First Edition: July 18, 2024

KFF Health News: Tennessee Agrees To Remove Sex Workers With HIV From Sex Offender Registry
The Tennessee government has agreed to begin scrubbing its sex offender registry of dozens of people who were convicted of prostitution while having HIV, reversing a practice that federal lawsuits have challenged as draconian and discriminatory. For more than three decades, Tennessee’s “aggravated prostitution” laws have made prostitution a misdemeanor for most sex workers but a felony for those who are HIV-positive. (Kelman, 7/17)

KFF Health News: Montana’s Plan To Curb Opioid Overdoses Includes Vending Machines
Before she stopped using drugs for good, Cierra Coon estimates that she overdosed eight times in a span of two weeks in the fall of 2022. One of those times, the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone helped save her life. She was riding in a car on the back roads of the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana when she lost consciousness. Someone in the car grabbed a small bottle of naloxone, sprayed it up her nose, and performed CPR until she came to. Coon said having quick access to the overdose reversal agent, also known by the brand name Narcan, was incredibly lucky. (Silvers, 7/18)

KFF Health News: Trump Is Wrong In Claiming Full Credit For Lowering Insulin Prices
Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that he — and not President Joe Biden — deserves credit for lowering older Americans’ prescription drug prices, specifically for insulin. In a June 8 post on Truth Social, the former president’s social platform, Trump wrote: “Low INSULIN PRICING was gotten for millions of Americans by me, and the Trump Administration, not by Crooked Joe Biden. He had NOTHING to do with it.” (Gardenswartz, 7/18)

The New York Times: Vaccines Significantly Reduce The Risk Of Long Covid, Study Finds
A large new study provides some of the strongest evidence yet that vaccines reduce the risk of developing long Covid. Scientists looked at people in the United States infected during the first two years of the pandemic and found that the percentage of vaccinated people who developed long Covid was much lower than the percentage of unvaccinated people who did. ... But the study, published Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine, found that vaccination did not eliminate all risk of developing the condition, which continues to affect millions in the United States. (Belluck, 7/17)

The Wall Street Journal: Long Covid Risks Have Declined Since Early Pandemic, Study Finds
A summer Covid wave is hitting the country, but there’s one consolation: Your chances of developing long Covid have fallen since the start of the pandemic. That’s the finding from a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine. It concluded that about 10% of people infected with the virus’s original strain developed long Covid. By contrast, the risk of developing long Covid dropped to 3.5% with the virus’s Omicron variant among vaccinated people. For the unvaccinated, the risk was 7.7.%. (Reddy, 7/17)

The Washington Post: Biden Just Got Covid. What Are The Latest Covid Guidelines?
President Biden tested positive for the coronavirus Wednesday, placing a renewed spotlight on covid-19 and the precautions the broader public can take as a summer wave of the disease sweeps over much of the United States. ... When sick with symptoms of a respiratory virus, such as the coronavirus, the CDC advises individuals to stay home and isolate until both their overall symptoms have improved and they have been fever-free without using fever-reducing medication for 24 hours. (Ables and Nirappil, 7/18)

The Hill: Elizabeth Warren: Democrats 'Will Suspend The Filibuster' To Codify Roe V. Wade, Abortion Rights
Progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) announced Wednesday that there are currently enough votes in the Senate to suspend the filibuster to codify Roe v. Wade and abortion rights if Democrats win control of the House and keep the Senate and White House. “We will suspend the filibuster. We have the votes for that on Roe v. Wade,” Warren said on ABC’s “The View.” (Bolton, 7/17)

The Washington Post: Vance Urged DOJ To Enforce Comstock Act, Crack Down On Abortion Pills
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), newly tapped as the GOP vice-presidential nominee, last year joined an effort to enforce the Comstock Act, the 151-year-old federal law that has become a lightning rod in the nation’s abortion debate. The Comstock Act, which bans the mailing of abortion-related materials, has not been invoked for that purpose in about a century. The Biden administration maintains that its provisions are outdated today. (Diamond and Kornfield, 7/17)

NBC News: In States With Strict Abortion Policies, Simply Seeing An OB/GYN For Regular Care Can Be Difficult
The chances that a woman can see a doctor while pregnant — or during a time when she might become pregnant — have fallen significantly since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, according to a new report released Thursday. The findings, from The Commonwealth Fund, a nonpartisan health care research foundation, show that women living in states with a history of health disparities — often in the Southeast — are affected the most. They are not only less likely to be able to afford a doctor’s appointment; they’re less likely to be able to find an OB/GYN in their area. (Edwards, 7/18)

The Hill: Florida Abortion Amendment Backers Decry 'Dirty Trick' Language Approved By State Panel
A Florida panel approved language that will accompany a November ballot initiative on abortion, saying the initiative will have a negative impact on the state budget, a move the amendment’s supporters decried as a politically motivated “dirty trick.” The amendment would result in “significantly more abortions and fewer live births per year,” and there is uncertainty about whether the amendment will require the state to subsidize abortions with public funds, according to the financial impact statement. (Weixel, 7/17)

CNN: These Are The States That Rank Highest And Lowest For Women’s Health In New Report 
Women in the United States face a growing number of threats to their health and well-being, a new report says, and there are vast disparities from state to state. (Howard and McPhillips, 7/18)

The New York Times: Biden Says He’d Consider Dropping Out If A ‘Medical Condition’ Emerged
President Biden said in an interview released on Wednesday that he would re-evaluate whether to stay in the presidential race if a doctor told him directly that he had a medical condition that made that necessary. Mr. Biden has said repeatedly that none of his doctors have told him he has a serious medical condition. Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the White House physician, wrote after the president’s physical in February that Mr. Biden is “a healthy, active, robust, 81-year-old male who remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency.” (Shear, 7/17)

AP: Trump Has Given No Official Info About His Medical Care For Days Since An Assassination Attempt
Four days after a gunman’s attempt to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally, the public is still in the dark over the extent of his injuries, what treatment the Republican presidential nominee received in the hospital, and whether there may be any long-term effects on his health. Trump’s campaign has refused to discuss his condition, release a medical report or records, or make the doctors who treated him available, leaving information to dribble out from Trump, his friends and family. (Riccardi and Colvin, 7/18)

Stat: Trump Ear Injury: Gunshot Trauma Experts Offer General Assessment
Four days after former president Donald Trump was shot in the ear at a rally in Pennsylvania, his medical team has yet to release detailed records of his condition or treatment. And while his campaign has pronounced him to be in good health, numerous experts on gunshot trauma and emergency medicine interviewed by STAT said there could still be outstanding questions. (McFarling and Rajeev, 7/17)

NPR: Misleading Ads One Way To Gin Up Unauthorized ACA Sign-Ups, Lawsuit Alleges
The government is giving away money! So say ads on a variety of social media platforms. Consumers, the ads claim, can qualify for $1,400 or even $6,400 a month to use on groceries, rent, medical expenses, and other bills. Some mention no-cost health insurance coverage. But that’s not the whole story. And here’s the spoiler — no one is getting monthly checks to help with these everyday expenses. (Appleby, 7/18)

Reuters: Ardelyx Sues US Health Department Over Kidney Disease Drug
Drugmaker Ardelyx (ARDX.O) said on Wednesday that it has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) over their plan to include its kidney disease drug in the Medicare payment bundle system. The lawsuit claims that CMS's plan to include the drug, Xphozah, along with all other oral-only phosphate lowering therapies in the End-Stage Renal Disease Prospective Payment System (ESRD) will "significantly and negatively impact patient choice of and timely access to important medications." (7/17)

The New York Times: Bird Flu Is Spreading. Why Aren’t More People Getting Tested?
Officials do not have the authority to compel workers to get tested, and there is no way for workers to test themselves. In the current outbreak, just four dairy workers and five poultry workers have tested positive for H5N1, the bird flu virus, but experts believe that many more have been infected. The Covid-19 pandemic and the mpox (formerly monkeypox) outbreak in 2022 revealed deep fissures in the U.S. approach to testing for emerging pathogens. (Mandavilli, 7/17)

CNN: Sealed Bottles Of Tattoo And Permanent Makeup Ink Test Positive For Millions Of Bacteria, FDA Says
Sealed bottles of tattoo and permanent makeup ink, including some marked as sterile, contained millions of potentially dangerous bacteria, according to new research by the US Food and Drug Administration. (LaMotte, 7/18)

The New York Times: Two Dead In Canada From Contaminated Milk Substitutes
Two Canadians died from infections caused by listeria after drinking popular milk substitutes based on almonds, oats, cashews and coconuts that were sold under the Silk and Great Value brands, the country’s health department said Wednesday night. Another 10 infections, most of them affecting residents of Ontario, have been confirmed by laboratory tests, the department, Health Canada, said in its health notice. (Austen, 7/18)

The 19th: Pregnant Workers Don't Have To Wait For Biden’s Proposed Heat Safety Rule
Earlier this month, the Biden administration announced a new rule that, if finalized, would become the first federal regulation specifically designed to protect workers from extreme heat both indoors and outdoors. It would trigger requirements for access to drinking water and rest breaks when the heat index reaches 80 degrees Fahrenheit. At 90 degrees, it would mandate 15-minute breaks every two hours and require employers to monitor for signs of heat illness. (Kutz, 7/17)

The New York Times: Extreme Heat And Electrolytes: Tips For Staying Hydrated
When it’s hot outside, your body keeps cool by sweating. But you don’t just lose water in the process: You also lose electrolytes like sodium, calcium and potassium that are crucial to keep your body functioning well. Sports drinks, hydration powders and tablets promise to help you replenish your electrolytes. But when do you actually need them, and are they the best source? “People always say ‘just drink Gatorade,’” said Dr. Elan Goldwaser, a sports medicine physician at NewYork-Presbyterian. “But the truth is, it’s so much more than that.” (Mogg, 7/17)

Fortune Well: Foods That Prevent Skin Cancer
“Some studies show that some antioxidants, such as vitamins A, C, E and carotenoids and selenium, can help prevent some skin cancers,” says Dr. Tanya Nino, a double board-certified dermatologist and the melanoma program director at the Center for Cancer Prevention and Treatment at Providence St. Joseph Hospital in Burbank, California. “These vitamins are antioxidants that work by neutralizing free radicals in cells. Free radicals are unstable molecules that can damage the DNA in our cells.” (Maher, 7/18)

CNN: Women With Endometriosis Face Fourfold Higher Risk Of Ovarian Cancer, Study Suggests 
The risk of developing ovarian cancer appears to jump about fourfold among women with endometriosis, compared with women who haven’t been diagnosed with the condition, a new study finds. (Howard, 7/17)

Stat: Bone Marrow Donors Needn’t Be Perfect Match In Cancer Care: Study
As a hematologist-oncologist in Miami, Mikkael Sekeres always hopes his patients will find a perfect match for the bone marrow transplant they need to save their lives — but he doesn’t expect it. Most of his patients are Latino or African American, and rates of perfect matches are much lower for racial or ethnic minorities. That gloomy picture could soon change. (Chen, 7/17)

The New York Times: This Is Literally Your Brain On Drugs
The image, as it happens, comes from dozens of brain scans produced by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis who gave psilocybin, the compound in “magic mushrooms,” to participants in a study before sending them into a functional M.R.I. scanner. ... The scans, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, offer a rare glimpse into the wild neural storm associated with mind-altering drugs. (Jacobs, 7/17)

The New York Times: Moving In Childhood Contributes To Depression, Study Finds
Researchers who conducted a large study of adults in Denmark, published on Wednesday in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, found something they had not expected: Adults who moved frequently in childhood have significantly more risk of suffering from depression than their counterparts who stayed put in a community. In fact, the risk of moving frequently in childhood was significantly greater than the risk of living in a poor neighborhood, said Clive Sabel, a professor at the University of Plymouth and the paper’s lead author. (Barry, 7/17)

The Washington Post: For Healthy Aging, Light Exercise Or Sleep Beats Being Sedentary
If you want to increase your odds of living a long and healthy life, watch less television and become more physically active, because even a small amount of physical activity can improve overall health, according to an observational study published last month in JAMA Network Open. While there have been many studies showing that moderate to vigorous physical activity is associated with healthy aging, researchers wanted to know if light physical activity compared with sedentary behaviors also improves healthy aging, and if not, how can people’s time be reallocated. (Chesler, 7/17)

Reuters: Mark Cuban's Cost Plus To Import Penicillin To Address US Shortage
Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drug Company said on Wednesday that it is working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to import and distribute penicillin in the country temporarily. The online pharmacy, which offers low-cost common medications, will immediately import and distribute 1.2 million units of penicillin to mitigate the shortage of Pfizer's (PFE.N) Bicillin L-A. Last year in June, Pfizer had warned that the pediatric version of the drug, used to treat syphilis and other bacterial infections, could run out by the end of the quarter due to a spike in syphilis infections in adults. (7/17)

Stat: Q Bio Raises $27 Million In Funding For New Type Of Full-Body Scanner
A prevention-focused co-founded by the head of a Stanford research lab is making an expensive bet with its latest fundraise: that it can build a better full-body scanner than medical device behemoths selling MRIs to health systems. (Ravindranath, 7/18)

Stat: Elevance Earnings: Stock Falls As Medicaid Members Use More Care 
Wall Street’s reaction was swift Wednesday after Elevance Health said that the amount of care its Medicaid members are getting is outpacing what states are paying the insurer to treat those members. (Bannow, 7/17)

The Wall Street Journal: Prison Health Contractor YesCare Reaches $75 Million Bankruptcy Deal For Tort Lawsuits
YesCare and its backers reached a $75 million settlement of hundreds of personal-injury lawsuits, paving the way to resolve a bankruptcy filed to manage the prison healthcare provider’s legal liabilities. The proposed settlement would compensate litigation plaintiffs and other creditors of YesCare through a chapter 11 plan for Tehum Care Services, a bankrupt former affiliate. Committees of tort claimants and unsecured creditors in Tehum’s bankruptcy support the proposed agreement, which requires court approval. (Matsuda, 7/17)

Reuters: Activist Investor Politan Files Lawsuit Against Medical Device Maker Masimo
Activist investor Politan Capital has filed a lawsuit against medical device maker Masimo Corp (MASI.O), seeking to have the company hold its annual meeting as soon as possible. In the lawsuit, filed in a Delaware court, Politan also sought a declaration that Masimo will not reject Politan's nominees to the board. Politan has a near 9% stake in Masimo and has nominated two candidates to be elected to the company's five-member board. Only two board seats will be voted on this year. (7/17)

Reuters: Novartis Lifts Profit Forecast For Second Time On Cosentyx, Entresto
Swiss drugmaker Novartis (NOVN.S) raised its 2024 earnings guidance for the second time on Thursday, driven by a gain in prescriptions for drugs including heart failure treatment Entresto and arthritis drug Cosentyx. It said in a statement that full-year adjusted operating income is expected to grow by a "mid- to high teens" percentage, where it had previously seen a "low double-digit to mid-teens" percentage. (Burger, 7/18)

Reuters: Ardent Health Prices US IPO Below Target Range To Raise $192 Mln
Healthcare provider Ardent Health said on Wednesday it has set the pricing of its initial public offering below its targeted range to raise around $192 million. The Nashville, Tennessee-based company which was aiming to price its offering between $20 and $22 apiece, sold about 12 million shares at $16 per share. The IPO values Ardent Health at about $2.3 billion. (7/18)

The New York Times: See Extreme Surface Temperatures In Phoenix, Sacramento And Portland, Ore.
We usually talk about summertime heat in terms of how hot the air is, but there’s another metric that matters: the temperatures of roads, sidewalks, buildings, parking lots and other outdoor surfaces. Hot surfaces can make the places people live and work more dangerous, and can increase the risk of contact burns. (Zhong and Rojanasakul, 7/17)

AP: Massachusetts Lawmakers Reach Compromise Deal On Gun Bill
Massachusetts House and Senate negotiators have released a compromise version of a sweeping gun bill that supporters say builds on the state’s existing gun laws, including a crackdown on difficult to trace “ghost guns,” while safeguarding the rights of gun owners. The bill — which must be given final approval by both chambers before being sent to Gov. Maura Healey for her signature — is part of an effort by the state to respond to a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that citizens have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense. (LeBlanc, 7/17)

Reuters: Vermont Latest State To Sue PBMs For Allegedly Driving Up Drug Prices
Vermont's attorney general on Wednesday sued two of the largest U.S. pharmacy benefit managers, accusing them of driving up prescription drug prices for patients in order to enrich themselves, joining other states that have brought similar claims against the drug industry middlemen. (Pierson, 7/17)

The Colorado Sun: Colorado Health Insurance Rates Set To Increase In 2025
Health insurance premiums for people who buy coverage on their own in Colorado look set to increase 5.5% overall next year, slightly below average for recent years, according to preliminary numbers released Wednesday. (Ingold, 7/18)

AP: Maryland Board Approves $148M In Cuts To Help Support Medicaid, Child Care
A Maryland board approved $148.3 million in state spending reductions on Wednesday to balance the budget while directing more money to pay for child care and Medicaid — two priorities that Democratic Gov. Wes Moore’s administration hopes will help improve a stagnant state economy. The Board of Public Works, which Moore chairs, made cuts across a variety of state agencies to address larger-than-expected demand for Medicaid and a state child care program. (Witte, 7/17)

AP: Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear Endorses Federal Effort To Reclassify Marijuana As A Less Dangerous Drug
The Biden administration’s push to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug won an endorsement Wednesday from Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who said “the jury is no longer out” on its medical uses as an alternative to opioids that ravaged the Bluegrass State with overdose deaths. The Democratic governor called the proposal a “significant, common-sense step forward,” especially for people with serious medical conditions. Beshear laid out his support in a letter to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. (Schreiner, 7/17)