First Edition: January 13, 2023

KHN: Why People Who Experience Severe Nausea During Pregnancy Often Go Untreated
Mineka Furtch wasn’t bothered by the idea of morning sickness after going through a miscarriage and the roller coaster of fertility medication before she finally became pregnant with her son. (Houghton, 1/13)

KHN: California Attorney General Sues Drugmakers Over Inflated Insulin Prices
California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Thursday sued the six major companies that dominate the U.S. insulin market, ratcheting up the state’s assault on a profitable industry for artificially jacking up prices and making the indispensable drug less accessible for diabetes patients. (Hart and Young, 1/12)

KHN: Ending Involuntary Commitments Would Shift Burden Of Dementia Care To Strapped Communities
State lawmakers from both parties have shown support for a plan to stop the practice of committing people with Alzheimer’s disease, other types of dementia, or traumatic brain injuries without their consent to the troubled Montana State Hospital and instead direct them to treatment in their communities. (Larson, 1/13)

KHN: Ask Voters Directly, And Abortion Rights Wins Most Ballot Fights
This is shaping up as a critical year in the country’s battle over abortion rights, as both sides struggle to define a new status quo after the Supreme Court struck down the nearly half-century-old constitutional right last year. (Rovner, 1/13)

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Cancer Death Rate Has Dropped By A Third Since 1991
The American Cancer Society said Thursday that changes in preventive measures and screening in the past decade drove important trends in U.S. cancer incidence and outcomes. Cervical cancer rates dropped 65% from 2012 to 2019 among women in their early 20s after a generation of young women were vaccinated against human papillomavirus, or HPV, for the first time. (Abbott, 1/12)

NBC News: More Men Diagnosed With Advanced Prostate Cancer As PSA Testing Drops
More men are being diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer that is less likely to respond to treatments, a new study from the American Cancer Society suggests. (Carroll, 1/12)

Fortune: The ‘Gryphon’ Family Of COVID Variants Is Off The Leash And Spreading Globally—But Their Bark May Be A Lot Worse Than Their Bite
You may remember the XBB variant that took Singapore by storm last fall—one of the most immune-evasive yet. Dubbed “Gryphon” by the Canadian biology professor Ryan Gregory—who has a lot more names like it for other variants—after the mythical amalgamation of eagle and lion, it’s less of a global player than it was then. Now its descendants are battling for dominance throughout the world. Experts are keeping a close eye in particular on (the also Gregory-monikered) “Kraken” XBB.1.5, due to its ability to grow at a breakneck pace. (Prater, 1/12)

San Francisco Chronicle: COVID XBB.1.5 Variant Spreads In California. Here's What To Know
As the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic nears an end, the coronavirus continues to evolve and prove that it has more tricks up its sleeve. The highly contagious XBB.1.5 strain, the latest in a succession of omicron subvariants that was first detected in the U.S. in October, is quickly spreading. (Hwang, 1/11)

The Washington Post: Covid Winter Surges To Continue For Years, Pushing Hospitals To Their Limits
As the United States enters its third full covid winter, a top administration official is warning that the permanence of the coronavirus in the disease landscape could mean brutal and long-lasting seasonal surges of cold-weather illnesses for years to come, resulting in hospitals struggling to care for non-covid emergencies and unable to give patients timely, lifesaving treatments. (Sun and Achenbach, 1/12)

AP: Appeals Court Rules Against Vaccine Mandate In 3 States
An appeals court has affirmed a ban in three states on enforcing a federal vaccine mandate for workers who contract with the federal government. A panel of the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati on Thursday affirmed a lower court’s ruling that said the mandate was unconstitutional. President Joe Biden’s administration is not enforcing the rule while legal battles play out around the country. (1/12)

The 19th: COVID Booster Rates In Nursing Homes Remain Low, New AARP Data Shows
Older adults, particularly those living in nursing homes, are bearing the brunt of the current winter COVID wave in the United States, but booster rates among nursing home residents and staff remain low, according to new data from AARP. (Luterman, 1/12)

Reuters: China COVID Peak To Last 2-3 Months, Hit Rural Areas Next -Expert
The peak of China's COVID-19 wave is expected to last two to three months, and will soon swell over the vast countryside where medical resources are relatively scarce, a top Chinese epidemiologist has said. (Orr and Zhang, 1/13)

Roll Call: With Floor Votes, GOP House Shifts Messaging After Roe Changes
The House Wednesday approved two measures prioritized by abortion opponents ahead of a key messaging event, though neither piece of legislation is likely to be taken up by the Democrat-controlled Senate. Both chambers will be in recess next week when thousands of activists are slated to gather in Washington, D.C., for the March for Life, an annual rally and crucial messaging opportunity for those who oppose abortion. (Raman, 1/12)

AP: Stricter Medicaid Abortion Process Up For Debate In Montana
Officials in Republican-controlled Montana on Thursday heard comments against a health department proposal to require prior authorization to pay for abortions for Medicaid patients. Critics say the proposal would unnecessarily reduce access and delay or even prevent abortion care for low-income women. (Beth Hanson, 1/13)

Associated Press: Wisconsin Republicans Block Ban On ‘Conversion Therapy’ 
Wisconsin Republicans voted Thursday to again allow therapists, social workers and counselors to try to change LGBTQ clients’ gender identities and sexual orientations — a discredited practice known as conversion therapy. (Venhuizen, 1/12)

The Hill: Massachusetts Democrats Ask J&J For Answers On Children’s Medicine Shortage
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), along with Democratic Reps. Ayanna Pressley, Katherine Clark and Lori Trahan, issued their letter to Joaquin Duato, CEO and chairman of the board for Johnson & Johnson. “Our constituents across Massachusetts are experiencing a shortage of infant and children’s Tylenol and Motrin products as this challenging cold and flu season rages on, compounded by a surge of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and COVID-19,” they wrote. (Choi, 1/12)

The Hill: Health Care — GOP Divided Over Possible Entitlement Cuts 
House Republicans are divided over cuts to Medicare and Social Security, setting up what could be a fierce internal clash over the future of the nation’s top safety net programs when Congress delves into budget fights later in the year. (Weixel and Choi, 1/12)

AP: DeSantis Announces Prescription Drug Legislation
Florida will seek to provide consumers more flexibility in buying prescription drugs and more information about their costs under a legislative proposal that Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday he will ask lawmakers to approve. (1/12)

Stat: Loan Repayment Program Seeks To Bolster Infectious Disease Field
As part of the $1.7 trillion government spending bill that President Biden signed late last year, Congress authorized a pilot loan repayment program for people who work in infectious diseases and health emergency response — an incentive that advocates say could attract more people to the lagging fields. (Joseph, 1/13)

Politico: EPA Eyes Siding With Industry On Controversial Plastic
The proposal is in response to a petition from the Center for Biological Diversity, which has repeatedly pushed EPA to crack down on PVC, which has been linked to a range of health risks. But in its response, the agency said the group's petition "does not provide sufficient evidence" that regulating PVC as hazardous waste would have a meaningful impact on reducing exposure to phthalates. (Crunden, 1/12)

Politico: Suit Alleges EPA Foot-Dragging On Soot Compliance
In a federal lawsuit filed Thursday, the two groups said that the agency has yet to act on a California cleanup plan for the Los Angeles area some six years after it was submitted; they allege that a decision is also unlawfully past due on whether Allegheny County, Pa., now meets the annual standard of 12 micrograms per cubic meter of air. In the suit, they ask a federal judge to set deadlines for final action on both. (Reilly, 1/12)

AP: Maine CDC Head Who Led COVID-19 Response Leaves For Fed Post
Dr. Nirav Shah, the director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention who became the face of the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, is leaving for a high-ranking post in federal disease control, officials said Thursday. Shah, who has been with the state since 2019, has been appointed principal deputy director at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and will take over that role in March, Democratic Gov. Janet Mills said. Shah will be second in the CDC’s hierarchy under Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky. (Whittle, 1/12)

Reuters: U.S. CDC Appoints Maine's Nirav Shah As Second-In-Command
Shah joined Maine CDC in June 2019 and led its efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. He will replace Debra Houry, who joined in 2021, and will report to U.S. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky. His appointment, which comes a day after the United States extended COVID-19's status as a public health emergency, is part of a broader ongoing revamp of the agency's structure. (1/12)

The Hill: Sanders Bans ‘Latinx’ On First Day As Arkansas Governor
The former Trump White House press secretary signed seven orders on her first day as governor on Tuesday, generally focused on red-meat issues like “Latinx,” the use of TikTok on government devices and a review on the teaching of critical race theory in schools. (Bernal, 1/12)

CBS News: U.S. Birth Rates Drop As Women Wait To Have Babies 
American women are having fewer babies, and they're having them later in life, government figures released Tuesday show. Data collected by the National Center for Health Statistics — the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's statistic arm — showed a sharp decline in fertility rates in recent years, with most women having an average of 1.3 babies and an increasing percentage giving birth at age 35 or older. (Tabachnick, 1/12)

CIDRAP: US Lifts Screening Of Ugandan Arrivals After Ebola Outbreak Declared Over
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday said screening of travelers from Uganda to the United States has ceased after Ugandan officials declared the Ebola outbreak in their country over yesterday. Two 21-day incubation periods had passed since the last case was reported in November. (Wappes, 1/12)

CIDRAP: Data Provide More Evidence That Breastfeeding Moms' COVID Vaccination Protects Babies
A small new study—this one analyzing antibodies in infants' stool samples—provides further evidence that the breast milk of women vaccinated against COVID-19 may help protect babies who are too young to receive the vaccine, according to findings published today in the Journal of Perinatology. (Wappes, 1/12)

CNN: Aging Can Be Reversed In Mice. Are People Next?
In Boston labs, old, blind mice have regained their eyesight, developed smarter, younger brains and built healthier muscle and kidney tissue. On the flip side, young mice have prematurely aged, with devastating results to nearly every tissue in their bodies. The experiments show aging is a reversible process, capable of being driven “forwards and backwards at will,” said anti-aging expert David Sinclair, a professor of genetics in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School and codirector of the Paul F. Glenn Center for Biology of Aging Research. (LaMotte, 1/12)

CIDRAP: Study Says Most Long-COVID Symptoms Resolve By 1 Year After Mild Cases, But Experts Not So Sure
A large study published yesterday in BMJ concludes that long-COVID symptoms in patients who had mild infections resolved within a year, but some physicians say the research design was flawed, and the findings don't match their clinical experiences, could provide false assurance, and may have unintended consequences for those with persistent symptoms. (Van Beusekom, 1/12)

CIDRAP: Paying People To Take COVID Vaccine Worked Well, Study Finds
A study finds that paying people to take a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine didn't lower the likelihood of seeking the second or third dose or of other positive health behaviors and didn't erode morals, sense of civic duty, or feelings of self-determination. (Van Beusekom, 1/12)

AP: Even As NY Nurses Return To Work, More Strikes Could Follow
Even as 7,000 nurses return to work at two of New York’s busiest hospitals after a three-day strike, colleagues around the country say it’s just a matter of time before frontline workers at other hospitals begin walking the picket line. (Seitz, 1/13)

NBC News: Some Workers At U.S. Hospital Giant HCA Say It Puts Profits Above Patient Care
HCA is a health care juggernaut, employing 284,000 people in 182 hospitals and 125 surgery centers across the country and in the U.K. Operating in 20 U.S. states, HCA generated almost $7 billion in earnings in 2021, double that of the prior year, securities filings show. In the first nine months of last year, it earned $4.2 billion. (Morgenson, Peel and McFadden, 1/12)

The Hill: Nurse Fired For Refusing To Prescribe Birth Control Sues CVS
A former CVS employee filed a lawsuit against the company Wednesday for allegedly violating her religious beliefs after she was fired for refusing to prescribe birth control. (Sforza, 1/12)

Modern Healthcare: New MetroHealth CEO Airica Steed Targets Health Inequity 
New MetroHealth CEO Airica Steed looks to narrow healthcare disparities as the Cleveland-based nonprofit health system restructures after firing its former chief executive. (Kacik, 1/12)

Boston Globe: Former Takeda Worker Accused Of $2.3 Million Scam Of Drug Firm
A high-ranking former technology employee at Takeda Pharmaceutical’s US headquarters in Massachusetts and her boyfriend were arrested Wednesday on federal charges for allegedly setting up a fake consulting firm that defrauded the Japanese drug giant of about $2.3 million. (Saltzman, 1/12)

Stat: Regeneron's George Yancopoulos Admits Regret, But ‘I Don’t Apologize’
George Yancopoulos isn’t apologizing. The president and chief scientist of Regeneron was booed on stage and received a round of bad headlines last month, after he erupted at CNBC reporter Bertha Coombs for trying to ask him and other panelists at a Milken Institute summit how the health care system would ensure access “when” there was a cure for Alzheimer’s. (Mast, 1/12)

Axios: 3 Takeaways From JP Morgan
A very soggy edition of the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference, better known as JPM, wrapped up Thursday in San Francisco after filling downtown eateries and crowding hotel lobbies all week. The annual health care takeover of San Francisco is arguably still the most influential gathering in the business, offering a chance for investors to get a pulse on the upcoming year and for health execs to humblebrag about how many meetings they squeezed in. (Dreher, 1/13)

AP: McConnell: Funding To Support School Safety, Mental Health
A federal agency will provide more than $2.3 million to two Kentucky organizations to support school safety and mental health, U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell said. The Department of Health and Human Services is awarding more than $2 million to the Kentucky Educational Development Finance Corporation in Ashland and $250,000 to Seven Counties Services Inc., based in Louisville, the senator announced Thursday. (1/13)

AP: N. Carolina Auditor, Medical Board Clash Over Review Results
North Carolina’s state auditor and the panel that disciplines physicians clashed over a performance review released Thursday in which auditors said they were hamstrung scrutinizing how the state Medical Board handled provider complaints because the panel denied them information. (Robertson, 1/12)

AP: Kansas Governor Learns COVID Test Gave Her False Positive
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly plans to return Friday to the Statehouse after learning that a COVID-19 test earlier in the week gave her a false positive result, her office said. (1/12)