First Edition: January 12, 2023

KHN: Bleeding And In Pain, A Pregnant Woman In Louisiana Couldn’t Get Answers
When Kaitlyn Joshua found out she was pregnant in mid-August, she and her husband, Landon Joshua, were excited to have a second baby on the way. They have a 4-year-old daughter and thought that was just the right age to help with a younger sibling. At about six weeks pregnant, Joshua, 30, called a physician group in Baton Rouge. She wanted to make her first prenatal appointment there for around the eight-week mark, as she had in her first pregnancy. But Joshua said the woman on the line told her she was going to have to wait over a month. (Westwood, 1/12)

KHN: Despite Doctors’ Concerns, University Of California Renews Ties With Religious Affiliates
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, 1/12)

The New York Times: House Passes Bill That Could Subject Some Abortion Doctors To Prosecution
The bill would require that infants born alive after an attempted abortion receive the same protection under the law and degree of care as any newborn, and threaten medical providers with up to five years in prison for failing to resuscitate babies born alive during abortions.Live births during an abortion procedure are exceedingly rare, experts said, and federal law already requires that a baby who survives an attempted abortion receive emergency medical care. (Karni, 1/11)

AP: Republicans Push Anti-Abortion Measures With New Majority
The new GOP-led House passed one resolution to condemn attacks on anti-abortion facilities, including crisis pregnancy centers, and a separate bill that would impose new penalties if a doctor refused to care for an infant born alive after an abortion attempt. (Clare Jalonick, 1/10)

Politico: GOP Sticks To Its Abortion Playbook As House Acts
As POLITICO has reported, just 1 percent of abortions in the United States take place after 21 weeks of pregnancy, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And a CDC analysis of 12 years of data on live births found that just 143 occurred following an induced abortion out of more than 49 million births. In the vast majority of those cases, the infant survived less than a day. (Leonard, 1/11)

The Washington Post: Alabama Attorney General Says Women Could Be Prosecuted Over Abortion Pills
Alabama’s attorney general became the most prominent Republican official yet to suggest that pregnant women could be prosecuted for taking abortion pills, saying in recent days that a state ban targeting those who facilitate abortions does not preclude the state from seeking to penalize women under other existing laws. (Kitchener and Francis, 1/11)

AP: New Push To Restrict Abortions To Be Introduced In Nebraska
A Nebraska lawmaker who sponsored a failed total abortion ban last year announced Wednesday that she will introduce a new bill this week that would ban abortion once cardiac activity can be detected in an embryo, which is generally around the sixth week of pregnancy. (Beck, 1/11)

AP: Montana Seeking Prior Authorization For Medicaid Abortions
State officials in Republican-controlled Montana want to require prior authorization before its health department pays for abortions for people covered by Medicaid, a proposal critics say would reduce access and delay or even prevent abortion care for low-income women in the state. (Beth Hanson, 1/12)

AP: Wisconsin Republicans Look To Undo 'Conversion Therapy' Ban
Wisconsin Republicans planned to vote Thursday to again allow therapists, social workers and counselors to try to change their LGBTQ clients’ gender identities and sexual orientations, a practice known as conversion therapy. (Venhuizen, 1/12)

Fortune: The Kraken COVID Variant Isn’t Different Enough From Other Omicrons To Get A Greek Letter, WHO Official Says
New Omicron variant XBB.1.5, dubbed Kraken, doesn’t differ enough from other Omicron strains to warrant its own Greek letter, WHO officials said Wednesday. While Kraken, rapidly growing in the U.S., is “incredibly transmissible” and spreads faster than other circulating variants like BQ.1.1, it still belongs in the Omicron family, Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead for COVID-19 response at the WHO, said at a news conference. (Prater, 1/11)

Los Angeles Times: Will Omicron Subvariant XBB.1.5 Fuel California COVID Surge?
The latest Omicron subvariant — perhaps the most infectious yet — has gained a foothold in California, a potentially problematic development given the possibility of a post-holiday spike. However, it’s unclear whether the circulation of this latest strain, XBB.1.5, will alter the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Money and Lin II, 1/11)

The Washington Post: Boston University Coronavirus Experiment Reveals New Weak Spot In Omicron
A controversial coronavirus experiment at Boston University has identified a mutation in the omicron variant that might help explain why it doesn’t appear to be as likely to sicken or kill as the original strain that emerged in China. The finding could offer scientists a new target for designing therapies that limit the severity of covid. (Achenbach, 1/11)

Politico: Biden Admin Frustrated With Nursing Homes As Senior Vax Rates Languish And New Variant Spreads
State and federal health officials are frustrated that thousands of seniors have landed in the hospital with Covid-19 since the holidays — despite the widespread availability of a vaccine designed to prevent exactly that. (Messerly and Cancryn, 1/12)

NBC News: Some Free Covid Tests From Government Set To Expire Shortly
Nora Boydstun is diligent about checking expiration dates. So when she received her latest batch of four free at-home Covid tests from the U.S. government in December, she quickly noticed that their packages listed expiration dates in July or August 2022. (Bendix, 1/10)

NBC News: Younger, Healthy People Don't Need Another Covid Booster, Vaccine Expert Says
A key adviser to the Food and Drug Administration's vaccine panel is questioning whether more Covid booster shots are necessary for healthy, younger people. (Lovelace Jr, 1/11)

AP: Mississippi Reports 14th Death Of A Child Due To COVID-19
A 14th Mississippi child has died from COVID-19, the state’s department of health said Wednesday. The infant under the age of one was the most recent child to die in Mississippi. The child was the first person under 18 to die from COVID-19 in the state in 2023. (1/11)

The Washington Post: Bernie, On His Agenda For The Senate Health Panel
From the top of his new health perch, Sanders plans to instead push to move “very aggressively” on the high cost of prescription drugs, saying there’s an “incredible level of greed” within the pharmaceutical industry. And in an interview, he ticked off a list of broad areas he sees ripe for bipartisanship: lowering prescription drug prices, expanding primary care, bolstering the health workforce and beefing up rural health care. (Roubein and Beard, 1/11)

AP: Arkoosh To Lead Shapiro's Sprawling Human Services Agency
Dr. Val Arkoosh, an anesthesiologist who led Pennsylvania’s third-most populous county through the pandemic before mounting a failed run for U.S. Senate, will be nominated to lead the sprawling Department of Human Services under the incoming Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro. Wednesday’s announcement by Shapiro also included his picks to lead the departments of Health, Drug and Alcohol Programs, Aging and Insurance. (Levy, 1/11)

Politico: Biden Administration Lays Out Timeline For Initial Medicare Drug Price Negotiations
Once the list of 10 drugs is published, Medicare will go through the negotiation process with drug manufacturers in 2024, according to Brooks-LaSure. CMS expects to publish the established maximum fair price for the drugs in September 2024, which will take effect in January 2026. (Lim, 1/11)

Reuters: U.S. To Announce List Of Drugs For Pricing Negotiations Sept. 1
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers of Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) - which oversees Medicare and the negotiation process - announced the specific timeline for the first year of negotiations on Wednesday. It had previously said it would release the names of the 10 Part D high-spend brand name medicines that would be included in pricing negotiations in the fall of 2023. (Aboulenein, 1/12)

The New York Times: Jill Biden Has Surgery To Remove Two Cancerous Lesions
The White House physician, Dr. Kevin C. O’Connor, said in a statement that the tissue from two sites — above her right eye and on her chest — was tested and confirmed to be basal cell carcinoma, a common and relatively unaggressive form of skin cancer. All the cancerous tissue was removed, Dr. O’Connor said, and doctors did not expect any further procedures to be necessary. (Montague, 1/11)

Politico: Talk Of Gas Stove Rules Angers Manchin, Republicans
"The federal government has no business telling American families how to cook their dinner," Manchin said in a statement. "If this is the greatest concern that the Consumer Product Safety Commission has for American consumers, I think we need to reevaluate the commission." A peer-reviewed study released last month found that nearly 13 percent of childhood asthma rates in the United States are attributable to gas stove usage. (Portuondo and Wittenberg, 1/11)

The Wall Street Journal: Veterans Affairs Agency Waives Doctor Copays For Native Veterans
The Department of Veterans Affairs said it would waive all copays for eligible American Indian and Alaska Native veterans, in an effort to boost use of primary-care medicine among traditionally underserved populations. (Kesling, 1/11)

The New York Times: Obamacare Is Everywhere In The Unlikeliest Of Places: Miami 
Lídice Hernández opened an insurance agency last year on a busy street, affixing to the storefront a logo that has become deeply familiar in South Florida: a white sun rising over the red stripes of the American flag, all encased in a big, blue O.“Obamacare,” it read underneath. (Mazzei, 1/11)

Stat: Medicare Paves The Way For CAR-T In Doctors Offices
Medicare officials have taken a step toward making a cutting-edge cancer treatment called CAR T-cell therapy available in doctor offices, in anticipation of the procedure being used for increasingly common cancer types. (Wilkerson, 1/12)

Politico: Bill Seeking To Charge Retirees For Health Insurance Is Unlikely To Pass Council
Legislation backed by Mayor Eric Adams to charge municipal retirees, who don’t select the Medicare Advantage plan, is facing significant opposition in the City Council, the lawmakers told POLITICO. (Touré, 1/11)

Politico: Carcinogen Found In Products Used By People Of Color
Published this week, the study from Washington's environment and health departments found elevated amounts of formaldehyde in items including skin lotions and hair gels from brands like Herbal Essences and Pantene, many of them geared toward non-white users. Of the products tested by state regulators, more than half contained formaldehyde in levels about 200 parts per million (ppm) — or “high enough to cause allergic reactions in some individuals.” (Crunden, 1/11)

NBC News: Nearly 1 In 4 U.S. Hospitalized Patients Experience Harmful Events, Study Finds
Nearly 1 in 4 patients who are admitted to hospitals in the U.S. will experience harm, according to a study published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. (Sullivan, 1/11)

CIDRAP: Music Listeners Report Lower Stress, Better Mood Amid COVID Lockdowns
University of Vienna researchers used a smartphone app to prompt 711 adults to report data on their mood and stress levels while listening to music during strict lockdowns 5 times a day from Apr 1 to May 8, 2020. Participants used visual analog scales to report their emotions on a scale of 0 to 100, with 0 indicating "not at all" and 100 indicating "very much." (Van Beusekom, 1/11)

CIDRAP: More Evidence Of High Antibiotic Use, Low Prevalence Of Bacterial Co-Infection In COVID-19 Patients
A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies published during the first 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic provides further evidence that antibiotic use far exceeded the prevalence of bacterial co-infection, researchers reported this week in BMC Infectious Diseases. (Dall, 1/11)

CIDRAP: COVID-19 Pneumonia Outcomes Seem Similar To Those In Other Pneumonia Types
A Johns Hopkins study suggests that mechanically ventilated COVID-19 patients who have severe pneumonia and respiratory failure have similar outcomes as those who have other types of pneumonia but required mechanical ventilation longer. (Van Beusekom, 1/11)

Stat: Study: For Most Mild Infections, Long Covid Subsides After A Year
Since long Covid emerged, how best to define it, predict it, and treat it has been up for debate, but perhaps the most urgent question for patients and providers alike has been how long it lasts. A new study analyzing nearly 2 million patient records in Israel concludes that for most people, the troubling symptoms that persist after a mild Covid infection fade away after about a year. (Cooney, 1/11)

CBS News: Nursing Strike At Two Big NYC Hospitals Ends After Three Days 
A nursing strike that disrupted patient care at two of New York City's largest hospitals for three days is over. (1/12)

Modern Healthcare: Nonprofit Health Systems Move Past 'The Worst Of It' In 2023
Nonprofit healthcare systems are in for a tough year, but a Fitch Ratings report released Wednesday projects even the hardest-hit providers may start to see improvement in the coming months. (Hudson, 1/11)

Stat: Drastic Changes Should Bring Profitability, Startup Health Insurers Say 
Startup insurers Oscar Health, Bright Health, and Clover Health have hemorrhaged money since going public within the past two years. All three used their stage time at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference to make the case that their drastic decisions — like fully exiting some insurance markets — will deliver the profitability investors are demanding. (Bannow and Herman, 1/11)

Crain's Detroit Business: Blue Cross Of Michigan Antitrust Case Tossed By Federal Judge
Late last month, a federal judge dismissed an antitrust lawsuit against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, concluding the plaintiffs did not establish the Detroit-based insurer conspired to lower reimbursement. (Walsh, 1/11)

Stat: Medical Schools Are Missing The Mark On Artificial Intelligence
Ready or not, health care is undergoing a massive transformation driven by artificial intelligence. But medical schools have barely started to teach about AI and machine learning — creating knowledge gaps that could compound the damage caused by flawed algorithms and biased decision-support systems. (Palmer, 1/12)

Stat: BioNTech CEO: How MRNA, AI Can Power Personalized Medicine
When BioNTech was founded in 2008, messenger RNA therapies and vaccines were still an unproven idea. The German company has now shipped out billions of doses of its mRNA Covid-19 vaccine worldwide — and BioNTech’s leaders say that’s just the beginning of a larger revolution in medicine. (Wosen, 1/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Alphabet Unit Verily To Trim More Than 200 Jobs
Verily Life Sciences, a healthcare unit of Alphabet Inc. is laying off more than 200 employees as part of a broader reorganization, the first major staff reductions to hit Google’s parent following a wave of layoffs at other technology companies. (Kruppa, 1/11)

Reuters: Mark Cuban's Pharmaceuticals Startup Ties Up With RxPreferred
Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban's pharmaceuticals startup has tied up with pharmacy benefits manager RxPreferred Benefits, the companies said on Wednesday, in a move to offer lower priced drugs through some employer-backed health insurance plans. (1/11)

Reuters: U.S. Judge Rules Apple Watch Infringed Masimo's Pulse Oximeter Patent
A U.S. judge ruled that Apple (AAPL.O) had infringed on one of Masimo Corp's (MASI.O) pulse oximeter patents by importing and selling certain Apple Watches with light-based pulse oximetry functionality and components, Masimo said on Tuesday. The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) will now consider whether to implement an import ban on these Apple Watches, the medical device maker said. (1/11)

The New York Times: R.J. Reynolds Pivots To New Cigarette Pitches As Flavor Ban Takes Effect
The law prohibits flavors, odors or “tastes” in tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes. But antismoking experts argue that R.J. Reynolds, the maker of Camel and Newport brands, is trying to circumvent the ban by luring smokers with a suite of what it says are new non-menthol versions offering “a taste that satisfies the senses” and “a new fresh twist.” (Jewett and Baumgaertner, 1/11)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. County Declares State Of Emergency Over Homeless Crisis
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved an emergency declaration aimed at dramatically speeding up services to the tens of thousands of people living in encampments and vehicles. The declaration started the clock: County officials with the Homeless Initiative now have two weeks to report to the board exactly what parts of the county bureaucracy can be scrapped. (Ellis, 1/10)

AP: Police: Man Assaulted Iowa Hospital Patients Before He Died
A male nurse practitioner who died of a drug overdose at a private hospital in Iowa sexually assaulted at least nine female patients while they were sedated or unconscious, hospital and police officials said. (1/11)

Politico: New Jersey Could Get $508M From Nationwide Settlements Related To Opioid Crisis
New Jersey has joined nationwide settlement agreements with multiple pharmacy chains and drug makers to resolve claims related to the opioid crisis, Attorney General Matthew Platkin announced Wednesday. (Petrow-Cohen, 1/11)