First Edition: Jan. 23, 2024

KFF Health News: What's Indoor Air Quality Like In Long-Term Care Facilities During Wildfires? 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. (Mohr, 1/23)

Roll Call: White House Unveils Policy Push For Roe Anniversary
The White House on Monday announced a series of administrative actions aimed at protecting reproductive rights timed to coincide with the 51st anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision. The moves come as the administration’s reproductive health care task force, established in the aftermath of the June 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that decision overturned Roe, met for the fourth time to update the president on agency efforts to protect access to abortion, including medication abortion, contraception and emergency care. (Raman, 1/22)

AP: Biden, Harris Team Up To Campaign For Abortion Rights In Virginia 
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will share the stage on Tuesday in Virginia as they campaign for abortion rights, a top issue for Democrats in an election expected to feature a rematch with Donald Trump, the former Republican president. Biden and Harris will be joined by their spouses, first lady Jill Biden and second gentleman Doug Emhoff. It’s the first time the four of them have appeared together since the campaign began, a reflection of the importance that Democrats are putting on abortion this year. (Long and Megerian, 1/23)

Houston Chronicle: Texas’ Teen Birth Rate Sees First Rise In 15 Years Amid Abortion Ban
Teen fertility rates in Texas increased for the first time in 15 years in 2022, the year after the state implemented a six-week abortion ban, according to a report published Friday from the University of Houston’s Institute for Research on Women, Gender & Sexuality. The state’s overall fertility rate, or births per 1,000 women aged 15-44, also rose in 2022 for the first time since 2014, with the sharpest increase among Hispanic women, the report said. (Gill, 1/22)

NPR: In Washington State, Pharmacists May Soon Prescribe And Dispense Mifepristone
Over the past several months, a handful of community pharmacies in states where abortion remains legal have begun to take advantage of a new rule that allows them to fill prescriptions for the abortion pill mifepristone. Prior to the rule change, which was finalized last January by the Food and Drug Administration, pregnant people had to get the drug directly from their doctor or by mail if using telemedicine, depending on the laws in their state. Reproductive health experts have said relaxing that requirement could help ease the growing burden on abortion clinics in states where abortion is legal. (Adams, 1/22)

CBS News: Minnesota's Equal Rights Amendment To Be Updated To Include Protections For "Reproductive Freedom"
An update to Minnesota's equal rights amendment, which would add language to the state constitution if approved by voters, will include provisions aimed at protecting access to abortion when advocates push for it this year. The new version reads as follows: "All persons shall be guaranteed equal rights under the laws of this state. The state shall not discriminate against any person in intent or effect on account of race, color, national origin, ancestry, disability or sex, including but not limited to, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive freedom, gender identity and gender expression, or sexual orientation." (Cummings, 1/22)

Stat: Abortion Funds See High Demand, Low Donations, Uncertain Future
The head of the Abortion Fund of Ohio had a sinking feeling as she looked at its end-of-year finances last month. The fund had paid out $1.5 million in 2023 to help close to 4,400 patients get abortions — up from 1,175 the year before — and the pace wasn’t sustainable. If the fund didn’t take a pause for a few weeks, she feared it would run out of money and have to close for good. (Goldhill, 1/23)

Stat: Dana-Farber Expands Studies To Be Retracted To 6, Plus 31 To Be Corrected Over Mishandled Data
A review of alleged data manipulation in studies involving four top scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has led to plans to retract six papers and correct 31 manuscripts, the institute confirmed on Monday. (Chen and Wosen, 1/22)

Fox News: Cancer Is Now Leading Cause Of Death Among HIV-Positive People, Report Says: ‘Of Great Concern’
Cancer is now the leading cause of death among those who are HIV positive. The finding was announced in a report released last week from the American Cancer Society (ACS). Titled "Cancer Facts & Figures 2024," the report noted that at least 10 cancers are associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, including non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Kaposi sarcoma, cervical cancer, liver cancer, anal cancer, lung cancer and Hodgkin lymphoma. HIV-infected people are also 10 times more likely to develop infection-related cancers compared to the general population, the report stated. (Rudy, 1/23)

Stat: Gilead’s Trodelvy Fails In Lung Cancer, Raises Questions On ADCs
Gilead Sciences said Monday that Trodelvy, its “smart-bomb” medicine that combines an antibody with chemotherapy, did not significantly extend the lives of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer when given after a first treatment failed. (Herper, 1/22)

The Washington Post: Over 900 Chemicals Linked To Greater Breast Cancer Risk By Researchers
At least 921 chemicals are thought to pose risks for breast cancer, according to research published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives and sponsored by Silent Spring Institute, a Massachusetts nonprofit focused on the environment and women’s health. The list developed by the research team includes 279 chemicals described as mammary carcinogens and already identified as causing mammary tumors in animals. It also includes 642 chemicals that alter the body’s hormones, stimulating cells to increase the production of estrogen or progesterone, which has been linked to a greater risk for breast cancer. The researchers studied data on rodent tumors, along with endocrine activity and genotoxicity to identify cancer-causing agents. (Searing, 1/22)

The Hill: Martin Luther King Jr.’s Youngest Son Dies Of Cancer
Dexter Scott King, the youngest child of civil rights leaders the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, died of cancer Monday. In a press release, The King Center said the 62-year-old died peacefully in his sleep after a battle with prostate cancer. “He gave it everything and battled this terrible disease until the end,” said Leah Weber, Dexter Scott King’s wife for the last 11 years, according to Fox 5 Atlanta. “As with all the challenges in his life, he faced this hurdle with bravery and might.” Named after the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Alabama where his father had once served as pastor, King was only 7 years old when his father was assassinated. (Daniels, 1/22)

Reuters: CDC Says JN.1 Variant Accounts For About 86% Of COVID Cases In US 
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday estimated COVID subvariant JN.1 to account for about 85.7% of cases in the United States, as of Jan. 19. The agency said JN.1 remains the most widely circulating variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the country and globally. There is no evidence at present that JN.1 causes more severe disease than other variants, the CDC said, adding that currently available vaccines are expected to increase protection against the variant. (1/22)

CBS News: Texas Launches New Dashboard Tracking "Big 3" Respiratory Viruses
Children's Health reports a 40% jump in the number of children it has treated for the flu at clinics, doctor's offices and emergency rooms last week compared to the week before. The Centers for Disease Control says 46.9% of children have gotten their flu vaccine this season, well below normal; however, Children's Health says COVID-19 and RSV cases in children are declining. ... The Texas Department of State Health Services launched a new dashboard looking at real-time and historical respiratory virus cases. (Jenkins, 1/22)

The Washington Post: Can’t Stop Coughing? Persistent Cough Has Made This Virus Season Exhausting.
Coughs are common during every winter virus season. But this year it seems like more people than usual are complaining about a cough that just won’t go away. Cathy Conger, 60, who works at a vintage furniture store in Washington, said she’s had a persistent cough for a month now after traveling over the holidays. She often wakes up coughing in the middle of the night. “I’m probably going to just keep the bowl of cough drops by my bed,” she said. (Amenabar, 1/22)

ABC News: Why Americans May Be At Risk Of Heart Problems As COVID, Flu Spread: Expert
As a surge of respiratory viruses, including COVID-19 and influenza, continue to spread across the United States, experts are warning it could lead to a rise in cardiovascular complications. ... Dr. Deepak Bhatt, director of Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital in New York City, said there are two potential routes by which these infections can contribute to heart problems. "The more common pathway is if somebody gets really sick, say with influenza, running a high fever or getting dehydrated, getting hospitalized because of complications of influenza," he told ABC News. "That's a setup for having heart problems." (Kekatos, 1/22)

CIDRAP: CDC Warns About RSV Vaccine Administration Errors In Babies, Pregnant Women
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today warned clinicians about errors in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) administration in young children and pregnant women, which follows the release of two newly approved RSV vaccines for adults and an injectable RSV monoclonal antibody preventive called nirsevimab (Beyfortus) for babies and young children. The events involving children younger than 2 years old who received Pfizer's Abrysvo or GSK's Arexvy were rare, with 25 such cases reported. Most occurred in babies younger than 8 months and in outpatient settings. Meanwhile, about 128 instances of pregnant women mistakenly getting Arexvy were reported, also most commonly reported in outpatient settings, including pharmacies. Abrysvo is the only RSV vaccine recommended for pregnant women as a tool for protecting young babies from RSV infection. (Schnirring, 1/23)

CBS News: Exclusive: New York City Accounted For 10% Of All Fentanyl Seized In U.S. In 2023
The battle to keep fentanyl off New York City streets continues. Federal agents seized the highest amount of fentanyl ever in the Big Apple last year. And of all the fentanyl seized in the United States last year, New York City accounted for 10% of it. CBS New York recently sat down for an exclusively interview with the Drug Enforcement Administration's Special Agent in Charge. "This has been the biggest drug threat we have ever seen in the history of DEA," Frank Tarentino said. (Bisram, 1/22)

Asheville Watchdog: Asheville Hospital Poses Threat To Patients' Health, Says State Report
Mission Hospital risks losing Medicare and Medicaid funding because of deficiencies in care that were so severe, state inspectors concluded last month, that they “posed immediate jeopardy to patients’ health and safety,” Asheville Watchdog has learned. “Immediate jeopardy” is the most serious deficiency possible for a hospital. (Jones, 1/23)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: HUP Cedar Patient Waited Four Days For Broken Wrist Treatment
A patient who came to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania-Cedar Avenue unable to move the thumb on their swollen, lacerated hand waited four days for doctors to splint the broken bone. ... State inspectors cited HUP-Cedar for an “unacceptable delay” in emergency care, noting it could have led to further injury and increased the patient’s risk of death in an inspection report released earlier this month. (Gantz, 1/22)

Modern Healthcare: Hospital Sisters Health System To Close 2 Wisconsin Locations
Hospital Sisters Health System is closing two hospitals in Western Wisconsin due to “prolonged operational and financial stress,” as well as other lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the system announced Monday. Prevea Health, a physician network that partners with the health system to provide primary and specialty care services, will also close its locations across Chippewa Valley. About 1,400 clinicians and support staff employed by Hospital Sisters Health System and Prevea Health will be affected by the closures. (Devereaux, 1/22)

Modern Healthcare: Intermountain’s Saltzer Health To Close Unless Buyer Is Found
Intermountain Healthcare may shutter a network of clinics within weeks if no one steps up to take it over. Saltzer Health of Nampa, Idaho, will close March 29 absent a buyer, the provider announced in a news release Thursday. The multispecialty medical practice, which Intermountain acquired in 2020, has struggled to surmount financial challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, the news release said. (DeSilva, 1/22)

Modern Healthcare: Bon Secours Mercy Health Sued Over Data Breach
A lawsuit related to a wide-ranging healthcare data breach affecting nearly 9 million people last year has been filed against Bon Secours Mercy Health System and Perry Johnson & Associates, a third-party transcription services provider. The suit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Nevada, stems from a data breach that occurred between March and May 2023. (DeSilva, 1/22)

CBS News: Antitrust Lawsuit Against UPMC Alleges Monopoly Status Stifles Wages And Services
A former nurse has filed an antitrust class action lawsuit against UPMC that she hopes will ultimately include all the health system's nurses. The accusation is straightforward: by acquiring 28 health care systems over at least two decades, UPMC has become a monopoly, eliminating competition so they can dictate wage scales and cut health care services. "UPMC has a monopoly in western Pennsylvania, where through their acquisitions, they control the market," said Daniel Levin, the attorney for former UPMC nurse Victoria Ross. (Delano, 1/22)

Stat: Sanofi To Acquire U.S. Biotech Inhibrx In $2.2 Billion Deal
In a bid to expand its pipeline of inflammation-targeting drugs, Sanofi said Tuesday it was acquiring California-based Inhibrx in a deal worth up to $2.2 billion. The core of the deal is Inhibrx’s experimental therapy for AATD, a disease that progressively damages the lungs and liver. (Joseph, 1/23)

Bloomberg: Samsung Races Apple On No-Prick Glucose, Blood Pressure Monitoring Devices 
Samsung Electronics Co. is exploring the development of noninvasive glucose monitoring and continuous blood pressure checking, setting its sights on ambitious health-care goals in a race with Apple Inc. and other tech giants. The work is part of a broader push to put health features in a range of devices, including its just-announced Galaxy Ring, said Samsung executive Hon Pak, who is overseeing the effort. The company aims to eventually give consumers a complete picture of their well-being via sensors on different parts of the body and around the home. (Gurman and Lee, 1/22)

North Carolina Health News: Medicaid Expansion Bringing Swift Benefits 
Lori Kelley was decorating her Concord home for Christmas when she pierced her finger on a shard of glass from a broken ornament. It seemed like a minor injury at first. Kelley wasn’t in pain, and the glass hadn’t cut deeply enough to draw blood. “I totally ignored it,” she said. Two days later, she was hospitalized with a “horrible” bacterial infection that required surgery. Her procedure was covered thanks to Medicaid expansion. (Baxley, 1/23)

The Washington Post: Mother Of Oxford School Shooter Faces Trial Tuesday In Historic Prosecution
Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of the Oxford, Mich., teen who killed four students in 2021, heads to trial Tuesday in a high-profile case that marks the first time parents of a school shooter have faced involuntary manslaughter charges related to their child’s crime. The Crumbley parents acknowledge that they bought their son a gun in the days before the Nov. 30, 2021, shooting at Oxford High School, but they are not accused of knowing about their son’s plan. Prosecutors say the parents gave their son access to a deadly weapon while ignoring his mental health struggles, including ones raised by his teachers on the day of the shooting. (Bellware, 1/22)

NPR: 'We Don't Want To Be First Place.' Wyoming Tries To Address High Gun Suicide Rates
Some patients resist getting more treatment because they're afraid their guns will be confiscated. This is the reality of suicide prevention work in a state with one of the highest gun ownership rates in the United States. For most of the last decade, Wyoming has also had one of the highest suicide rates and, specifically, high gun suicide rates. Firearms are used in roughly 75% of suicides in the Cowboy State, compared with just over 50% nationally. (Siegler, 1/23)

Modern Healthcare: Talkspace, American Federation Of Teachers Union Form Partnership
Talkspace said it is partnering with the American Federation of Teachers to offer therapy and other mental health resources to union members. The partnership between the digital behavioral health company and the union representing 1.7 million workers including teachers, nurses and retirees exemplifies a strategy priority for the company this year, said Natalie Cummins, Talkspace's chief business officer. (DeSilva, 1/22)

The Boston Globe: In D.C. Speech, Cardinal Sean O’Malley Denounces Physician-Assisted Suicide
Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, the head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, condemned physician-assisted suicide at a conference concerning the value of human life over the weekend in Washington, D.C., according to a Catholic news service. O’Malley forewarned that “the next major assaults” on the value of life over the next quarter-century “are going to come from those pushing physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia,” according to OSV News. An archdiocese spokesperson confirmed the report as accurate on Monday. (McDonald, 1/22)

The Hill: Texas Petitioned At United Nations Over Laws Targeting LGBTQ Communities 
At least seven laws passed by Texas legislators and signed by the governor last year target LGBTQ people in violation of federal and international human rights law, four LGBTQ advocacy groups wrote Monday in a petition to the United Nations. The groups in a joint letter of allegation submitted Monday to 17 independent experts, working groups and special rapporteurs at the U.N. wrote that Texas leaders during the state’s last legislative session intentionally targeted the LGBTQ community through hostile laws that have upended the lives of LGBTQ Texans. (Migdon, 1/22)

WUFT: Preventing Cognitive Decline May Start With Treating Hearing Loss
Myra Kinnnie, an Ocoee resident, uses hearing aids. Every morning, she toasts a plain bagel from a local shop in her kitchen, and watches TV. However, hearing loss has stripped away the enjoyment of these activities. She can no longer hear the toaster oven or TV. Kinnie says her family has dealt with hearing loss for generations. (Mason, 1/22)

The Washington Post: Weighted Baby Blanket Are Unsafe, Pediatricians Warn 
Weighted blankets have become popular with adults suffering from insomnia or anxiety, who say the product’s comforting pressure makes sleep come more easily. But some companies, including Nested Bean and Dreamland Baby, are now marketing weighted sleep products — including wearable blankets and swaddles — for babies, even newborns. That’s raising alarm among pediatricians and many product safety experts, including those at Consumer Reports, who say that these products are being sold with no safety standards in place and little to no evidence that they’re safe. (Kirchner, 1/22)

CBS News: Cantaloupe-Linked Salmonella Outbreak That Killed 6 People Is Over, CDC Says
A deadly salmonella outbreak linked to cantaloupes has ended, the CDC said. The statement comes after health officials in recent weeks issued a flurry of warnings and recalls over the melons. The CDC said on Friday that cantaloupes recalled in connection with the bacteria outbreak had passed their use-by-dates and were no longer for sale. Sweeping recalls of whole and pre-sliced cantaloupes from brands such as Malichita and Rudy began last November, with major grocers such as Kroger, Trader Joe's and Walmart also pulling melons from their shelves, according to the CDC. (Napolitano, 1/22)

AP: Millions In The UK Are Being Urged To Get Vaccinations During A Surge In Measles Cases 
U.K. health officials on Monday urged millions of parents to book their children for missed measles, mumps and rubella shots during a sharp increase in the number of measles cases and the lowest vaccination rates in a decade. The National Health Service is launching a publicity campaign after figures showed there were about 250 confirmed measles cases in parts of England last year. Most cases were in children under 10 years old. (1/22)