First Edition: July 18, 2023

KFF Health News: The Goddess Of Smallpox 
In the mid-’60s, the national campaign to eradicate smallpox in India was underway, but the virus was still widespread throughout the country. At the time, Dinesh Bhadani was a small boy living in Gaya, a city in the state of Bihar. (7/18)

The New York Times: RSV Shot Is Approved For Infants
The Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved a shot to protect infants and vulnerable toddlers against respiratory syncytial virus, or R.S.V., offering one of the first protections for an illness that fills children’s hospitals year after year. The monoclonal antibody shot is expected to be available at the start of the fall R.S.V. season. The F.D.A. is also considering approval of an R.S.V. vaccine by Pfizer for pregnant women that is meant to protect infants from the virus. (Jewett, 7/17)

The Washington Post: First RSV Antibody Treatment To Protect All Infants Approved In The U.S. 
The preventive shot, called Beyfortus, isn’t a vaccine, but it works in a similar way, delivering a temporary shield of protection that lasts for a single winter respiratory virus season. It is made up of laboratory-brewed antibodies that block the virus from entering cells. The drug can be given at birth to infants born during the RSV season, or administered in a pediatrician’s office to babies before their first winter respiratory virus season. The shot is also approved for high-risk children up to age 2. (Johnson, 7/17)

Reuters: Lilly Drug Slows Alzheimer's By 60% For Mildly Impaired Patients In Trial
Lilly's study showed that brain swelling, a known side effect of amyloid-clearing antibodies, occurred in more than 40% of patients with a genetic predisposition to develop Alzheimer's. The company had previously reported that 24% of the overall donanemab treatment group had brain swelling. Brain bleeding occurred in 31% of the donanemab group and about 14% of the placebo group. The deaths of three trial patients were linked to the treatment, researchers reported. (Beasley, 7/17)

The Washington Post: Eli Lilly’s Experimental Alzheimer’s Drug Slows Disease, Data Show
The trial outcomes were “the most positive we have seen,” said Howard Fillit, co-founder and chief science officer of the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes research on treatments for Alzheimer’s. He said therapies that target amyloid, as donanemab does, “will serve as the first line of defense in the arsenal of drugs needed to treat this disease,” and he predicted the Food and Drug Administration would approve the medication within months. (McGinley, 7/17)

AP: Second Alzheimer's Drug In Pipeline Can Slow The Disease By A Few Months But With Safety Risk
“Finally there’s some hope, right, that we can talk about,” Lilly’s Dr. John Sims told reporters Monday at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Amsterdam. “We don’t cure the disease,” he said. “Diabetes doesn’t have a cure either — it doesn’t mean you can’t have very meaningful treatments for patients.” (Neergaard, 7/17)

The Hill: Alzheimer’s Is Most Prevalent In East, Southeast, According To New Research 
Alzheimer’s disease is most prevalent in the east and southeast, according to new research published Monday that seeks to map out the disease on a state and county level. The prevalence of Alzeheimer’s in those regions is closely tied to demographics and age. (Fortinsky, 7/17)

The New York Times: Iowa Judge Temporarily Suspends New Abortion Ban 
On Friday, Iowa’s Republican governor signed a strict new abortion ban into law. And for three days, most abortions in Iowa were illegal past six weeks of pregnancy. Until Monday afternoon, when a district judge put the ban on hold. Joseph Seidlin, a district court judge in Polk County, said that the new ban would be suspended while the larger legal case against it moved forward. He said in his ruling that the plaintiffs who filed a lawsuit against the ban, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers, were likely to succeed on the merits of their case. (Edmonds, 7/17)

AP: Abortion In Iowa Is Legal Again, For Now, After A Judge Blocks New Restrictions
Abortion providers said they scrambled last week to fit in as many appointments as possible before the governor put pen to paper, preemptively making hundreds of calls to prepare patients for the uncertainty and keeping clinics open late. Reynolds swiftly put out a statement underscoring her intention to fight the issue all the way to the state Supreme Court. “The abortion industry’s attempt to thwart the will of Iowans and the voices of their elected representatives continues today,” she said. (Fingerhut, 7/17)

The Washington Post: Historic Heat Wave Engulfing Southern U.S. Isn't Moving Anytime Soon
The southern United States is in its third week of an extreme and stubborn heat wave that refuses to budge. It continues to set records as nearly 100 million Americans remain under heat alerts from South Florida to northern Nevada. The intensity of the heat wave probably peaked on Sunday in California’s Central Valley and the Desert Southwest. Temperatures climbed as high as 128 degrees in Death Valley and approached all-time records in Reno, Nev.; Las Vegas; Flagstaff, Ariz.; and Salt Lake City. Although temperatures won’t be quite as high in the Southwest in the coming days, it will still be dangerously hot, and more records could be set. (Cappucci, 7/17)

The Wall Street Journal: Millions Are Under Air-Quality Alerts Again As Canada Deploys Troops To Fight Wildfires
Millions of people from the Great Plains to the Northeast were under air-quality alerts Monday as smoke billowed into the U.S. again from Canadian wildfires that may continue to rage into the fall. (Lukpat, 7/17)

AP: Unhealthy Air Quality Lingers Across Parts Of U.S. From Drifting Canadian Wildfire Smoke
For Chicagoans planning a lengthy outdoor run Monday, “today is not necessarily the day for that,” according to Kim Biggs of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. Extensive swaths of the northern United States awoke to unhealthy air quality Monday morning or were experiencing it by midafternoon, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s AirNow.gov Smoke and Fire map. (Savage, 7/17)

The New York Times: A Positive Covid Milestone
The United States has reached a milestone in the long struggle against Covid: The total number of Americans dying each day — from any cause — is no longer historically abnormal. Excess deaths, as this number is known, has been an important measure of Covid’s true toll because it does not depend on the murky attribution of deaths to a specific cause. Even if Covid is being underdiagnosed, the excess-deaths statistic can capture its effects. The statistic also captures Covid’s indirect effects, like the surge of vehicle crashes, gun deaths and deaths from missed medical treatments during the pandemic. (Leonhardt, 7/17)

AP: House Republicans Propose Planting A Trillion Trees As They Move Away From Climate Change Denial
As Speaker Kevin McCarthy visited a natural gas drilling site in northeast Ohio to promote House Republicans’ plan to sharply increase domestic production of energy from fossil fuels last month, the signs of rising global temperatures could not be ignored. Smoke from Canadian wildfires hung in the air. When the speaker was asked about climate change and forest fires, he was ready with a response: Plant a trillion trees. (Groves, 7/18)

Reuters: CMS Proposes Broader Coverage Of PET Scans For Alzheimer's Patients
The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Monday proposed a broader coverage for a type of brain scan, used to identify a key Alzheimer's disease protein, that will be needed for doctors to determine whether patients are eligible for newly developed drugs. The agency proposes to remove the once-per-lifetime limit on beta amyloid PET scans that restricted their use to clinical trials. The changes will permit Medicare beneficiaries to seek reimbursement for the tests. (7/17)

Los Angeles Times: Blinken Condemns GOP Senators Blocking Diplomatic Nominations Over Abortion, Transgender Healthcare
The diplomatic delays come as hundreds of U.S. military promotions — including the appointment of the commander of the Marine Corps, leaving an acting leader in charge for the first time in more than 100 years — blocked by a single Republican senator from Alabama, former football coach Tommy Tuberville. He objects to the Defense Department’s efforts to provide reproductive and gender-affirming care to service members. “By failing to confirm these nominees, a handful of senators are keeping our best players on the sidelines,” Blinken said. (Wilkinson, 7/17)

Stat: Medicare Has A New Plan To Address Drug Shortages — But It Could Backfire
Medicare has a new proposal to pay hospitals more to stockpile essential drugs — an idea that comes as doctors report running low on critical chemotherapies and other drugs. But experts caution the policy could cause the very shortages that government officials are trying to avoid. For years most of the solutions for addressing drug shortages have involved giving the Food and Drug Administration more power. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Congress empowered the FDA to make drug companies create backup plans for manufacturing facility interruptions, and to collect information from drug makers on where they source ingredients. (Wilkerson, 7/18)

AP: South Dakota Governor Prods Washington To Address National Drug Shortages 
As the U.S. struggles with prescription drug shortages, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has advanced a modest plan that she hopes will prod Washington to take decisive action to address weaknesses in the international pharmaceutical supply chain. Noem told reporters at a pharmacy in Sioux Falls last week that her state will expand its stockpiles of certain medications that have been in short supply. The Republican former congresswoman also used the occasion to turn up the heat on the federal Food and Drug Administration, urging the agency to make the U.S. less dependent on foreign suppliers like China and India. (Karnowski, 7/17)

Politico: Winners And Losers In The Physician Fee Schedule
CMS released its highly anticipated proposed physician fee schedule last week, and it quickly drew applause — and scorn — from industry groups. The 1,920-page document lays out how the agency proposes to pay doctors in the Medicare system in 2024. CMS touted it as a win for health equity, price transparency and behavioral health. (Leonard and Payne, 7/17)

Modern Healthcare: Joint Commission CEO Discusses Forthcoming Revisions To Standards
The Joint Commission is staying busy. The accrediting organization is in the process of overhauling its standards, with the aim of refocusing hospital safety and quality goals and decreasing administrative burden on providers. So far, it has retired 14% of its quality standards, with more revisions set to be announced this week. President and CEO Dr. Jonathan Perlin joined Modern Healthcare to discuss the ongoing review process. (Hartnett, 7/17)

Politico: OSHA Revives Obama-Era Workplace Injury Reporting Requirements
The Labor Department will require large employers in certain high-risk industries to electronically file injury and illness reports to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, starting next year. The agency intends to use this information for “strategic outreach and enforcement” to reduce harm to workers, OSHA head Doug Parker said in a statement Monday. (Niedzwiadek, 7/17)

The Wall Street Journal: Environmental Groups Ask EPA To Shield Public From Abandoned Lead Cables
Agency is urged to take action following WSJ investigation into toxic lead cables left behind by telecom companies. (Ramachandran and Pulliam, 7/17)

Bloomberg: Verizon Starts Testing Of Potential Lead Contamination Sites
With its shares tumbling to their lowest in 13 years, Verizon Communications Inc. is launching an investigation to help clarify the extent of potential lead contamination that may be related to its aging phone cables. Verizon is testing various sites where lead was reported to be leaching into the ground from wiring dating back to the early 20th century. (Mortiz, 7/17)

USA Today: CDC Report: Toxic Algae Are Causing Illnesses In People, Pets
A new federal report says more people and animals, including beloved pets, are getting sick from exposure to toxic algae that forms in natural waterbodies across the country. While there have been no human deaths, animals have died from the toxic effects, the report shows. (Nguyen and Waymer, 7/17)

Stateline: Harm Of Anti-LGBTQ Laws Includes Economic Pain For Communities, Families
Roberto Che Espinoza had been thinking about leaving Tennessee after the 2024 election, but in June they noticed that the state attorney general was seeking medical records on gender-affirming medical care, which Espinoza, a nonbinary transgender man, said included their own records. “Being on any kind of list … I knew after the release of those records that this is not good,” Espinoza said. (Quinlan, 7/17)

CIDRAP: WHO Weighs In On Risks From H5N1 Avian Flu In Polish Pet Cats
In a statement yesterday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said the surveillance of human contact of cats infected with H5N1 avian flu in Poland has wrapped up, and none have reported symptoms, and it put the risk as low to moderate for cat owners and those, such as veterinarians, who have occupational exposure. (Schnirring, 7/17)

Newsweek: Scientists Discover Link Between Brain And Weight Gain
How does a high-fat diet affect your brain? Researchers from Canada's Memorial University have identified an inflammatory pathway in the brain linking high-fat diets to the activation of appetite-promoting neurons. "Scientists have known for a while that high-fat foods cause a low-intensity inflammation in the brain," Lisa Fang, the study's first author, told Newsweek. (Dewan, 7/17)

CIDRAP: Study Finds Kids' Obesity Increased During COVID-19
A new study based the body mass indexes (BMIs) of the residents of Monroe County, Indiana, shows the pandemic was tied to increased rates of severe obesity for children, with the greatest increase among those ages 5 to 11. The study is published in JAMA Network Open. (Soucheray, 7/17)

Reuters: BridgeBio's Heart Disease Drug Meets Late-Stage Study Goal, Shares Soar
BridgeBio Pharma Inc's (BBIO.O) experimental drug for a rare heart disease showed significant improvement in patients in a late-stage study, sending its shares surging 65% on Monday. The drug, acoramidis, is being developed to treat transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy in which abnormal deposits of a protein called amyloid buildup in the heart, and can cause heart failure. (Mandowara, 7/17)

CIDRAP: Trial Supports Use Of Direct Oral Challenge For Penicillin Allergy
A randomized clinical trial found that direct oral penicillin challenge in patients with a low-risk penicillin allergy was non-inferior to the standard-of-care skin test, investigators reported today in JAMA Internal Medicine. (Dall, 7/17)

CIDRAP: COVID Vaccine In Pregnancy Yields Antibody Responses In Moms, Babies For 6 Months
mRNA COVID-19 vaccines induced an antibody response in both mothers and babies for at least 6 months after birth, with no adverse outcomes, according to a single-center study published late last week in JAMA Network Open. (Van Beusekom, 7/17)

CIDRAP: Only 1 In 5 US Nursing Home Residents Given Monoclonal Antibodies, Antivirals For COVID
A new study published in JAMA finds that fewer than one in five US nursing home residents received evidenced-based treatment with monoclonal antibodies or oral antiviral drugs for COVID-19, despite being at high risk for poor outcomes. The rate had improved to one in four by late 2022. Researchers from the University of Rochester and Harvard used the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) National Healthcare Safety Network Nursing Home COVID-19 database to determine rates of monoclonal antibodies and oral antivirals among residents of all Medicare-certified nursing homes from May 31, 2021, to December 25, 2022. (Van Beusekom, 7/17)

CIDRAP: COVID-19 Vaccine Tied To Reduced Deaths In Seniors With Dementia
For the first time, researchers have calculated excess deaths among US dementia patients during the pandemic, and they found a reduction in excess mortality among long-term care residents after COVID-19 vaccines were made available. The study was published today in JAMA Neurology. (Soucheray, 7/17)

The Boston Globe: New App Allows People With Disabilities To Report And Respond To Abuse
A team at the University of Rhode Island has developed a new, free app that helps teach adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities how to recognize abuse and report it. R3: Recognize, Report and Respond is the brainchild of Krishna Venkatasubramanian, a computer science professor at the URI. It’s available through Apple and Amazon app stores for smartphones and tablets. (Gagosz, 7/17)

Modern Healthcare: HCA Data Breach Leads To Patient Lawsuits 
Lawsuits are trickling in against Nashville-based HCA Healthcare over a massive data breach that disclosed the personal information of nearly 11 million patients. Two lawsuits seeking class-action status were filed this week in the Middle District of Tennessee, alleging the publicly held health system failed to implement basic data security practices. Plaintiffs in both suits allege HCA negligently stored patient information and failed to abide by security guidelines outlined by the Federal Trade Commission and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. (Hartnett, 7/17)

Politico: Health + Hospitals Has Spent Over $2 Billion On Temporary Staff
NYC Health + Hospitals has spent at least $2 billion on temporary staff since the start of the pandemic, internal records show — a far higher sum than previously reported. The actual amount is certain to be even greater. That’s because the figure only reflects the municipal health system’s spending between September 2020 and March 2023, according to invoices obtained through a public records request by the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, a not-for-profit research organization, and shared exclusively with POLITICO. (Kaufman, 7/17)

Reuters: Novartis Raises 2023 Forecast, Maps Out Sandoz Spin-Off
Novartis on Tuesday raised its full-year earnings forecast on strong drug sales and mapped out the planned spin-off and stock market debut of its generic medicines division Sandoz for early October. The Swiss drugmaker said in a statement it expected group core operating income to grow by a "low double-digit" percentage in 2023, up from high single-digit growth previously projected. (Burger, 7/18)

Modern Healthcare: NextGen To Pay $31M To Settle False Claims Act Allegations
NextGen Healthcare agreed to pay $31 million to settle allegations that the electronic health record software developer offered kickbacks to attract users, among other alleged False Claims Act violations. (Kacik, 7/17)

Reuters: Medical Device Maker Masimo Forecasts Weak Quarterly Sales, Shares Fall
Masimo Corp (MASI.O) on Monday reported preliminary second-quarter sales below analysts' estimates due to weak performance at its healthcare segment, sending the medical device maker's shares down about 28% in after-market trading. The company forecast consolidated revenue for the second quarter between $453 million and $457 million, compared with estimates of $553.2 million, according to Refinitiv. (7/17)

Modern Healthcare: Ochsner, Novant To Build Primary Care Clinics In Southeast
Ochsner Health and Novant Health plan to to build clinics throughout the Southeast that will offer primary care, wellness programs and social services to older adults. The partnership between the two nonprofit health systems, branded as 65 Plus, will also offer social events, fitness centers and health coaching to encourage older adults to live more active lives as they age. The venture is the latest effort by providers and payers to capture the lucrative healthcare market of aging adults, including the large baby boomer generation. (Eastabrook, 7/17)

AP: Florida Family Accused Of Selling Fake COVID-19 Cure Through Online Church Goes On Trial In Miami
A Florida family accused of selling a toxic industrial bleach as a fake COVID-19 cure through their online church is on trial this week in Miami. Mark Grenon, 65, and his sons, 37-year-old Jonathan, 35-year-old Joseph and 29-year-old Jordan, are all charged with conspiring to defraud the United States and deliver misbranded drugs, according to court records. (7/18)

AP: Mississippi Sheriff Expects Great Hardship After Hospital Closes Inpatient Mental Health Unit
A hospital company has shut down the only inpatient mental health unit in western Mississippi’s Warren County, and the sheriff says the closure will cause major problems. Merit Health River Region’s behavioral health unit in Vicksburg closed June 30, and its 50 beds were transferred to Merit Health Central Mississippi in Jackson, the Vicksburg Post reported. The two hospitals are about 39 miles (63 kilometers) apart. (7/17)

Houston Chronicle: As Texas Oil Wells Leak Toxic Waste, No One Wants To Pay To Clean It
Mesquite waved in the breeze at Antina Ranch as well control specialist Hawk Dunlap dipped a stick into a hole in the ground and smelled it. “See?” he asked, extending the stick. It smelled like gasoline. (Drane, 7/17)