical trials. The most recent data presented at an academic conference showed nearly 95% of people given only the vaccine were still alive three years after starting treatment and 64% were still disease-free. (Cobern, 1/20)

NBC News: HPV-Related Cervical Cancer Rising In Some Women, New Research Finds
After decades of good news in the fight against cervical cancer — marked by decades of steady declines in cases and deaths — a new report suggests that some women are being left behind. Thanks to early detection and treatment, rates of cervical cancer have plummeted by more than half over the past 50 years. Rates are falling fastest among women in their early 20s, the first generation to benefit from HPV vaccines, which were approved in 2006. HPV, the human papillomavirus, causes six types of cancer, including cervical cancer. (Szabo, 1/20)

Stat: Dana-Farber Researchers Moving To Retract Paper In Investigation
Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, one of the nation’s leading cancer research and treatment centers, are “moving to” retract one paper and correct others amid an expanding investigation of data manipulation, officials told STAT. The investigation includes scores of papers authored by four top scientists and institute leaders, including CEO Laurie Glimcher and COO William Hahn. (Wosen and Chen, 1/19)

Becker's Hospital Review: Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes Gets 90-Year Ban From HHS
HHS has banned Elizabeth Holmes, incarcerated founder of blood-testing company Theranos, from participating in any federal healthcare program for the next 90 years. According to a Jan. 19 news release from HHS' Office of Inspector General, Ms. Holmes will be unable to bill Medicare, Medicaid or any other federal program. Ms. Holmes is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence after being convicted of defrauding investors in Theranos. The company claimed to be able to screen for hundreds of conditions with a single drop of blood. (Wilson, 1/19)

The Washington Post: AI Could Flag Patients’ Dangerous Alcohol Use Before Surgery
Alcohol can cause risky surgical complications for patients who drink in the days leading up to a procedure, but signs of dangerous alcohol use aren’t always obvious on a patient’s chart. Artificial intelligence could help bring such problems to light, a new analysis suggests. The study, published in the journal Alcohol: Clinical & Experimental Research, used a natural language processing model to assess the medical records of 53,811 patients who underwent surgery between 2012 and 2019. (Blakemore, 1/20)

The New York Times: The Heart Surgery That Isn’t As Safe For Older Women 
Coronary artery bypass grafting, the most common cardiac procedure in the United States, was studied mostly in men. Women are paying the price. (Span, 1/20)

Stat: The Push To Integrate Nutrition Into Medical Education
Doctors often don’t have a lot of time to chat with patients during medical appointments — which means that conversations about nutrition can wind up taking a backseat to other concerns. But during a recent weeklong course at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, preventive cardiologist Stephen Devries enlisted two dozen students in the mission to integrate nutrition into clinical medicine — changing the way medicine is taught and health care is delivered in the process. (Cooney, 1/22)

AP: Defense Department To Again Target 'Forever Chemicals' Contamination Near Michigan Military Base 
The U.S. Department of Defense plans to install two more groundwater treatment systems at a former Michigan military base to control contamination from so-called forever chemicals, U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin’s office announced Friday. Environmentalists say the systems will help prevent PFAS from spreading into the Clarks Marsh area and the Au Sable River near the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda on the shores of Lake Huron. The base closed in 1993 as part of a base realignment. (Richmond, 1/19)

The Washington Post: Kentucky Youth Prison Denied Teens Showers, Toilets And Clothing, Lawsuit Says
Willow Neal was 17-years-old and seven months pregnant when she was sent to an isolation cell in the Adair Youth Development Center in Columbia, Ky., in November 2022, a new lawsuit alleges. She rarely left. Neal was only let out of her cell five times to take a walk, and received just 12 showers during her month-long detention, isolation that went against the advice of her medical providers, according to the lawsuit. In the cell next to Neal’s, 17-year-old Jamiahia Kennedy resorted to washing her body with her bra after being denied showers, according to the lawsuit. For two months, Kennedy was allegedly moved to a soiled padded cell without a bed or a working toilet. (Wu, 1/21)

CBS News: New Legislation In Harrisburg Could Allow K-12 Students Up To Three Mental Health Days
Students in Pennsylvania may soon be allowed to take "mental health days." The Pennsylvania House of Representatives Education Committee voted on Thursday to send the bill that would provide students in Pennsylvania with those days to the cull chamber. Introduced by Rep. Napoleon Nelson of Montgomery County in eastern Pennsylvania, he said in a memo to the House, that challenges, specifically those exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, make this legislation necessary. (Damp, 1/20)